Letter to the book-burners

Dear Wearside Women in Need,

I am dismayed by the article that appeared on the BBC website today, describing how your charity plans to burn copies of Fifty Shades of Grey.

I am not planning to read Fifty Shades of Grey, and I agree that the character of Edward Grey is a stalker and potentially abusive. (Also, it is a very badly written book.)

However, Edward Grey is not abusive because he is into BDSM. He is abusive because he is a stalker who denies Anastasia's autonomy and consistently ignores her boundaries.

The book does not describe BDSM as it is practised by the majority of the BDSM community. BDSM practitioners generally abide by the ethos of "safe, sane and consensual".

There may be abusers who try to hide in the BDSM community, but they are no more numerous than abusers who engage in vanilla sex.

BDSM is not abuse. Please do not conflate the two.

May I refer you to a couple of articles and books which may help to clarify the difference for you:

• "A kink in the process" by Su Connan, in Therapy Today
• "Fifty Shades of Grr" by Adele Haze
• "The SM feminist" by Clarisse Thorn 

Furthermore, book-burning is what fundamentalists do. It is profoundly against democracy and the free dissemination of ideas. I do not like Fifty Shades of Grey because it is a gross distortion of BDSM, but at least it has enabled a conversation in the public square about what BDSM is actually about.

Finding Ada: Lisa Barone

This blogpost is part of Ada Lovelace Day, which is an international day of blogging to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science.

But many women go on to achieve great things in site of all this, and Lisa Barone is one of them. She writes:

I hate talking about gender. I hate talking about what it feels like to be “a girl” in tech or on the Web because it all feels like a bunch of crap and silly excuses. I’ve never felt hindered by my gender, never felt like I was looked down upon or treated differently. Never felt like I wasn’t put on a panel because I pee sitting down. But there are also a couple of things I’ve had working in my favor.

1. I’m 27. I entered a workplace where ceilings were semi-shattered. I know that my mother did not.
2. I’ve never treated myself or acted like I was inferior.
3. I’ve never allowed others to make me feel that I was.

According to her profile:

Lisa Barone is Co-Founder and Chief Branding Officer of Outspoken Media, Inc. Lisa has been involved in the SEO community since 2006 and is widely known for her honest industry observations, her inability to not say exactly what she’s thinking, and her excessive on-the-clock Twittering.

Notable Achievements

• Selected as a ‘Person to Watch’ for 2010 by Hudson Valley Magazine
• Invited Guest, Google Search Relevancy Panel, Google Corporate Headquarters
• Blog Editor, SmallBizTrends
• Columnist, Search Engine Land
• Columnist, Search Engine People
• Columnist, Search Engine Guide
• Nominated, Search Engine Journal’s Best Overall Search Marketing Blog, 2007
• Nominated, Search Engine Journal’s Most Giving Search Blogger Award, 2007
• Winner, 2007 SEMMY, Category: Best Search Tech
• Winner, 2007 SEMMY, Category: LOL Funny
• Expert Judge, 2008 SEMMYs
• Expert Judge, Search Engine Strategies Awards 2008
• Expert Judge, Search Engine Marketing Scholarship 2008
• Featured Entrepreneur, All Over Albany

My other Finding Ada blogposts:
Hedy Lamarr
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Quote of the Day

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.
— Susan B. Anthony