Banned and Challenged Romance Books: Banned Books Week

Photo by Thomas Ford Memorial Library

Many books are banned or challenged because they contain sexually explicit material. Sexually explicit is a broad term that can mean anything from partial nudity to S&M. Maya Rodale wrote a great article on NPR Books entitled Banned Romance: What's So Bad About Happily Ever After? In the article, she discusses that many books that are banned or challenged for sexually explicit themes have a female protagonist that enjoys sexual pleasure.

Funny story about a banned romance book. I used to be a part of an online book and knitting club. Every month, we would read a book and knit a project about it. One month, I got the name of the book wrong with humorous results. I thought the book was Fanny Hill: Or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Granted, at the time I just thought the book was entitled Fanny Hill. Like I had done for previous books, I went on Librivox, started streaming the book, and started doing some brainless data entry at work. Luckily, I was wearing headphones. Oh my!