Bookish Enby

This will be a VERY risky post with current ciliment and I mean job loosely. I don’t make any money at this, if anything, I loose money but books are worth it!

I’ve been book blogging since Oct 2017. Alot has changed. Drama is nothing new. Each thing having a cycle and wave. Audio books aren’t/are real books, Don’t download my book!/I’m sticking it to the man, You don’t need to hate read books/authors we agreed were cancled/who is we and I never agreed to such terms,ect.

Social issues also come in waves. Heated, often rather nasty, debates on who can write what story. From Mackenzie Lee’s Transgender book about a flower seller to Canceling and then unclanceling Blood Heir.

I’ve seen authors canceled for all kinds of crimes. From the author of American Dirt to male YA authors during the big mass canceling that happened when untold numbers of female YA authors spilled the tea. The author of Maze Runner, author of 13 reasons why are just some of the victims.

In 2017, I had only read books that interested me. I’m a book cover sucker, so sue me. Then in Oct, I got curious about all the hype of diverse books. After picking up collector’s edition of The Hate U Give and The Poet X, I went down a rabbit hole. I found the books that would help me come out as Genderfluid Nov 2018. I read so many books with queer rep.

You’re probably wondering weather this is a positive or negative piece then. It’s both.

In 2020, We saw the community on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr explode. My feeds very liberal/Progressive leaning. As I am a Warren Democrat who was against Bernie, my feeds suited me nicely.

Now, my feeds are nothing but stress. So much pressure to read *only* diverse. So much pressure to *only* protest in one way. Heaven forbid you’re not a hater of cops at the moment and your white and living in the USA at the moment.

My feed has always been a complex mess. One half gushing on new books, showing off upcoming books via book cover reveals,ect. Some Taylor Swift hype. Other half? Non-stop anti-white “jokes”, some of which ended up in their novels.

Posts claiming all bad cooks are white, comments such as whitey tears and other anti-white memes. I even had an author film in an airport and make the statement she hates white woman laughter and wishes white women would be mute.

I had many manic moments. Many manic posts on this blog asking why is this okay and why isn’t anyone canceling them for such comments,ect. I deleted the posts for fear of being assumed racist and canceled myself.

I feel like a white blogger I’m in a rock and a hard place. I like to read diverse but I also hate when I read such books and its filled with hatred towards white people. The Hate U Give assuming all white parties is popping molly and listening to Britney Spears. Not letting Starr’s white boyfriend defend himself when she and her black friends teased him in the car. In, On The Come Up, claiming a white student could write a violent rap song and be rewarded. In, Let me hear a ryhm, the author claims only black youth mourned Biggie. In, A Blade so black, Alice makes repeated jokes that white people don’t know any spices and can’t cook.

See the repeated theme? Oddly enough, I never find the white jokes in books by Latinx authors or Asian authors, only Black authors.

It’s gotten to the point, I almost don’t want to read Black books anymore. That statement alone is hella risky. Anything I saw to defend that statement just makes it sound worse.

I want to support diverse authors. Alot actually. But, I feel like it’s done with so much pressure. Also, I don’t want to spend $13-$15 on a book that will tell me how I’m a horror person for being white. That I can’t cook, I can’t dance, that I must be a molly addict or that I must be a secret racist, only I don’t know that I am one.

I do not support defunding the Police. I do not support abolishing the Police. I do not support canceling authors or books. I do not support pressuring the whole community to unfollow an author or blogger or be unfollowed themselves. I do not support forcing people to give up Harry Potter to prove they are Trans allies.

I’m Transgender (Genderfluid Non-Binary), I’m Queer (Greypansexual), I’m Disabled ( Autism, Chronic depression and Anxiety disorder), I’m Chronic (IBS). I’m also White, tho I wouldn’t use that term for myself. I’m Scandinavian, Irish and English. I’m in America due to my Irish ancestors fleeing Ireland to Canada, and then moving to Mass,USA. My ancestors didn’t come to this country until 1913 or later. None of mine were here for when slavery was legal. I come from a long line of activists. Grandfather was anti-war anti-nuke activist. Aunt followed in his shoes. I, myself, march for Immigration reform, fight for disability inclusion at my UU church and educate those around me about Transgender issues.

I do not agree with the demands of the BLM in full. Of course, black lives matter, all lives matter. (Don’t waste your time with memes about pedo or rapist or murders, your not funny. Not a real gacha,please.) But I don’t hate the police, and I kinda refuse to at this stage. They *are* great officers. They are a few shitty ones. I won’t sign the 400+ petitions, and everyone who posts a “click here for this but its really a thread of petitions” will be blocked on Twitter. Don’t be disingenuous. Just post your links clearly and move on. I won’t be retweeting all the names. My twitter is for one thing and one thing only, book blogging.

Bands, TV shows, Movies, Anime and Manga may bleed though from time to time, as my special interests shift around. (Yay for Autism!).

Posting threats to write our names down onto a google doc to pressure bloggers to speak out is utterly disgusting and abusive. We all have a social issue that is near and dear to us, and we all try our best to educate. I don’t go around book twitter demanding them to add pronouns or be written down into some google doc to be name and shamed. It’s ugly, it’s rotten and it turns people off. Should we only be allies if we’re treated well? It’s always been a complex question. I don’t ally myself for pats on the back but I also don’t like being told my POC friends only “tolerant” me on the grounds I’m white. If you rank your friends based on skin color, your a shitty person. Don’t do it your black friends but also don’t do it to your white friends. We’re trying to understand. we’re trying to relate to you the best we can.

I will still buy diverse books but no longer will I buy them *just* because they are diverse. I want a great vampire story, if the author is White so what? If the author is Black, so what? I’m not going to skin check my authors nor assume based on their names. I’ll pre-order Midnight sun regardless if the community wants to allow it, I’ll also pre-order The Damned, not because its Diverse but due to being a great story and I wanna know how it ends.

I’m so over the peer pressure. Bring on the vampires, don’t tell me I *must* support brown vampires if I am re-reading Twilight. You’re not going to market that brown vampire book to me, you’re just going to make me unfollow you and go back to my Twilight re-read. Sorry, not sorry.

This blogger won’t be pretaking in cancel culture on Twitter. If I stop reading someone, it’ll be 100% my choice and with strict search for proof of claims.