Off The Shelf

OFF THE SHELF!

Their lordships the Earl of Sandwich, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Cardigan, together with Laszlo Biro, are among many others whose names are embedded in the English language because of something they wore, cooked or invented in some way. For example, in the mid-nineteenth century, the women’s rights advocate Amelia Bloomer wrote favourably about wearing a loose trouser outfit. The idea caught on and ‘bloomers’ quickly became quite the thing for women who wanted less restrictive clothing.

Such eponyms are interesting, often quite benign and celebratory of the innovators and inventors. However, no such kudos attended the Reverend James Bowdler, who, in 1807 published ‘The Family Shakespeare’. He believed that the plays could not be read ‘safely’ to women and children unless they were highly edited, cutting out any nasty bits. He changed the text of Hamlet so that the suicide of Ophelia became an unfortunate accident and removed all trace of Doll Tearsheet the prostitute from ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. This did not go down well with the literati, and ‘Bowdlerism’ has become a highly pejorative and derisive term, used when texts are expurgated and books are censored. A little bit of a shame really, as Bowdler was not a wicked man but more of a typical misguided patriarchal twit who really wanted people to read Shakespeare (but comfortably).

Twas ever thus…..

There have been much worse villains than Bowdler when it comes to censoring, banning and burning books, and reviling and abusing authors. Unfortunately, having learned nothing from history, these scoundrels are still around, making arrogant and ignorant rules which teachers, librarians, parents and readers in general are expected to follow. The high-speed journey through history in the passage below, reveals an extraordinary range of bannings and burnings, from the murderous to the ludicrous – but all frightening in their different ways. You can also find a fuller list here.

We might start in 210 BC with Qin Shi Huang the Chinese emperor who burned all the books (except those in his own library), and buried several hundred scholars alive, believing that history could then start afresh with himself. In 1497, Savaranola’s ‘bonfires of the vanities’ destroyed cultural works in Florence and in 1535 William Tyndale was burned at the stake for producing an English version of the bible.  Between 1550 and 1966, the ‘Librorum Prohibitorum’ contained a list of books that Catholics were forbidden to read. In 1918 the American postal authorities refused to accept mail containing James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, and on May 10th 1933 the Nazis organised mass burning of books by authors regarded as ‘un-German’ - these included Marx, Freud, Helen Keller, Einstein and Hemingway. In 1953 Ray Bradbury published his chilling story about book-burning – ‘Fahrenheit 451’, which, ironically, was then itself banned in South Africa and parts of the United States. And in 1960 at the ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ trial, the prosecutor famously queried whether this was a ‘book that you would like your wife or servants to read’?

Women writers

As women authors became more well known, attempts to suppress and ban their works also increased. In 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by the American abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, was believed to have a harmful effect on the economics of slavery and was suppressed. George Eliot’s ‘Adam Bede’ was attacked in 1854, on the basis that it contained ‘the vile outpourings of a lewd woman’s mind.’ Anna Sewell’s ‘Black Beauty’ got short shrift in apartheid South Africa and Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny were briefly banned from London schools for being ‘too middle class.’ Margaret Atwood, Edna O’Brien, Ursula le Guin, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou have all come under the hammer. Malala Yousafzai’s memoir has been banned in schools in Pakistan, and the Taliban will not tolerate anything written by a woman (even if it concerns safety in chemistry). Writers who explore issues of race and gender, writers of teen fiction, writers of books on the supernatural – the disapproval lists continue to grow.

And now?

Have a stiff drink, then read the list of books removed last November (2025) from the school library at The Lowry Academy in Greater Manchester after the headteacher objected to a book by the feminist writer Laura Bates (which was actually on a list for school librarians and recommended for older students). Over 130 titles, including Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Booker Prize winning novels and the graphic version of Orwell’s 1984, were removed, causing an outcry from the highly respected School Librarians Association. Unfortunately, there is no obligation yet for schools to have either a library or a school librarian. As a spokesperson for CILIP (the chartered institute for librarians) said: ‘Why is it that prisoners and general citizens are entitled to prison and public libraries, but our children are not entitled to school libraries?’

It makes for dismal reading, which is not improved by the news coming from some recently elected local councils. Essex County Council, for instance is being accused of banning libraries from promoting Pride, Black History Month and other events. The Reform councillor for residents and community services said that there was ‘plenty of opportunity for campaigns and organisations that want to promote Women’s Day [and] Black History to do that, and what I’m saying is, we’re not going to do that in our libraries.’  

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week UK will take place between 4 and 10 October 2026, organised by Index on Censorship and is a parallel campaign to the annual event in the United States, where bookshops, libraries and educational establishments celebrate the right to read freely.
Of course, one of the few pleasures that can be taken when a book is banned is that sales of that book usually rise dramatically. No publicity is bad publicity. 

Ellen Hopkins is a popular and best-selling American author of young adult fiction. Her books are regularly challenged and banned. But as she very neatly puts it here – you can’t suppress the ideas!

‘A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.’

― Ellen Hopkins 

JUNE UPDATE ON THE MK FAWCETT CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER, FAIRER MILTON KEYNES

• Three members from Fawcett MK attended the annual Fawcett Society Conference, Misogyny Matters, on June 13^th. Others from the group watched online. Although we heard many shocking and challenging presentations, we were heartened and revitalised by the examples of courageous and inventive women and men who are battling misogyny in all areas of life, determined that women’s ideas, voices and contributions are robust shapers of agendas and achievements.
• Research and Analysis: Both the initial 2026 Council Election analysis paper and the 2026 Evidence Paper ‘Women’s Lives in Milton Keynes’ can be found HERE. They have proved useful points of discussion at recent meetings with local MPs.
• We are pleased to have received comments on the Election 2026 paper from Party Group Leaders and Council officers. The headlines are: Although there are some notable gains in the outcome, including a 50-50 balance of councillors on the governing Liberal Democrat party, an all-female leadership of the three main parties, and a female Leader of the Council, our monitoring shows that the overall percentage of women elected has fallen from 44% to 42%.
• Freedom from Violence and Abuse: A cross-government Strategy to build a safer society for women and girls. On May 13th we ran a half-day workshop in central MK, with our friends from The VAWG Alliance Bucks  and Community Action: MK, focussing on what is IN the strategy and what it MEANS for individuals and organisations / groups. See:https://www.fawcettmk.org.uk/ .We continue to be represented on the committee planning White Ribbon campaigns across the city.
  
• We contributed to a recent workshop to help shape the September conference of the Centre for Protecting Women Online. We were thrilled to hear from the Centre’s Director, Professor Olga Jurasz at the Fawcett Society conference Misogyny Matters.
• As the new enlarged Integrated Care Board (ICB) takes shape, we will continue to monitor how women’s health needs are considered. We are watching how ideas such as Women’s Health Clinics are piloted and evaluated and we are closely following the development of the city’s Women and Children’s hospital.
• We will continue to follow the progress and implementation of the recently approved MKCC Domestic Abuse strategy. 
• We will continue to promote the manifesto campaign and encourage people to become more involved with the political process. 
• MKF now has a LinkedIn presence as well as being on BlueSky. Please follow us on these platforms as well as at https://www.fawcettmk.org.uk/