sisters, she decided to write anyways but using a
male pen name instead.
Technology and our views
on society adapt with
change but not completely.
There are still ancient
practices of censorship
lying in wait for its prey.
Her words would still be read and they would be
none the wiser. The world would come to believe
that she was a man and only then, was she fit to
write. But that wouldn’t last too long and soon
enough, her true identity would be unmasked.
And even though a lot has changed since those
times, some women still use pen names instead of
their own in fear of their “feminine wiles” scaring off
potential male readers.
books are seized at the border, and I have no
defence against it,” reflects Rule. “And I bitterly
resent the attempt to marginalize, trivialize and
even criminalize what I have to say because
I happen to be a lesbian, I happen to be a
novelist, I happen to have bookstores and
publishers who are dedicated to producing my
work. The assumption that there must be something
pornographic [in my writing] because of my sexual
orientation is a shocking way to deal with my
community.”
The Bronte sisters weren’t the only females to be
censored and they won’t be the last. According
to the Historical perspectives on Canadian
publishing at McMaster University, our evil villain
took the guise of a parental group in 1976. “A
group of Lakefield, Ontario parents demanded
that Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners be removed
from schools as ‘unsavory pornography.”
Censorship was even attacking bookstore
owners. In 1990, the bookshop Little Sister’s in
Vancouver had a box of Jane Rule’s The Young
in One Another’s Arms confiscated because it was
“obscene.” In 1994, Rule testified on behalf of the
bookstore and fought the injustices of censorship.
Once again, the Super Nom De Plume had
adorned its cape and mask onto another hero.
Technology and our views on society adapt with
change but not completely. There are still ancient
practices of censorship lying in wait for its prey.
Women may not be the only ones to become
victim to censorship but it doesn’t mean it’s equal.
The evil villain that is censorship can resurface at
any moment to tell us that something is too vulgar,
too sexual or too offensive. But don’t fear, Super
Nom de Plume is here.
“Every time this issue comes up, whether I were
testifying in this trial or not, my name would come
up over and over again as that woman whose
Missy/Ink | Issue 17
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