So… Apparently one of my reviews was rejected on Amazon… I may have used the word ‘shit’ once or twice… OK, it was twice… and not in the sense of the book being shit… I would never be so blunt! And here I am, thinking I won’t budge- the review will not be going to Amazon. I’m still deciding whether “I’m too busy to ‘bleep’ out the ‘profanity'” or just put my head down and do the right thing (it would be the right thing to do, right?) I guess it would if it helps the author. Eh… but… but…
Ah, I’m generally not a stubborn person but for the love of all that’s holy… the word ‘shit’ is hardly insulting when used in things like ‘shit hit the fan’ .. or are my views warped? Am I caveman’ish if I can’t write a review without using the word ‘shit’ in one context or another? It is a word after all…
Here is another question… Say, I’m reading a book where all the genitalia and the Father of all Profanities are flying then why can’t I review a book to the same tune?
And… why is profanity insulting? They’re just words! Unless of course they’re directly flung at you in the heat of fighting passion to clutch to your emotional, fragile soul like fly onto a sticky paper. Then it’s not cool of course…
Anyway, just a few thoughts… Sorry for spamming your inbox with these musings…
Cover to Cover 
Amazon scares me…
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😀 Me too…
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The difference is the Amazon review forum is wholely public. Viewers cannot unfollow or block you if they feel your content is objectionable, so Amazon has to embrace the optimum level of obscenity sensitivity. It would be bad business for them to to be offending customers. I was a music reviewer for a magazine and the demographic for the publucation was basically middle aged, so I could use damn and hell in my reviews, but not shit or the F-bomb. Whereas if I was reviewing for Rolling Stone, I could shit and F-bomb all over the place if I wanted to. If you are thinking about freelancing professionally in the future it would be wise to be able to write a review no matter what the restrictions are because you would have more writing opportunities, and in return, more money. 🙂
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Thank you for the comment… see? this is why it’s good to have a blog- you get so much more knowledge and different viewpoints… Yes, I absolutely understand the public forum thing.. didn’t think of it, but I am now thinking of it… Thanks for that 🙂
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Ha! You’ve hit the hammer on the nail there! (if that’s a saying) Almost all my reviews get rejected for some strange reason *coughs*. And while I understand I should use words like fudge and ‘horrible female person’, I refuse to change words like shit as well. Unless it’s for an indie author because that review is important for the person’s career as an author, but dang! I had to alter my review of After Life so badly, it was starting to look like I was talking about an adventure at sea with all the ‘ships’ around. It’s not just Amazon, it’s almost everywhere (except for NetGalley, thank fuck) and I think it’s utter ship/shite. Who the hell gets offended by the word ‘ass’ these days anyways?
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Yes! Another good point- indie authors and reviewing their books to the tune that are approved…
Hmm… you know, it’s interesting what offend people nowadays! But anyway, as many of us people as there are, we’re all slightly fussy about different/various things and we can’t make everyone happy… You’re right though, defo, about the indie author reviews… I’ll make sure to keep that in mind!
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As a side note, I’m sure most indie authors also don’t give to shits if someone uses the word ‘damn’ in one of their reviews. As long as it’s a review right?! Plus, as you already mentioned up here, there’s usually the same ‘profanity’ in the books as well, so why aren’t we allowed to make it match? I bet it’s all about the darn kids! Always ruining the good stuff for the grown-ups ;).
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Is not the right thing to show consideration of others? Just because you and I don’t give a shit about the language we might use doesn’t mean others feel the same. We all have things we care about that other people might not and it is a matter of respect. If we want people to respect the things we feel are important then we must put forth a little effort and respect their feelings.
And as La La in the Library pointed out, public forum. 🙂
Also minor feedback, you never have to apologize for sharing your thoughts on your own blog. If someone chooses to follow you by email or otherwise, then to them your words are certainly not clutter! 🙂
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It absolutely is the right thing to show consideration! Absolutely… but.. it’s also a two way street… I know I;m splitting a hair here, but with those kind of things there’s always “one is right, the other is wrong”.. if we talk about consideration, why does one side have to be more considerate and accommodating than the other? 🙂 But yes, you are right, consideration is a good point overall.
Thanks for the minor feedback as well- again, you’re right!
Darn it, so many people are right today 🙂 and I get to gather all of your wisdoms!
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It’s pretty simple. If people find certain things offensive then we should put forth effort in respecting their views. To some people profanity is a form of verbal abuse and in some extreme cases triggers. Imagine a child being told he is a piece of shit while growing up. He might have issues with hearing the word shit, even if it is not directed at him. We just don’t know the context. And honestly, being polite in public, is just well easy and doesn’t cost us anything. We are still who we are but just polite! 😀
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I doubt anyone could disagree with what you’ve said…
Profanity will remain however and I guess we’ll need to thank Amazon for weeding out the disrespectful… including myself. At times it’s difficult to keep in mind the ‘extremes’, and I don’t mean to come across as a social dunce either- I am fully aware of when to switch the filter in between the brain and the mouth accordingly to the situation and audience. I was simply surprised over the word ‘shit’ really… Maybe I’m just too country to see something overly sinister about that word.
That said, I wouldn’t want to make anyone’s day sour for my use of offensive language, of course… (My blog has 18+ restriction on it as well, since I started it. Not sure how well it works, but I’ve tried my best. Update! The setting seems to be now gone for the restriction. Not sure how they ensured the restriction in the first place but in 2013 when I started blogging the option was there.)
Ah, what a difficult life for the profane! 🙂 It has been an eye opening experience…
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I see your point but I do agree with others that kids can look at any review on amazon and they have to protect them so they cannot get sued. You could maybe just try using another words like I do when my family around, I still cannot say crap in front of my mum without her getting on at me. Not great I know but it still gets the point across and keeps your review on Amazon. Great post 🙂
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Thanks for your comment… yeah… I just forget about the whole kids seeing the profanity because I don’t have any kids so I guess you could call that ignorant! 🙂 I was at a wedding this weekend and parents of all sorts were discussing their kids… 3-5 year olds… and one of them told a story how the kids were playing outside, it started raining, and a little 4 y/o girl just went- “Fucking rain again!” XD Such a typically Irish phrase to say cause it always rains here… and I always see how parents are struggling with their own language as well, they get so carried away talking with other adults, and without realizing it the shits and all is flying… kids are smart though, I see that, and they pick everything up like a sponge… 🙂
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Ye they do, they notice when the adult realises they said a bad word, so they say it cause it’s naughty or fun lol
Or on the other hand if the adult says it without feeling abashed they dont know they shouldn’t, I do swear a lot myslef but try and be careful if kids are around, sometimes hard though, especially since I don’t have any myself.
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I really thought “shit” was a mainstream word nowadays. A good friend of mine, a nice lady who’s 85 years old uses it. Mind you, she always apologises.
It’s so very strange with all the crap (sorry shit) being written in some books nowadays that the word isn’t allowed in reviews. Kids can of course read it not only in reviews but in the books themselves.
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Well, your lady-friend is awesome! 🙂 I like her already…
But yes, it’s a bit blurry as to where the lines are being drawn… day time TV is full of all sorts of heaps as well yet no one bats an eyelid…
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I can’t believe shit was enough to reject your review. I’ve heard Amazon is tough but that’s ridiculous. What if you were just pasting a quote from the book? Shit is used so much that I doubt anyone would even care if they read it in a review.
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Thanks for stopping by… Interesting, I never even thought of it that way, ‘shit’ being in a quote from the book and then, bam, rejected…
But yes, all sorts of nitty gritty restrictions are becoming rather ridiculous as of late…
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I quite like this. You should check out my blog post about profanity and let me know what you think. 🙂
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Thanks for the heads up about your post. Yeah, you make a good point about cussing while writing/reading.
In the end though, I think, it all comes down to personal preference.. and there are as many viewpoints on profanity as there are people in the world, because everyone has their own slightly modified version of their preference.
In addition- of course there needs to be attention on the genre as well.. Undoubtedly an author should keep it clean for the intended younger audience.
My personal preference in books is spicy and raw- I read stuff that mostly adults write for adults, be it fantasy, thriller or any kind of fiction, and in this case I welcome appropriate to storyline and fitting profanity. If the characters demand it, then so shall it be.
Thanks for your comment and for stopping by. It is good to always see different opinions 🙂
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