reviews_and_ramblings: (Default)
reviews_and_ramblings ([personal profile] reviews_and_ramblings) wrote2009-05-29 10:19 pm

Sorry to be so bothering tonight...

... but Amazon is making me mad! I posted two days ago the same review for Dumb Jock I posted on my LJ. It didn't appear online. I waited the 48 hours they required to make an inquiry, and then asked why my review was not online. This was Amazon's reply:

I read your recent review of "Dumb Jock" and found it violated our guidelines. We don't allow profanity in Customer Reviews.

I edited your review, and changes are marked with brackets. If you'd prefer to remove your review, you can do so online. Please take a look at our Review Guidelines for information about acceptable review content:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14279631

OMG what I wrote that was defined profanity? Usually I avoid all "bad" words, and I'm not the type to deepen in erotic details...

Here is the part of my review that was condemned as profanity (in bold):

It's not a "behind closed door" type of sex, we are there in the room with the characters, but we have to cover with our imagination where the author doesn't describe something. For example there are blow-jobs, and even an anal sex scene, but actually I believe to have never found the word penis or some equivalent word. I have a clear physical impression of Jeff, small and lithe, a bit on the skinny side, and Brett, tall and muscular, and how Jeff feels protected when he is in Brett's arms, but actually that physical impression never deepens to intimate details (no description under the belt).

And here is Amazon's edited version:

It's not a "behind closed door" type of sex, we are there in the room with the characters, but we have to cover with our imagination where the author doesn't describe something. [...] I have a clear physical impression of Jeff, small and lithe, a bit on the skinny side, and Brett, tall and muscular, and how Jeff feels protected when he is in Brett's arms, but actually that physical impression never deepens to intimate details (no description under the belt).

OMG again!!! I used the word "penis", not c*ck, or s*aft or some other "dirty" word... I used PENIS! Penis is profanity?

On second thought, probably it was the blow-job or the anal sex that created trouble, but still I don't believe they are profanities, questionable maybe, but profanity?

And BTW, have you ever wonder why books like Smart Ass (MLR Press) or Times Queer (Synergy Press) have few reviews on Amazon? When I posted my reviews of them, I used the title of the book, and the reviews were blocked. I sent an inquiry to Amazon saying, what guilt I have if the "bad" word is in the title? And they uploaded the review without modifying it. But how many people send the inquiry to Amazon? How many reviews on books with "banned" titles were lost on the net of Amazon's censorship?

[identity profile] bean-montag.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
It is *almost* amusing that a website known for selling books is so determined to keep "clean." Books are supposed to be dirty. They're supposed to push boundaries and make people think. I'm not sure who would be offended by the terms "blow job" or "anal sex" but whoever it is should never use internet, TV, or leave their home. Sex is a part of life!

Crazy.

[identity profile] elisa-rolle.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe they have a glossary of banned words, and a filter for all of them... but sometime I wonder how correct is a system like that. I would prefer for them to always read the review they censor, and not only when someone send an inquiry. Elisa

[identity profile] bean-montag.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree. I think they should take into account the books being reviewed as well. These are erotic novels, aren't they? If someone found reason to include those terms in a review for, say, Knuffle Bunny Too, that would be inappropriate, but for something by B. A. Tortuga for example, the sex is a huge part of the story. Actually, with that author I believe it is most of the story.^^