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] elleparker.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Amazon is having issues all over the place today. Earlier they weren't letting author bios with the word "gay" go through.

They really need to loosen up - Although I'd hate to have them restrict access by age, it would be nice if they'd let the reviews and comments be on the same level as the book.

If you're going to sell adult material, you ought to let your customers discuss it like adults.

[identity profile] elleparker.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Aaaaand...I knew you'd be on top of the gay thing. I'm just reading my flist backwards. *sigh* Carry on. *g*

[identity profile] elisa-rolle.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe this time I cried wolf too soon, but better being bothering than stay put and suffer! Elisa

[identity profile] elisa-rolle.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
The problem is the context of the use of that words. I was saying that the book had sex scenes, but they were not detailed, and so the book was right also for a YA target. On the other hand, maybe a parent could object to buy a book where, even if not detailed, there is sex between a 14 years old and a 16 years old. Now, if they read my review, they don't know exactly what sex they find in the book. Mmm I don't know if the censorship of Amazon has done good to the preservation of innocence. Elisa

[identity profile] elleparker.livejournal.com 2009-05-29 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
You know, that just goes to show how screwed up the whole situation is...

I will never fail to understand why so many people have such a hard time talking about a perfectly natural thing that everyone does.

*puts on her ideal world goggles and goes back to writing smut*