The Sensitivity Police

A new industry is springing up in the US, in which authors can hire ‘experts’ to scan their manuscripts for content that might offend on the grounds of race, sex, or religion; i.e. Sensitivity Police.

Writing in the Margins is one such agency which offers a ‘Sensitivity Reader’ service:

“A sensitivity reader reviews a manuscript for internalized bias and negatively charged language.  A sensitivity reader is there to help make sure you do not make a mistake, but they are also NOT a guarantee against making a mistake.”

Cultural insensitivity is a big issue

Apparently, high-profile authors such as Jodi Picoult have employed sensitivity readers, such as for her latest novel ‘Small Great Things’, regarding a black nurse and a white supremacist couple.

Writers (and publishers) are therefore taking any notion of cultural insensitivity very seriously indeed.

Witness the furore over JK Rowling’s recent ‘History of Magic in North America’, which was published online as a bonus read for Harry Potter fans. It explored old myths and beliefs, including ‘The Legends of the Native American skinwalker’, which attracted comments such as:

My ancestors didn’t survive colonisation so you could use our culture as a convenient prop

A pro-insider’s view

The following website is strongly in favour of ‘Sensitivity Readers’, and talks about the perils of ‘systemic oppression’ (point 9), ‘oppression in the public consciousness’ (point 8) and ‘internalised oppression’ (point 3).

However, I would point out, as a white English male, that I no longer feel oppressed by the fact that England used to be a colony of the Roman Empire….I mean, after all, what have the Romans ever done for us ?!

So, what next?

Where does this all end though? Just think how many classic novels would not have been written had they been put through the wringer of ‘Sensitivity Readers’:

• Nabokov’s Lolita – underage sex….need I say more!
• To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee – racism in the Deep South
• ….and any Ian Fleming novel about James Bond – racial stereotyping of villains, violence, degredation of women

The fact is, when somebody is employed specifically to ‘take umbrage’ at anything which is written which could be deemed to be un-politically correct, the chances are that they will over-react, over-correct, and as a result, mainstream authors will over-compensate.

It would be a sad day indeed, if writers become so afraid of causing offence, that they cease to prompt a discussion

The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship

– George Bernard Shaw