As some of you may have read, Amazon.com has begun pulling the sales rank numbers from several gay and lesbian books, claiming that the books are "adult" and should be excluded from some searches and lists. You can also do a search on Twitter for "amazonfail" to see the plethora of stories and posts about this issue.
The problem with this approach, other than the obvious decision that because a book deals with GBLT issues it must be "adult", is that it's also completely and utterly inconsistent. Books such as autobiographies of Ellen Degeneres and Melissa Etheridge, along with books about the history of homosexuality and a biography of Harvey Milk are flagged, while other books, like the Anarchist's Cookbook, autobiographies by Ron Jeremy and Traci Lords, nude photography books, Playboy coffee table books, and "A Parent's Guide To Preventing Homosexuality" retain their sales ranks.
The sales rankings matter because they affect search results drastically. Amazon.com is in essence manipulating the search results for books in a highly discriminatory way, and it's completely despicable.
I did some digging and discovered some additional products that are also being excluded by Amazon:
- Sensual lubrication with the flavors of pineapple, cherry, or guava
- Both the largest and peewee size Durex condoms
- Kittens
- Any movie with C. Thomas Howell in it
- The Shamwow
- Used copies of "The Da Vinci Code" that are sold from stores in Kentucky
- Red staplers
- The Kundle, a Croatian competitor to the Kindle
- Havarti cheese
- Any product from any store that has the word "allegory" in the title or description
- The Stink-No-Mor cat litterbox cleaner
- "Paul Blart, Mall Cop"
- The KOHLER K-10433-VS Forte Single Control Pullout Kitchen Sink Faucet with Color-Matched Sprayhead and Lever Handle
- Any brand of platinum grillz, and, finally,
- The Book of Mormon
Before, it might have just been a mild annoyance, but after seeing this new list, it's a total outrage! Maybe if Jeff Bezos read my inspirational Bible verses for Easter from yesterday's post, he wouldn't be treading down such a dark and evil path!
