Is Banning A Book Okay When It’s This Offensive?

The Obedient Wives Club is a group of women in Malaysia who tell women they should be whores to their husbands in order to keep them. The group created a lot of controversy this summer when it first began. Now it has published a sex book called Islamic Sex that is being banned by the Malaysian government.

Islamic Sex teaches women how to be “a good sex worker” for their husbands. It instructs couples on how to approach sex both physically and spiritually. It contains no graphic pictures, but the government has decided to ban the book because people may confuse it for religious teachings. Anyone caught with the book could be fined or even thrown in jail for making copies.

There is no doubt that this book is offensive. Many Malaysian women have criticized the club for trying to send them back to ancient gender roles they have fought hard to overcome. But does that mean it should be banned? Is banning an offensive book like this a good thing or does it infringe on freedoms of speech?

Freedom of speech is necessary for a society, but it does have its downfalls. Not all speech is speech you want to hear. Being able to voice your opinions freely means that you have to let the hateful, sexist, prejudiced speech free as well. It is a necessary trade-off. Sure, I would love to silence the groups that carry around “god hates gays” signs. But if they weren’t allowed to speak freely than what’s to stop someone else from silencing me?

In order for freedom to exist everyone has to be free, even the ones you don’t agree with. In this way no book should be banned, even one written by the offensive Obedient Wives Club.

Contact the author here: jennY@morningquickie.com