In banning and challenging books, what is the definition of "anti-family"?

Question

As Banned Books Week draws to a close, I've been visiting the American Library Association's website, and I noticed that two of this year's most challenged books are "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler, citing anti-family as one of the reasons.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm#mfcb

Scroll down to the background information, and I read there have been 202 anti-family challenges between 1990 and 2000 and 211 anti-family challenges between 2000 and now. I'm a bit confused about this, and have found nothing when I put this in a search on Yahoo! Dictionary and Wikipedia.

So, how is anti-family defined in this case?

Also, I'm planning to write a novel about a cerebral palsic adult (like myself) who doesn't put much faith in family togetherness because of what he experienced in his life, and uses this to become a controversial radio host. What I'm talking about includes a father who was phyiscally and verbally abusive to him, yet he dotes on his three older sisters; his mother eventually takes him away from this when she divorces; a budding stepfamily that two of his sisters try to break up but fail; arguments about the spanking debate in high school (my protagonist is anti-spanking and this DOES NOT change when he eventually becomes a parent himself;) said sisters getting into abusive military marriages they won't leave, in which one is eventually killed (which is the basis of sibling fights;) and a marriage based on adultery throughout that he leaves despite objections, among all major things. Would this book eventually get challenged as being anti-family upon being published?

Answer 1

"Anti-family" is a "blanket designation/description" that pretty much covers anything the objectors don't like.
Some example include homosexuality, obscenity, sex outside of marriage, violence, etc.
"And Tango Makes Three" has been "challenged" so often because, according to the "challengers" it "promotes homosexuality."

"The Earth, My Butt and Other Round Things" has been "challenged" on the grounds of "sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group."

Answer 2

There really isn't one. Each community that decides to challenge a book decides so on its own. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things has won a ton of awards for YA literature. However, it portrays a dysfunctional family and a date rape and that I am sure is what is considered anti-family. If being dysfunctional was "anti-family", then my own family would be banned. Pax - C

Here is a list of the awards it has won.

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book

An American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

A YALSA Teens' Top Ten Book

Publishers Weekly Cuffie Award winner for Best Book Title

A Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Honor Book

An International Reading Association's Young Adults' Choice

2006 Volunteer State Book Award, third place finisher in the grade 7-12 category

A 2006 Nevada Young Readers' Award Nominee

A 2006 Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee

A Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee

A 2006-2007 Volunteer State Book Award Nominee

A 2006 Great Lakes Great Books Nominee

A 2005-2006 Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award Nominee

A 2006 South Carolina Association of School Librarians Book Award Nominee

An Amelia Bloomer Project Selection

A Pennsylvania School Librarians Association YA Top Forty Fiction Titles


I think that list kind of speaks for itself. The book is a great book that offers a very positive self image for young women.

Answer 3

Book Banning Definition

Answer 4

Some antis are ok. They pretty much want the same thing I do. Some really are racist and you can tell by their cut and paste articles coz their from a certain David Dukes website. Those I figured out a long time ago. Those I don't have any respect for. The other ones just want organized immigration and you can't hold that against them coz their right.

Answer 5

Anti-family to censors like these means anything that is not a traditional family meaning just one mother, one father, and at least one child. Single parents, same-sex parents, divorced parents, etc. are considered anti-family by these fools.