Censorship In Judy Blume's Novels

Today more than ever, a plethora of information can be accessed with the click of a button. No longer must libraries and newspapers dictate the media one receives; the internet and broadened literary horizons have created a more well-informed and open-minded generation than in previous years. Without help from authors and political movements, however, the rampant censorship that once controlled the viewpoints and lives of average Americans in the past may still be in tact. Directly contributing to this, Judy Blume challenged censorship throughout her career by consistently describing taboo topics such as puberty, hormones, bodily insecurities, and much more in her novels aimed towards adolescents. Before her contributions to the young adult genre, literature written for teenagers did not discuss the issues teens face as bluntly or as realistically. As a result of her candid portrayals, however, Blume faced a significant amount of backlash against her writing and overall character. Regardless, Blume persevered and retained her uniquely frank illustrations of adolescent life, contributing as to why her novels remain so popular roughly 45 years later. A common theme throughout the majority of Blume’s more popular works is the powerful tool of addressing taboo issues in a new, informal light. This

However, her novels were often victimized by proscription regardless, being removed from public libraries alongside Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits (1982) and Maya Angelou’s autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Even though “Censorship of feminist writings is as unpredictable as the whims of politics, social conservatism, and religious zealotry,” Blumes continuously fights this uphill battle until adolescents can relate to her many memorable characters safely (Snodgrass “censorship and feminist