RosaGirl200
Well-known member
I think you can be a feminist and choose not to support someone who is openly transphobic. I wouldn't have any issue personally with any booktuber deciding to back away from JKR considering her harmful views.
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secretalphabets
Active member
This might be a good place to start if you're genuinely interested. There have been many more examples since. She just funded a Scottish charity for victims of violence which explicitly excludes trans women, she's made her position very clear. There's a whole section on her Wikipedia page as well. I don't doubt that she feels strongly about women's rights, unfortunately she also seems to feel that trans women somehow devalue her identity.
Coffeeismysoul
Member
What I find hilarious about booktubers is that they're such a fucking bunch of gossip and they dish out each other's dirt behind each other's backs.While I’m here, Jen calling her partner “Mr. M” is annoying too. You’re a booktuber, not an MI5 agent. I don’t think saying his first name will be compromising state secrets
From what I was told, Mr. M is one of the top lawyers working on BREXIT legalities with the government.
How do I know? Because one of her booktube besties told a bunch of us as a boast (going on about how Jen was "made" and telling us why it was so easy for her to read all day and just write books and live in London because she's a "kept woman"). The jealousy of this booktuber telling us was so intense. She clearly resented Jen for her lifestyle. But then, ironically, appeared in one of her photos on insta a few months later.
Oh, and the hilarity of it all. We were just a bunch of retail workers standing behind a til in a shop. She also told us Mr. M's name, but I'm not here to dox a guy who clearly wants his life to remain private.
Booktiubers can't even trust their "best friends". It's so fake. They're all just circlejerking and using each other for followers and legs up in the industry (especially booktubers who are wannabe writers. Just saying.)
queenamber
VIP Member
RosaGirl200
Well-known member
If you drank every time DrinkingByMyShelf mentioned her girlfriend in her videos, you'd be passed out by the end of each one. I'm delighted she has someone but she talks about her so much for someone who doesn't really want the viewers to know about her.
queenamber
VIP Member
He says from his entire room of unread books
boopthatnose
Chatty Member
Is there any bigger ick than Simon Savidge and his endless industry brown nosing, social climbing and professional begging. Imagine being his age and in his position and posting a request for birthday presents like that, in front of a whacking great pile of things you already got for free. His reviews are so banal that it wouldn't surprise me if it came out that he couldn't even read at all and this was all a ruse. I bet he's not read half of what he already owns. I know he isn't the only one profiteering off of viewers or behaving like an entitled prat but he's everything that's wrong with Booktube for me.
Sorry to ramble on but I'd love to see some of these people doing a sort through of books to donate to better causes, or suggest viewers donate a book to someone/somewhere in need for their birthdays. There are plenty of Amazon wishlists for women's shelters, school donation schemes etc. All of our local independent bookshops have some sort of charitable scheme where you can buy a book for a local school. One I visited recently has a board where customers can donate a few pounds or a cost of a book and that voucher is pinned to a board that customers can take no questions asked if they are struggling for money. Another a few towns over recently did an instagram callout for donations for books for a free reading area in their backroom that they've cleared out and made use of for the community and they were inundated with books so were able to let children take them home to keep. It really isn't difficult, he just doesn't want to do it. The passion is the notoriety and the money, not the love of reading.
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One thing I do find interesting about Lauren is that on the one hand she seems to actually read what she fancies and doesn't seem overly bothered if it's uncool or not current, and then spends the rest of her time virtue signalling with books about race or gender that she never offers any meaningful commentary on or absolutely pans books if she detects any perceived themes against feminism or commentary on womens size and weight but then will say her favourite books are things like Bridget Jones' Diary, which is the OG anti-fat womens fiction. Never makes much sense to me.
Sorry to ramble on but I'd love to see some of these people doing a sort through of books to donate to better causes, or suggest viewers donate a book to someone/somewhere in need for their birthdays. There are plenty of Amazon wishlists for women's shelters, school donation schemes etc. All of our local independent bookshops have some sort of charitable scheme where you can buy a book for a local school. One I visited recently has a board where customers can donate a few pounds or a cost of a book and that voucher is pinned to a board that customers can take no questions asked if they are struggling for money. Another a few towns over recently did an instagram callout for donations for books for a free reading area in their backroom that they've cleared out and made use of for the community and they were inundated with books so were able to let children take them home to keep. It really isn't difficult, he just doesn't want to do it. The passion is the notoriety and the money, not the love of reading.
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Hopefully all is well but I do wonder if she's a bit stumped because she hasn't (that I'm aware of) really read any of the longlist so would struggle to put anything worthwhile together. I wonder if she's desperately trying to get some of them read so she can get in there in time for the shortlist.
One thing I do find interesting about Lauren is that on the one hand she seems to actually read what she fancies and doesn't seem overly bothered if it's uncool or not current, and then spends the rest of her time virtue signalling with books about race or gender that she never offers any meaningful commentary on or absolutely pans books if she detects any perceived themes against feminism or commentary on womens size and weight but then will say her favourite books are things like Bridget Jones' Diary, which is the OG anti-fat womens fiction. Never makes much sense to me.
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queenamber
VIP Member
While I’m here, Jen calling her partner “Mr. M” is annoying too. You’re a booktuber, not an MI5 agent. I don’t think saying his first name will be compromising state secrets
queenamber
VIP Member
Me @ Lauren and the Books:
Hobbitsies
Well-known member
It annoys me so much they pitch it when it doesn’t ship here. Books and lala always refused the sponsorship until the shipped to Canada and I respected that so much.
Coffeeismysoul
Member
I'm not going to lie, but the female book tubers calling themselves queer when they've never dated a woman kissed a woman or slept with a woman or gender non-conforming person really angers me because they're clearly just trying to make themselves a minority because they're ridiculously privileged. I don't know about Jen but she's been with her husband since she was 18, so she has very unlikely to have had a long-term relationship with anyone other than a man, and Jean definitely hasn't ever been with a woman.
I know this comes off as gate-keepy because their sexuality is their sexuality and that's valid - they may genuinely find other people of the same gender (or NB) attractive, but you've had ZERO lived experience of actually being queer and open - you've never experienced being in a queer relationship and the social hurdles and prejudices that comes along with that -- and yet you profit from making it part of your identity over and over again!? It just screams, "I'm special too, I'm not that privileged, I swear," without actually having to experience any of the prejudices aligned with that marginalization. You can be queer, but it just annoys me when people make it part of their personality and an actual selling point (Jean's using it to publish books for crying out loud) when they haven't lived the experience to clearly soften their heaving privilege.
I know this comes off as gate-keepy because their sexuality is their sexuality and that's valid - they may genuinely find other people of the same gender (or NB) attractive, but you've had ZERO lived experience of actually being queer and open - you've never experienced being in a queer relationship and the social hurdles and prejudices that comes along with that -- and yet you profit from making it part of your identity over and over again!? It just screams, "I'm special too, I'm not that privileged, I swear," without actually having to experience any of the prejudices aligned with that marginalization. You can be queer, but it just annoys me when people make it part of their personality and an actual selling point (Jean's using it to publish books for crying out loud) when they haven't lived the experience to clearly soften their heaving privilege.
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Millennial Pink
VIP Member
Not loving the new batch of UK booktubers shilling US book of the month and not even disclosing the ad properly.
considering what JK said was NOT transphobic then its just jumping on a bangwagon imo, as a lot of the booktuber community is very pro trans stuff
I’m yet to see someone point out exactly what JK has said that was transphobic rather than advocating for womens rights.
TheTinyHuman
Active member
I still cannot understand booktubers who live in the UK who do a sponsor with book of the month. Surely many of their audience cannot even get it?
pisses me off when she gets on her high horse about feminism and then dismisses JK rowling.Lauren and the books the so-called feminist saying “I’m a wife now”
you’re not feminist or female supporter if you actively hate on JK imo
I really dislike videos where people just read the blurbs of books out loud like I’m in primary school or something (I’m looking at you laurenandthebooks with her library haul).
Can they not just give a quick summary based off what they read of the blurb instead of just reading it word for word.
Can they not just give a quick summary based off what they read of the blurb instead of just reading it word for word.
blossombloss
Chatty Member
I feel this way about Jen and Jean. But like you I didn't want to gate-keep. To my knowledge, both have only dated cis het men / been in relationships with. So yes of course they are queer if that is how they identify, but it sounds so disingenuous to keep going on about queer lit etc when you've never experienced any of the prejudice/seems like you never will. Especially because otherwise they are both priviledged. Jen of course has her own prejudices she has to experience. But the queer stuff always sits weird with me with those two.
lucylocket22
Member
queenamber
VIP Member
I think Barry will always get off on being different and causing chaos. You could tell him the sky is blue and he'd write a piece saying it's orange. Sort of love him for ruffling so many feathers.
Just watched Simon's predictions for the Women's Prize where he went on about how he didn't know much about some of the books because he likes going in blind.
Well how can you predict they'll be longlisted if you know nothing about them and haven't read them!?
Talk about using the Women's Prize as click bait. The video should have just been titled "16 books by female authors I want to read this month"
Well how can you predict they'll be longlisted if you know nothing about them and haven't read them!?
Talk about using the Women's Prize as click bait. The video should have just been titled "16 books by female authors I want to read this month"