Reading is Political

did you understand The Hunger Games?

In light of the horrifying election news in America, many people have been getting on BookTok and posting ignorant posts containing the phrases “Reading isn’t political” and “BookTok is not PoliticTok, keep politics out of bookish spaces”. Quite frankly, these are stupid takes.

If you have not already seen the post, or you are just not on BookTok in general, there is a video going around right now of a white woman talking about how it bothers her that people are blocking or unfollowing other creators because of who they voted for, and that politics have been making their way into BookTok. Now, there is a lot I can say that has already been said, but I fear it must be reiterated to educate people who may hold the same views or are not sure why books are inherently political.

First of all, people have the right to be upset at those who voted for Trump. They are allowed to unfollow creators who voted for him and are allowed to make videos about it. I do not understand how you can get onto a platform and genuinely think that this is a matter of “differing opinions” as if that man does not want to take away the rights of many people. News flash, people are going to be upset that you voted for a man that is a convicted felon and rapist.

Life is political. Books are political. Your very existence is political whether you know/like it or not. Choosing to stay silent is political. Choosing to stay “neutral” is political. Do you get it?

Second, saying that a bookish space should be void of politics is unrealistic and impossible. The very act of reading is political. Historically, the act of reading and writing was kept from certain demographics of people to keep them uneducated and as a way to hold power over them. Why do you think women and girls in Afghanistan are not allowed to go to school anymore? Why do you think Israel has targeted every single school, university, and library in Gaza?

Books contain politics. Books do not exist in a vacuum separate from reality. Authors are influenced by their environment and their own views, whether consciously or subconsciously. Yes, even those dark romance smut books. Women were not allowed to read publicly, never mind a smut book out in public.

I find it hilarious and quite hypocritical for these bookish creators to come on here and say reading is not political yet they will promote books like Babel, Legendborn, The Poppy War, The Hunger Games, and yes, even the atrocity A Court of Thorns and Roses. Books are being banned across America, librarians are being attacked, and libraries are underfunded. A library in my city is being turned into a luxury hotel. If you are still hesitant, ask yourself why these events are happening.

I could go on and on about this particular subject of books being political, but I am not sure how else I can make my point any clearer. There is a history to these things. Getting on TikTok and asking for people to keep politics out of their space is tone-deaf. How privileged you have to be to ask people to ignore the state of the world for your own comfort.

Thirdly, I will always hate the phrase, “I read for escapism” because of how people use it. Yes, reading is a way to escape reality and I do it as well. But if that is all that you are doing, there’s a problem. If you turn your brain off to read so much that it just never comes back on, that’s a problem. Books being political does not mean they are not enjoyable. Again, something I will never understand is people thinking that books being political = no fun. I’m using The Hunger Games as a main example because it is probably one of the most popular books that contains such blatant political messaging; were these books not enjoyable to read? Were the movies boring? Maybe they were to some people, but it’s a popular series for a reason.

Some of my all-time favourite books like The Sword of Kaigen, The Grace of Kings, Legendborn, Against the Loveless World, My Brilliant Friend, Babel, etc., have political themes. However, these books are amazing. They had me flying through them having the best (and worst, I sobbed from reading a couple of these) time. Not wanting to read about/from other perspectives is so boring and lame. Why wouldn’t you want to take in every type of story possible? Why would you limit yourself?

When these people say they “read for escapism” they mean that they don’t want to have to think about how their privilege affects other people and that their choice in who they voted for affects the people around them. So no, I and other people will not be keeping politics out of bookish spaces. If you want to stay ignorant and read problematic authors, fine, that’s on you. But don’t ask people to silence themselves for the sake of your own comfort.