Amazon’s Unexpected Promiscuity

Recently Amazon has come under fire for the algorithms used to filter their search engines. If one is to type “homosexuality in books,” Amazon users are provided with A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality as the top-ranking book in that category.

As the first book to be advertised, and a controversial one at that, it has unsurprisingly accumulated a large number of reviews. Out of 102 reviewers 46 gave it a five stars rating, marginally beating the one star rating given by 41. Reviewers only slightly deviate between the titles “Sick” and "Sick...” when naming the headline of their posts, but every now and then a title such as, “Excellent book, very informative!” pops up in between.

Amazon has long been an essential platform among book publishers, fostering book sales of a wide array of genres. So an algorithm inflicted with a case of homophobia is a Big Deal. And perhaps that’s why last week, at the Berlin International Literature Festival, Canadian, Argentine-born author Alberto Manguel labeled “the American publishing industry…one of the worst and most dangerous things that has happened to the works of art and literature.”

So Amazon’s newfound sexual exploration, in the form of “Kindlerotica”, comes as a surprise when juxtaposed to their narrow-minded stance on “homosexual literature”. Last week, Slate magazine published an article by James Ledbetter—“The Strange but Inevitable Rise of E-reader Pornography”—singling out the unprecedented influence Amazon has had on this genre. Ledbetter observes, “The Kindle…pushes Amazon over the line from mere enabler of erotica to promoter and producer.”

In fact, Amazon frequently advertises free downloads in an effort to promote new authors. During the month of September, Compromising Positions was the number one downloaded E-book, (the provided description warns possible downloader’s, “Kama Sutra isn’t for the prudish or faint of heart, and neither is this story”). However, this a relatively better choice in comparison to another featured offer Office Slave, a slightly varying version of erotic fiction except targeted towards a dominantly male audience (also casually classified under the “emotionally uncommitted genre”)—And yes, Office Slave is a self-explanatory title.

Amazon's peddling of free adult-themed literature continues unbeknownst to the their conservative consumer base. Amazon may be trying their hand to cater to their extensively diverse audience, but it won’t be long before someone realizes they're being two-timed.