poooorn [and disclaimers] *____*
Dec. 21st, 2006 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaYou know, as a caveat, I understand why 'the public' needs protecting from certain kinds of information-- information they think they want, but they'd overreact to, would panic & be irrational about. Though I still think that info should be -available- and out there if you jump through enough hoops/are seriously interested.
That said, if you happen to go to the Good Vibrations website (which is a sex-toy shop), they ask you if you're over 18, and if you click no, they point you to teen sex-health websites & online magazines. Which... y'know, is good (them existing), and yeah, I know it's Teh Law, okay, but at the same time I'm like '...I don't remember needing specialized and/or dumbed down info when I was 16'. -.-
In general, sometimes I feel pretty alone in my utter not caring about whether someone under 18 reads my OMG(!!) HP pr0n (likewise about the rare occasions I actually draw some).
I'm not -positive- about it, I'm not negative about it, I'm not scared of it & I'm not happy-- I just don't care (though I like feedback). I mean, to me what matters is whether you-the-reader like and/or understand the fic, not whether you're 'ready' for it-- I mean, why should I be the one judging others' readiness? Your mental scarring or lack thereof is not my business, outside my putting labels on things :P
(And to get back to Teh Law-- ummm, I haven't heard of an individual prosecution based on a NC-17 fanfic yet; at most, even with archives, they seem to send Cease and Desist letters, so. What are they gonna do?? I'll worry if and when I know the answer to that in specific, definite terms.)
I was thinking, also, of YA and children's lit & stuff, and my liking it-- and I think of it more as 'stuff most adults aren't interested in 'cause they suck' rather than 'stuff that's limited to young adults and their tiny, tiny little undeveloped brains that can't handle the Real Hard Stuff'. Basically, I have no respect for the supposed lofty heights in judgment of 'adulthood'; I mean, maturity is good (mostly), but has nothing to do with age, really. Age itself? Zeeeeero respect, baby. ZERO.
The other thing is that... uh... I was a perverse little girl at 12 (ie, when I first became consciously interested in sex). But both before and after that, I just didn't read stuff that was 'too hardcore' or 'too detailed' or 'too weird'; it's like, extreme horror/violence-- yeah, any minor contact with that could seriously disturb/traumatize me when I was younger & even now. But sex?? IS NOT TRAUMATIC (...unless you mean walking in on your parents or like, extreme body-mod & S&M or something... but then this isn't about age either); at least, it's not traumatic if you have parents/teachers/friends able and willing to discuss any issues/questions you have reasonably and offer you techniques and ways to avoid any content that squicks you or is actually dangerous (like uh, kink chatrooms on irc-- 'cause information & pretty pictures? Aren't scary. People are.)
I just... reeeeeally hate the idea of writing pr0n in the first place if you think it's 'dirty' & 'just for adults' 'cause teenagers are oh-so-pure or whatever (especially if you're WRITING SMUT about teenagers... like, uh, many people in HP). I get the 'covering your ass' thing (though I don't find it necessary to the extent it's done), but I seriously feel like a lot of times it just goes into non-sex-positive territory, I guess. Soooort of the way people have their disclaimers say 'don't read slash if you FIND TWO MEN TOGETHER OFFENSIVE'. WTF??! As if it's remotely acceptable to feel that way :/ As if it's some kind of okay 'lifestyle choice' to be a homophobic asshole. Riiiiight.
...Me, I'd say if you find homosexuality offensive, you should practice walking into doors & falling down, okay? How's that for a disclaimer? I'd just delete the hatemail and laugh. :/
That said, if you happen to go to the Good Vibrations website (which is a sex-toy shop), they ask you if you're over 18, and if you click no, they point you to teen sex-health websites & online magazines. Which... y'know, is good (them existing), and yeah, I know it's Teh Law, okay, but at the same time I'm like '...I don't remember needing specialized and/or dumbed down info when I was 16'. -.-
In general, sometimes I feel pretty alone in my utter not caring about whether someone under 18 reads my OMG(!!) HP pr0n (likewise about the rare occasions I actually draw some).
I'm not -positive- about it, I'm not negative about it, I'm not scared of it & I'm not happy-- I just don't care (though I like feedback). I mean, to me what matters is whether you-the-reader like and/or understand the fic, not whether you're 'ready' for it-- I mean, why should I be the one judging others' readiness? Your mental scarring or lack thereof is not my business, outside my putting labels on things :P
(And to get back to Teh Law-- ummm, I haven't heard of an individual prosecution based on a NC-17 fanfic yet; at most, even with archives, they seem to send Cease and Desist letters, so. What are they gonna do?? I'll worry if and when I know the answer to that in specific, definite terms.)
I was thinking, also, of YA and children's lit & stuff, and my liking it-- and I think of it more as 'stuff most adults aren't interested in 'cause they suck' rather than 'stuff that's limited to young adults and their tiny, tiny little undeveloped brains that can't handle the Real Hard Stuff'. Basically, I have no respect for the supposed lofty heights in judgment of 'adulthood'; I mean, maturity is good (mostly), but has nothing to do with age, really. Age itself? Zeeeeero respect, baby. ZERO.
The other thing is that... uh... I was a perverse little girl at 12 (ie, when I first became consciously interested in sex). But both before and after that, I just didn't read stuff that was 'too hardcore' or 'too detailed' or 'too weird'; it's like, extreme horror/violence-- yeah, any minor contact with that could seriously disturb/traumatize me when I was younger & even now. But sex?? IS NOT TRAUMATIC (...unless you mean walking in on your parents or like, extreme body-mod & S&M or something... but then this isn't about age either); at least, it's not traumatic if you have parents/teachers/friends able and willing to discuss any issues/questions you have reasonably and offer you techniques and ways to avoid any content that squicks you or is actually dangerous (like uh, kink chatrooms on irc-- 'cause information & pretty pictures? Aren't scary. People are.)
I just... reeeeeally hate the idea of writing pr0n in the first place if you think it's 'dirty' & 'just for adults' 'cause teenagers are oh-so-pure or whatever (especially if you're WRITING SMUT about teenagers... like, uh, many people in HP). I get the 'covering your ass' thing (though I don't find it necessary to the extent it's done), but I seriously feel like a lot of times it just goes into non-sex-positive territory, I guess. Soooort of the way people have their disclaimers say 'don't read slash if you FIND TWO MEN TOGETHER OFFENSIVE'. WTF??! As if it's remotely acceptable to feel that way :/ As if it's some kind of okay 'lifestyle choice' to be a homophobic asshole. Riiiiight.
...Me, I'd say if you find homosexuality offensive, you should practice walking into doors & falling down, okay? How's that for a disclaimer? I'd just delete the hatemail and laugh. :/
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-22 06:10 am (UTC)I guess it's hard for me to draw the line between what's 'practical' paranoia & what's stuff people actually believe, but I do try. I myself feel so strongly about this that I would fight people earnestly if they wanted to make trouble, 'cause there's only so much they can realistically do, anyway. I dunno, my point was that a truly 'enlightened' parent wouldn't punish their kid because they wouldn't have a problem with them reading porn. I mean, how is it enlightened to have that sort of problem? It sounds prudish and repressed to me, considering the reality of when kids get interested in that stuff & whether merely knowing about it is traumatic. ^^; I mean, it's not like porn = unprotected sex & date-rape and teen pregnancy. It's exactly that attitude that's unenlightened. I know me saying 'well, society in general is wrong and repressed and sucky-- yeah, I mean you soccer moms over there' is sort of pointless, but I'm just impractical (...and vaguely belligerent) like that :>
What I was saying is, umm, it's not really related to the boss-finding-out problem if things are disclaimered? Like, would the boss care if it was disclaimered 'don't read if you're under 18' or not, or just that it was there/online/written at all? So it's fine to go ahead and lock everything you think is dangerous, but to lock it to people over 18 is a different thing.