Research Paper: Sexual Censorship (please vote)

[jread]

Hello everyone 🙂

I'm working on a research paper for a course I'm taking that deals with the topic of "Sexual Censorship" and how it affects our society. We've all be told, "Cover your eyes!" by our parents and the T.V. is always blurring out the "good stuff". Do you think this is truly necessary or is it an infringement on our rights? Do you think that if we stopped censoring sexual material on TV and movies that it would really have a negative effect on our society? There are many countries in the rest of the world who are more open about sexual themes and it does not seem to effect them in a negative way. Does our "prudishness" in the United States contribute to unnecessary sexual repression which ends up causing more rapes and other sexual crimes?

Please vote in the poll and feel free to post your thoughts. Your input is most-appreciated!

 

[BigToque]

I think the problem in our society is that almost everything is marketed around sex. There is nothing wrong with nudity and there is nothing wrong with showing nudity in non-sexual contexts.

Children are succeptable to images of violence and sexual situations. I think that images that glorify these things are not wrong, and I don't think it is the networks responsibility to be parents to the children who might see the content.

I do not think that content needs to be sensored, but I do think that networks should wisely choose what time of the day to show graphic material. I think most networks should play their graphic material after something like 9 or 10PM.

For situations like news stations, you can't really control what the latest breaking news is, and this is the kind of situation where parents need to be making sure they know what their kids are watching. The media often sensationalizes what's going on and kids can be heavily influenced my the media ("it's the news so it has to be right").

One thing that I like is the idea of the V-chip in TV's. THe parent sets a level of acceptable content and every program is encoded with a rating level. If the level of the program exceeds that of the TV, the program isn't displayed.

Basically, I don't believe in censorship. It is the parents and the responsibilty of those who look after the children (teachers, etc) to determine what is acceptable for the kids to see, but the networks certainly shouldn't be going out of their way to show Debbie Does Dallas at 3:30PM when the kids get out of school just because they can.

 

[yukichigai]

No, but with a caveat(sp?).

I don't think sexually explicit media should be overtly censored. I think we as viewers should have a right to know what programs may or may not contain, and as such be provided with tools to advise us that such content will be present so that we might avoid seeing it. A good example of this is the TV Ratings system, which has those letter-codes nobody pays attention to. (The "L" or "D" or etc. under TV-MA/PG/G/etc.) If you know how to read the codes you can know exactly what is on the programs, and can filter them out accordingly. (Either by turning off the TV or using that newfangled V-Chip doohickey)

I think there's an argument to be made that TV tech is evolving to a point where the FCC's outright censorship is no longer necessary. The idea behind the FCC's censorship was to protect you, the consumer, from material you might find offensive; now that TVs are being equipped with reliable, trustworthy means of blocking that offensive material on a per-consumer basis, those laws are becoming redundant.

As much as I hate censorship, I understand why it is still needed now, albeit temporarily. Transitions like this need to be made slowly, not instantly. (And the V-Chip tech isn't as pervasive as it needs to be for consumers to have truly convenient control over what they view) Once people begin to understand that censorship isn't leaving, just being put in their immediate control, then it will no longer be necessary at the federal level.

 

[NightTrain]

Originally posted by: Stefan
I do not think that content needs to be sensored, but I do think that networks should wisely choose what time of the day to show graphic material. I think most networks should play their graphic material after something like 9 or 10PM.

My kids like to watch American Idol and Funniest Videos. I like knowing there won't be porn on during the commercials. Call me old-fashioned.

 

[jread]

Thanks for the excellent responses so far!

 

[PingSpike]

I'm for boob shots on the network stations.

Oh, but they should only be on after 10.

 

[Malladine]

How valuable do you expect a poll taken on atot to be? 😉

 

[Gurck]

No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: NightTrain

Originally posted by: Stefan
I do not think that content needs to be sensored, but I do think that networks should wisely choose what time of the day to show graphic material. I think most networks should play their graphic material after something like 9 or 10PM.

My kids like to watch American Idol and Funniest Videos. I like knowing there won't be porn on during the commercials. Call me old-fashioned.

Unless I'm reading your post wrong, is AI and FV shown after 9 or 10?

I used those times only as an example that I think the graphic content should be shown when MOST kids have probably gone to sleep.

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

 

[AMDZen]

Censorship of any kind is wrong. Period.

Parents are just lazy and unwilling to accept and hold onto the responsibility they've been given as parents.

That is whats wrong with this country, not the violent movies, video games or sexual content. Its the parents.

 

[DAGTA]

Depends on the level of sexual content.

I have no problem with nudity. It's natural and I would rather any children I have in the future being exposed to nude people than seeing graphic violence. However, I don't believe people having sex should be shown casually on TV. That's fine for restricted (movie) channels and/or late night.

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Censorship of any kind is wrong. Period.

Parents are just lazy and unwilling to accept and hold onto the responsibility they've been given as parents.

That is whats wrong with this country, not the violent movies, video games or sexual content. Its the parents.

thats right, because the crap you see on the news or the brat you saw in the grocery store is representative of the majority of parents.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Censorship of any kind is wrong. Period.

Parents are just lazy and unwilling to accept and hold onto the responsibility they've been given as parents.

That is whats wrong with this country, not the violent movies, video games or sexual content. Its the parents.

While I agree with you that the majority of the problem is the parents. But censorship is needed in some instances. Do you want to be watching Americas funniest home videos, and they show a commerical for Anal gang bangers part 4: The gay revolution?

If there were no censorship, you wouldn't let your kids watch TV at all. Because even though the networks can regulate when something is aired, someone somewhere will pay enough money to have hardcore goat raping porn on in the middle of Seasame Street.

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

how are you limited? when, as an adult, have you been denied anything legal that you chose to seek out? you can get the hardest core porn you could ever dream about at anytime.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

how are you limited? when, as an adult, have you been denied anything legal that you chose to seek out? you can get the hardest core porn you could ever dream about at anytime.

Convenience and social acceptance are important factors. TBH I'm thinking more of censorship in general here than the sexual-related censorship the OP specified. For example the other day I caught about half of The Naked Gun on tv. One of the funniest parts, where Lt. Drebin accidentally takes a press conference microphone into the bathroom with him ( :laugh: ) was censored... for the kids :roll: Yes, I have the movie on DVD and could rent it if I didn't - but that's beside the point. I couldn't enjoy a serendipitous showing of the movie on TV.

I'm not suggesting gay pr0n commercials during TV showings of Disney movies or anything - simply the freedom for networks to air what they want, concurrent with the freedom for parents to know what would be shown and choose whether or not to let their tykes watch.

 

[imported_Reck]

sexual censorship=wrong
governing morality=wrong

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

how are you limited? when, as an adult, have you been denied anything legal that you chose to seek out? you can get the hardest core porn you could ever dream about at anytime.

Convenience and social acceptance are important factors. TBH I'm thinking more of censorship in general here than the sexual-related censorship the OP specified. For example the other day I caught about half of The Naked Gun on tv. One of the funniest parts, where Lt. Drebin accidentally takes a press conference microphone into the bathroom with him ( :laugh: ) was censored... for the kids :roll: Yes, I have the movie on DVD and could rent it if I didn't - but that's beside the point. I couldn't enjoy a serendipitous showing of the movie on TV.

I'm not suggesting gay pr0n commercials during TV showings of Disney movies or anything - simply the freedom for networks to air what they want, concurrent with the freedom for parents to know what would be shown and choose whether or not to let their tykes watch.

:thumbsup:

i agree. i think the ratings system and v-chip are about the best solution that can be implemented without resorting to censorship or a free for all. as long as parents have the tools, they have no excuse to not be on top of what little johnny may see on tv.

 

[Mucho]

Its my belief man is by nature irrational; therefore sexual censorship is fine with me because if we did not have it our milk store shelves will fill up with Barn Yard Love magazines.

 

[40Hands]

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

how are you limited? when, as an adult, have you been denied anything legal that you chose to seek out? you can get the hardest core porn you could ever dream about at anytime.

Convenience and social acceptance are important factors. TBH I'm thinking more of censorship in general here than the sexual-related censorship the OP specified. For example the other day I caught about half of The Naked Gun on tv. One of the funniest parts, where Lt. Drebin accidentally takes a press conference microphone into the bathroom with him ( :laugh: ) was censored... for the kids :roll: Yes, I have the movie on DVD and could rent it if I didn't - but that's beside the point. I couldn't enjoy a serendipitous showing of the movie on TV.

I'm not suggesting gay pr0n commercials during TV showings of Disney movies or anything - simply the freedom for networks to air what they want, concurrent with the freedom for parents to know what would be shown and choose whether or not to let their tykes watch.

:thumbsup:

i agree. i think the ratings system and v-chip are about the best solution that can be implemented without resorting to censorship or a free for all. as long as parents have the tools, they have no excuse to not be on top of what little johnny may see on tv.

Great points but unfortunately the Parents Television Council account for 99% of the FCC complaints. Which hinders the content freedom of television stations. :roll:

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Censorship of any kind is wrong. Period.

Parents are just lazy and unwilling to accept and hold onto the responsibility they've been given as parents.

That is whats wrong with this country, not the violent movies, video games or sexual content. Its the parents.

While I agree with you that the majority of the problem is the parents. But censorship is needed in some instances. Do you want to be watching Americas funniest home videos, and they show a commerical for Anal gang bangers part 4: The gay revolution?

If there were no censorship, you wouldn't let your kids watch TV at all. Because even though the networks can regulate when something is aired, someone somewhere will pay enough money to have hardcore goat raping porn on in the middle of Seasame Street.

I agree. But I think common sense dictates where the line should be drawn. The only reason I have the "extreme" stance that I do is because I can imagine where the censorship we do have is going to lead. All of the ruccuss (sp?) being caused over GTA, all of the kids stealing cars and Rockstar Games picking up the cheque. These are the problems I see leading to censorship of all video games, that are like this any way.

God of War is a god example, it has some very tasteful "in my mind" nudity and sexual situations. Well only one, but this game has an M rating. Anything, and any game with an M rating should contain anything it wants inside of it. Some game about raping goats isn't going to sell, but if it does - by all means sell it. The fact is that people don't look at that M rating and sell God of War to the 12 yo who wants it, and the parents complain. Well, where the hell were you then mom.

My point is that its the responsibility of the people - the parents mostly - but if they need to shift some to the game companies, the tv networks, the video distributors, hollywood, and the stores this media is sold in - fine. Make a mature section in Best Buy for these games, movies and music - they already do this for Movies at Blockbuster, so why not video games? Then, where the parents fail (as they do and will continue to) the stores can had some added protection. Its complete and total common sense that your not going to sell the 12 yo the latest Eminem album and GTA for the PS2. All these people need to do is look at the ratings.

As far as TV, once again its common sense. There are parents out there with Cinemax and HBO who don't pay enough attention to their kids but these channels still exist. On the local channels here in Denver, all I see late at night are commercials selling some "Gay Men personal dating service" crap. But I don't complain. I don't want to see that crap at all, this is not San Francisco but this IS America. I can put up with things like that because thats what this country is. The same common sense should and WOULD be practiced if there were ever anal sex commercials. Each station will have its own agenda this way, and yes, there might be some channels that your kids can't watch AT ALL. So be it. Thats what America is.

 

[eakers]

I think that sexual and violent content should be shown late at night. I'm sorry but sexual commercials and movies do not belong on saturday morning television when kids are likely to be flipping through the channels

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: BroeBo

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: shimsham

Originally posted by: Gurck
No to censorship. If you choose to breed, it's your responsibility to raise the little monsters - not mine. I find it disgusting that I must live in a G-rated society because parents by and large refuse to accept responsibility for their choice.

how do we live in a g-rated society? all the sex/porn/nudity you could ever ask for is readily available to anyone that wants it.

edit: and i think you have it backwards. the vast majority of parents do take responsibilty for their children and raise them with ethics and discipline. dont let the small minority cloud your view.

You're right, I guess I should rephrase - As an adult I feel I shouldn't be limited whatsoever by what parents consider ok for their kids. It's also a slippery slope, especially with His Holiness in the oval office - what's next, shall we outlaw bars because kids might sneak out and go to one? Outlaw sex? It seems no measure is too great "to protect our children" (ie. to give into parents' laziness). If the majority of parents took responsibility for their choice to procreate our society would be vastly different than it is.

how are you limited? when, as an adult, have you been denied anything legal that you chose to seek out? you can get the hardest core porn you could ever dream about at anytime.

Convenience and social acceptance are important factors. TBH I'm thinking more of censorship in general here than the sexual-related censorship the OP specified. For example the other day I caught about half of The Naked Gun on tv. One of the funniest parts, where Lt. Drebin accidentally takes a press conference microphone into the bathroom with him ( :laugh: ) was censored... for the kids :roll: Yes, I have the movie on DVD and could rent it if I didn't - but that's beside the point. I couldn't enjoy a serendipitous showing of the movie on TV.

I'm not suggesting gay pr0n commercials during TV showings of Disney movies or anything - simply the freedom for networks to air what they want, concurrent with the freedom for parents to know what would be shown and choose whether or not to let their tykes watch.

:thumbsup:

i agree. i think the ratings system and v-chip are about the best solution that can be implemented without resorting to censorship or a free for all. as long as parents have the tools, they have no excuse to not be on top of what little johnny may see on tv.

Great points but unfortunately the Parents Television Council account for 99% of the FCC complaints. Which hinders the content freedom of television stations. :roll:

the ptc is and activist group and doesnt speak for all parents, just as the black panthers do not speak for all black people. its hard to make a judgement without reading the complaints, but i think it would be safe to assume that many are frivilous and overboard with the complaints. id be more inclined to lay equal amount of blame on the ftc for allowing themselves to be swayed by the ptc instead of governing by the guidelines.

but, if the ftc is governing by "communtiy guidelines", and the only community they are hearing is the ptc, then what are they supposed to do?

 

[JujuFish]

I believe local channels should be consored. As for cable, you're paying money. You should get what you want. And as for those who don't want it, most people have a way of blocking those channels from their children.