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censorship
Jul. 18th, 2025 03:10 pmmaaaan, not you too, Steam. though it's really the credit card companies, but we can't just let fascists wearing "oh but we're feminist" pins dictate what can and can't be shown in art. They wanna shut down Detroit Become Human. Not a literary masterpiece, I'll admit, but depictions of domestic violence are *important* to be shown in art, because we need to be able to recognize them when they happen. Understanding of assault would be a whole lot worse if we weren't allowed to talk about it.
Separately, people are prioritizing feeling comfortable over literally anything else, which is a problem, because it lends itself well to fascism. Probably part of the point, but still. "Your (ethnic or lgbtq+ etc) existence makes me uncomfortable, you should stop doing that. Or at least you're existing as part of x group wrong and you need to conform."
Life isn't always comfortable! Talking to other people, doing taxes, going to the doctor or the dentist, going to work, calling up publishers, writing anything that others might read, going to school, and probably a million other things--can all make you uncomfortable! And that's okay. That's not a reason to stop you from doing literally anything. Now, you might need therapy (for anxiety, potentially), or just to work through feelings on your own. That's part of what diaries/journals are for, honestly. Seek a variety of opinions, talk to people you trust. If dark topics make you uncomfortable, good, because in real life that's what they're supposed to do! In art you can work through stuff you don't actually want to happen in real life or show what it looks like. (Like, Lolita, for example, though I haven't read it, I hear does a fantastic and uncomfortable job of depicting the kinds of excuses you might hear from predators about people they actually know, so yes, even a story "glorifying" a topic can be educational and that can be the point.) Yes, this requires outside knowledge and the ability to evaluate literature/stories, but we need to bet a whole lot better at media literacy anyway.
Banning stories talking about certain topics inherently means shutting down discussion of those topics to help people hurt (look at livejournal and how the bans impacted survivors of sexual assault) and how censoring the word suicide is, according to therapists, actually making those who struggle with feelings of self-harm have more shame and hide those feelings, rather than reaching out when they need help. I don't want censorship, because historically *every time* when you go around the table and ask what everyone wants censored, lgbtq+ topics end up on that list. Great art can be cozy escapism or inspire conversations and thought that change your life.
Separately, people are prioritizing feeling comfortable over literally anything else, which is a problem, because it lends itself well to fascism. Probably part of the point, but still. "Your (ethnic or lgbtq+ etc) existence makes me uncomfortable, you should stop doing that. Or at least you're existing as part of x group wrong and you need to conform."
Life isn't always comfortable! Talking to other people, doing taxes, going to the doctor or the dentist, going to work, calling up publishers, writing anything that others might read, going to school, and probably a million other things--can all make you uncomfortable! And that's okay. That's not a reason to stop you from doing literally anything. Now, you might need therapy (for anxiety, potentially), or just to work through feelings on your own. That's part of what diaries/journals are for, honestly. Seek a variety of opinions, talk to people you trust. If dark topics make you uncomfortable, good, because in real life that's what they're supposed to do! In art you can work through stuff you don't actually want to happen in real life or show what it looks like. (Like, Lolita, for example, though I haven't read it, I hear does a fantastic and uncomfortable job of depicting the kinds of excuses you might hear from predators about people they actually know, so yes, even a story "glorifying" a topic can be educational and that can be the point.) Yes, this requires outside knowledge and the ability to evaluate literature/stories, but we need to bet a whole lot better at media literacy anyway.
Banning stories talking about certain topics inherently means shutting down discussion of those topics to help people hurt (look at livejournal and how the bans impacted survivors of sexual assault) and how censoring the word suicide is, according to therapists, actually making those who struggle with feelings of self-harm have more shame and hide those feelings, rather than reaching out when they need help. I don't want censorship, because historically *every time* when you go around the table and ask what everyone wants censored, lgbtq+ topics end up on that list. Great art can be cozy escapism or inspire conversations and thought that change your life.
