Because intelligent discussion is one of the best weapons against idiocy

[beachlass]

I've said it in a comments thread, so I'll find the courage to say it in my own journal.

I'm assuming the Warriors of Innocence instigated account and comm deletions are hitting some people that are posting unhurtful things, and have trigger words in their interests, and I'm certainly, in no way at all trying to align myself with unthinking censorship, or the like.

But.

I have a soft spot in my heart for a couple of pairings that have a bunch of shota/underage stuff posted about them. To say that it's fictional and causes no harm and that I don't have to look at it is fine up to a point. But there's some stuff out there - not a whole lot, but some - that really seems to be child pornography. There's pictures of Sasuke and Kakashi in our fandom that make me remember vividly what it was like to be molested as a child. Setting aside the harm it does to me - because I know that scanning copycock or steelandsparks might bring up something that will upset me, and I could just completely stop going to those comms (and I'm damn careful about what I open up) - setting that aside...

I still worry about what's going on when someone creates sexually explicit imagery or writing about a child and an adult. I worry about who is in the communities looking for that. And today, I'm not entirely comfortable about my own silence when I've seen that kind of stuff. Maybe I need to have some more courage about naming my discomfort to authors and creators, rather than silently turning my back and not mentioning it. Making nice. What's the cost? What, and who, have we been tolerating in communities?

Comments

[scribblesitm.livejournal.com]

blah i typed a long reply and then rethought cause I was going on and on.

You're right. A lot of stuff is very high up on the creep factor. Some of the pairings that get written are creapy in many fandoms and sick sick people get off on that.

With fandom though we also have a lot of very immature people who don't get it yet. They don't realize the eww factor of age differences like that.

But it's hard to explain the difference, but like I wrote a story where there is a 'relationship' between a child and his father, but I treated it like the sick horrible thing it was.

but people are just over reacting now to LJ getting rid of a few communities ...

blah - I'm babbling, but i wanted to say i agree with you. When I started a com we started with a disagreement with me and another mod about allowing that stuff -- it was non negotiable to me. It isn't. And yeah I came off as the close minded person, but *shrug* oh well.

Sorry for this being long and incoherant.

[beachlass.livejournal.com]

It can be hard to explain, but when presented with it, I find such a clear distinction between "written by someone too immature to catch the implications" and "written by someone who is dwelling in horrifying detail on pre-pubescent bodies".

And yes, I've read stories that are, well, maybe witnessing is the right word... witnessing to the pain and horror in non-consensual sex/sexual violence. And stories in which there is an age difference, and it's thoughtfully written.

(And your response isn't long and incoherent at all.)