Boobies, oh noez
Feb. 19th, 2008 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsukinofaeriiJust in case anyone doubts my fannish opinion on this, here it is in big bold letters:
IF DISNEY GETS INTO THE GROWN-UP ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, I VOTE KINGDOM HEARTS AS ITS PILOT PROGRAM.
Ahem. Okay, so I have more serious opinions to follow, but I just had to say that. The amount of skin Riku had covered in KHII was a crime.
Disney's Titillation and Litigation
To sum up the whole article, it comes down to this: ABC is facing fines because NYPD Blue happened to show 7 seconds of butt cheeks before 10 PM. Disney's-- excuse me, ABC's argument is that it was non-sexual, and therefore OK. The author seems to think that this is a Big Deal.
I thought about arguing the NYPD Blue is an adult show, and therefore a few seconds of buttocks shouldn't be a big deal. Properly supervised children wouldn't be watching it anyways. I thought about saying that the 10 PM deadline is ridiculous, because gods know kids stay up later than that all the time. I also considered the angle that it's not sex.
And then I thought about what I was thinking. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Or, in this case, who watches me? And, ala Sam Vimes, I must say, I do. Damn Third Thoughts.
What was I thinking?
At its base, this isn't about children. Or nudity. Or some stupid idea that a certain section of humanity will be in bed by a specific time-period. This is about the ever-tightening grip on the most basic aspect of us, which is this: our humanity. are we supposed to be ashamed of being human? Male or female? Of our skin tone or hair color? Most "decent" humans will say no -- none of that is something to be ashamed of. So why are we teaching our children to be ashamed of it?
Part of being human, of being simply and utterly alive is having a body. We spend so much time covering it, because skin = sex for so very many people. Skin itself is a Bad Thing To See, though I can't think of a single argument that won't swing right back around to sex. We (USA "we") avoid nudity on TV and in other public locations because it supposedly swings our thoughts towards sex and will make us into horribly raving nymphomaniacs or something like that. Children, who aren't even consciously sexual yet, grow up seeing everyone covered. Mommy and Daddy get upset when they take their diaper off. Big Sis/Bro yells when they walk in while they're changing clothes. "Don't touch yourself - you'll go blind!" All over, people take huge pains to only be naked in private or in sexual situations. And so the wall is built. Nudity is bad. Sex is embarrassing, because it involves nudity. And a whole new generation of children grow up with a negative self-image.
I'm not going step up to the issue of sex not necessarily being bad, because that's for a whole new/old rant. I'm also not going to address the "F-Bomb" that the author keeps referring to, even though language had nothing to do with the article.
I will do one thing though. FUCK. Now, how many people feel like running out and doing it? Who didn't feel like doing it before reading the word, that is. I didn't think so.
What I'd really like to know is why we think making kids think their body is a bad thing is a good idea? We all go to the bathroom in one way or another, and yet most of us have some kind of problem with acknowledging this basic fact of life. Even I do. We eat. We drink. We excrete. We pee. So do our pets. What's the point?
Everyone has a body. They may be different shapes, sizes, colors, weights... but we have bodies. Is that something to be ashamed of? To hide, like a dirty little secret? What's so wrong about being human?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating that we all toss off our clothes and do away with millennia of illogic and shame. For one, it is a long-standing issue, probably going all the way back to the beginning of civilization. (The Greeks weren't known for their general acceptance of nudity for example. Just athletes and other Pretty Pretty Boys. Women need not apply.) There's no immediate cure for that kind of brainwashing. Besides, I like my job, and stripping is not a part of it.
But please, think before you teach your children their values. Think before deciding your own. Teach them what behavior is appropriate for what situations (for example, wanking in public isn't a good idea). And dear gods, don't use shame as a tool. If the best you can come up with as a reason is that it's "dirty", maybe you'd better think a little harder or ask someone else. Society isn't going to change rapidly, but it'd be nice if the argument wasn't "ZOMG, BREASTIEZ ON TV OH NOEZ" and was instead "can we get off the boob shot and back to the plot, plzkthx".
IF DISNEY GETS INTO THE GROWN-UP ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, I VOTE KINGDOM HEARTS AS ITS PILOT PROGRAM.
Ahem. Okay, so I have more serious opinions to follow, but I just had to say that. The amount of skin Riku had covered in KHII was a crime.
Disney's Titillation and Litigation
The name Disney used to conjure up the image of family entertainment: a hint of magic, as a twinkling Tinkerbell lit up on the TV screen. But in the past two weeks, the name Disney has come to mean something else: a tawdry corporation stocked with lawyers making ridiculous arguments suggesting that nudity and obscenity on television are to be lauded, not protested.Now, here I'm going to comment purely on the author's choice of targets here. It's pretty much a red herring of the most obvious sort. The author spends pretty much the whole editorial arguing against Disney. Disney = for children. Disney used to be family-friendly... Disney, Disney, Disney. But the single cited reference refers to ABC's NYPD Blue. Yes, ABC belongs to Disney, but it's a separate entity. Disney still (sadly) is family-friendly - ABC never has been specifically aimed at children. Keep them straight.
To sum up the whole article, it comes down to this: ABC is facing fines because NYPD Blue happened to show 7 seconds of butt cheeks before 10 PM. Disney's-- excuse me, ABC's argument is that it was non-sexual, and therefore OK. The author seems to think that this is a Big Deal.
I thought about arguing the NYPD Blue is an adult show, and therefore a few seconds of buttocks shouldn't be a big deal. Properly supervised children wouldn't be watching it anyways. I thought about saying that the 10 PM deadline is ridiculous, because gods know kids stay up later than that all the time. I also considered the angle that it's not sex.
And then I thought about what I was thinking. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Or, in this case, who watches me? And, ala Sam Vimes, I must say, I do. Damn Third Thoughts.
What was I thinking?
At its base, this isn't about children. Or nudity. Or some stupid idea that a certain section of humanity will be in bed by a specific time-period. This is about the ever-tightening grip on the most basic aspect of us, which is this: our humanity. are we supposed to be ashamed of being human? Male or female? Of our skin tone or hair color? Most "decent" humans will say no -- none of that is something to be ashamed of. So why are we teaching our children to be ashamed of it?
Part of being human, of being simply and utterly alive is having a body. We spend so much time covering it, because skin = sex for so very many people. Skin itself is a Bad Thing To See, though I can't think of a single argument that won't swing right back around to sex. We (USA "we") avoid nudity on TV and in other public locations because it supposedly swings our thoughts towards sex and will make us into horribly raving nymphomaniacs or something like that. Children, who aren't even consciously sexual yet, grow up seeing everyone covered. Mommy and Daddy get upset when they take their diaper off. Big Sis/Bro yells when they walk in while they're changing clothes. "Don't touch yourself - you'll go blind!" All over, people take huge pains to only be naked in private or in sexual situations. And so the wall is built. Nudity is bad. Sex is embarrassing, because it involves nudity. And a whole new generation of children grow up with a negative self-image.
I'm not going step up to the issue of sex not necessarily being bad, because that's for a whole new/old rant. I'm also not going to address the "F-Bomb" that the author keeps referring to, even though language had nothing to do with the article.
I will do one thing though. FUCK. Now, how many people feel like running out and doing it? Who didn't feel like doing it before reading the word, that is. I didn't think so.
What I'd really like to know is why we think making kids think their body is a bad thing is a good idea? We all go to the bathroom in one way or another, and yet most of us have some kind of problem with acknowledging this basic fact of life. Even I do. We eat. We drink. We excrete. We pee. So do our pets. What's the point?
Everyone has a body. They may be different shapes, sizes, colors, weights... but we have bodies. Is that something to be ashamed of? To hide, like a dirty little secret? What's so wrong about being human?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating that we all toss off our clothes and do away with millennia of illogic and shame. For one, it is a long-standing issue, probably going all the way back to the beginning of civilization. (The Greeks weren't known for their general acceptance of nudity for example. Just athletes and other Pretty Pretty Boys. Women need not apply.) There's no immediate cure for that kind of brainwashing. Besides, I like my job, and stripping is not a part of it.
But please, think before you teach your children their values. Think before deciding your own. Teach them what behavior is appropriate for what situations (for example, wanking in public isn't a good idea). And dear gods, don't use shame as a tool. If the best you can come up with as a reason is that it's "dirty", maybe you'd better think a little harder or ask someone else. Society isn't going to change rapidly, but it'd be nice if the argument wasn't "ZOMG, BREASTIEZ ON TV OH NOEZ" and was instead "can we get off the boob shot and back to the plot, plzkthx".