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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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So I have actually looked at the images in Gender Queer.

I extend to people the presumption that if they are engaging in the discussion, they have at least looked at the most salient examples of the topic, and so stating that I have “actually looked” at the examples could only be read as a veiled accusation that the other person hasn’t.

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It’s a blowjob, dude. It’s erotica by its very nature. It shouldn’t be in the public library. Again I stand on the null hypothesis that until very recently, essentially every library in America agreed with me, and it is the change that has to be justified.

That being said, you bring up a good point. Flowers in the Attic and Gor shouldn’t have been in your school library. It shouldn’t have been in mine.

The sewage was already lapping around our ankles when we were kids, but that’s no excuse for letting things get worse. And yes, on the way back to having no metaphorical sewage flowing through our intellectual and spiritual lives, we have to pump the sewer back down to just around our waists, and then our knees, and our ankles, and so forth.

There are things that can be sexual but not pornographic, but those things are, culturally, well prior to Playboy.

It's a blowjob, dude. It’s erotica by its very nature. It shouldn’t be in the public library.

It's actually a strap-on. And neither of the characters finds it sexy. The scene is meant to be awkward.

Confused teens not even knowing how to fuck might be gross but it doesn't strike me as erotica.