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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   25782 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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Sure, but do we really need drawings of it, and not the character as she (or he, if we're being correct in our terminology) thinking about the experience, what he expected, and how that was different from reality?

This is the fundamental division here between the two sides: one set thinks "no, a depiction of a sexual act in a book for teenagers that will be in a school library is not appropriate" and the other set thinks "this isn't sexy like porn, it's fine".

The recommended reading age, looking it up, is for 14-15/15 and up. But will younger kids be able to access it? What's fine for a 15 year old may not be appropriate for a 12 year old, and that's part of the whole fight. Unless the librarians are ensuring younger kids can't get the book, and it doesn't seem like this particular group feels they should be engaging in what they perceive as censorship, then parents can't be sure their kids aren't accessing inappropriate material.

And that's the other part of the fight: what parents think they should be able to decide is appropriate for their kids, versus what the school or school board thinks is okay. Just saying that hey, kids have always sneaked around and gotten into stuff they shouldn't have at that age isn't good enough. Kids might be sneaking drinks at home out of the parents' liquor cabinet, but do we want schools handing out shots of whiskey to 12 (or 15) year olds on the grounds that "they're gonna do it anyway, might as well do it in a safe environment"?

"Oh hey, it wasn't whiskey, it was wine or an alcopop" isn't that much better as justification.

Sure, but do we really need drawings of it, and not the character as she (or he, if we're being correct in our terminology) thinking about the experience, what he expected, and how that was different from reality?

I think so. It's a graphic memoir.

Let me just dump some assorted background opinions that will probably offend approximately everyone, unintentionally.

  • I homeschool my kids currently
  • I hope to never send them to public school
  • If I do send them to public school, I very much don't want public school to teach them sex ed
  • I wouldn't really mind if my teenagers found pornography
  • I would mind if my pre-teenage kids found pornography, but not really as a moral crisis, but it would just be annoying to have to explain and then have to deal with them playing around
  • All things considered, Gender Queer looks pretty tame and actually a very insightful book. I imagine if you're asexual and don't know it, life is fucking weird and this book would have helped you considerably if you had found it. If you're not asexual your reaction is probably "wow, thank god I have normal sexuality"
  • I do believe transgenderism could be partially a social contagion caused condition, but Gender Queer is not the kind of book that turns anyone trans

So, yeah, I don't consider the awkward sex acts in Gender Queer pornographic or erotic. But I also am not that concerned about the risk even if some kids just flip through it to look for the dick scene and don't ever read a single word.

I'm fine with a school library stocking it for teenagers, but I'd be shocked if they were happily letting 8 or 9 year olds take it out and read it.

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