Disgusted

[yendi]

http://woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1645394&nav=0RclKpQF

I'm just furious at hearing this. This is bad parenting and bad teaching at its peak.

You know what? I was reading Asimov's at 13. It didn't warp me.

You know what else? The "adult" themes in Asimov's (or any sci-fi mag) aren't porn; anyone who's not mature enough to deal with these stories simply won't be interested enough to read 'em.. Those sort of stories don't interest kids looking for sci-fi adventure, and they skip 'em. And those who want something erotic will be downloading it off the net, anyway.

And you know what else? Parents and teachers should be able to decide if something is okay for a kid, individually.

I'm pissed at the moronic mother who feels the need to impose her morality on others (note: I'm not pissed that she read it before her kid did and decided it was inappropriate -- although I think she's underestimating her child's intelligence, it's her prerogative as a parent). I'm pissed at the principle for pushing the complaint. I'm pissed at the magazine drive company (owned, not surprisingly, by that Guardian of American Values and Bland Humor, Reader's Digest). I'm pissed at this fucking ignorant tv station ("We wanted to know what it will do to prevent the same thing from happening again with other magazines"), because cluelessness is less forgivable amongst those who are supposed to cover the news. And I'm pissed at Asimov's for deciding that they need to cave to this ignorance and put warning labels on "mature" stories.

On the positive side, it's nice to see Michigan providing a nice beacon of ignorance, since the recent Kathy Cox/Evolution situation might have implied that the South was the only place where stupid people live. Hey, we've got morons in all fifty states. Go us!

Now, I'm going up to the library stacks to find a copy of Asimov's to whack off to.

Comments

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

wow.. no chest beating in THAT article was there? Its like they found the marble in the oatmeal and want to make sure they scream it from the rooftops to let everyone know the depths of depravity that is "young girls in white socks"

[xforge.livejournal.com]

OTOH if this is publicized enough, readership will go up... no such thing as bad free publicity, right?

[hookncrook.livejournal.com]

You know I bet that mother rarely reads the sci-fi her daughter reads, because most Sci-fi has some sexual themes within it...Hell that is why I read it when I was 11 to 16. I loved that mag for the content it put out...that and sci-fi in Omni.

I swear talk about a mother with sexual issues!

Also, I can't believe the mag is bending to these frivolous demands.

When I was that age (junior high) the banned book room was all Sci-Fi, supernatural, and Judy Blume. You had to get a special note to check out those books (which included Huckleberry Finn and The Ledgend of Sleepy Hallow!) This bitch mother is one of the reason those classics ended up in a locked closet inaccessable to the students!

[auryn29a.livejournal.com]

Looks like I'll be subscribing to Asimov's.

Re:

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Looks like we'll be re-subscribing.

[dr-nebula.livejournal.com]

Hrm. Asminov's is 'adult' SF these days?

Gawds, I feel so dated.

Unlike some SF/science writers, I don't remember good ol' Isaac to be one to write much gratuitous sex.

Or even bland roll-in-the-hay sort of stuff..

24 hour news 8....

[glass-hurricane.livejournal.com]

...ought to read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and then proceed to get its head out of its ass.

Good freaking lord... it's not like these kids aren't going to see worse things on MTV. I say let them have access to literature, despite the content. When you allow your child to be well read, he or she develops critical thinking skills (something the world needs more of). Critical thinking skills are exactly what the child needs in order to comprehend material of a questionable nature with intelligence and insight.

Let the kid decide for herself what to read and what to disregard!

[hangingfire.livejournal.com]

There is so much bad judgement in that article that I don't even know where to start. The mom for flying off the handle and not having a quiet chat with her kid instead; the TV station for getting all puffed and righteous; the magazine for caving (which immediately makes me wonder if "Explicit Content" labels for books -- a la CDs -- are next), etc, etc. Ugh.

Re:

[yendi]

*nod* What could be better for those who would censor than seeing every media industry label themselves?

[bardiphouka.livejournal.com]

I notice that they never quite mention how the mother and the tv station got together? This on top of finding out that the bush folk have decided that Sabrina,Bewitched and the NFL (not to mention 190+others) are not suitable programs for close captioning makes for a worrying sort of day.

[crystalrowan.livejournal.com]

I am in complete agreement - I think a lot of the censorship out there is getting completely ridiculous.

When did it become so bad that parents can't even dictate what their children read anymore? I just don't get it. If you have kids, it's YOUR responsibility (no one else's) to determine what they're allowed to watch/read/see/etc. Every child is different.

Urgh.

[prodigaldax.livejournal.com]

Are you, by chance, libertarian?

Re:

[yendi]

Nope, but I tend to agree with them on individual rights (and oppose them on most economic issues).

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

GAWD! They make it sound like a porn magazine! That's one reason why I hate the label 'adult' being used as a synonym for 'explicit-to-excessive blatant sex' -- it's misleading.

I've got the first several years of Asimov's, original run. My mother was happy that I was reading and trusted my character for the material.

And, y'know, 'young girls in white socks'. Everybody KNOWS young girls should wear nice submissive pink socks because only BAD girls wear white socks! o_O [?]

[crowyhead.livejournal.com]

*cracks up* My dad bought me a subscription to Asimov's when I was thirteen, probably from the very same magazine sale company.

It doesn't surprise me to see this coming out of Michigan, especially that area -- it's the most conservative part of a quite conservative state (I say this as a Michigander, born & bred).

actually

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

I just read that story. And it's about a 15 year old runaway doing what she feels is needed to get away. So, maybe not appropriate for an 8 year old, but an 8 year old might not have considered it a SF story, and might have even skipped it. It seemed very alternate reality to me, from my POV.

Hey, I just bought the issue this morning. HA!