It seems like political correctness and child-friendliness are themes that have been running rampant lately, not just on Subeta but across the entire country.

People aren't allowed to talk about major disasters, mental illness, or the differences and similarities between people and cultures. People get mad when you do, saying it's controversial or offensive and therefore taboo, many times without even realizing that the person they're condemning for not being considerate might be one of the people directly affected by the subject. It's meant to protect the affected parties but in a lot of cases it actually hurts them. Mental illness, for example. No one benefits from that being a taboo subject to talk about. Talking is a major way for people to come to understand one another and for people to be able to help and support one another. When you go out of your way to shut that down, you don't only prevent better understanding from reaching the general public but you force the ones who are affected to have to stay inside of a shell. It makes the subjects themselves taboo, and the ones who suffer from those experiences feel like they themselves are taboo for experiencing it. What's more, this idea of PC has gotten so out of control that it's become extremely skewed. Now many people believe strange things like "You can't be racist if you're black," or "You can't be sexist if you're a woman." Those statements are in and of themselves racist and sexist. The same is true for the mentality of "You can't do x because you're not from that heritage." They claim it's "cultural appropriation", like a woman can't wear a yukata if she isn't Japanese, or a man can't wear a kilt if he isn't Scottish. Even the cultures that we are supposedly offending by taking on these fashions think we're being ridiculous because at the end of the day they're just that - clothes. If you're wearing a style then chances are you like that style, which could almost be seen as a compliment to the culture it came from. It's only a problem when you're doing it to intentionally make fun of or insult others. I would also like to point out that ideas like "You can't cosplay because you're not Japanese," is also incredibly racist.

I also do not agree with "child-friendliness" in the way that people have taken it, but in this case I'm targeting that at a much more specific subject. For some reason people believe that they need to protect children from media, especially media that depicts violence, blood, death, grotesque monsters and the like. They believe that these themes will scare or scar the child's oh-so innocent mind or something. They believe they are protecting children from adult themes. I have a little bit of a news flash. Those themes? The people who enjoy those themes? They don't only learn to like them as adults. Children can enjoy themes like that just as much as anyone else. When you try to protect children from such things you wind up having to ostracize the children who do like those themes. I grew up thinking I was a horrible and unacceptable monster because of what I liked, because no one could accept that I liked to draw such dark things. Even now I see that same problem with people trying to shut me up to "protect children" or with people claiming that I must have something wrong with me as if I would ever take my fantasies into reality. People are afraid of people like me, whether we are children or adults, so I'm here to tell you that I don't think that behavior is child-friendly - I believe that behavior is personality-intolerant.

I believe there is far too much censorship in our culture, and I believe it does nothing but hurt us.

I very much agree w you on political correctness. I could say more but I don't want to get a warning lol.

Hah, the unfortunate thing is that you would have to be worried about that. I think it should be okay, as long as we are respectable about it. I can understand wanting to be cautious, though.

Nvm.

Well, if that is your nature I would not ask you to deny it, just as I would hope others would not deny mine. All I wish for is a mutual respect between people, even when we disagree.

It seems that there are many people who are open to these kind of discussions. Perhaps not on a daily basis, since subjects such as mental illness, and major disasters are not fun and lighthearted. It's usually the few who oppose, and who are loud, that get noticed. Those people usually make such a fuss that of course people will try to stay away from subjects that are slightly uncomfortable. There's also the media, which blows everything out of proportion and gives the loud few a nice soapbox. But like I've said already, there are many who are open to discussion and change. Some just don't know how to react when it comes to more serious topics like, mental/physical illness, death, sex, violence. Others don't want to offend, so those topics usually stay between close family and friends. There are even parents who allow their children to play video games, watch movies, and read books, with scene/topics of graphic and mature nature. There's usually an age limit, since violence will most likely only upset a small child, but it varies depending on the parent. But I've known quite a few parents who use video games such as GTA to show their children that not everyone on this planet is nice and will be their friend.

I do agree that political correctness and child-friendliness has gone too far. Human beings are by nature social creatures (some more than others), and in order to keep some harmony it is good to receive feedback about your actions or words. You may be hurting someone without realising it, and a bit of feedback could help you see that. It's not unreasonable to show a bit of respect. What I disagree with is when people use their feelings of being offended by another to bully them in to having the same point of view about something.

A recent example is that Australian zookeeper who punched a kangaroo in its face to rescue his dog. He has now had to call the Police because he fears for his safety. Animal rights activists and others are threatening him and calling for him to lose his job. They were offended by his actions, so they believe they have the right to just try and completely destroy his life, while calling HIM the lowest of the low scum! I find it disturbing that people so willingly jump at the chance to try and ruin someone's life just because they disagree with them.

I have never understood why people feel offended by wearing clothes from another culture. It's saying we like something from your culture enough to use it ourselves. Other cultures are not condemned for wearing 'westernised clothing' so I don't see how they can justify it being offensive the other way around. Offense is not given it is taken. You can choose to give something outside of ourselves power over our happiness or not to.

With children I believe exposing them to things is a good thing to do, but a parent/caregiver should always expose them to things at the right time. For example, will my child be frightened by watching this or will they be old enough to understand it isn't real? Our children learn from what we model to them. For me personally I first think of my children's safety, then how would exposing them to it affect them. If it's something that can't be avoided, then I try to talk to them about ways to cope with things.

My daughter has been experiencing bullying at school, and I could have shielded her from it and kept her away from everything like the school suggested, but instead I chose to talk through with her what things she can do to feel safe, and asked her what things did she think she could do the next time she was bullied. I then spoke to her how she thought the bully would react to each of those things, and which did she think would be the best solution. School has been much easier for her since she was able to work through her problems.

So well said, I completely agree. After taking a couple of sociology classes in the last year, I have a much clearer view of all the problems society faces and yet, SO many people refuse to talk about the issue! My own mother constantly parrots the "you shouldn't talk about religion and politics" in public thing, because its controversial. But things NEED to be talked about. Making a subject taboo just makes it so much worse for the people that particular thing affects.

Makes me happy to at least see that some people are thinking along the same lines as me though <3

there's a time and a place. are you really gonna sit someone under the age of... let's say 8 and try to explain politics to them. really now.

too much censorship in our culture................. are you the people who also get mad at trigger warnings and stuff?

yeah i get you this world is already a mess

yikes.

There is a difference between "cultural appropriation", "political correctness", and "censorship", because they're not the same thing. You also might want to consider moving this topic to the debate forum? :)

This. But dear, we don't have the debate forum anymore. For good reason.

FYI: Cultural appropriation is taking something from a culture, be it a tradition, design, or style of clothing, and using it without any regards towards what it actually means and how that culture feels about it being used as a fashion statement. Some things are NOT harmless bits of fashion to that culture, they have deep, significant meanings, and prancing around wearing it just because it's 'pretty' is disrespectful.