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personalapocalypseLink you might be interested in: Why MPAA Age Ratings In Fandom Suck: A Primer. (There are a couple of really interesting links within that post as well, in the first paragraph.)
I had known that MPAA ratings were controversial, and I still remember the outcry when ff.net decided to switch away from them for copyright reasons. But I had never really looked at their requirements or their politics. It's not surprising, but it's saddening all the same.
I had always known that they treated male and female sexuality unequally, and I had definitely noticed that male and female nudity was treated very differently. But I had never realized that a sex scene that shows a woman being coerced into sex, or otherwise giving only dubious consent at best, often finds it easier to get a lower rating than that of a woman actually enjoying herself and whole-heartedly consenting to sex! Is that really a message we should be sending to kids, of either gender? That it's okay as long as you make her do it/someone makes you do it?
Still, it's the system that a lot of people have grown used to, and I can say, it's hard to get used to something else. I like the system thatthene suggests in its place, though the one change I'd make is to separate the SFW tags as well. SFW covers a lot of ground, and it would be good to at least have a way to differentiate between, say, angst and happy fluff. Although a separate "Genre" tag might work better for those purposes.
(On another note, people can still read outside internet stuff at work? I know my workplace has never allowed it. Everything's blocked.)
I had known that MPAA ratings were controversial, and I still remember the outcry when ff.net decided to switch away from them for copyright reasons. But I had never really looked at their requirements or their politics. It's not surprising, but it's saddening all the same.
I had always known that they treated male and female sexuality unequally, and I had definitely noticed that male and female nudity was treated very differently. But I had never realized that a sex scene that shows a woman being coerced into sex, or otherwise giving only dubious consent at best, often finds it easier to get a lower rating than that of a woman actually enjoying herself and whole-heartedly consenting to sex! Is that really a message we should be sending to kids, of either gender? That it's okay as long as you make her do it/someone makes you do it?
Still, it's the system that a lot of people have grown used to, and I can say, it's hard to get used to something else. I like the system that
thene suggests in its place, though the one change I'd make is to separate the SFW tags as well. SFW covers a lot of ground, and it would be good to at least have a way to differentiate between, say, angst and happy fluff. Although a separate "Genre" tag might work better for those purposes. (On another note, people can still read outside internet stuff at work? I know my workplace has never allowed it. Everything's blocked.)
[tw: discussion of cultural attitudes toward assault and coercion]
Date: 2011-12-15 03:10 am (UTC)I still use the MPAA ratings, but I just rate for graphicness of sex and violence. I'll probably move away from using them, though.
As far as outside internet stuff--yeah, most of the places I've worked have allowed at least some stuff. The most restrictive disallowed social networking/dating (which somehow didn't catch LJ) and anything to do with games, while the least restrictive had no filter at all and as long as my boss didn't see me with genitalia on the screen there was no fuss no muss. Current place is a bit in between.