February 1, 2006
Nipple. There, I said it.
by mike <mike@pfft.net>
Holy crap. I used the word 'nipple'. It's even in the title of my article! Quick, someone call the FCC and demand that they crack down on the amoral, disgusting child-corruptors that run PFFT.net. What's that you say? "Nipple" isn't a dirty word? Ah, but so much of this country seems to disagree.
With all the problems we have in this country (intolerance and poverty, just to name two of the more prominent ones), why must we make more for ourselves? Censorship is utterly out of control, in a most paradoxical way. Language on network television has become less policed than it used to be (I never heard the words "ass" or "bitch" before 1991 or so), but content is scrutinized with such high standards that even Moses would probably need to put some more clothes on.
Janet Jackson's boob popped out on national television. Gee, whiz. The unremarkable breast of a not-so-popular, washed-up pop artist was flashed (mistakenly or otherwise) for maybe a second during a football game. Someone call the cops. It's a boob. Many children suck on them until they're a good year old, so let's not pretend they've never had one shoved in their face before. Grow up.
TV isn't the only victim. Repeatedly I hear songs on the radio with bleeps or silences inserted to protect unsuspecting or virgin ears from naughty language. However it didn't stop at filtering curse words. I heard a song the other day that had the word "law" muted out so you wouldn't hear the complete phrase, "We all breakin' the law." Are you kidding?! This has gone too far. Singing about slitting wrists, smoking pot and 'breakin' the law' is, like it or not, the given vocal artist's choice. If you don't approve, change the god damn station. Put on a tape of Raffi singing kumbaya and stop thinking that if you don't like it, no one does.
One might ask how this is all justified in light of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. Well, censors argue that content must be controlled to protect youth or those who do not wish to view/hear such material. I'm sorry, but nowhere in the Constitution does there exist a right for you not to be offended by something. I encounter offensive content every single day - stinky coworkers, my brother thinking he's smarter than me, rude homeless people, ugly yet flirtatious women, friends who never return phone calls, etc. I suck it up and move on. Stop expecting the government to fulfill your responsibilities as a parent - if you don't want your kid listening to or watching smut (or whatever your pastor calls it), get involved. My tax dollars aren't being paid so you can shirk your parental responsibilities, jerkoff. Oh, and just to make sure this article really offends you... "tit".
Published: February 1, 2006
Editor: stacy