⫸Trans and LGBTQIA+ Discussion⫷

[Robi]

Imo more than half of these posts should be culled

 

[bird.is.the.word]

I saw my dads cock n balls when I went into his bathroom as he was showering and was around 7, it was in fact a traumatic experience at the time, funny now but at the time I remember just feeling dirty, that’s what it does to kids that whole robbing of innocents is dead on

@Las Veghost grower

Do you think it would have been traumatic if you grew up around nudists?

 

[bird.is.the.word]

I requested the thread be split pages back.

@Robi

 

[unodelacosa]

I saw my dads cock n balls when I went into his bathroom as he was showering and was around 7, it was in fact a traumatic experience at the time, funny now but at the time I remember just feeling dirty, that’s what it does to kids that whole robbing of innocents is dead on

That doesn't mean your experience is a universal experience. For me, when I was younger than that, maybe around five or six, my parents taught me how to bathe myself so I could take my own showers. My Dad was in the shower and he taught me the proper technique for cleaning my junk. It wasn't a big deal, I thought nothing of it, and I never felt any loss of innocence. It helped me understand things and piece together vital stuff about being human. At that age, I had no idea that boys' and girls' "pee-pees" did anything other than pee. My parents of course taught me that it's inappropriate to be naked in public and that for no reason should anyone be trying to touch me in that general area, and I was good to go. Managed to piece virtually everything else together by the time I was, idk 11 or 12, such that I spared my parents the need for a birds and bees talk.

Not to negate your experience, which was no doubt very much real, and you're not alone in that feeling evidently. I'm just offering some personal anecdotal evidence to the contrary for posterity's sake.

 

[mal3volent]

Generally young children are not deliberately exposed to genitals, neither via picture/video nor IRL. If it happens by accident though, it's probably not a big deal, and by the time a kid is about 13, I really cannot agree with this logic. There are inappropriate circumstances and carelessness that would be better avoided, but again, in cases of an accidental exposure, it's important to set a good example by not overreacting, IMHO. Seems overly prudish to be worried about that. There's a big difference between nudity and pornography of course (and yes I know about the famous Supreme Court case to determine what constituted obscenity, etc.), but to make a blanket statement that the mere sight of frank-and-beans… the horse-and-carriage… two turntables and a microphone… a cock-'n'-balls… you get the gist.… but to state that the sight of a nude man alone is traumatizing seems overly worried and borderline absurd.

You don't disallow children from viewing male dogs, horses and other animals where one can clearly see their exposed genitals, do you? What about spider monkeys at the zoo?

Or what about widely known and celebrated pieces of art that feature nudes, like Michelangelo's Adam on the Sistine Chapel and his sculpture of David? Or works by Gustave Caillebotte, Leonardo Da Vinci, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch? Let's say a group of 10 and 11-year-olds go on a field trip to a nearby museum. One of the exhibits features a painting of a nude from the 18th century. Are you telling me that's traumatizing to the kids? I don't think so. Sure, no one should be going out of their way to expose children to nudity, but that's already illegal in most contexts. However, there's also an aspect to this wherein the human body is a work of art, and while each human's body is sacred and worthy of the utmost respect, it's also something to which we should not be attaching undue shame.

"(especially a man's)" ☜ Hang on, this isn't right. Why would you say/assume this?

EDIT: Please bear in mind, I have a lot of respect for you and your opinion, @mal3volent. I don't mean to come across aggressive on this point; but I can't really wrap my head around what you're saying without thinking it seems like it's making a "mountain" out of a proverbial molehill, no?

Sometimes I just assume people will understand where I'm coming from and fill in the blanks, but honestly that's my fault and I don't blame you for noting these points. I was lazy in assuming the things that are obvious to me are obvious to everyone.

Of course, incidental and accidental things will happen. And I guess I'm speaking in regards to western culture here, it may be different in other cultures. I'm OF COURSE not talking about art, or a kid seeing nudity in a movie, or something like that. I'm talking about INTENTIONAL exposure. Including "instructional" or "educational" bullshit that goes WAY too far.

Unless you have firsthand experience , you really have no idea how many creeps there are out there and how deceptive they are. They LOOK for reasons and excuses and they take advantage of good intentioned woke liberals and politically correct laws. How many videos of old men gyrating in front of children in their crusty underwear/videos of men dressed in drag taking dollar bills from children with "it wont lick itself" signs in the background do you need to see to realize there is a pattern here?

The more years go by the more I realize that adults truly no longer value the innocence of childhood. It used to be common knowledge that years like, roughly 0-12 were sacred years where children should be absolutely carefree and protected from all the complexities of adult life. Years roughly 13-16 were transitional years, where children retain their innocence but are carefully educated in a responsible way by PARENTS and controlled educational environments. Yes, they see the occasional nudity...they talk amongst friends...they are educated in clinical ways.

But now it's like, fuck it, we are not even going to try. I mean, I know it's gross, but I'd rather die than be labeled as a prude or bigot. I will just stay silent and whatever happens happens.

@unodelacosa , I'm not one to demonize men. But I will also not lie and pretend as though men are not way more horny and sick IN GENERAL when compared to women. Yes, there are exceptions. But as a rule, men should be watched more carefully and under stricter standards than women. Also women are mothers and thus will naturally be engaged in more sensitive/nurturing activities that naturally may involve more intimacy/nudity etc. It's just different. If you disagree with me, I understand, but this is how I feel.

 

[Las Veghost grower]

@Las Veghost grower

Do you think it would have been traumatic if you grew up around nudists?

I don’t know, but I’m glad I wasn’t raised in a nudist colony regardless…I think it’s funny all the talk of let’s evolve past hate n bigotry racism, but let’s devolve in other areas, like what we know to be wrong to expose kids to :/ I don’t even try to understand what people are thinking these days

 

[Las Veghost grower]

That doesn't mean your experience is a universal experience. For me, when I was younger than that, maybe around five or six, my parents taught me how to bathe myself so I could take my own showers. My Dad was in the shower and he taught me the proper technique for cleaning my junk. It wasn't a big deal, I thought nothing of it, and I never felt any loss of innocence. It helped me understand things and piece together vital stuff about being human. At that age, I had no idea that boys' and girls' "pee-pees" did anything other than pee. My parents of course taught me that it's inappropriate to be naked in public and that for no reason should anyone be trying to touch me in that general area, and I was good to go. Managed to piece virtually everything else together by the time I was, idk 11 or 12, such that I spared my parents the need for a birds and bees talk.

Not to negate your experience, which was no doubt very much real, and you're not alone in that feeling evidently. I'm just offering some personal anecdotal evidence to the contrary for posterity's sake.

Nah I never showered with my parents I was taught how to wash myself in the bath real young and by the time I started showering I understood the gist of it

 

[SomeRandomNob]

Hey man, I was joking, and while there is definitely more appropriate forums and threads for that, I can't do much about now, it's posted and you saw it and reacted, sorry.

I agree with everything you said, it was actually pretty STUPID of ME to say that, but I got a small kick out of it and, like I said, even if I went back and deleted it it wouldn't do anything. I was joking, not very funny though, and thought it was semi obvious because I literally said "stupid people should be culled." I don't know anybody who would have that view, and I certainly don't, so I thought it would be obvious I was messing around because who would actually have the view that those viewed as dumb (like you said, primarily simply for disagreeing, not even lower intellectual capability) should be killed? That IS just pure evil, and something you would probably expect to see in 1930-40's Germany, not on a substance harm reduction site. I'm sorry that you it upset you, and I understand why, it kinda upsets me thinking that I actually said that. Just wanted to clear that up man, have a nice day/night, wherever you are in the world.

I over reacted to that statement sorry, I should have realized it was meant as a joke, I was just in a bad mood lol

 

[mal3volent]

Nah I never showered with my parents I was taught how to wash myself in the bath real young and by the time I started showering I understood the gist of it

am I wrong for thinking that is self explanatory? I didn't need anyone to teach me how to clean myself, either...

 

[unodelacosa]

Sometimes I just assume people will understand where I'm coming from and fill in the blanks, but honestly that's my fault and I don't blame you for noting these points. I was lazy in assuming the things that are obvious to me are obvious to everyone.

If you find yourself doing this often, perhaps the conclusion is that you're noticing things that might not be obvious or your might be noticing things through a distorted lense, so to speak. If it seems ever like everyone has it wrong except for you… it might be you in fact who has it wrong. Maybe, that's all I'm saying.

Of course, incidental and accidental things will happen. And I guess I'm speaking in regards to western culture here, it may be different in other cultures. I'm OF COURSE not talking about art, or a kid seeing nudity in a movie, or something like that. I'm talking about INTENTIONAL exposure. Including "instructional" or "educational" bullshit that goes WAY too far.

That's a specifically different thing you're talking. Obviously, in most cities it's illegal to expose yourself to anyone, especially children. There's no need for hypersensitivity.

Unless you have firsthand experience , you really have no idea how many creeps there are out there and how deceptive they are.

You have first-hand experience with knowing "how many creeps there are out there and how deceptive they are?" And what, pray tell, gives you this experience, special knowledge and expertise in the field? Are you a "special victims unit" detective, a child psychologist, counselor, sometime like that?

They LOOK for reasons and excuses and they take advantage of good intentioned woke liberals and politically correct laws.

Oh for chrissakes, why do we have drag bipartisan politics into this? I'm sure there are plenty of child molesters out there posing as straight, God-fearing, Jesus-loving, minority-hating, card-carrying Republican "Christian" folk who are undercover, hillbilly Chester-the-Molesters. You're cherry-picking a handful of fucked up stories involving purportedly gay or trans people who are also fucked pedophiles from what stories sound like, and then broadly painting "woke liberals" as being the enablers of this child abuse. It's finger-wagging at best and hypocritical at worst.

How many videos of old men gyrating in front of children in their crusty underwear/videos of men dressed in drag taking dollar bills from children with "it wont lick itself" signs in the background do you need to see to realize there is a pattern here?

I'm not watching any of those videos; why are you? By that logic, snuff films exist and so does child pornography. These have nothing to do with gay people, straight people, black, white, asian, latin, trans, cis, et al.; it only has to do with criminal child abusers and grossly negligent parents. Drawing correllaries elsewhere is misguided foolishness.

The more years go by the more I realize that adults truly no longer value the innocence of childhood.

I don't think you can safely or accurately make that assessment, and I suspect this opinion is biased. I mean: all adults? You tend to speak in absolutes.

It used to be common knowledge that years like, roughly 0-12 were sacred years where children should be absolutely carefree and protected from all the complexities of adult life.

Not quite. Children have been subjected to things like war, disease, famine, and—for a long time—a lack of child labor laws to protect children from exploitation. In the grand scope of things, children born today have much higher odds of avoiding these horrible fates. If the trade off is your kid inadvertently witnesses a mentally insane homeless person masturbating on a subway train, I think it won't devastate their little minds. People coddle their fucking children too much these days. The idea that anyone can completely shelter a child and then weeping over their supposed "lost innocence" is perhaps setting some unrealistic expectations. But then, I also don't care for the traditions of lying to children about Santa Claus / Father Christmas / Saint Nick / whatever that traditional blackface character is in Norway (Black Pete or something?), the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Babadook, and so on and so forth. Life is vexing enough without these layers of bullshit veiled on top of it all, ticking timebombs of eventual disappointment. No thanks.

Years roughly 13-16 were transitional years, where children retain their innocence but are carefully educated in a responsible way by PARENTS and controlled educational environments. Yes, they see the occasional nudity...they talk amongst friends...they are educated in clinical ways.

Girls sometimes get their periods at 12, and it's not always a one-size fits all kind of deal. Did you know it's not uncommon for a child as young as 8 to sometimes accidentally discover masturbation well before they've hit puberty? Happens with both genders, and pediatricians say it's almost always nothing to be concerned with. Kids are curious and sometimes will figure out their bodies. Occasionally parents are stuck in the unenviable position of needing to address an issue like this with their child and do so in the most appropriate way possible using the right language. This is where it's good to have interpersonal skills built with your child, trust, and two-way communication established.

But now it's like, fuck it, we are not even going to try. I mean, I know it's gross, but I'd rather die than be labeled as a prude or bigot. I will just stay silent and whatever happens happens.

Who exactly are you speaking for here? I swear, I sincerely hope you're not referring to me with that insulting bullshit. I have no goddamn clue what videos you referred to earlier, but it would be appreciated if you'd be a bit more careful with whom you select to accuse of being too cowardly to stop child abuse if it's occurring. I'll be goddamned before I would ever knowingly let someone abuse anyone—man, woman, or child—especially if there's something I could do to prevent said abuse. Most humans are wired this way. Most humans will save a baby sitting on the side of a proverbial well should they come across the scene. Maybe some think it's naive, but I haven't lost faith in the essential decency of humanity. I won't let the actions of a few ruin it for everyone in my book. Of course I don't walk around with rose-tinted glasses, but condemning the entire male sex is absolutely pointless.

I'm not one to demonize men.

Oh no? You just stereotype them unfairly?

But I will also not lie and pretend as though men are not way more horny and sick IN GENERAL when compared to women.

QED – more stereotyping and prejudice.

Yes, there are exceptions. But as a rule, men should be watched more carefully and under stricter standards than women. Also women are mothers and thus will naturally be engaged in more sensitive/nurturing activities that naturally may involve more intimacy/nudity etc.

This is ridiculous and insulting to every single father out there who gets enough judgment passed on them everyday just by their kids' school system and gossipy, opinionated neighbors… And then you're gonna plop that steaming pile right on top of their heads as their trying to be the best parents they can? SMH

It's just different. If you disagree with me, I understand, but this is how I feel.

How you feel is prejudiced against men and you're stereotyping. Sorry but that's absolute rubbish. I definitely cannot co-sign those statements condemning men broadly and saying they need to be watched more carefully. Women catch all the breaks in the justice system while men get handed Draconian sentences for stupid shit like "possession with intent to distribute." In the U.S. 14 out of 15 inmates are men. Yet I have a hard time believing a mere 6.7% [Edited, thanks @bird.is.the.word ] of punished crimes are committed by women. Now, thanks to this prevalent attitude and sensationalist shows like To Catch A Predator it's become impossible to interact with any children in society in any capacity without people acting suspicious of you. I am reminded of this:

 

[unodelacosa]

am I wrong for thinking that is self explanatory? I didn't need anyone to teach me how to clean myself, either...

Yeah I probably didn't either, but regardless, it didn't fuck me up or traumatize me. My parents were young and this was the early 80s. They didn't know what they were doing fully, but nudity was never a big goddamn deal in my family. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They never molested me or anything like that, and I would appreciate if we didn't dip into personal insults regarding my family now. Thanks

EDIT: please, don't make me regret having shared something personal from my life with you all. That's not a good look, and I would expect better from a mod. EDIT2: Excuse me, I just noticed you're no longer a mod.

 

[bird.is.the.word]

^6.7% (not 0.67%)

@mal3volent

I get the threat of harm against children and I don't want people going around flashing their cock at school buses, but (in theory) I still fail to see how seeing part of the human body is traumatic.

If it's not traumatic to see a statue, it's not traumatic to see the subject of the statue.

Kids see dicks in the changing room.

@Las Veghost grower

I will probably keep bathing / showering with my kids until they're 7 years old. When we go to the public pool, I'm not going to turn away and hide my dick when we get changed.

In high school, my best friends dad was a stoner. He owned a night club. One of the rooms in his house had carpeted walls. He had a couple of awards from sex competitions. If seen his dick when we go swimming out in the middle of the bush. I didn't sexualize it. We were just going for a swim.

I honestly don't know how you avoid seeing penises if you're a bloke?

Are girls traumatized by vaginas?

I saw my dads cock n balls when I went into his bathroom as he was showering and was around 7, it was in fact a traumatic experience at the time, funny now but at the time I remember just feeling dirty, that’s what it does to kids that whole robbing of innocents is dead on

When I was little, I remember my mum exposing her tits all the time. Sometime she'd shove them in my face. I tried to tell her to stop, but she wouldn't listen.

 

[mal3volent]

If you find yourself doing this often, perhaps the conclusion is that you're noticing things that might not be obvious or your might be noticing things through a distorted lense, so to speak. If it seems ever like everyone has it wrong except for you… it might be you in fact who has it wrong. Maybe, that's all I'm saying.


That's a specifically different thing you're talking. Obviously, in most cities it's illegal to expose yourself to anyone, especially children. There's no need for hypersensitivity.


You have first-hand experience with knowing "how many creeps there are out there and how deceptive they are?" And what, pray tell, gives you this experience, special knowledge and expertise in the field? Are you a "special victims unit" detective, a child psychologist, counselor, sometime like that?


Oh for chrissakes, why do we have drag bipartisan politics into this? I'm sure there are plenty of child molesters out there posing as straight, God-fearing, Jesus-loving, minority-hating, card-carrying Republican "Christian" folk who are undercover, hillbilly Chester-the-Molesters. You're cherry-picking a handful of fucked up stories involving purportedly gay or trans people who are also fucked pedophiles from what stories sound like, and then broadly painting "woke liberals" as being the enablers of this child abuse. It's finger-wagging at best and hypocritical at worst.


I'm not watching any of those videos; why are you? By that logic, snuff films exist and so does child pornography. These have nothing to do with gay people, straight people, black, white, asian, latin, trans, cis, et al.; it only has to do with criminal child abusers and grossly negligent parents. Drawing correllaries elsewhere is misguided foolishness.


I don't think you can safely or accurately make that assessment, and I suspect this opinion is biased for some reason. I mean: all adults? You tend to speak in absolutes.


Not quite. Children have been subjected to things like war, disease, famine, and—for a long time—a lack of child labor laws to protect children from exploitation. In the grand scope of things, children born today have much higher odds of avoiding these horrible fates. If the trade off is your kid inadvertently witnesses a mentally insane homeless person masturbating on a subway train, I think it won't devastate their little minds. People coddle their fucking children too much these days. The idea that anyone can completely shelter a child and then weeping over their supposed "lost innocence" is perhaps setting some unrealistic expectations. But then, I also don't care for the traditions of lying to children about Santa Claus / Father Christmas / Saint Nick / whatever that traditional blackface character is in Norway (Black Pete or something?), the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Babadook, and so on and so forth. Life is vexing enough without these layers of bullshit veiled on top of it all, ticking timebombs of eventually disappointment. No thanks.


Girls sometimes get their periods at 12, and it's not always a one-size fits all kind of deal. Did you know it's not uncommon for a child as young as 8 to sometimes accidentally discover masturbation well before they've hit puberty. Happens with both genders, and pediatricians say it's almost always nothing to be concerned with. Kids are curious and sometimes will figure out their bodies. Occasionally parents are stuck in the position of needing to address an issue like this with their child and do so in the most appropriate way possible using the right language. This is where it's good to have communication skills and two-way communication established.


Who exactly are you speaking for here? I swear, I sincerely hope you're not referring to me with that insulting bullshit. I have no goddamn clue what videos you referred to earlier, but it would be appreciated if you'd be a bit more careful with whom you select to accuse of being too cowardly to stop child abuse if it's occurring. I'll be goddamned before I would ever knowingly let someone abuse anyone—man, woman, or child—especially if there's something I could do to prevent said abuse. Most humans are wired this way. Most humans will save a baby sitting on the side of a proverbial well should they come across the scene. Maybe some think it's naive, but I haven't lost faith in the essentially decency of humanity. I won't let the actions of a few ruin it for everyone in my book. Of course I don't walk around withrose-tinted glasses, but condemning the entire male sex is absolutely pointless.


Oh no? You just stereotype them unfairly?


QED.


This is ridiculous and insulting to every single father out there who's gets enough judgment passed on them everyday just by their kids school system and gossipy, opinionated neighbors… And then you're gonna plop that steaming pile right on top of their heads as their trying to be the best parents they can? SMH


How you feel is prejudiced against men and you're stereotyping. Sorry but that's absolute rubbish. I definitely cannot co-sign those statements condemning men broadly and saying they need to be watched more carefully. Women catch all the breaks in the justice system while men get handed Draconian sentences for stupid shit like "possession with intent to distribute." In the U.S. 14 out of 15 inmates are men. Yet I have a hard time believing a mere 0.67% of punished crimes are committed by women. Now, thanks to this prevalent attitude and sensationalist shows like To Catch A Predator it's become impossible to interact with any children in society in any capacity without people acting suspicious of you. I am reminded of this:

Yeah I probably didn't either, but regardless, it didn't fuck me up or traumatize me. My parents were young and this was the early 80s. They didn't know what they were doing fully, but nudity was never a big goddamn deal in my family. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They never molested me or anything like that, and I would appreciate if we didn't dip into personal insults regarding my family now. Thanks

EDIT: please, don't make me regret having shared something personal from my life with you all. That's not a good look, and I would expect better from a mod. EDIT2: Excuse me, I just noticed you're no longer a mod.

Jesus Christ.., I actually thought we were going to have a respectful dialogue.

I hope you are fucked up or something.

But thanks for letting me know not to waste any more energy into this conversation.

 

[mal3volent]

I tried to tell her to stop, but she wouldn't listen.

If it's not traumatic to see a statue, it's not traumatic to see the subject of the statue.

your mom is the subject of the statue, why tell her to stop?

if you can see breasts carved out of clay or stone in a museum why not have the real thing pressed in your face by an actual human? No difference eh. We are just clueless now.

 

[bird.is.the.word]

Uh I was joking about breast feeding.

 

[mal3volent]

Uh I was joking about breast feeding.

Sorry, hard to tell what is truth and what is jokes in todays society.

 

[Xorkoth]

I saw my dads cock n balls when I went into his bathroom as he was showering and was around 7, it was in fact a traumatic experience at the time, funny now but at the time I remember just feeling dirty, that’s what it does to kids that whole robbing of innocents is dead on

One of my early memories is taking a shower with my dad, I was probably being taught how to take a shower instead of a bath. I remember seeing his cock and balls and being like WHOA, that's way bigger than mine. Didn't disturb me or anything though. Then years later when I saw the Workaholics episode where they talk about "dad dick" I cracked up because I remembered that.

Honestly it's just genitalia, the only reason we think it's sexual is because we're raised in a society that thinks it's dirty. It's just part of the body.

That said, I wouldn't be about sending kids to see sexualized drag shows, or any sort of shows. And by that I mean where people are sexual about it (this could be drag or non-drag, like stripping, etc), or even non-nudity but just being sexual.

 

[unodelacosa]

One of my early memories is taking a shower with my dad, I was probably being taught how to take a shower instead of a bath. I remember seeing his cock and balls and being like WHOA, that's way bigger than mine. Didn't disturb me or anything though. Then years later when I saw the Workaholics episode where they talk about "dad dick" I cracked up because I remembered that.

Honestly it's just genitalia, the only reason we think it's sexual is because we're raised in a society that thinks it's dirty. It's just part of the body.

That said, I wouldn't be about sending kids to see sexualized drag shows, or any sort of shows. And by that I mean where people are sexual about it (this could be drag or non-drag, like stripping, etc), or even non-nudity but just being sexual.

Thank you, dude. I laughed my ass off at that episode, too, for the exact same reason. These experiences seem both common and non-traumatizing.

Jesus Christ.., I actually thought we were going to have a respectful dialogue.

??? What did I say this time that disrespected you? For fucks sake, I'm walking on goddamn eggshells here trying to avoid sending someone off on this kind of tangent. That's exactly why I said earlier: "Please bear in mind, I have a lot of respect for you and your opinion, @mal3volent. I don't mean to come across aggressive on this point; but I can't really wrap my head around what you're saying without thinking it seems like it's making a 'mountain' out of a proverbial molehill, no?" I mean, fuck, how much softer do I have to go?

I hope you are fucked up or something.

Gee, thanks. WTF does that mean? Why would you hope I'm fucked up? I'm taking aim at your argument, not you personally.

That's a really weird thing to say to someone. And it's dismissive. Should I just chalk it up to you having other stress in your life and taking it out on the wrong target? Perhaps you haven't been getting good sleep lately? Look idk, if I offended you, it wasn't my intention.

But thanks for letting me know not to waste any more energy into this conversation.

Another really shitty thing to say. Are you having a bad day/night/whatever? I hope things get better for you, if so. Cálmate. Relájate, compa. Todo bien. Sorry if this is a sore subject for you, but I really think you're overreacting… that or you're hoping to bail on the convo rather than admit your argument is deeply flawed and you hold a strangely puritanical view on nudity that at first clip uses an absolute statement about that is just plain impractical to the point of almost underscoring the oddity and your particular philosophy on the subject. Then you randomly blast all liberals as being shit poor parents that would allow their children to be sexually abused while acting as though you're privy to some special dataset or some knowledge & experience the rest of us just aren't and will never know.

Of course now that you've chosen this hardline opinion, I don't expect to hear you change it or concede that perhaps you are going just a little too hard in the proverbial paint on this subject, so I'm gonna let it go. I just find it odd b/c you otherwise seem so reasonable.

I truly hope like hell no one here harbors painful feelings, memories, and/or PTSD from child abuse, but if you're on this thread and this fits the bill for you, my heart goes out to you. I assure you I'm not trying to be glib on the subject, nor do I take the subject matter lightly. I just mean there's a limit to how much censorship needs to be placed on children before it turns into unhealthy sheltering and helicopter parenting that leads to a phase of extreme rebellion and massive problems circa the college years…

And hey if it doesn't apply… well you know what to do.

 

[Bagseed]

Not quite. Children have been subjected to things like war, disease, famine, and—for a long time—a lack of child labor laws to protect children from exploitation. In the grand scope of things, children born today have much higher odds of avoiding these horrible fates. If the trade off is your kid inadvertently witnesses a mentally insane homeless person masturbating on a subway train, I think it won't devastate their little minds. People coddle their fucking children too much these days. The idea that anyone can completely shelter a child and then weeping over their supposed "lost innocence" is perhaps setting some unrealistic expectations. But then, I also don't care for the traditions of lying to children about Santa Claus / Father Christmas / Saint Nick / whatever that traditional blackface character is in Norway (Black Pete or something?), the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Babadook, and so on and so forth. Life is vexing enough without these layers of bullshit veiled on top of it all, ticking timebombs of eventual disappointment. No thanks.

was gonna say something along these lines but you beat me to it. I also think it is naive at best to believe it is even possible to shield children from the realities of life until they are teens... they pick up things very early on and not having discussions about things like violence, war, crime, addiction, the human body, mind, et cetera, will just leave them confused about it. I wish my parents would have talked to me about shit....

 

[Las Veghost grower]

where I come from there is no reason for a dad to be flashing his junk in front of his kid,..and it’s not normal around here, but hey whatever works I suppose