Rating Systems, Censorship, and I CAN'T SHUT UP
I've been participating in a discussion online regarding teen books and profanity. I believed the premise of the discussion was based on a false dichotomy, and therefore, a lot of things that were said started to make my spidey senses tingle that censorship lurking was lurking somewhere in between the lines. The question posed at the beginning of the discussion was this: Profanity in Books? Necessary or Bothersome? A false dichotomy is when someone is presented with an idea and only two choices on how to act or think. Now while the original poster (who I much appreciate for starting this discussion) commented that she did indeed find some profanity in books as "necessary." However, I disagree. For instance, from my point of view, to have a book, it isn't NECESSARY to have profanity. Necessary adj. Required to be done, achieved, or present; needed; essential Sure, a book could artistically be better off or a character could be better developed with profa...