But what sense does it make to forbid selling to a 13-year-old boy a magazine with an image of a nude woman, while protecting a sale to that 13-year-old of an interactive video game in which he actively but virtually binds and gags the woman, then tortures and kills her?

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/sex-and-the-supremes/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

  The Supremes?  Oh, SCOTUS!  Not the singing trio from the 60's.  Yes a lot of the law opinions handed down my those robed masters does get my head scratching and raises my dander.  This is just the latest installment that congress or the state legislatures will have to fix. 
  Well, back to the trio headed by Diana Ross... Sort of.  When I grew up, my mom was the court.  She determined what we should buy.  I wanted a Sonny & Cher LP album with the young, not so scantily clad Cher on the album.  She said no to the top ten album and bought us Whipped Cream and Other Delights by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  It had a woman on the cover clad only in whipped cream!

Joelene

But what sense does it make to forbid selling to a 13-year-old boy a magazine with an image of a nude woman, while protecting a sale to that 13-year-old of an interactive video game in which he actively but virtually binds and gags the woman, then tortures and kills her?

I'm sure every 13 year old in the US reading that is saying: "Sell?  You mean people buy porn?"  What that 13 year old has seen on the net, at his friends house and showing up on his phone makes the stuff in Daddy's bottom drawer seem like last weeks news.

It's because a lot of Americans have a real problem with sex, but no problem with violence.  Which always seemed weird to me, because the fact is, even people with personal problems, body problems and everything else are no doubt going to get to have sex at some point.  But torture and killing people tends not to be so everyday, hence it's the real vicarious activity.  I mean at least with porn you might be picking up some pointers to use later.

Yeah, pointers like whipped cream!

Isn't it the parent's and/or the shopkeep's fault for allowing the kid to have that video game?
As far as I know, all games have ratings, and it's illegal to sell adult games directly to children. I remember when my brother and I were young, when we wanted to buy a game above our age limit, our mother had to come into the store and sign a kind of contract saying that we were allowed to buy and purchase the game. Even now I'm still asked to show my ID to prove I'm of age.

Quote from: tekla on July 08, 2011, 07:30:59 PM
I'm sure every 13 year old in the US reading that is saying: "Sell?  You mean people buy porn?"  What that 13 year old has seen on the net, at his friends house and showing up on his phone makes the stuff in Daddy's bottom drawer seem like last weeks news.

true, and 13-year-old girls read gay erotica. i've a feeling many parents would like that even less than what most boys would watch

maybe those supremes would think twice if they saw the kids reading things like death panda or mai-chan's daily life. extreme violence can also be erotic to the right(?) mind

As far as I know, all games have ratings, and it's illegal to sell adult games directly to children.

That law varies from state to state, and having it on the books does not mean it's going to be enforced.  Now if I sold some jr. high kids Debbie Does Dallas, Deep Throat, Traci Takes Tokyo (The Wizard of Oz of Porn movies) and the complete Nina "Anal Annie" Hartley collection I'm sure I'd go to jail.  Which is funny, because those kids don't want to buy that.  They go to Pirate Bay or some other torrent site and get it for free.