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Is it now the ‘PC’ thing to censor the word Sex.

20 replies

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 00:51

And if so, why? For context I see a lot of young people (16-25ish) censor the word Sex, for example in a tweet they will write S*x or on a YouTube video censor it by bleeps or mutes (like swear words) just intrigued on why this word is now considered so offensive. Thanks

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FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 00:54

The one that baffles me is r*pe.

Asterisking rape is completely and utterly bizarre, but so common among the content-warning crowd.

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 01:03

I’ll be honest, whilst I would not censor it, I can understand why some people might choose to sensor rape, as seeing the word could potentially Trigger traumatic memories. Same with suicide. Again don’t censor it, but will our warning before talking about it.

But sex. No idea. If it was young kids I would put it down as childhood embarrassment. But these are young adults who are most definitely over the age of consent, so a bit Hmm

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FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 01:07

Nobody's going to be triggered specifically and solely by the shape of the letters r, a, p and e together. All you do by asterisking it is change the spelling and draw attention to it. How's that going to help anyone? Especially people who might have a content filter in place that changing the spelling will bypass.

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 01:21

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster

Nobody's going to be triggered specifically and solely by the shape of the letters r, a, p and e together. All you do by asterisking it is change the spelling and draw attention to it. How's that going to help anyone? Especially people who might have a content filter in place that changing the spelling will bypass.
That’s another thing I don’t get about the whole censoring thing. Doesn’t it just highlight the word more? Also where is the Line drawn C*er A**ol B*ying M**ey
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aibubaby · 03/06/2021 01:22

Tiktok deletes or bans users who use a lot of words like sex, rape, drugs etc. So they started censoring it on there or using euphemisms and that's definitely carried over - I've seen 'ouid' instead of weed and 'seggs' instead of sex used widely on Tiktok and then I've started seeing it on Twitter for example.

aibubaby · 03/06/2021 01:24

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster

Nobody's going to be triggered specifically and solely by the shape of the letters r, a, p and e together. All you do by asterisking it is change the spelling and draw attention to it. How's that going to help anyone? Especially people who might have a content filter in place that changing the spelling will bypass.
You don't know that, to be fair. A friend of mine with medical related PTSD really struggles seeing the word needle - it gives her flashbacks to being sedated before she ended up in a coma. Now that's her issue and it's probably unusual, but it does happen.
FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 01:24

What's wrong with conker, Anbesol, and boogying? Tho I can see why you'd be offended at Mley Crus.

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 01:28

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster

What's wrong with conker, Anbesol, and boogying? Tho I can see why you'd be offended at Mley Crus.
Forgive me if this was a joke but the “problematic” words where Cancer Alcohol Bullying Cancer
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FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 01:29

aibubaby okay I don't know that for sure, but it's got to be pretty unusual. And I don't agree with this whole "censoring things in case they're triggering" thing anyway, not in the way so many people seem to be doing. Sure, warning in advance if something is going to contain a graphic rape scene that you wouldn't otherwise expect. But I've seen people putting "Content note: mentions of self-harm" or whatever when the mention they're mentioning is less obtrusive that the mention at the top mentioning that there's a mention.

I've known a fair few people with PTSD and similar problems and they're rarely the ones calling for censoring and excessive content warnings. PTSD triggers are often idiosyncratic and unpredictable anyway.

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 01:29

money, goodness it’s much to late for philosophy, but anyway, Grin

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FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 01:30

Totally yes it was a joke but I also only correctly guessed "bullying" from your list! Which shows up another problem with it — sometimes it's hard to work out what the word is that's been censored.

FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 01:31

BTW would your friend be ok with n**dle or would that potentially just come to be parsed in her head the same way?

MouseholeCat · 03/06/2021 01:51

Sometimes in YouTube videos it's to stop the video being demonetised. On other social channels it's because your post will get censored. Some people use it ironically outside of places where it's necessary, and I think others use it out of habit.

IME I don't see it routinely used by people who fall into the content warning crowd. They usually add trigger warning (TW) or content warning (CW) to their posts and use spoiler tags where they are availble because they actually care about people consenting to reading triggering content.

FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 03/06/2021 02:00

they actually care about people consenting to reading triggering content

Are you this po-faced for a living or is it just a hobby? 😂

FelicityBeedle · 03/06/2021 02:09

It’s because the algorithms punish people who use ‘undesirable’ words

TotallyObsessed4 · 03/06/2021 11:17

@MouseholeCat

Sometimes in YouTube videos it's to stop the video being demonetised. On other social channels it's because your post will get censored. Some people use it ironically outside of places where it's necessary, and I think others use it out of habit.

IME I don't see it routinely used by people who fall into the content warning crowd. They usually add trigger warning (TW) or content warning (CW) to their posts and use spoiler tags where they are availble because they actually care about people consenting to reading triggering content.

Thanks for informing me. In my opinion that is stupid. Sex is part of humanity (it’s how we reproduce) there is nothing undesirable about it. Yes, unfortunately there are people who are abused, but the majority of the time, it’s a healthy part of life. Also it is also another word for gender, so do we have to start censoring that?

I completely agree with trigger warnings however, and I will always put one if I’m talking about something unpleasant.

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TeenMinusTests · 03/06/2021 11:46

I'd rather they censored g*r than sx

HotChocolateLover · 03/06/2021 13:10

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster

Nobody's going to be triggered specifically and solely by the shape of the letters r, a, p and e together. All you do by asterisking it is change the spelling and draw attention to it. How's that going to help anyone? Especially people who might have a content filter in place that changing the spelling will bypass.
You’ve hit the nail right on the head there. They want to draw attention to it and the sort of people who do this will no doubt be attention seekers.
looptheloopinahulahoop · 03/06/2021 13:43

@TeenMinusTests

I'd rather they censored g*r than sx
Yes!
aibubaby · 03/06/2021 15:24

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster

BTW would your friend be ok with n**dle or would that potentially just come to be parsed in her head the same way?
A good point, actually. Presumably eventually after enough times reading it, it would?

I don't personally have any triggers for trauma/PTSD so I don't really feel like I can say whether or not they're needed - I'm happy to put them on content that could be stumbled across by unsuspecting people. At worst it annoys a few people, whereas if you don't at worst it severely triggers someone (and I suppose in the scenario you mention where the trigger just changes to include the censored version, they would be triggered anyway but maybe others wouldn't be?).

It's a tricky one though.

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