Neither of these threads are hidden away, folks here have seen them, some have replied to one of them. There’s been but one comment in respect of profanity (in respect of cranberry’s nonsense thread).
A search on the offending ‘F-word’ reveals 10 instances on the board since 2002. One in that year, 3 in 2003, and 6 so far this year (well, 8 now I guess, with the quotes above).
Is the use of the word becoming acceptable here?
It seems odd that the recently-formed “Prude’s Anonymous” http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=23422 will publicly berate a member for a cheeky cartoon avatar (on the grounds it might not be appropriate for a 15-yo young man to view, and thus it was deemed salacious) and yet no-one seems in the slightest perturbed by profanity.
If Cran had written Would “Screw You”, or “go make love to yourself”, would that be more acceptable? To me it’s the sentiments, not the words, that matter.
In London I get so inundated with swear words, that they lose their shock value. I don’t like hearing or seeing such language coming out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, or Crans and Glaubers, but I also think a 15 year old boy won’t be traumatised by the sight of a naked cartoon bottom.
When I’m really mad, I try to use non-swear phrases (I think we had a thread of such idioms recently) such as “rat on a stick”, “Great steaming Hobgoblins” or “go blow it out of your L@rs€n”.
I think the avatar thing all started with the cartoon girly with the bare bottom, then sort of escalated from there. It was ‘quoted’ in a response, and subsequently deleted out of the quote too.
Not sure that the girly with the wobbly face attracted much attention from the PA.
35 views and so far no-one’s complaining. Interesting.
With a gazillion threads to monitor, and most likely an equal amount of ‘pms’ to respond to, I am sure Dale hasn’t gotten around to it yet. But I think we all know what is and what isn’t reasonable to print in this forum, and I also believe it is up to ourselves to monitor the content of our postings.
So…lets see…I am expected to turn into the prude police or something? Is that my duty now that I have spoken out on another issue? Riiight. No thanks. Yeah, I don’t appreciate the “F***” word being bandied about so much but it is easier to avoid offensive text than an image showing multiple times on a given page. Get real, Gary. :roll:
:roll: Dave, why do you regard my post as some kind of personal attack? Who’s expecting you “to turn into the prude police or something?” And who’s suggested that it’s your duty? My reference to the “PA” was (clearly, I would suggest) a reference to Dale’s post in the Alba thread.
Yet here you are, flying off the handle. Should I put it down to post-election paranoia, or do you seriously believe anything I’ve written has singled you out specifically? Odd, for surely no-one reading the foregoing would have instantly shouted “Look! He’s having a go Feadan!” except, clearly, your good self.
But your remark about it being “easier to avoid offensive text than an image showing multiple times on a given page” is an interesting one, particularly since this forum is all about written communication. Frankly, unless an avatar is flashing/blinking or moving, I don’t particularly notice them. I do, however, notice the words in a post.
I’m not easily shocked or offended. I have a brother-in-law who’s tried for years by doing stuff like posing naked on the front of his Christmas card, a la “Odalisque,” but it’s never worked.
What bothers me more than the occasional overstepping of the politeness line by the Chiffers who like rough words, and rough riders (the avatar,) is the temper tantrums and childish displays of affrontedness that often result when more sensitive Chiffers object.
I enjoy Stacey’s presence here immensely. I don’t love avatars of inflating boobs and whoopee, but I’m willing to take that as part of the color she and others bring to the board. Likewise, Cranberry brings an entertaining puckish peckishness that adds a note of spice.
It may be safe to assume that these over-the-top items will remain a small percentage of the overall board content without placing any restrictions which even less naughty board members would chaff at.
This also applies to those of us who read at work on lunch breaks or during ‘down time’ on the job. While I don’t mind naked women (artistically rendered or otherwise) on my computer, my bosses certainly mind them on theirs.
Not really ‘the club’ either. It just struck me as odd that something I perceived to be nothing more than a little risque attracted strong attention, and yet something I perceive to be considerably ‘worse’ hasn’t.
And still hasn’t, it seems.
But I think your second point quoted above answers that very well. I don’t have a ‘family room’, but I do venture into C&F from here in the office and so can relate to the “somebody looking over your shoulder” example you’ve given.
There have been folks on the board in the past who have expressed concern or dismay or whatever at the use of profanity on the board, only to be bombarded by free speech advocates - those who believe it’s their right to say anything they want anytime they want and if you don’t like it you can go … well, you know. I’m offended by the “f-word” in a public forum but I’m not going to say much about it if it’s used - I don’t particularly want to get into the backlash.
(I think it’s good to keep in mind, too, that when that type of language is used, it activates blockers on many computers and young people can’t get to this site. It’s one thing to say the forums are for adults, but there’s a lot more to this site than just the forums and it’s a shame to have it blocked for kids who’d like to learn about the whistle.)
Is that my duty now that I have spoken out on another issue? Riiight. No thanks. Yeah, I don’t appreciate the “F***” word being bandied about so much but it is easier to avoid offensive text than an image showing multiple times on a given page. Get real, Gary. :roll:
