**** Censorship

**** THIS STUPID RULE.

Edit: Oh my God. This forum has automatic censoring. Would you look at that. Alright, here's what I originally wrote:

But you know, as soon as I check this again, the letters "*-*-*-*" above will probably have been replaced by asterisks. You know why? Something lovely called censorship. Something I think is retarded.

First off, this isn't a pointless rant against someone. I totally respect our lovely administrator and I am definitely not an angry forum geek who is flaming just for the sake of flaming. This is something I feel strongly about and- regardless of what it seems like- I am about to make a coolheaded argument in favor of not censoring my use of curse words.

Here goes my argument.

This is a forum for writing. By nature, writing is a form of self-expression. We put down our thoughts on paper and share them, should others want to read them. And the point of being able to write is that people get our message-

-the uncensored part.

Everyone knows who Thomas Jefferson is, right? Freedom of speech, freedom of press, all that crap? If we aren't allowed to write what we truly feel, then what the hell is the point? If I am censored, then what you read from me isn't my message at all. It is some government- or in this case, administrator-approved version of my message. And that. Sucks.

But of course, this argument completely falls if I can't prove one thing- that through swearing, I actually am sending a message. A lot of people might just object that "Right, so we should let you express yourself, but why do you necessarily HAVE to express yourself by swearing?"

I'm going to tell you.

I don't swear because I think it makes me look cool. That is retarded. I don't swear because I enjoy seeing people's reactions when I do. That is also retarded. Although, that's kind of fun. But that's beside the point. I swear, because the words are strong, and they prove that I'm being serious.

Which sentence seems stronger to you?

1. "This is stupid."

2. "This is f****** retarded."

Two, obviously. That's because swear words by nature have been given a strong weight by society- and I take advantage of that weight, because I, obviously, have strong opinions. And when you're a fourteen-year-old girl who looks too small to be able to inflict any real physical damage, what you say means more than what you can do.

"But, Rin!" You could protest. "Nobody's forcing you to stay on this site. Go swear somewhere else if you are so inclined to swear online."

My reply is that you ought to be ashamed of yourself. This forum is called the Writer's Circle. We are here to write. If nothing else, I'm attacking the base assumption you make when you think that you can write without writing freely, because that's completely fucktarded. So no, you're not forcing me on this site; I can leave if I want to. But seriously, if you're going to make that argument, you call yourself a writer? I am ashamed.

But there's another reason why I swear, and that's because society's changing. As writers- well, the writers who like my sort of genre, anyways- when we try to capture dialog, we should probably try to capture it realistically so the reader can identify and not say something along the lines of "This writer must have grown up under a rock, because real people don't talk like that. I thus toss this crap piece of fiction into the fireplace and wish the writer would follow. How happy that would make me." Or maybe only people like me would say that. But whatever.

Anyways, in today's society, it's normal to cuss. Unless you literally have grown up under a rock, you know that teenagers swear. It's normal. It's frequent. It happens. And there's nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. By saying a bad word, you don't necessarily make the world worse. What can words do other than express opinions? But even if it's not justified to swear, it still doesn't matter, because my point is that it happens. And as writers, if we can't capture reality as it is, then we might as well put down the pen. (Of course, that only applies to people who write my genre- modern fantasies that aren't set in a Catholic boarding school).

So at the end of the day, I swear for two reasons. One, to express myself. Two, to successfully depict the world as it is. I have the freedom to do this wherever I want- especially here, since it's a WRITING forum, for crying out loud. Not only is this an argument against censorship on this site, it's also an argument against censorship everywhere.

Thus, I wholeheartedly say, **** censorship.

^^
****!
I completely agree

:O

You see? We were both just censored T_T"

Those asterisks use to carry meaning T_T

You can still say

What the f*** or s*** or use @$$

People read them the same as if you spelled it out, so it all the same.

Yeah.

But that's counterintuitive.

Because that just reinforces the fact that censorship exists.

What I'm fighting for is not the ability to use swear words. What I'm fighting for is the eradication of censorship because it's retarded. In. My. Bloody. Opinion.

But see, there's no reason to get rid of it other than to soften the noise to more sensitive people. In short, whatever works best.

I gotta work now. Chat later =)