This was a big complaint of Howard Stern's for years. His feeling was that parents driving the car can turn his show off if kids are in the car and adults that are offended need only turn the dial. He also complained that he would get fined for words that were said on Phil Donahue's television show or even Oprah's but they supposedly were using them in the context of educating people. It is hypocrisy at its best.
I very rarely curse in front of my children, but have been to movies or watched cable shows where there's been cursing. My kids have lived through it and so have I and I don't need anyone telling me what words I'm allowed to hear and where or when or even the context. I really think its time to get rid of the FCC.

This is going to take care of itself. People care less and less and less about broadcast media... And they really are public airwaves. People with really conservative taste deserve to have their needs taken into account, too. But every now and then we read that something like 40% of internet traffic is pornography: There's no reason for people to pretend the world is becoming less hospitable to indecency.

The FCC will nonetheless find some way of protecting their salaries.....

I think Crid meant conservative in a non-political context...
"Traditional or restrained in style" or "Moderate; cautious".
[Dictionary.com; second entry]
There can be political liberals who want TV without swearing or nudity, too.

Personally, I can understand both sides of the argument. I'm a little divided. As a kid who had her own TV in her room (I assume a lot of kids now have their own TV's, too), I'd like at least a time limit - "No F-words before 9pm" kinda deal; same thing with graphic violence. I'm glad they didn't have CSI and some of these other crime shows back when I was a kid; I would've had nightmares all the time because of the state of some of those dead bodies.

On the other hand, I hate the government telling TV & radio what they can and can't do, leaving policies vague, and enforcing them on a pick-and-choose basis. Janet Jackson's boob was NOT as big a deal as they made it out to be and it was stupid to spend years talking about it.

On this one, I'm just not sure which side of the fence I fall on. Both sides have good points, both sides have astronomically stupid points.

There do need to be some standards of decency. I wouldn't want all of television to turn into some uncensored version of Jersey Shore.

On the other hand, at an hour when only adults (or supervised children) should be expected to be watching, seeing a guy respond to getting his arm blown off with a "Drat" or "Egad" seems a tad silly.

Actually, I agree with the self-named "Goddess" Alkon on this one.
While I lament the coarseness of our culture, and the slothful reliance on four-letter words to impart invective, what people chose to watch on TV is their business. They want porno, so be it. They want violent TV, so be it. Personally, I find PBS programming wonderful at times, though it seems to have devolved a bit into music and food shows.
I only implore Alkon to apply her libertarianism fairly. If a bar wants to be open to families, it is the bar's choice, not the state's. Other patrons, annoyed by children, can get lost and go to a bar they like. If polygamists want to marry, so what. If a national casino-brothel-stripper chain starts to offer two free pot joints with every reservation, that's fine. Guys would put down good money to gamble for a chance to win a night with the stripper on stage. It is a good business model.
The problem I find with libertarians is that they are really just Republicans who want to smoke pot. I yet have to hear from a Republican who was passionate about abolishing the Department of Agriculture.

Oh yeah I know all about the FCC....

They will clean up all your talking in a manner such as this
They will make you take a tinkle when you wanna take a piss
And they'll make you call fellatio a trouser-friendly kiss

Here's the plain situation, theres no negotiation
With the fellas at the freakin' FCC

They're as stuffy as the stuffiest of special interest groups
Make a joke about your bowels and they order in the troops
Any baby with a brain could tell them everybody poops

Take a tip, take a lesson,you'll never win by messing
With the fellas at the freakin' FCC

And if you find yourself with some young sexy thing
You're gonna have to do her with your ding-a-ling
(Cos you can't say penis)

So they sent this little warning, they're prepared to do their worst
And they stuck it in your mailbox, hoping you could be coerced
I can think of quite another place they should have stuck it first.

They may just be neurotic, or possibly psychotic
They're the fellas at the freakin' FCC

As an adult I think I can make my own decisions on what to watch and what my children can watch. If I don't like something it shouldn't mean that others should not be allowed to watch it. I rarely watch television, but the when I do, I love 30 Rock, 24, and Californication. Some people would be offended by Californication and even 24. Don't watch then. And I get that one is cable and one is not, but I should have the choice to view what I choose and not what someone else deems appropriate.

Censorship is going away, and I'm afraid I'm going to miss it, a little.

On the one hand, I personally have a mouth like a sailor. On the other, some of the coolest people I ever knew (or knew of) were the ones who used creativity, by choice or necessity. WC Fields use phrases like "mother of pearl" and "Godfrey Daniels". I knew a man who called people things like "breadfruit". My dad's favorite expletive was "Rimsky-Korsakov!" I have known other people who would not be able to have a conversation if the word "fuck" disappeared, and I feel sorry for them.

I also appreciated the shock value of forbidden words. The first (and pretty much only) time I heard the word "twat" on TV was on a Monty Python's Flying Circus episode. Another episode included the first time a I heard someone called a bastard. I guess it was okay because it was on PBS!

Oh well, once censorship totally bites the dust, we will no longer be subjected to lame attempts to "tame" movie dialogue. I remember a Burt Reynolds movie where they changed the words he said to "Gosh darn son of a buck!" Yeesh.

Media companies are refusing to adjust to the new paradigm. And it's costing them.

Movie studios still judge a movie's "success" by its opening weekend take despite the fact that many people now have digital televisions (and in-home theater systems) and prefer to wait to rent (or buy) the DVD so they can watch the movie when they want to (instead of at 7:14, 8:21, or 9:43) and watch it at their own pace, pausing or rewinding when they need to.

Movie studios still insist on pricing every movie the same, despite the fact that some patrons might opt to pay $5 for a lesser movie over $10 for a blockbuster. 100 patrons at $5@ makes the same money as 50 at $10@...and more patrons = more popcorn sales (which helps the theater chain afford to hire more employees and do the remodeling and maintenance to say an place that attracts movie patrons).

Television networks still judge a program by its ratings in a particular time slot - despite the prevalence of Tivo and the fact that many people now buy the DVD and watch an entire season at their preferred pace.

Record companies insist on compiling, marketing, and selling albums of songs despite the fact that most people go to iTunes (or a competitor) and buy music by the song. And I'm still waiting for the $5 CD I was promised in the 80s.

Book stores and publishers are now running into this paradigm shift as well.

The same epithet that the commission regards as indecent when Cher says it on an awards show may not be considered indecent when showing the movie "Saving Private Ryan."

Do they no longer edit movies for content when they show them on broadcast TV? I believe they still do for movies shown on airplanes.

The MPAA ratings system does take epithets into account.

Broadcasters have no way of knowing in advance what sort of content will upset the F.C.C.'s indecency police -- and possibly subject them to enormous financial penalties.

That's just silly talk. Of course they know. Broadcasters aren't stupid.

What language is and is not acceptable is part of the culture war that has been waging for the last fifty years or more. I'm not sure what the right solution is; I certainly don't want to encourage young people to use cuss words (they make you sound stupid), but they hear and use them every day in school already.

What makes using words like "fuck" and "shit" wrong is subjective, and changes over time. One sign that they are no longer offensive will be when politicians use them in televised speeches.

"One sign that they are no longer offensive will be when politicians use them in televised speeches."

Eewww! Way to take the fun out of cussing.

Now what was that commercial about cleaning your fresh mouth? I quite liked "cootie queen" and "lint-licker."

Censorship is going away, and I'm afraid I'm going to miss it, a little.

Reasonable censorship (it used to be called discretion) will be missed. But your example of "Gosh darned son of a buck" will not be missed at all.

I'm old enough to remember the kerfuffle in 1978 over whether the name of the the mini-series of the first book of John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles could be published in the local newspaper's tv listings won't be missed.

When I lived in Jacksonville, FL, the name of a certain Burt Reynolds / Dolly Parton movie could not be listed on the movie theater's marquee. So, the theater chains danced a little sidestep and put the initials up instead. I always thought that just made it look like someone made a movie out of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

When the stage version came to government-owned theater, they had to call it "The Best Little Chicken Ranch in Texas." Personally, I think there may have been a bit of truth in advertising in plastering the word "whorehouse" across the front a government building. Still, that kind of squeamishness won't be missed either.

====================

I only implore Alkon to apply her libertarianism fairly. If a bar wants to be open to families, it is the bar's choice, not the state's.

I think that was her argument all along. These mothers were suing the bar because the bar's owners didn't want strollers blocking the entrance and children driving away the serious drinkers and so, banished children from the bar.

And, by the way, Libertarianism doesn't mean anarchy. They're different political views.

>>Conan says: "When I lived in Jacksonville, FL, the name of a certain Burt Reynolds / Dolly Parton movie could not be listed on the movie theater's marquee."

Ha! I live in Jax! About two years ago, we had the Vagina Monologues come to Atlantic Beach Theater. Some grandma complained when they were driving by and her daughter (can't remember the age) asked "What's a vagina?". She was so inflamed that she got them to change the sign to "The Hoo-Haa Monologues". That lasted four days, I think, until the backlash from the local and national media (seriously, it had a short life as an Internet sensation) got it changed back.

Hoo-haa? Seriously? I would've thought that it was a weird-ass tribute to Hee-Haw, if I'd seen it.

I guess it's okay if the kid asked "What's a Hoo-Haa?" The Hee-Haw must be the male equivalent. I wonder when they'll produce The Penis Monologues.

Good thing it's Friday, I'm free-associating all over the place.

I heard the word "twat" on TV was on a Monty Python's Flying Circus episode. Another episode included the first time a I heard someone called a bastard. I guess it was okay because it was on PBS!

One episode had to change the word Cancer to gangrene, & it's really obvious too. They voiced it completely flat, to make it stand out.

& another skips over the word masturbating. Graham is on a game show, (Summerizing Proust) & listing his hobbies, strangling animals, golf ... and masturbating. It just drops off after golf & he mouth keeps moving.

~~~

"What's a vagina?"

LOL, don't bother with edgeamakashon.

It's good when girls have no idea about their girl-down-there-parts. Of course they won't try to use them, naaaa.

Reminds me of the people & the Tit seen round the world. People tried to defend their over reaction with "my kid what in the room" ... heavens forbid you have to expalin everyone has them & shrug.

Making a huuuuge deal out of these things is what makes is so attractive to kids later. See the girls that go to spring break & ended up on Girls gone wild, very "look what I can do!"

She was so inflamed that she got them to change the sign to "The Hoo-Haa Monologues."

It's good to know things haven't changed in thirty years.

I would've thought that it was a weird-ass tribute to Hee-Haw....

Now, that one I'd pay to see.

"Gloom, despair, and agony, oh me.
Deep dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
Gloom, despair, and agony, oh me."

"Where, oh where, are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over, and I thought I'd found true love.
You met another and pffft, you was gone!"

That was a truly surreal show.

If polygamists want to marry, so what.

What part of "state-sanctioned adultery" do you not understand?

I yet have to hear from a Republican who was passionate about abolishing the Department of Agriculture.

Count me as the first one, then, Beavis of the Universe. American agriculture is about as free-market as gang-infested housing projects.

cornerdemon: I was in Jax in the mid-80's... What business are you in?

I personally think that since Carlin and the "7 words" monologue that the FCC has been stupid.

As far as a generational thing -- my mother will send me DVD's. We'll talk and she'll be along the lines of "They don't curse in this movie." I'm then watching a History of Violence that they kill 20 people, but no one curses.

That's just freakin great.

I just want to say that parenting is a lot harder than it was for your parents, Amy, because the world is a lot cruder and ruder (isn't that the premise of your book).

I just left a cafe with my kids because all around us people were cursing like crazy, and loudly. I of course monitor what they watch on TV, but there's nothing I can do when we're driving and pass a billboard and from the back window hear one shout, "NAKED WOMAN!" We had our first very general sex talk after seeing two twentysomethings pretty much having sex on the beach despite a kid's birthday party going on right there.

We were at Barnes and Noble the other day and right in front of the entrance to the children's book section there were books whose covers had quite adult themes. I did parent. I asked the BN manager if this was really necessary, to put that particular display in that particular place. And he looked at me like I was mad.

I am no prude, and sometimes I worry I'm not careful enough with my kids. But it's not as simple as restricting their TV viewing to Disney on Sunday nights -- because even on Disney the kids are sexualized and saying they hate school and. . .

I know parenting is my job and not society's. But I also think there need to be small spaces of safety where innocence is allowed and adulthood isn't smack in their faces all the time. I think it will make for better kids and for better adults in the long run.

I couldn't help myself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Nrp7cj_tM

-Julie

Crid asked: cornerdemon: I was in Jax in the mid-80's... What business are you in?

I'm a librarian. But sadly, in the 80's, I was in elementary school learnin' my ABC's. Doubt we would've run into each other... ^_~