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Underage Users?
13 years ago
Yesterday, I came across a journal from one of the artists I'm watching (I'm keeping his username anonymous) who basically described that he refuses to interact with minors on FurAffinity because he draws mostly adult artwork, and therefore anyone under 18 who views his drawings is violating the site's TOS. His journal basically stated, "If you're under 18, GTFO. I don't want to talk to you or interact with you in any way, and I don't want you on my page." He also stated that if he discovered that a certain watcher was under 18, he would add them to his "block" list.
Personally, I've always been anti-authoritarian -- I'm the type of person who believes that if someone is underage, yet they can handle the situation maturely, they should be able to view adult material whether the government (or the FA staff) says so or not. This also applies to drinking alcohol and the like -- I believe that if a 15-year old can drink alcohol responsibly, he/she should be allowed to. Age limits have never made sense to me because you can't judge everyone by one standard. Telling everyone that they're not mature enough to view porn before turning 18 is like telling everyone that they must take the same medication no matter what sickness they have. You have a cold? Take Tylenol. You have cancer? Take Tylenol. You're sexually mature and enjoy viewing porn? The age limit is 18. You hate porn and can't handle seeing it? The age limit is 18.
...Anyways, I ended up commenting on this artist's journal saying something along the lines of "Who cares what the TOS says? Just because you're not 18 doesn't mean you're not mature enough to view adult material." To which he replied that rules are there for a reason, etc., and added me to his block list. I agree that my comment was poorly-worded, so I apologized and he accepted. However, I do think that the "GTFO minors" approach is a little harsh -- I know he just wants to protect himself from any trouble that could be caused by interacting with a minor on a website that caters to porn, but.... still. It would make more sense to say "I'm uncomfortable interacting with minors. If you're under 18, don't tell me." instead of taking the approach of "I'm following the rules no matter what, GTFO minors."
What do you guys think? Do I have a valid point --that age limits are ridiculous and can't really be applied to an individual person-- or am I just totally wrong here? :/ Is it okay to disobey the rules if you believe they shouldn't apply to you, or should you always follow the rules no matter what?
P.S. -- This is in NO way meant to be an attack on the aforementioned artist; I know he has reasons for his attitude toward minors, and he's completely entitled to them. I'm more curious to know if people agree with my own views.
Personally, I've always been anti-authoritarian -- I'm the type of person who believes that if someone is underage, yet they can handle the situation maturely, they should be able to view adult material whether the government (or the FA staff) says so or not. This also applies to drinking alcohol and the like -- I believe that if a 15-year old can drink alcohol responsibly, he/she should be allowed to. Age limits have never made sense to me because you can't judge everyone by one standard. Telling everyone that they're not mature enough to view porn before turning 18 is like telling everyone that they must take the same medication no matter what sickness they have. You have a cold? Take Tylenol. You have cancer? Take Tylenol. You're sexually mature and enjoy viewing porn? The age limit is 18. You hate porn and can't handle seeing it? The age limit is 18.
...Anyways, I ended up commenting on this artist's journal saying something along the lines of "Who cares what the TOS says? Just because you're not 18 doesn't mean you're not mature enough to view adult material." To which he replied that rules are there for a reason, etc., and added me to his block list. I agree that my comment was poorly-worded, so I apologized and he accepted. However, I do think that the "GTFO minors" approach is a little harsh -- I know he just wants to protect himself from any trouble that could be caused by interacting with a minor on a website that caters to porn, but.... still. It would make more sense to say "I'm uncomfortable interacting with minors. If you're under 18, don't tell me." instead of taking the approach of "I'm following the rules no matter what, GTFO minors."
What do you guys think? Do I have a valid point --that age limits are ridiculous and can't really be applied to an individual person-- or am I just totally wrong here? :/ Is it okay to disobey the rules if you believe they shouldn't apply to you, or should you always follow the rules no matter what?
P.S. -- This is in NO way meant to be an attack on the aforementioned artist; I know he has reasons for his attitude toward minors, and he's completely entitled to them. I'm more curious to know if people agree with my own views.
The rule is there so FA doesn't get owned and they enforced it so they don't get owned by the state. I think if it wasn't a law, most people wouldn't care if a 15 year old was looking at porn (I started reading slash fic when I was 10? and had furry based fantasies even before that.) In the end, most people only freak out because there's a law telling them too.
However, those that end up getting their account labeled as under aged are dumb and doing it wrong.
My account was actually age-locked a couple years back because someone from DeviantART (where I had my age posted) tattled on me. >__>
I still wouldn't block any of my watchers if I knew they were underage. I don't really care, either. xD
I've encountered a few DeviantART users who openly mentioned that they were under 13 (you're not allowed to create an account on any website if you're under 13, per government law... another stupid rule >__>). Instead of reporting them, I made them aware of this and told them not to let anyone know their age. xD I'd rather help them out than get their accounts deleted.
I know a 19 year old who acts like he's still 16
and I know a 15 year old who acts like he's 20
i've seen a 12 y/o act more proper and adult than even a 50 y/o as well!
But I do wonder that if we, as a global society (most of it anyway), baby children too much. From what I've seen and read it seems that kids that have mature (non-sexual) experience at an early stage in their life (both good and bad) have somewhat of a mental head start regarding decision making and philosophy.
We deem it as normal to ''safe keep'' kids till they're 18 and up, but is it really normal? If I look at high schools and early college in particular it does seem like it could benefit from a mature social structure. Perhaps even improve their future.
But, as it is now, it doesn't really matter. Whether it's natural or not, circumstances are as they are, and many kids do remain immature until they're 18 (sometimes even into their mid/late twenties). And while I agree that it's unfair for those that can handle it, having a age restricted fail safe in place for those whom can't handle it is for the best.
That's not to say it's by any means cool to scorch and look down on minors that do choose to participate in things they know they're ready for. Whether this is looking at porn or having a beer. Minors are people too, some well capable of making their own decisions. having an ''adult'' decide over whether they are or aren't ready for it is kinda silly and disrespectful. we tend to look at kids and teenagers as almost a different species in that regard. People are people from the day they're born, only what they do and don't know changes.
However, when they are a legally minors and feel the need to look at pornographic- or otherwise adult, material (taking the specific journal you referred to as example) they are responsible for keeping it out of the eyes of those that can take it away from them. They're working against the norm, therefore they'll need to take precautions to prevent that from happening.
Also, I definitely agree that society babies adolescents too much. From the onset of puberty, we all know that teenagers are hormonal sex machines. So why is the age limit for porn set at 18, toward the end of puberty? Seeing a penis at age 15 isn't going to scar someone for life. But because there's a select group of people who just might be traumatised by the seeing genitalia at that age, they have to force a generalized restriction on everyone. :/ So society babies everyone because there are a few people that need to be babied.
Peoples under the age of 18 are still going to look at porn whether they're mature or not and no one is going to actively go out and change that/stop them.
Age limits are set becuase they ARE standard. There is no known way to NOT standardize it without assessing every individual (regardless of age).
I take offense to your Tylenol comment but I understand your point. I challenge you to fisty cuffs at noon in front of the library.
I'm going to go back to doing my population ecology homework now but thanks for making me critically think for a while.
*headdesk*
On the flip-side of this, Furaffinity has a system set in place as a preventative measure for its users getting in trouble. You have to state your legal birth date in order to view adult material on this site. Any under-aged members can, of course, lie, but as artists we cannot be held responsible for them. If they don't lie, they can't view the porn! Except for material posted in journals... we really need a maturity option for journal postings!!! *hint hint FA*
Now, lastly If I find out you've lied about your age in order to view my adult art, I would do the same thing this guy did to protect myself! I would have to block them, TOS or not! I cannot risk going to prison over something as stupid as this.
Those are my thoughts about it.
TL;DR - Stop being lazy and read! :P
There is a severe trust and understanding deficit in the world, that makes the national debt look puny and miniscule.
But yeah, good wording can make all the difference.