Sex and violence!

[Arfonious]

So I was playing Saints row the third and did an assassination mission where I had to get my targets attention by streaking. I went to the nearest clothing store, stripped and did the job. I was, however, slightly annoyed by the pixelation of my characters ass and groin area and that got me thinking.

Why is violence so accepted in media and society in general when sex and nudity is not?

I mean violence is an alomst objetively bad thing while sex is a necessary and good thing.

 

[mechashiva77]

Our society tends to be two-faced about a lot of things.

Violence is accepted in film and television, just not in video games for some odd reason. Because apparently pushing a button to shoot things makes you more likely to kill someone than watching someone shoot things.

Sex is something that is usually shunned for people all around. If a woman has too much sex she's a slut, too little she's a prude. If a guy has too much sex he's a player, but runs the risk of seeming like a jackass who doesn't give two craps about women. If a guy has too little sex, he's a pathetic virgin who can't get any girl to love him. Sex and nudity are some things that shouldn't be shown at all, but perfectly ok to put in advertising.

 

[HardkorSB]

Honestly?
I think it's mainly because of the 2 major religions in the world, Christianity in particular.
If you look at ancient history, sex wasn't really taboo before Christianity came along. Orgies were present in many cultures. In Greek and Roman mythology, you had gods that were basically responsible for sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, that were worshiped by many (since many people liked sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll).
I may be wrong but I haven't come across a pre-Christian culture, that actively tried to make people ashamed of their sexuality (well, maybe the Jews but that's where Christianity came from).

 

[Crazy]

I would trade violence for sex any day, why world why can't you let me have more sex on the Tele-unit?

 

[Vault101]

I think I read on a blog somwhere that america tends to "pretend" to be terrfied of sex when its really obsessed with it

puritan holdover I'm told

 

[Rawne1980]

I love how people say "America doesn't like sex" yet it is one of the major players in the porn industry....

"Keep sex off our TV and out of our games BUT WE'LL FUCK ALL OVER THE INTERNET".

 

[WolfThomas]

To be fair I thought pixelation on the junk was funnier than actually being naked.

 

[Realitycrash]

They're puritan in the US (due to way back in the beginning there were a whole lot of religious immigrants fleeing persecution in Europe) so sex isn't alright, but violence is (but really, I never got that. What, it's more sinful to lust than to slay?). In Europe, it's the other way around, because...Well, because we are saner?
Really, I can see violence being bad, and having bad influences. But sex? More sex on TV/in movies might lead to..Uh..Kids having sex earlier? That's really the big issue here, if it can even be proven to be true?

 

[shrekfan246]

I think I read on a blog somwhere that america tends to "pretend" to be terrfied of sex when its really obsessed with it

puritan holdover I'm told

I'm not sure it's so much pretending as it is denial.

Sex is everywhere on American television, with the only provision being that it can't be explicitly shown. A lot of the "racier" shows get around it with clever camera angles that just never show any of the "naughty bits", but yeah.

I guess if you don't live in America, it could be a little surprising? I don't know, it's so commonplace over here at this point that I just expect it now.

Granted, I can probably count the number of normal AAA games that feature full nudity on two hands, so there's that as well.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Mostly it's because sex stigmatised by our society.

From as soon as we become aware of the other sex and begin to have a sex drive we are told that sex is something that is not polite to discuss in civilised situations. It's something that should be done behind closed doors and not really discussed openly. It's very evident in the fact that we like to tell our children when they ask 'where do babies come from?' some crazy bullshit about the storks bring them or some other insanity instead of just explaining the biology behind it.

It's funny but if you look back in history before the Abrahamic religions came along then the norm is for there to be very little if not no stigma attached to sex, hell, most polytheistic religions usually have some sort of god/goddess/spirit dedicated to sex and fertility.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Babble babble, ***** *****
Rebel Rebel, party party
Sex, Sex, Sex and don't forget the violence
La La La, got your lovey dovey sad and lonely
Stick your stupid slogan and everybody sing along!

Oh wait, not Marilyn Manson thread? Oh, carry on then.

North American culture is really bizarre, where a thirteen year old can watch a person be disemboweled, but a nipple will raise red flags.

 

[Ranorak]

Because we don't want our precious children to be corrupted by sex!
Sex has no place in video games because children can be exposed to it!
I will not have my son see another man's naked penis, especially not in a video game!

You know, morals!

Now, Little Timmy, why don't you blow that man's head off and hit his wife with a baseball bat until she is dead, so you can steal their car and use their stolen money to buy a burger!

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I was just talking about this with my mom the other day. It's something that I've heard debated countless times while I was growing up, and everyone is always confused by it. Life can't exist without sex (yet), but it's shunned amazingly in the United States. No idea why. I can offer some guesses:

Violence doesn't have consequences--wait, stop! What I mean to say is, parents see this violent stuff all the time and figure it has no effect on the kid because they grow up around it. No big deal. Sex though, they don't grow up around it, and being exposed to it can lead to some...interesting conversations. Conversations that can lead to the loss of innocence of a child because they suddenly want to go out and try it. You don't have to worry about Timmy going out to try killing someone, but going out to try a get a look at Susie's breasts? Oh dear or dear. And the phone call from Susie's parents...?

Parents don't know how to talk about that 'stuff', so they sweep it under the rug and freak whenever it comes out.

Social stigma--Girls are sluts if they sleep around. Men and champions if they've slept around. Therefore, women get shamed to the point where no one wants to talk about it.

That whole having-a-baby-out-of-wedlock thing is still very much frowned upon. But again, only if you're the mother. Father, you made a poor choice, but people will eventually forget about it.

What you think is acceptable in terms of appropriate sexual ANYTHING isn't the same as what your neighbor thinks. Therefore, since we have become so worried about offending anyone, we just don't talk about it.


So basically, I think it boils down to the fact that we just don't feel comfortable talking about sex, and that discomfort has lead to us shunning it because we don't want to feel uncomfortable. Some of the best conversations I had with my ex girlfriend were about her thoughts on sex, what she liked, what she didn't like, and what she thought of other men she had slept with. I found it all very interesting, being a virgin myself, and it was nice to have someone who was finally willing to talk about all that stuff without getting uncomfortable or wanting to change the subject.

 

[Crazy_Man_42]

Every time I hear about this subject I remember this sketch from Robot Chicken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuzosjD5O5M

It's not the main reason but it would be messed up if it was the reason why we shun sex so much in America.

 

[lechat]

i think it might depend on the medium

other day i was watching a sex education program and was actually shocked at how graphic the images were (i'm not exactly a prude) last i heard in australia we have 2 rules that basically automatically send an image to the R18+ rating and those are - no erect penises (up to a certain angle) and show no pink, at it's core this rule is more or less no inner labia however any spreading of the inner labia would more or less classify it as porn. the show i was watching was rated M meaning it was fit for ages 15 and up. as a comparison in autralia your average playboy is rated M (you can buy them at 15) and hustler is rated R (18+ restricted)

what this show contained was a fully erect penis and a full gynecological examination of the vagina as a whole including the use of a speculum and views of the cervix, clitoris, anus and urethra. i'm not saying that is a bad thing in fact you could argue that those sort of images could help with our insecurities regarding sexual maturity and you could say that the images should be shown at a younger age however there is a massive double standard there

 

[game-lover]

I've given this a lot of thought. Or as much as I can for someone who is really not bothered by it one way or the other.

Anyway, I was getting this idea that part of it has to do with the fact that... Sex is intimate for lack of a better term. While violence is not.

Children can learn to hit without even seeing anyone do it and they certainly get the notion of smacking someone before they do anything about sex.

The average person regardless of culture probably isn't gonna get horny enough to have sex just anywhere and out of closed doors. An act of violence doesn't need such... privacy.

Of course, I could be wrong but that's what I started pondering.

 

[ardias014]

They're puritan in the US (due to way back in the beginning there were a whole lot of religious immigrants fleeing persecution in Europe) so sex isn't alright, but violence is (but really, I never got that. What, it's more sinful to lust than to slay?). In Europe, it's the other way around, because...Well, because we are saner?

Except the Puritans were a relatively small group that migrated over and had very little influence over the rest of the nation. By the logic you use there central Europe would today be more in favor of violence because Calvinism, the religion Puritanism is a subset of, originates from there. And how is Europe sane and not violent? The World Wars, Imperialism, Napoleonic Wars, 7 Years War, Thirty Years War, Reformation, ect.

OT: The U.S.'s treatment of sex has not always been so closed. Ex. The twenties and sixties.
The reason it may be so today is the 50's religious reawakening in culmination with things like the early 20th century Progressive movement.

 

[Arakasi]

The problem with these types of threads, specifically the types of comments attribted to them, is that they are promoting video game sex (I'm fine with that) but demonising video game violence (I'm not fine with that).
Please, stop using that comparison lest we end up like the people burning video games because a school shooter happened to enjoy them.

As for the topic itself: Yay! Sex and violence!

 

[Bertylicious]

The other day I watched Bruno. I found the scene where he is screening his talk show idea to the focus group rather... difficult to watch. Perhaps I am just an un-liberated relic of a decaying and failed generation but there is only so much penis that I can take.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

The other day I watched Bruno. I found the scene where he is screening his talk show idea to the focus group rather... difficult to watch. Perhaps I am just an un-liberated relic of a decaying and failed generation but there is only so much penis that I can take.

Eh, I live in a decidedly non-US country, and me and my family watched Bruno once. Well, tried. We got about 20 minutes in, and it was really fucking unfunny, and just straight up unpleasant. Much like Seinfeld, but with more penises.