Posted by Tamar on October 25, 2005, at 16:26:57
In reply to I WAS bad, posted by muffled on October 24, 2005, at 22:56:09
I know what you mean about it not looking right with the asterisk. And I don’t mind the asterisks in general posts but in a poem I agree that it looks all wrong. It stops the poem from speaking. I mean, if you wanted to write a poem with asterisks that would be fine, but you wanted to use the f-word in all its power and so I can understand why you bypassed the auto-asterisking.
I would have done the same if I’d felt strongly that I wanted to choose my own language without censorship. I like strong words and I use them frequently at home (preferably after the kids go to bed, though a few sometimes slip out…).
So I don’t think you’re bad.
I suppose it’s just a question of context. If you published your poem in a book, you could use the f-word and even stronger language if you wanted to. And people could choose for themselves whether to buy your poetry books. But maybe it's a bit different on a discussion forum because of the interaction between people. I'm just guessing, really - I don't know the reasons why we can't use any language we like. Perhaps there are people here at Babble who don't like strong language and so it's censored.
Choosing to bypass the automatic censoring doesn’t make you a bad person, but it does have consequences, and I was very sorry to see you blocked. And I can imagine that being blocked felt like a punishment that was too severe for your ‘crime’… I suppose that’s the thing about rules. They don’t necessarily feel fair. But it’s the same rule for everyone and that should make it a bit more fair in practice.
I can also understand why you might feel hurt and want to back away. You might be frightened of being hurt again. But I really hope you stay because I like you.
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:571465
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20051025/msgs/571786.html