Why the double standard?
Dave at Faith*in*Fiction is worried over the double standard between sex and violence in fiction, and particularly when it comes to Christian fiction. As I am not at all shy about violence in my fiction (see, especially, Fire, but Eyes isn't exactly pacifistic either), this is something I've thought about. I have a theory about the reason for this double-standard, and it's probably not what you think.
As a society, we have a much greater consensus on what constitutes acceptable violence than acceptable sexuality. Americans are as divided as ever on extramarital sex, homosexuality, and a host of other sexual practices. Sex in fiction is almost bound to offend someone, and whether the writer makes it clear the act is right or wrong, or just presents it without judgement, someone's going to protest. Violence is another matter. We have clear ideas on when violence is just and when it is not. It is, in general, not right to harm people, except in self-defense or to stop those who use unjust violence. Thus, when we read about a violent act in fiction, we immediately categorize it as right or wrong, and rarely worry that it will send the wrong message to impressionable young people, as that categorization is clear in the fiction as well. Of course, good fiction can blur the lines, and edgy movies do it as a matter of course, but none of them really attempt to shift the general consensus. Thus the violence is "safe," even when it is very ugly.
As a society, we have a much greater consensus on what constitutes acceptable violence than acceptable sexuality. Americans are as divided as ever on extramarital sex, homosexuality, and a host of other sexual practices. Sex in fiction is almost bound to offend someone, and whether the writer makes it clear the act is right or wrong, or just presents it without judgement, someone's going to protest. Violence is another matter. We have clear ideas on when violence is just and when it is not. It is, in general, not right to harm people, except in self-defense or to stop those who use unjust violence. Thus, when we read about a violent act in fiction, we immediately categorize it as right or wrong, and rarely worry that it will send the wrong message to impressionable young people, as that categorization is clear in the fiction as well. Of course, good fiction can blur the lines, and edgy movies do it as a matter of course, but none of them really attempt to shift the general consensus. Thus the violence is "safe," even when it is very ugly.
