Hrm. Honestly, the article didn't give me nearly as much information as I'd like, but I'll go with what you gave me. :)
That's a tough one, because I know I've seen some mind-bogglingly sexually graphic manga that wasn't even appropriate for MY eyes, never mind a kid's: ("OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT THERE? OH MY G-- WHAT ARE YOU-- AAAH.") So my gut instinct is that restricting the sale of that kind of manga wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. However, I do realize that I'm trying to ascribe my Western sensibilities to the situation (and I really can't do otherwise, when you get right down to it).
On the other hand, to oppose these restrictions seems... disingenuous, somehow. By opposing the restrictions, is that somehow giving extra leeway to manga as a... as a genre? Is it somehow okay for what basically boils down to "child rape" as long as it's in a medium so far removed from our own? It seems almost as if there's a degree of the old Orientalism in that line of thinking, by labeling it as "exotic" simply because it comes from an entirely different set of sensibilities.
Without knowing more one from one side OR the other, I'd have to say that I can't see any reason why a twelve year old kid of any persuasion would absolutely, positively need to possess a visual medium that depicts objectification/sexual brutalization/humiliation/aliententaclerape.
no subject
That's a tough one, because I know I've seen some mind-bogglingly sexually graphic manga that wasn't even appropriate for MY eyes, never mind a kid's: ("OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT THERE? OH MY G-- WHAT ARE YOU-- AAAH.") So my gut instinct is that restricting the sale of that kind of manga wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. However, I do realize that I'm trying to ascribe my Western sensibilities to the situation (and I really can't do otherwise, when you get right down to it).
On the other hand, to oppose these restrictions seems... disingenuous, somehow. By opposing the restrictions, is that somehow giving extra leeway to manga as a... as a genre? Is it somehow okay for what basically boils down to "child rape" as long as it's in a medium so far removed from our own? It seems almost as if there's a degree of the old Orientalism in that line of thinking, by labeling it as "exotic" simply because it comes from an entirely different set of sensibilities.
Without knowing more one from one side OR the other, I'd have to say that I can't see any reason why a twelve year old kid of any persuasion would absolutely, positively need to possess a visual medium that depicts objectification/sexual brutalization/humiliation/aliententaclerape.