And again, I totally agree on this point. If it isn't Gor, it'll be something else, because God knows that it isn't like violent porn is all that hard to find if you've got a computer. In fact, compared to violent porn, the Gor books are almost quaint in their depiction of female subjugation.
It's like the whole thing with underage HP characters having sex: if some pedophile is triggered by that, good chance he or she was going to be triggered sooner rather than later by something else. And God knows real child porn (again), isn't all that hard to find if you really want to find it.
But here's the thing on the other side: If you encounter speech you find distasteful, be it in the form of a book, movie, music, or internet posting — be it sexism, racism, or some other -ism — shouldn't you counter it with more speech?
I'm not talking about harshing the squee here (which is another matter entirely).
For me, this is a case of: "I think these books are really distasteful and here's why. I hope Dark Horse gets a blow-back from the market that's akin to a bitch-slap heard 'round the world."
I'm not arguing that John Norman doesn't have every single right to write those books. He does. I'm not saying that a publisher doesn't have every right to publish those books. It does. I'm not saying that no one has the right to read those books if they want to. They do.
What I'm saying is exactly what the post says: "I got a real problem with these books. Here's my problem with them. Here's why I want Dark Horse to lose their shirts when they republish."
And while I wish like hell that Norman would disavow those books and burn every copy in existence. While I wish like hell that no publisher would touch the books with a 10-foot pole. And while I hope like hell that the reading public turns its back on the books to the tune of lost sales for Dark Horse. I also would not advocate for squashing the existence of those books.
When it comes to books (and music, movies, television shows, and ideas), in the end the marketplace itself has to decide. As a member of the marketplace, I'm planting my flag on the side chanting, "Go down in economic flames Gor!"
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It's like the whole thing with underage HP characters having sex: if some pedophile is triggered by that, good chance he or she was going to be triggered sooner rather than later by something else. And God knows real child porn (again), isn't all that hard to find if you really want to find it.
But here's the thing on the other side: If you encounter speech you find distasteful, be it in the form of a book, movie, music, or internet posting — be it sexism, racism, or some other -ism — shouldn't you counter it with more speech?
I'm not talking about harshing the squee here (which is another matter entirely).
For me, this is a case of: "I think these books are really distasteful and here's why. I hope Dark Horse gets a blow-back from the market that's akin to a bitch-slap heard 'round the world."
I'm not arguing that John Norman doesn't have every single right to write those books. He does. I'm not saying that a publisher doesn't have every right to publish those books. It does. I'm not saying that no one has the right to read those books if they want to. They do.
What I'm saying is exactly what the post says: "I got a real problem with these books. Here's my problem with them. Here's why I want Dark Horse to lose their shirts when they republish."
And while I wish like hell that Norman would disavow those books and burn every copy in existence. While I wish like hell that no publisher would touch the books with a 10-foot pole. And while I hope like hell that the reading public turns its back on the books to the tune of lost sales for Dark Horse. I also would not advocate for squashing the existence of those books.
When it comes to books (and music, movies, television shows, and ideas), in the end the marketplace itself has to decide. As a member of the marketplace, I'm planting my flag on the side chanting, "Go down in economic flames Gor!"