Emerald
Lives: Maryland, USA
How would you describe your sexuality?
One of the first ways I would describe my sexuality is individual and personal. That is, it is mine, and no one else's, and thus any contention that umbrellas my sexual preferences as similar or identical to others' just because we share biological characteristics (i.e., we're all women) receives little support from me. Just as each individual is, each individual's sexuality is unique.
I myself get off on rough sex and BDSM, not that that's really any of anyone's business (except those with whom I engage in it). The reason I offer it here is because apparently it is being purported that it is someone's business, namely the government's, and so by naming here my personal preferences as such, perhaps that will ironically serve to demonstrate how inappropriate is for government to try to assume, limit, and control them.
What do you think of the UK government's proposal to ban 'violent pornography'?
It seems to me that the concept of the subjectivity of various sexual activities and the tone with which they are done honestly should not even have to be presented, due to its obviousness. However, a government's move to ban "violent" porn appears to indicate a lack of understanding of this concept. Who is it exactly that is determining what "violent" porn is? For example, I myself would hold that any filming of true non-consensual sex or violence would not be something I would even consider "pornography." It would simply be illegal violent acts that happened to be taped.
Concerning pornography created by and with consensually acting adults (which the vast majority of it is), it continues to astonish me how automatically people appear to dismiss, denigrate, and outright attack things of a sexual nature that they either know little about or simply assume must be "bad" or "wrong" because society postulates, either overtly or tacitly, some disapproval of them. What, exactly, is the argument against the practice of consensual activities between adults that is not causing harm to others? What if someone decided that something you consensually enjoy sexually was "wrong" and "indecent" and quite simply not allowed any more?
While I do not live in the UK, the issue of government censorship is not unfamiliar in the United States, and I believe such trends are relevant to all citizens even if said trends are operating under other governments - and particularly governments that labels themselves democracies.
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Shooting the Messenger
The internet is a convenient scapegoat for society's ills.
The UK government is to legislate how best to imprison potentially many people for viewing content on the internet.
How should governments regulate the details of our personal lives and control individual expression ?
Preserve Individual Freedoms
Backlash campaigns to ensure the right remedies are applied to the right problems.
Whilst doing so we preserve hard won individual rights and liberties.
See no evil.
The government doesn't want you to view certain images. And will send you to prison if you possess them. Even in the privacy of your own home.