Theory of Knowledge: Where is the line between Art and “Profanity”?

With the recent release of the book 50 Shades of Grey and the subsequent books in the series, I have to wonder, does erotica count as art?

I want to argue that any form of self expression is art, but then I have to stop and think. It is art to someone, erotica novels, but just because it may not be “taken seriously” does it make it not art? What about the “good”ness aspect of it? I will tell you that Twilight is a terrible book and the series doesn’t get any better, but my assignment of goodness/badness doesn’t make it a universal consensus. Is Twilight a piece of art? Is any piece of popular fiction art?

I think it’s rather pretentious to dismiss popular forms of work as not being art, however, I will not disagree with you if you said half of the books that are best sellers aren’t great. But then, I’m also judging them without seeing them.

I digressed a little bit.

There was a painting of Stephen Harper naked. Is that art?

Is it the fact that it has a political message making it different from 50 Shades of Grey? I would say that gratuitous sex is not worth publishing, but some people really enjoy reading those. What makes it different from porn videos on the internet? Is it the fact that it has been published and put into print?

Do any of those things deserve censorship then?

I still haven’t wrapped my head around all of those questions to be able to think of an answer.

Theory of Knowledge: Censoring Yourself

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people censor themselves.

What I mean is:

“What the f***?!”

or

“That b***h.”

etc.

Words only hold whatever power you give them.

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” – Albus Dumbledore.

Yes, I just pulled out a Harry Potter quote.

Many swearwords stem from normal words, look at many Quebecois French swearwords, a lot of them are religious. This might have something to do with the stronghold the Catholic church had in Quebec for so long.

What I think is that if you choose to use a swearwords, use it like any other word. If you feel the need to censor yourself when you swear, then don’t even use that word. There are plenty of other words that hold the same meaning without the same “force” assigned to them.

I am writing about this because I read someone’s short story on the internet and in the story she used the word, “b*tch”. It was written exactly like that.

Literature is a form of art. Art is a form of self expression.

When you censor your own work, it feel to me like you are shying away from conveying your thought and opinions because it might offend someone. In my opinion, there’s no point of writing that piece. There’s always going to be someone who hates the work, there’s always going to be someone who is offended. What is the point of trying to please everyone when you can’t?

By censoring a word, it’s implying that something should be hidden about it, that there is some power there.

Also, censoring a word like that doesn’t actually make a difference.

I know exactly what she’s talking about even with that letter taken out.

What was I suppose to thing that * stood for?

“She was a real batch.”

“She was a real betch.”

“She was a real butch.”

Why not just avoid the word altogether.

“She was a real meanie.”