“What intrigues me is the use of children as a standard to censor ideas and images. We drug them with sugared sodas and candies. But when it comes to sex we somehow muster all our parental muscle to make sure they are protected, to make sure they don’t see how people may celebrate and lovingly use their bodies.” (HopeDance Editor Bob Banner)

I love that quote and find myself appalled at the anti-erotica forces that wave the flag of “family,” as if it somehow goes without saying that a “family-oriented” institution should have nothing to do with discussions of sex.

As the parent of two young children, I understand filtering for age-appropriate issues, but protests of groups like Citizens Against Pornography (CAP) never bother even to define what pornography is. I do. And I share those ideas with my kids a little bit at a time. Besides, CAP’s evidence of our cultural decline is a list of ”news” all about child porn crimes.  That’s a long way from literary stories about consenting adults doing whatever they’re doing.