A German author and her publisher were thrilled when a U.S. publisher inquired about putting out a North American edition of one of her bestselling children’s books… until the U.S. publisher asked the author to airbrush some of her illustrations.
The drawings, of a scene in an art museum, feature cartoonish depictions of a nude painting and statue. Hardly anything to freak out over, but the publisher, Boyds Mills Press, was so afraid of angry parents that they sheepishly asked the author to censor herself.
This didn’t go over so well in Germany. From Spiegel:
American kiddies, obviously, could never be expected to handle such a depiction of the human body. The US publisher, somewhat awkwardly, asked if they could be removed.
The author, not surprisingly, considers the request to be absurd. The statue’s mini-willy, the author points out, is hardly even a half-millimeter long. And the naked woman hanging on the wall? Hardly a realistic depiction of the female anatomy. The US publisher, says Berner, was embarrassed to ask for the changes, but they were even more afraid of how American mommies and daddies might react if junior were exposed to such pornography.
For the author, any kind of self-censorship was completely out of the question. She said she could maybe have lived with putting black bars in front of the problem spots, but “invisible censorship” was out. “If you’re going to censor something, then the reader should be aware of it,” she told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
The book in question is already a bestseller in 13 countries. Now, outcry from Germany has convinced Boyd Mills to go ahead with the book without any censorship.
It’s sad but not surprising that the publisher reacted the way they did. A tiny drawing of a wang in a kid’s book is just the sort of unsubstantial, yet mildly controversial issue that local TV news teams really enjoy. In a country where you can get your 15 minutes of fame from complaining about talking dolls that “swear” if you listen really, really hard, and the use of the word “scrotum” in a Newbery Medal winning children’s book causes apoplexy in librarians, the publisher was probably less concerned about offending your average parent than it was about having to “take tiny penis drawings seriously” on the nightly news. So it goes.
US Publisher Turns away from Cartoon Nudity [Spiegel]
US publisher relents on German children’s book [EarthTimes]
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i can see the parents point though, i mean i am getting really horny the more i look at it……….brb.
Strangely though, in the image the two kids seem to be obsessively discussing the naked woman painting, and the lady seems red-faced by her close examination of the nude male statute. So it’s not like the fact of nude art is subtle in the book itself. Attention appears to be drawn to it.
@pegr: Did you read the post to which I responded by IRISwhatever? She’s the one who started the whole, “I’m not a homophobe but UM…” thread. I won’t let seemingly-innocent passing comments like that go by. I don’t wear my nice blue eyes as a badge of honor either, but people don’t typically try to form conclusions about my life based on them either.
I hope Iris doesn’t reproduce anytime soon. It doesn’t sound like she can handle complex thoughts let alone relating them to children in her care.
@IrisMR:
If they’re at the “where do babies”, then they still see love as completely platonic, and seeing two men kissing wouldn’t really be harmful, would it?
@IrisMR: You’re just digging yourself into a deeper hole there, IrisMR. You sound even more homophobic explaining why you aren’t homophobic.
Who exactly said that this was a religious matter? To say that it is, puts the cart before the horse.
While religion may be involved in the underlying dispute of whether a person’s children should be exposed to pornography (Assuming it is pornography), this is disparate from the issue here, the outsourcing of parenting – that parents expect others to raise their children for them and according to the parents wishes.
This is a consequence of the blurring of the lines between separation of church and state combined with the freedom of religion within America. This inherently causes a conflict of ideas and ironically progress.
Multiple religions, cultures, and political parties throughout the world regulate sexuality.
For example:
Orthodox Judaism (A prohibition on looking at pictures or scenes that will be sexually arousing.)
Anglican churches in parts of Africa (extreme in their attitude towards homosexuality)
Catholic Church (Manichaeism, the belief that the spirit is good while the flesh is evil, is a heresy; sexuality outside of marriage is a capital sin because it violates the purpose of human sexuality to participate in the “conjugal act” before one is actually married. )
Islam (A marriage contract between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is traditionally considered illegal and void, and hence legally an adulterous affair.)
Hinduism (Most culturally-sensitive Hindus adhere to sexual standards akin to Victorian morality, with both pre-marital and extra-marital sex perceived to be immoral and shameful.)
Buddhism (Refrain from committing sexual misconduct)
—–
This doesn’t mean it is right, it just means that people are overstepping their bounds and trying to legislate their morality, rather than a common morality – irrespective of being a Democrat, Republican, religious or atheist.
@Pithlit: *Eye rolls* Fine. I’m an homophobe. Whatever floats your boat.
@cobaltthorium: Actually, I forgot to add the part where the kid tried to neck his schoolmate for bringing back his batman toy he brought back at his house… (PS: that was my cousin.)
6 billion people on the planet. That’s 3 billion dicks and 3 billion pussies. Get over it.
@HalOfBorg: I’m sure you’re correct – Iran, Iraq, Southeast Asia would probably cover them up too. I won’t bother with the ironic metaphor as it’s way too obvious.
@IrisMR: “I hit the submit a bit too fast.” No you didn’t. The self-rightous, indignation came through in your first sentence of part 1 of your rant and after that you turned into a Charlie Brown adult “Wanh wanh wanh.” It’s pretty obvious you are full of hate and venom and however compelling your argument may be, when it’s spewed forth in that strident a manner it loses most of its credibility.
@IrisMR: “Why are two guys kissing over a lunchbox?”
“Because they love each other.”
How does that have to turn into a sex conversation?
For that matter, why did you have to bring it up in the first place, if you’re not a homophobe? I mean, you can yell at Rey all you want for being self-righteous, but you’re the one who decided we all needed to know how you feel about men kissing. And you’re the one who decided that six-year-olds are incapable of handling a simple kiss. Throw in “I’m not a homophobe BUT,” which is the equivalent of “No offense, BUT,” and it’s pretty clear that you’ve got some issues.
Hey everybody –
Let’s please keep the intercommenter flamewars to a minimum and focus on the topic at hand.
(i.e., boobies and wieners)
“Cultural conservatives” give us actual conservatives (ie, classically liberal) a really bad name.
I don’t think it’s so much prudishness as it is being too stupid to differentiate between nudity and pornography.
Pornography, with very few exceptions, involves some state of nudity. But nudity isn’t necessarily pornographic.
At the risk of oversimplifying, I tend to categorize fleshy images as follows:
*Pornographic – images purely intended for sexual arousal
*Erotic – hinting at sexuality but emphasis on aesthetics than actual sexuality
*Artistic (for wont of a better word) – Sort of like erotic, but emphasizing the human form than sensuality
*Clinical – you know, like the diagrams in doctor’s office
*National Geographic
*Nekkidness – Nudity as subversion, intended to get a reaction because of the tabooness, like streaking and mooning
Of course, there’s quite a bit of overlap, and it’s sometimes in the eyes of the beholder – I once was a teenager who depended on monthly shipments of Victoria’s Secret catalogs. But my point is, nudity can be pornographic, and there is a lot of smut out there that’s not appropriate for children. But for the most part, nudity isn’t porn.
Here’s the funny thing about books for kids:
If you, as a parent, do not want your child to own or see that book, DO NOT BUY IT AND DO NOT LET THEM CHECK IT OUT OF THE LIBRARY.
Problem solved.
I love how some US citizens are so quick to give up their essential freedoms to “protect the children” and deny it to the rest of us.
I got nothing else to add. I’m not an homophobe. If you think I am, please do continue jacking off to it.
@cobaltthorium: You’re remembering the same movie: Demolition Man.
this sort of thing drives me crazy!
this is why America is so sexually frustrated!
because of things like this, we get these type of people: [defamer.com]
remember when people were up in arms about the movie “the lion king” being to violent! ugh!
@Consumerist Moderator – ACAMBRAS:
I agree! Penises and Vaginas for some, small american flags for others!
In a country where a Target ad with a logo pointing subjectively to
a woman’s crotch is considered newsworthy I wouldn’t be surprised some
people would be offended with this. You know what? Offend them! I’m
tired you can’t say or do anything these days without offending
somebody. The publisher’s lack of integrity and guts is sad.
I don’t understand how Americans dare to criticize the Saudis or even the Taliban when things like this happen.
@loquaciousmusic: That was one of the few relevant comments in this thread, one of the earliest, and no one has made note of it. Well I will.
I remember reading that book when I was maybe 7 or 8, and thinking “Jeez, there’s a lot of wang in this book.” I didn’t think it pornographic, but perhaps a bit gratuitous.
The thing is, with a book like the one we’re talking about, kids are gonna see it, snicker a bit at the drawings, and move on. When I was in elementary school, we’d get a kick out of looking up “sex” in the dictionary, and reading all of the variations of the word. Same diff. Best to give the kids access to the harmless and benign stuff so they can snicker at it, I say.
Irismr, your obsession with masturbation is bizarre and creepy. You’re also the one who brought it up in the context of how much you hate seeing gay people, so I gotta wonder about what gets you off.
Americans are way too concerned with this nonsense. There are a few reports out about the first few seasons of Sesame Street, where they gave warnings because it was not suitable for children. The excuses they used were pretty moronic, and included concerns about the Cookie Monster and obese children.
@nmcglynn: I like this version because it makes the statue’s tiny wee wee look like an homage to Dirk Diggler.
I remember back when I was in grade school, I used to have an obsession with drawing penises. All the time. I couldn’t help it. I’m not gay or anything, but I just couldn’t help to draw them. Then some prude girl found a page of mine and I was sent to the principls office. Damn religious bastard thought I was possesed. I had to go to therpy and I couldn’t even eat any phalic shaped foods.
If we didn’t have censerchip like this I could still eat hotdogs today.
I think part of the issue is that American children can be exposed to a 16 year old Britney Spears acting like jailbait and no one bats an eyelash, because she is (just barely) covered up. In the meantime, kids aren’t really exposed to art, and if they were, the illustration in this book would seem normal and natural to them. I hate to bring out the tied “In Europe they do things THIS way” argument, but, in Europe, kids are exposed to nudity in art even if just through sculpture in public spaces. My mom lived in Germany as a kid for a couple of years and she said even at that age she noticed the difference in attitude between American kids of military parents encountering a nude sculpture, and local German kids.
I’m still amazed at the lines we dra as to what’s okay and what isn’t. They seem so arbitrary and unreasonable.
@DrGirlfriend: I meant “tired argument”, not tied.
American kiddies, obviously, could never be expected to handle such a depiction of the human body.
The kiddies are fine with it, it’s the parents that can’t handle it.
@xredgambit: i heard that like 8% of kids do that! do you know how many foods are shaped like dicks! the best kinds!
@nmcglynn:
Pogos FTW!
Anyone else notice the image on the front page of consumerist is cropped in a way that basically sensors it? As soon as I saw it, I expected a comment uproar over that.
Being a dad with kids, I’d prefer to keep certain topics at bay until a point in my little girl’s development that she can reasonably understand them. As much as we avoid violence and nudity on TV shows, it’s mostly because they’re often portrayed in extreme ways and with an allure that’s not based in reality. In reality, our 2 year old sees her parents naked when they shower or dress. Does she need to dance like a whore for the fisheye lens in a rap video – no. Is it ok to see a real, live naked person who isn’t caressing themselves sensually – oh yes.
The extremism and anti-American rants about prudes seem unfounded. Everyone raises their children as they will. And as consumers, we buy (and each family buys) what they decide to purchase – even if those standards aren’t yours.
She’s a little too young right now, but our daughter will be reading Max & Moritz and the original Hans Christian Anderson books soon enough. Max & Moritz trip old men into creeks and steal roasting chickens. The Little Mermaid turns to sea foam and doesn’t get the guy. Cinderella’s sisters lob off body parts to fit into the slipper. But I’m not sure any of those would be a big hit in their original form on the big screen in America – and they certainly did better in their ‘sanitized’ forms in Europe as well.
Personally, I’m glad to know about this book. If it brings something good to the home and my daughter’s understanding of reality, it’ll be in our collection (of American and European books) soon enough. In reality, there are breasts and naked statues in museums. That’s fine.
As one poster said it’s an issue of standards. I’d much rather manage the questions from a children’s book with a nude statuette or a real life museum experience than a woman fondling herself in a shower ad.
Help! Help! I’m being repressed!
@dugn: And as consumers, we buy (and each family buys) what they decide to purchase – even if those standards aren’t yours.
Totally agree. As an Uncle of three and Godfather of two, I apply a high standard to what I give to my nieces/nephews/godkids as gifts. They’ll never get a toy gun from me. I also won’t buy a video game for them unless it’s age appropriate.
I think it’s wrong to foist the responsibility of raising children on “the marketplace”, when it belongs to the parents first, and related family and friends second.
Lucky for the kids, they covered up the tiny penis with lead paint.
@Amy Alkon:
here here!
According to the vocal minority on the Consumerist, nobody should have any opinion on anything lest they be labeled x-phobic. Iris may have been extreme, but that certainly doesn’t justify you all grabbing your torches and pitchforks and going to town. Tolerance works both ways.
The publisher was wrong to ask for censorship of the book; it should have never reached the point it did. Thankfully, they relented. What I think would be useful would be the context of the page shown, however …
@DrGirlfriend: alas, it is a tired argument, but I can’t help referencing it, either. Here in Stuttgart, the local public pool specially schedules one day of the week when everybody’s naked. In the public pool! They put up posters (with pictures) to advertise the benefits. And the saunas are naked every day. People bring their families, so kids are running around naked, around all the naked retirees, etc. It’s like that pretty much all over Germany.
Actually, I think that sort of thing would be pretty therapeutic for America’s porn problems: nothing puts you off your porn appetite like sitting in a room with a bunch of naked sweaty octogenarians. Like that Far Side cartoon with the bears at the nudist colony.
@Ghede: I loved that book. Everything was robots! And it described the, uh… internal mechanics in extensive detail.
@nmcglynn: Reminds me of Blackadder, when Baldrick was always obsessed with finding vegetables that had “grown into a rude and amusing shape.”
@K-Bo: People were probably planning on that; then they clicked through to make the comment, saw the full picture and, having gotten their booby and wiener fix, no longer had a problem with it
I, for one, am glad they are protecting our children from pictures of wieners. Why, just yesterday, I had to confiscate a drawing my kid made of his own wiener! I have to watch that kid like a hawk lest he see what he draws before I can filter it!
@ExecutorElassus: Lol when I lived in Kaiserslautern we would go to the pools and lakes and see topless and naked adults all over. It never bothered me unless the women were all natural. Nothing turns you off faster than seeing a naked woman with hair on thier legs/arms longer and or thicker than yours..
But yeah I saw tonnes of kids and adults nude just being people nothing out of the ordinary. Ahh I miss the sexual freedom of Europe.
Americans confuse nudity with sexuality. But then, so do individuals in Islamic countries.
I don’t have anything against kids being exposed to nudity, especially in healthy contexts or in a book with drawings like these that represent art.
Still, there is a U.S. culture that is different from that of europe, so this publishers request really isn’t surprising.
@ DGCASTE – No, a target around it would make it okay!! great idea!
*censorship rant* Listen. In a country where TV Censors make it where the Cookie Monster doesn’t eat Cookies anymore, or proclaims that “Cookies are only a sometimes food!” is truly fucked up. Again, let me stress this point again…..THE COOKIE MONSTER DOESN”T EAT FUCKING COOKIES ANYMORE! Why? Because they need to find some reason why their child is getting so goddamn fat, so instead of blaming lack of parenting, or feeding them all the crap that’s out there right now, they blame the Cookie Monster. THE COOKIE MONSTER. A MUPPET who eats Cookies! Funny, I never got the idea to eat cookies all the time from him, and I LOVE Cookies. Maybe it’s because my parents raised me with something called Common Sense. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant raised me period.
I mean, it’s freaking Nudity in a Kids book. And not even that much of it, from what the author describes. You’d probably see more in a Rated R movie. Hey, guess what? The 6 year old, and I can’t stress this enough, isn’t going to notice! It all basically boils down to the surprising lack of parenting nowadays, which, as we can see by things like this, are going to have a very troubling impact on today’s kids. My niece is going to watch a Sesame Street in which the Cookie Monster doesn’t eat cookies. I suppose the Count will be seen as too nightmarish soon.
I should not the Americans aren’t the only pruds. I remember going to Versailles and seeing someone had thought it bad to have naked statues so there were bronze fig leaves on them. There had been an effort to remove the fig leaves but it caused damage to the statues. So, Europe has had its phases too.
Problem is we indulge the hardcore conservative idiots in this country too much, and actually take them seriously when they make absurd complaints.
@Saboth: Couldn’t have said it better myself.
@ZekeSulastin: I think you will find that most humans are tolerant of many things except for intolerance itself.
Vocal minority indeed.
@FuturShoc: you are an idiot for wanting to move to Canada because we don’t like public nudity.
Normally there wouldn’t be a problem, but it is a children’s book! Are there no other paintings in german art galleries anymore except nudes? geez.
@Szin: Actually, Cookie Monster still eats cookies. He just eats other healthy things now as well, and has learned that cookies are a “sometimes” treat.
But, yeah, the censorship is a little much, sometimes. Sadly, I think the American publisher was right in thinking there would be controversy. I think it’s fine for parents to make choices, and if some parents want to limit the amount of nudity their child is exposed to, I can understand that. But, overall America’s attitude toward nudity is rather prudish, so it’s not surprising that many parents would indeed find this book inappropriate.
@IrisMR: I disagree that a kid can’t see two guys kiss innocently. If they can see a husband and wife kiss, they can see two boyfriends kissing. There should be no double-standard. That is normal. The abnormality all comes in when the parents start injecting false notions of sin and unnatural behavior into the act. Unless the parents have already poisoned the kid’s mind that two boyfriends kissing is abnormal or disgusting or wrong in some way, the little kid isn’t going to think anything more of it than if they had seen a husband and wife kissing. It’s the parents who apparently need the censorship to protect their delicate minds, not the kids.