Equality Now Demands that the UN should Ban Hentai

[Shion]

https://www.equalitynow.org/english/pressroom/press_releases/japan_20090923_en.html

What the hell do they think they are doing? Taking away harmless pleasures isn't equality at all!

First of all, they are trying to remove people's rights to unusual sexual pleasures. It's like, wow, there is a minority right here that I don't like, so why don't I just eliminate it? Reminds me of the Middle Ages when people of different races and beliefs were called orcs and burned at the stake just because they were different. Face it, society benefits from adding, not subtracting. Branding things superficially as bad is just imprisoning people who never did anything truly immoral and making life harder and harder to bear with endless restrictions.

Second of all, they don't have any proof to back their claims that hentai promotes violence against women. Probably because their theory is untrue and there is no evidence whatsoever of any significant correlation between hentai-viewing and real life rape. They keep jumping around the bush but never present their facts. How the hell did this bluddy organisation come around?

I'm writing a letter to their site at:
https://www.equalitynow.org/english/contact/contact_en.html

Even if you don't like hentai, you should at least know that it is wrong to outright ban it.

 

[A Pixy]

;O.O;

Mmkayyy...

I guess it's not right to stop people from enjoying themselves, and this isn't drugs so it can't kill you. Then again, I'm 12, what does it matter to me?

 

[Tonitonichopchop]

I don't really care for Hentai (I put it at the same level as porn) but I don't think it should be outright banned. Mainly because their logic for banning it sucks, so unless they come up with solid evidence through study I'm dissmissing the whole thing as stupid.

 

[twocows]

Urgh. This gets me every time. For the most part, the people that use these products are, more or less, mentally stable adults. They know the difference between a GAME and REALITY. If they don't, they're screwed up in the head and they're probably going to go bonkers anyway.

Now let me give you a hypothetical situation here. John has a rape fetish (surprisingly common; just visit 4chan or whatever and you'll see), but he knows that such things are wrong. Instead, he turns to other outlets to vent that urge, like games, for instance. It's good enough to satisfy his urges, even though it's not real. Suddenly, Equality Now (which has NOTHING to do with equality, I will note) comes along and bans his games, saying that it's immoral and encourages violence toward women (bull). Now John will become pissed off at the government and either ignore their crappy laws anyway (making him a criminal for trying to prevent himself from doing something bad) or try to suppress his urges. However, he has nothing to vent his urges with. Maybe he has a bad day or something and just loses control. Then what? The moral crusading jerks have just created at least one victim, possibly more: John, who is now a criminal (either from ignoring the ban or potentially commiting rape), and anyone that John victimizes himself. Good going, Equality Now; you've really helped put an end to violence against women, haven't you?

People that spend their money on this stuff clearly have some sort of attraction to it. Why would you take this stuff away from people if it's letting them deal with their sexual urges in a safe way? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[Esper]

I agree with their aims of ending (sexual) violence toward women, but not their methods. It's better to have dialogue and promote understanding and all that good hippie stuff than to ban and censor and hope that bad things go away.

 

[Akio123]

Honestly, why does anyone care? It's hentai...in any case if they are trying to ban violent pornography then what's wrong with that? Psychologically and statistically speaking men who watch violent rape pornography and more likely to beat and or rape women so what is wrong with taking away a factor that can increase such a negative act?

 

[Bay]

Yeah, nothing comes out good with bans. Prohibition, anyone? :P *gets shot for mentioning that old history trivia* However twocows, I don't think if hentai is ban something that extreme will happen. There will a public outcry and protesting at most.

Yeah, like twocows, this also gets me everytime. People that uses products that features sex and violence, like games, are able to know the difference between fantasy and reality. In fact, hentai (animated porn, really) is pretty much a common thing in Japanese culture (though I understand sexual violence can be uneasy in real life and should not be encouraged). Another thing is the products are private use . Equality Now doesn't have the right to say you can't use this product because it promotes violence against women, etc. Well, they do and they can have people be aware of the situation at hand, but most of the time the people won't listen since those products won't hurt anyone (unless they do go and do sexual violence after that, but that's unlikely). I don't care too much for hentai, but it's not something to work up so much that it should be ban. It's mostly for entertainment so let the people enjoy it like everything else they like.

Equality Now has good intentions in their cause, but they could have gone through better methods to dealt with this situation instead of asking for a ban.

On that note, hope some people won't confuse "platinum" with Pokemon Platinum. :P *gets shot*

 

[twocows]

Honestly, why does anyone care? It's hentai...in any case if they are trying to ban violent pornography then what's wrong with that? Psychologically and statistically speaking men who watch violent rape pornography and more likely to beat and or rape women so what is wrong with taking away a factor that can increase such a negative act?

First off:

Spoiler:

Secondly, news flash: those people are PREDISPOSED to being more violent. Correlation is NOT causation. Someone who bats someone's head in is likely to also enjoy things where they can virtually beat people's heads in. This DOESN'T mean that anyone that plays a game where you can bash someone's head in is going to go out and do it, and it certainly doesn't mean that violent games cause violent behavior. However, if we took away a means for those people to vent their violent tendencies, their real life behavior very well might change to reflect their violent natures. The same rules apply to pornography as to violent video games; there is no proven link, and even if there was, it would probably not be causal.

Yeah, nothing comes out good with bans. Prohibition, anyone? :P *gets shot for mentioning that old history trivia* However twocows, I don't think if hentai is ban something that extreme will happen. There will a public outcry and protesting at most.

I think you fail to realize the scale on which some of this stuff is played/watched. The reason these industries are profitable is because they sell like hotcakes. If ten thousand people with rape or violence fetishes suddenly had nothing with which to vent those urges, it is not a far cry to suggest that our hypothetical "John" could be among them.

 

[Luck]

First the UN decides to hand in their man cards and "respect" fundamentalist Islam, and now they have decided to try banning hentai? I'm sorry, but that is just absurd.

Honestly, why does anyone care? It's hentai...in any case if they are trying to ban violent pornography then what's wrong with that? Psychologically and statistically speaking men who watch violent rape pornography and more likely to beat and or rape women so what is wrong with taking away a factor that can increase such a negative act?

First of all, statistics, and second of all, video games can increase negative acts as well. There was a gang of teenagers that stole a car and beat down people because they were influenced by Grand Theft Auto. Hell, the wrong person with the wrong game could become an arsonist because they thought casting the fire spell on a goblin was cool.Would you ban video games then? Not to mention the eye strain, seizures, and arthritis if left alone too long(among other conditions of course.) And in case you didn't notice, hentai doesn't matter when responsible people are using it. Barely anything does, but that is just sidetracking from the topic.

 

[Manaphy1128]

As an avid hentai reader/game-player myself (yes I know it should be a i'm 12 years old and wat is this moment for me but I love stuff like that) I find this kind of silly because is there any proof of the connection between them. Althought hentai will ocassionally suggest and/or promote child pornography, it's sort of like how that's what really happens and Japan's just making it in case you wanna do it but don't want to actually do it (erm, did that make sense). Even in the situation that someone admits that they were influenced by it, there are millions of others who have read/played it and have been unaffected by it. So I don't see the point of ruining everyone's pleasure. This argument of mine is probably invalid, but remember that kid that died because he was trying to be Garra from Naruto? Well, they didn't ban Naruto just for that. Just because there is one confirmed case of it doesn't mean you have to get rid of the thing entirely.

And you have total rights to disagree with me because I'm just a silly thirteen-year old.

 

[twocows]

There was a gang of teenagers that stole a car and beat down people because they were influenced by Grand Theft Auto.

Give a crazy person an axe and tell them to cut wood; what do you think's going to happen? Violent games are fine for almost all people. The other, very small portion is completely friggen insane and should be in a padded room, not being given ideas on how to commit their next murder. Though again, I will make the argument that a mildly sane person who plays a violent video game (much like someone who watches/plays violent pornography/ero games) will vent their urges there and thus be less likely to vent them in the real world.

Also, imagine this scenario. You steal a car because you're short on money and beat some people down because they're annoying. Suddenly, you're facing charges, but you hear that all the cool kids are blaming video games and getting off scot-free for violent crimes. What are you going to do?

And you have total rights to disagree with me because I'm the most crazy-smart, insightful thirteen-year old on the entire face of this planet.

Fixed for being smarter than about 90% of adults.

 

[HoneyBubbles]

Hentai? Yeah, not my thing. I hate to offend anyone, but I've always found porn, 2D or otherwise to be a big turn off. But the whole 'banning hentai' idea reeks of stupid.

I think hentai more commonly causes men to have 2D complexes rather than raping and actual girl. Just a theory. And besides - I'm not expert, but I don't think this kind of stuff didn't cause the rape rate in Japan to skyrocket or anything. As far as I know, the sexual crime actually decreased a bit as pornographic materials became more widespread. I'm not saying that those two things are connected, but hentai certainly isn't causing most men to go out and commit sex crimes.

 

[charizard_maa]

The thing is that if you are going to ban Hentai then you also need to ban porn. Hentai is actually the animate version of porn and really I can't support banning one without the other when they use that excuse.

The thing is that if they are claiming that, then they need to basically get rid of all media that is above PG. It is easy to make the claim that 'x factor' is responsible for violence.

 

[twocows]

Hentai? Yeah, not my thing. I hate to offend anyone, but I've always found porn, 2D or otherwise to be a big turn off. But the whole 'banning hentai' idea reeks of stupid.

I think hentai more commonly causes men to have 2D complexes rather than raping and actual girl. Just a theory. And besides - I'm not expert, but I don't think this kind of stuff didn't cause the rape rate in Japan to skyrocket or anything. As far as I know, the sexual crime actually decreased a bit as pornographic materials became more widespread. I'm not saying that those two things are connected, but hentai certainly isn't causing most men to go out and commit sex crimes.

I doubt anybody would be offended by your tastes. Also, what you said seems accurate. I can easily see people becoming more obsessed with drawn pornography, and that seems like a good thing; I would say it discourages the exploitation of women, if anything.

The thing is that if you are going to ban Hentai then you also need to ban porn. Hentai is actually the animate version of porn and really I can't support banning one without the other when they use that excuse.

The thing is that if they are claiming that, then they need to basically get rid of all media that is above PG. It is easy to make the claim that 'x factor' is responsible for violence.

If you're saying that it's stupid for them to ban one and not the other, and saying nothing about whether they should or should not be banned in general, then I agree; it's stupid them to ban fake porn when real women are forced to do this sort of thing to make money.

 

[JP]

For what they're trying to achieve, I can't see the banning of hentai doing much of anything. And as someone else mentioned, the banning of hentai and not porn in general doesn't make much sense.

 

[Bay]

I think you fail to realize the scale on which some of this stuff is played/watched. The reason these industries are profitable is because they sell like hotcakes. If ten thousand people with rape or violence fetishes suddenly had nothing with which to vent those urges, it is not a far cry to suggest that our hypothetical "John" could be among them.

I do see your point how those industries do make a lot of money and those products can be quite satisfying to some people, so they might go that route you mentioned. However, I still think if hentai is ban I think those people will be to find other means of entertainment that is not of a sexual violence nature and hurting anyone. Not saying you're wrong or anything.

The thing is that if you are going to ban Hentai then you also need to ban porn. Hentai is actually the animate version of porn and really I can't support banning one without the other when they use that excuse.

The thing is that if they are claiming that, then they need to basically get rid of all media that is above PG. It is easy to make the claim that 'x factor' is responsible for violence.

Double agree. Yeah, so weird they worked up on animated porn and not mentioning the real thing (Sukenbe) , which I think the Japanese has quite a bit too.

 

[twocows]

I do see your point how those industries do make a lot of money and those products can be quite satisfying to some people, so they might go that route you mentioned. However, I still think if hentai is ban I think those people will be to find other means of entertainment that is not of a sexual violence nature and hurting anyone. Not saying you're wrong or anything.

I'm sure most of them would, just as I'm sure that there are a few who wouldn't. And it only takes a few to ruin a bunch of lives.

 

[22sa]

I can't take UN seriously on this.

They have no proof that RapeLay or any other sexual violence video game actually increases overall sexual violence against women in society. For all we know, the opposite might even be true, that RapeLay helped rapists control their desires instead of attacking real people.

These are games with a serious, mature themes to them. They're products plenty of intelligent people may wish to use.

Porn/hentai is too popular; a ban cannot be enforced anyway. But more importantly, telling video game companies they can't make certain games is censoring freedom of speech which is too retarded for any educated, free society.

A proper study on the negative effects of these games should be made first at least. I think interviews with actual rapists sitting in prison regarding these games might help shed a light on this subject. Whatever they'd say would at least be something more convincing then the opinions of these panicking idiots.

Rape is about power: about forcing a target into a position in which the rapist can do anything he wants to the target. When the target is a human being, it's a life-threatening (or worse) form of violation of human right. It's revolves around ideas such as intention to kill, lust and human sacrifice.

I don't see how something as serious and big as real rape has anything to do with a video game. There's no reason a sane man wouldn't be able to tell the difference between controlling virtual girls and violating a real girl's (or anybody's) human rights. Imitating a video game is a childish act--I doubt it can be compared to a real rapist's or killer's thoughts. No grown up can't tell the difference.

Althought hentai will ocassionally suggest and/or promote child pornography, it's sort of like how that's what really happens and Japan's just making it in case you wanna do it but don't want to actually do it (erm, did that make sense). Even in the situation that someone admits that they were influenced by it, there are millions of others who have read/played it and have been unaffected by it. So I don't see the point of ruining everyone's pleasure.

Exactly, and this applies to any violent/mature video game. Hentai games don't deserve to be singled out for banning.

 

[Masterge77]

I may hate hentai and Porno, but this is just WRONG, This is like something 4Kids or Jack Thompson would do.........

 

[Jolene]

I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to defend hentai. I know it's all make-believe and that it doesn't hurt anybody, and I agree that it probably doesn't cause men to commit crimes or anything like that, but I'd still rather it didn't exist. My reasoning is that hentai seems to have a negative effect on the portrayal of women in Japanese culture:

Lots of the popular manga artists who pretty much shape tween/teen culture started their careers by drawing hentai comics. Often, themes from their hentai work seem to seep across into their mainstream work, such as female characters with skimpy outfits and super-submissive attitudes. Worryingly, these pseudo-hentai characters then become role models for young girls, or they give boys the wrong idea about how girls should be treated. Admittedly, the same kind of thing happens here in the US with stuff like Hannah Montana, but the problem is a lot worse in Japan. Japan is pretty much a lost cause when it comes to the portrayal of women, in my opinion.

If hentai were to go away, I think that we'd probably start to see stronger female characters in Japanese media, who'd serve as good role models for kids. But it probably won't happen. I don't expect Japan to cave in to this UN pressure at all.