I disagree because by those standards we should never talk about racism, sexism, or homophobia in a huge slew of stories.
Actually, no. It doesn't. The difference between writer responsibility and writer choice are dramatically different, but dictating to writers what their ideology should be and how to express it is co-opting imagination for agenda. It also strips away a lot of literature that otherwise would not or could not be written when it does not fall under the arbitrary standard society places, which is why we keep having to reinvent the concept of obscenity every few years and debate the meaning of artistic merit. The writer has no responsibility to craft a story that does anything but tell a story. The reader is the one that decides whether the story should/could/does live up to their personal values and vote with the magic of credit cards whether or not the story is good.
Readers have the right of interpretation, of discussion, of meta and critique of the book in question. But as reader, I will as soon dictate an author's story as fly using my imaginary wings; that's a very quick path, not even a slippery slope, a path to censorship and the arbitrary enforcement of standards by the pop psychology flavor of the week.
no subject
Actually, no. It doesn't. The difference between writer responsibility and writer choice are dramatically different, but dictating to writers what their ideology should be and how to express it is co-opting imagination for agenda. It also strips away a lot of literature that otherwise would not or could not be written when it does not fall under the arbitrary standard society places, which is why we keep having to reinvent the concept of obscenity every few years and debate the meaning of artistic merit. The writer has no responsibility to craft a story that does anything but tell a story. The reader is the one that decides whether the story should/could/does live up to their personal values and vote with the magic of credit cards whether or not the story is good.
Readers have the right of interpretation, of discussion, of meta and critique of the book in question. But as reader, I will as soon dictate an author's story as fly using my imaginary wings; that's a very quick path, not even a slippery slope, a path to censorship and the arbitrary enforcement of standards by the pop psychology flavor of the week.