Is there ever a line that shouldn’t be cross in literature. Yes? No? and just who gets to say? Censorship is a topic that can raise my hackles. Within reason, I believe there should be a minimum of censorship. Yes, I believe there have to be safeguards for the young and broadcasters have a responsibility to protect the young. In the UK we have a 9 pm watershed, meaning that offensive language and scenes of a sexual nature can’t be broadcast before that time. But for filmmakers, should there be limits? For publishers should there be limits? Smashwords have introduces a new set of restrictions that are chipping away on the acceptability of some story genre. One of the areas is the genre of littles, these are adults who take on the persona of juveniles and young teens. The keyword in the sentence is Adult. This is not pedophilia, these are adult stories for consenting adults. Smashwords is not allowing them to be listed. BDSM is fine, D/s is fine, bondage is fine and so is all manner of other kinks. So why censor Littles?
I believe the books of Judy Blume. They wanted them banned from libraries and schools because her themes were considered too adult for children of the time. Things have changed now they carry books for children on cutters, someone who cuts themselves to relieve themselves from emotional pain. And plenty of other topics much stronger than anything Judy Blume ever wrote for young teens. For BVS, there are some things we will not consider. There are very few sexual taboos and we tend to give our authors the widest latitude. If it is safe, sane, and consensual, we encourage our authors to explore the subject matter and show us the eroticism, within a romantic setting. However, we will not consider manuscripts with any of the following: bestiality (sex with animals), necrophilia (sex with dead people), and pedophilia (sex with children).
As always I’d like to hear any of your stories, experience or any views you might like to share. On here, the blog, Facebook or Twitter