Men Only Gamers

Help us with mature content
says the plaintive banner
in a cool shade of blue
hanging like the sky above my words.

I'm not always a rule follower
but still I check my work with the zeal
of a pig snuffling out truffles
for any trace or scent of impropriety.

Maturity, a coming of age,
the magic of eighteen and that thought
truly makes me chuckle but I keep it
in my thought bubble.

I understand and yet...I don't
sexual material is easy to find .
It blazes like a neon light blinking
into the window of a cheap motel.

And then I see the long fingers of money,
pays for sex but likes it behind locked doors.
Violence, horror, suicide, and drugs
slip subjectively through the sluice gate with the stealth of the cartel.

And so these thoughts roll around my head
my own little barrel of monkeys until
I begin to join them together
in a bent arm string of thought.

And then I see to the right of my "home" feed
an advertisement with an terrifyingly buxom virtual woman
holding a sword bold, highly sexed and dangerous
beneath her own banner waving Men Gamers Only.

I am the daughter of Title IX
my stilettos are finely honed,
there is no game too dangerous
for I walk on sharpened knives.

Had you really wanted a Valkyrie
all you had to do was ask, I won't tell-
you see I can be whatever I want to be
even if only in wordy worldly images.

So how far do you want to go?
I've run these bases before
they ever had cleats for girls.
Only to now lament, "Oh the hypocrisy."

Reviews

[redflutterby]

BRAVO!!!!!!! Let me stand beside you hands on my hips...eyes blazing!! The whole mature label issue has irritated me since this campaign started. Not because we shouldnt apply a rating to the work here but because ive seen works that contain no graphic or overt sexuality labeled as mature by administration. They claim its because of advertiser complaints but I truly dont believe that. I think its complaints by a small minority of writers who dont like or want certain types of writing on this site. I base this on exactly what you state...ads just like the one you mention. Not to mention the advertisers who use advertising which tries to hijack you to other sites or get you to download unnecessary protection for your laptop or device. This site is loaded with them. Which I notified administration about months ago and never received a response on. Too be honest I dont think the administration cares about quality advertisers.. just how much money is going in their pocket.

The hypocrisy you point out is spot on...good for you to bring it out in the open!!

[icelandicblue]

Thanks for that passion red. When someone starts censoring they should be cleaning their own house because without fail you will find dirty laundry. When I saw that ad...well that was the motivation behind the poem. Really, they say a picture is worth a thousand words and that picture was written in 8pt. font. Thanks for your support. We're writers and mature content is obviously in the eye of the beholder. I'm more concerned that a 12 year old has commented on a poem entitled suicide than I am about someone using the word vagina.

[icelandicblue]

Once you start censoring where do you stop?

[redflutterby]

Exactly my feelings Anne...I was on a fitness site where you had teen girls posting pro-anorexia and bulimia food diaries. Not to mention tips on extremely dangerous fasting and cleanses. The moderators were constantly encouraging members to report this behaviour...yet were using advertising for ice cream, junk food and some very questionable weight loss programs endorsed by celebrities. Kind of confusing for those young girls...to say the least.

This site is about writing...and like with most forms of creative art censorship causes concern. Where does it stop? Take a trip to your local art museum or exhibit and I'm sure youll find things that some deem offensive. For many reasons. Who decides whether that means the art can't be seen? Or under what restrictions? These are questions concern many of us...

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

I'm in agreement with other reviews. I'm checking my simple efforts and I've got a bevy of half naked Philippino girls in a large ad stating that they're ready for me.
Get the ads vetted first THEN look to the genuine contributors.

[icelandicblue]

Oh my...it seems there is no end to the type of advertisements they'll post. Who is watching the watchers? Why I do believe that would be us!

[Deuces]

lol!!! I was thinking the same thing the other day. Had to just shake my head. I can't point out one part I loved the most, but your work is worthy of publication. You're a brilliant writer. Adding to favs.

[icelandicblue]

Thank you for that. Hypocrisy drives me nuts (as well as a long list of other things lol). Thanks for putting the poem in your library; I do appreciate that. I'm glad you liked it.

[Brittany Zedalis]

I agree with this on so many levels. Yes, lets slap a mature label on poetry but advertise something like that right next to the poem. Sigh. I've seen that ad so many times now and it's ridiculous.

[icelandicblue]

Thank you so much. I agree, it is totally ridiculous.

[TL Boehm]

nice! I saw that ad today too. Sigh. Oh the hypocrisy. I don't write or read much of the pink bar offerings these days - never did really even though I have no quarrel with the genre. I just like writing that makes me think more than writing that makes me sweat. And the overt stuff, the porn'ems - they bore me actually. I like a work with teeth. Like this. This has teeth and thought behind it. People don't want to think for themselves. I don't want to be told what to think. Brava to you!

[icelandicblue]

I'm not much of a pink bar girl myself but I am a fighter when I see hypocrisy. I appreciate the teeth comment because they're original and finely honed. I really appreciate your feedback, and it's good to see you!

[Vidya Bacchus]

Great write Blue on this "mature" writing fiasco.You have to go through your writing with a fine tooth comb to be sure you have not offended the powers that be.Yet sex is hardly something that is hidden and young adults don't know about it.It is all over the place.

[icelandicblue]

Yes it seems the powers that be live by a "Do as I say, not as I do" philosophy. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Vidya Bacchus]

You are welcome :)

[David Scott]

Yes Blue, you see well the hypocrisy of it all. Sexuality is not bad. Nudity is not bad or even sexual in many contexts. I fear a few saints will be surprised when the reach the pearly gates and find their white robes are transparent... I could go on... I will not.
You also show the fact there is not a concern if it is an advertisement with sexual content. We will not even mention the gender rolls and gender prejudice thing... I have to laugh because if I don't I would get angry.
Great expression of intellectual thought.

[icelandicblue]

Thanks David I appreciate your thoughts on the whole matter.

[♔ CrownedDevil &#..]

What an amazing poem, brilliantly written. :-)

Kaze~

[icelandicblue]

Thank you Kaze,

I appreciate you reading and commenting.

[♔ CrownedDevil ☾]

Your very welcome, it was my pleasure reading your poem. :-)

[Pryde Foltz]

Great piece, IcyBlue. So complicated what is all age-appropriate and what is not. I think I have only ever labelled a couple of my poems mature as they dealt explicitly with sex. Many deal metaphorically so, but I like to think they work on more than one level, and if someone under 18 'gets it', they didn't 'get it' from me. Even animated movies especially targeted for children will do this. I try to choose pictures that I would not have a problem with my four-year-old seeing but then this is a very subjective rule, as certain nude works would be okay in my books. Also, since I record my poems, I use the same rule with what I write. If I wouldn't let him listen then it is mature. I have only ever used the f'bomb once in my poetry and I did not do so lightly, but in the end, I felt it was called for artistically and I warned the reader from the start. Also I thought these were censured. Still, I read others who do and don't batt an eye. Left with the same question what is mature? Search me … wink, wink and a nudge.

(Ps. there are few too many buts in stanza five.)

[icelandicblue]

Thank you and it is a complex and highly subjective subject. Most poets on this site are very responsible and are able to determine the level of maturity of their poems. I agree that so much of what we write is metaphorical in nature and not always apparent to the immature eye. I wrote this because of the double standard of sexual advertising on the site while the powers that be were playing big brother censuring poets who were posting pictures that were much milder than their own sponsor-driven graphics. Having heard from poets I admire I was surprised to learn that they were threatened with expulsion from the site if they did not comply to the sites determination of mature content. Others have been forced to label their profiles as mature as well. It's always good to hear your thoughts.

[Budding Jenny]

yeah, i hate those ads.....nice write

[icelandicblue]

Thanks so much Jenny.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i too have seen much labeled "mature only" and yet...those poems have had no real damaging graphic words...and hypocrisy is alarming...

the old double standard exists...

people who damn others and what others write often hide behind their shades and do worse.

[icelandicblue]

Power is a funny thing it blurs lines and makes those who wield it inconsistent and myopic. I don't know why I think because we are poets we see the world on a different plane of understanding. yet we're still stuck under someone's jackboot in the gutter when they choose to don their shoes. Asking for help from others is way too big brother for me. We Irish are very good at keeping our mouths shut when it concerns friends and not so much when we encounter hypocrisy. Thanks jacob.