Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own blog, book(s), film(s), or other works, out of fear or deference to the sensibilities of others without an authority directly pressuring one to do so. Self-censorship is often practiced by film producers, film directors, publishers, news anchors, journalists, musicians, or authors. ~ Wikipedia
According to me, self-censorship is what blocks us creatives from expressing ourselves with honesty, and it also generally tends to piss off our Muse - the same one we work so hard at keeping by our side in hopes it'll whisper to us the magic formula; the perfect sentence, the right color, the appropriate word, which will make the difference between our work being "all right" as opposed to "good" or even "excellent".
Self-censorship, like most everything else, primarily involves politics and money. It is not politically sound, for instance, to piss off your readers or your employers with words and images that may offend their sensibilities. Here on the blogosphere, we all like to think that we have freedom of expression and can say whatever we want, but sometimes we find ourselves choosing our words carefully and having second thoughts about the impact of our images too. I have fallen prey to self-censorship in many guises, but only yesterday, I was composing my Fun with Memes post and had originally thought to include the image you see above with the angel and children and silly graffiti by the artist Ken Brown. It reminded me of another postcard from the 50's I bought many years ago, featuring a similar angel also overlooking two small children riding their tricycles. The setting was suburban and technicolor-happy. I always loved it because it was sweet but ironic, suggesting a time of unbridled optimism which was also marked with deep cynicism and extensive social repression.
Ken Brown's image was perfect to illustrate my original title "Morphing Meme", and it was my favorite one besides. But I hesitated. Was it likely to offend someone? Would it be misconstrued as some kind of statement against Christianity as a whole and God in particular? I put off publishing that post for a couple of hours and asked not one, but three people what they thought of it, and Mr. God himself too while I was at it. A couple of my friends showed reticence with answers ranging from "don't post it, whatever you do" to Tiv saying "I thought of posting it too, but I had the same concerns". and "Go with it! Why not? It's fun!" "Better go with the Gnomes, just to be on the safe side." was my solution. I have to admit that "Better Gnomes in Gardens" is a great caption and a cute image too so I just changed the title to "Fun with Memes" and went ahead and published that.
Nevertheless, you can say I'm a tad obsessive, because it bothered me for the remainder of the day and a good part of the night. It just felt wrong to me that I had acted out of fear - mostly fear that people might get the wrong idea and not like me or my blog anymore. I had considered running this image with a small disclaimer: "this illustration is not intended to offend anyone's religious sensibilities, should you be disturbed by it, please notify me and I will promptly remove it". "How far will this self-censorship go? Where does it stop?" I thought, "how ridiculous is that exactly? What am I? The New York Times or something?" So instead, I decided to write this post, which is, in effect, a giant disclaimer, all so I could run this postcard which I find cute and funny and a bit ironic too. So I leave you with these words for now: I like this image and it stays. And if you don't like it, may I suggest you just scroll down the page a little where you won't see it anymore. Thank you for reading.
Illustration by Ken Brown.
November 27, 2007
On Self-Censorship
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25 gave their feedback:
I love the image, and as a former Christian it would not have offended my sensibilities in the least. On the other hand there is very little that offends me except out right prejudicial or hateful statements.
I also find myself sensoring what I write and post. I do have Muslim friends who are aware of my blog. Whether or not they read it, I have no clue, but the possibility that they may does stop me from saying some things, or posting some things. Other days it's more a "the heck with it, I'll say what needs to be said."
My self censor-ship most of the time has less to do with the world as a whole and more to do with personal relationships. After all my mother and my husband do read my blog, and there are some things in my head that are fine to share in the shroud of anonymity, but that I'm not quite willing to link myslf to just yet.
The only other factor I run into is the awareness that people do not have a very good opinion of Islam in general, and so to that degree, whether I want it to or not, my choice of images, music, and words reflects on my choice of religious beliefs for better or worse. I'm not so concerned about offending someone as I am discrediting something that has already been so far discredited by society, that recovering the proper conception of it will be a long term uphill battle.
Square1: you broached an issue which I didn't into for the sake of brevity, but yes, I understand what you mean what your mean about censoring yourself of individuals. I do that too for the sake of my partner, family, friends and coworkers who all have access to this blog. Considering that, I do somewhat push the envelope by broaching my mental illness for instance, but if there's a place to deliver a message, this is the right platform for it since everybody expects blogs to be quirky or different or have a highly personal point of view, for obvious reasons.
I'm glad you brought it up. As for Islam, yes I can see that it would be tricky to talk about because there is so much prejudice around it. I'm half Israeli and yet I have NEVER thought of Islam itself, or the individuals as being the 'problem'. As with everything else, it's always a small group of extremists who manage to influence the population as a whole, which is sad. But that's a whole issue, and a very heated debate, that I don't want to get into here. Suffice it to say, that I pray for peace. Peace is the answer. Peace and love man. :-)
I understand completely. There are many reasons to self censor whether it's right or wrong, I don't know. I do think it's human nature to hold back at least a little.
Tomorrow I'll have a post up for the morphing meme. This one was a hard one to write, but I tried to keep it int eh spirit of a confession.
Ooooh I look forward to reading that. It was really fun to do - a lot of work obviously, but fun. It's an exercise I want to do fairly regularly but each time using a different theme. It's like doing musical scales, but with words.
I went ahead and put it up. No sense in waiting I guess. I'm off to write up an outline and a rough draft. Congrats on winning NaNoWriMo! We did it lady!
I'm so glad you did finally post this and the way you did it was perfect. It was the only way to do it, I think. Religion is an enormous part of my past and haunts me and I have been afraid to broach it on my blog until recently, having been lurking around some blogs that are solely about people's struggles with their religion and the God concept. And, yes, I still may use this image when I finally post, because it's so evocative of these issues yet fun, too. As far as self-censorship, when I started my blog, I started to go too far in the direction of unbridled free association and made a little group of "mental health" bloggers very, very angry with me. Ironic that I was admitting to being both a therapist and having a mood disorder too. So, I've really backed off and self-censored enormously, purging my blog of all of those posts and rarely mentioning that I am a therapist. I am planning to talk about that on my blog, too, when the time is right: the self-censorship dilemmas of blogger therapists. I hate having to self-censor, but at the moment, I feel I have no choice. And then there is Israel. Talk about self-censorship. I'm afraid to say anything about my loyalty to the State of Israel for fear of being seen as anti-Palestinian/anti-Muslim. So it goes both ways with the Islam issue. That's it. This is a whole post in a comment.
Well said.
I do it all the time, self-censor. When I was reading a new favorite book, 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert, the line that struck me hard was one where her friend takes her by the shoulders, shakes her gently and says, 'Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth.'
She isn't angry, she's trying to help Liz through an undefined terror.
I think it's so important to stay close to that center where your thoughts spring from, in art and in writing both. How does the old motto go?
"To thine own self be true."
Square1: High five champ! I'll be over to read you shortly.
Tiv, I would have liked to spend more time on this post because there was so much I wanted to say, and then I wanted to keep it brief as well, and as we both know that involves a whole lot of editing...
As for the whole Israel thing, all I can say is I you start posting about that, you are probably in for a heated debate. That's up to you to decide if you want to deal with that. One thing you can do is start a whole other blog under a different nom de plume or just even more anonymously. Or... just continue self-censoring. I know I myself tend to avoid those conversations not so much out of self-censorship but more because of the fact that I feel it's such a complicated issue that there is no possible solution to ensure both sides are happy with the outcome.
Maybe because I'm the product of mixed cultures, I tend to be on the fence about a lot of things, and from that vantage point I see both sides of the issue quite clearly. If king Solomon were among us, what would he decide I wonder? Now there's an idea for a story. By all means run with it if you like it. And I'll look forward to seeing this illustration on your site too because, yes, it does suit your theme completely and I just like looking at it besides.
amuirin: I read 'Eat Pray Love' too and it was very enjoyable but I don't recall that scene you describe right now.
I think "to thy own self be true" should alwasy be preceded with "know thyself" and those are two of my favorite maxims.
That being said, I think we all do a lot of self-censoring to varying degrees. Those who don't are considered either crazy or social pariahs which pretty well amounts for the same thing. In my case, it's translated into a need to find an outlet. I had an anonymous blog where I said some truly mean things and pretty well held nothing back, or almost, because even there, I wasn't ready to broach certain topics, but on the whole it was pretty much in your face. It also got me into deep trouble when I said some mean things about my bf when I was really angry at him and then he somehow read it. I didn't know back then that everything you write stays on the internet. I do now. And I think now: should I have written those things, should I not have? To mine own self I was true, so who's to say?
Hi Smiler ... excellent post and it really made me think about to what extent I self-censor (quite a bit, truthfully). Not so much for religious reasons (I'm pretty out there about my love of the woo-woo metaphysical world) but more about my relationships and (dis)satisfaction with them. Like Square1, I have family members reading and even posting what I did last night about the libido (the thing I "borrowed" from you) was kinda scary to me! Is that, like, TMI for my Uncle Charlie?? heh
Anyway, really good post and I enjoyed it (and your blog). I'm glad I found you!
Lisa
Lisa, I'd say you're pretty much in the clear with uncle Charlie, since you didn't write it, your pervy friend Smiler over there posted it, right? ;-)
I have to say I'm pretty happy with this post too. Now every time I want to broach something and am afraid to, I'll just post a version of that text, modify it slightly to suit the topic and Voilà! Or: how to get around that pesky internal censor. He heh.
The Palestinian/Israeli conflict is a hot bed for debate. Unfortunately it is one of those situations in which the prejudice is so deeply rooted on both sides, good luck undoing the damage there. When one side wants to make peace, either the other side, or a faction within their ranks sabotages it, and the conflict continues. Neither side seems to stop and think that by perpetuating it, they are only insuring that more of their brothers, sisters, wives, children, and friends are caught in the cross-fire. It's really a terrible sort of existance and I pray for peace and resolution for both parties daily.
square1: As I was saying to Tiv, that's a whole topic I would rather not get involved in. But yes, when all else fails, pray. And then when things go well, pray that it stays that way.
Huh. I just wrote a really long comment about how I self-censor due to using my real name, and having a very rare name. And blah, blah, blah, probably revealed more than I should have. (Nothing juicy though. Just a bit about having offended my mother in a post, and having learned to self-censor more since then. And then there was the time a professor emailed me about something she'd found on my blog, and I don't even post my email address on it.)
And then blogger (or maybe my browser) done went and ate my whole damn comment.
Good for you for going with your gut and heart and publishing it. I'm not the least bit offended. On the contrary. I find beauty and inspiration in the piece. I am a Catholic (not practicing) and a lover and believer of saints and the power of iconography, and this image speaks to me.
Not to say that *someone* won't be offended, but you just can't write and publish with them in mind.
alejna, thanks for taking the time to type a second message. Ironic that we're taking about self-censoring and the technology did the censoring for you!
ybonesy: thanks for the show of support. My mother aka Lee is also Catholic (and also not practicing). She reads this blog and I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it too. I know I can't be writing and publishing from a place of fear about offending people's moral and religious beliefs, but I guess fifteen years of working for the magazine publishing industry have left their mark on me. Who needs a boss when I have a private censor in my in my own head? It'll be some time before I can publish under my name and feel truly free to speak my mind.
I feel the same way, Smiler and am older than you. By the time I feel free to speak my mind using my real name I'll be dead. Sheesh.
I've run into self-censorship on a more personal level. I tell perfect strangers about my blog, but rarely share it with family members out of fear that I may inadvertently hurt their feelings.
Anyway, I recently had a brush against someone realizing they were being referenced, and reading into it totally negatively when not only was it not meant to be negative, it wasn't interpreted that way by readers either.
But I took a stand. Writing has always been part of me, but I was always holding myself back. I'm just now, for the first time, daring to speak out loud and to hear my own voice.
I love the image you chose and I'm glad you chose to publish it.
Self-censorship is sometimes necessary for some of us for a variety of reasons. It does bother me when I want to write something but know I cannot because of a particular reason. I try not to self-censor but I find myself doing it from time to time.
I'm glad you decided to put this here. It belongs.
Excellent editorial.
You wrote in the comments section that there was more you wanted to say. I think there a quite a bit more material to write about again. It doesn't all have to be in one post. Go for it.
Bloggers are interested in this topic as we face it every time we post - whether we censor ourselves or not. This is the type of decision we make all the time, whether consciously or not. It's interesting to see the thought processes of others who do what we do.
Self-censorship is a slippery road. Yes, there are things I don't blog about. It's not that I don't want to write about them, but they seem too personal to share with strangers.
As for my politics or religion (or lack there of) I could care less what the anonymous of the intertubes think. If I offend someone I know they had an opinion, and weren't fence-sitters. I made a connection on an emotional level, for good or bad.
velverb: good for you for taking a stand. Especially if you just recently found your voice. Some might be hesitant to affirm themselves. I too have become very defensive of my territory and won't let anyone try to take that away from me. But it's always a fine balance to maintain.
corina: all of us do a certain amount of self-censoring for all kinds of reasons. that's because we're social creatures and we abide by certain rules of conduct. that being said, I'm glad you liked the image!
sbw: you're right, there is a lot more to say and I like your suggestion of posting again about this. It's pretty obvious to me that it's an issue that many bloggers are faced with and it's interesting to see the comments on this post. everybody has something to say about it. Lee, from Lee's River (on my blogroll) actually took the topic and did her take on it after reading my blog.
stevo:
"I made a connection on an emotional level, for good or bad."
I like your thinking. that's a great attitude to have and enables very honest, sometimes controversial things to be broached fearlessly. and after all you're right, what we're ultimately trying to do is make a connection, not win a popularity contest.
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