Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/06/28/gun-safety-ad-appeals-to-your.html
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I think it is a decent reminder, especially for new gun owners. Maybe they have things like sex toys hidden, but the have been found out before. Or maybe they found their dads Playboy stash when they were little. It’s a reminder things people intentionally hide, especially from kids, can be found. Hiding a loaded gun isn’t enough. It makes a good point with out being preachy.
Also, it isn’t exactly shame, but embarrassment. There isn’t shame that you own them, but embarrassment you weren’t watching your kid and his buddy well enough they found them. Or you left them on the night stand or something.
Second, I honestly don’t care what toys anyone has. But lets be honest, unless I am going to use them with you, I don’t really want to know or see them. You can keep that private with you and your lover, just like other things like your sex tapes, love dungeon, and costumes.
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The hope is that by watching this public service announcement, you will form a link between the innate shame of human sexuality and the inconceivable horror of your child blowing their or their friends’ heads off.
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My guess is that they were hoping that the cringe humor would make the message memorable. But it does unfortunately rely upon having a sexually repressed culture to play off of.
By the time I was those kids ages, I had already made missile systems and flamethrowers which were at least as dangerous as guns, without any of the bureaucracy. I feel a lot more shame about what a destructive child I was then I do the sex toys I have made in more recent years.
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There are quick access combination lock safes that take just a moment to open by pressing the buttons
in a pattern. So the gun is quickly accessible in case of home invasion or other contingency. Some gun owners carry their weapons on their person while awake at home, and then lock them in a bedside combination safe at night. This does serve to both prevent children from accessing a loaded gun as well as providing instant access in case the gun is needed. I hope I have answered your non-rhetorical questions.
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Hey you, what do you think you’re doing here with your reasonable response?
I think when adults hide something, they’re often thinking more along the lines of “where would nobody think to look for X?” but kids aren’t thinking, “Gee, I wonder where the sex toys/guns are hidden?” They’re just digging around in the back of the closet because they know they’re not supposed to so who knows what wonderful things are in there.
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I don’t know. I know not a few mums who wouldn’t be exchanging uncomfortable glances with their friend, but rather asking very specific questions about their friend’s toy cleaning practices.
There’s stuff that belongs to the household, there’s stuff that belongs to only certain family members, and then there’s stuff that’s especially belonging to one member of the household.
Stuff designed specifically to stimulate one’s genitals definitely falls into the last category. Any sex columnist has received questions about re-using/recycling toys, and the answer is always “if the manufacturer doesn’t have a recycling program, throw it out”. It’s for the same health concern reasons swimsuits and underwear can’t be resold.
So when the kids show up with their vibrating light sabre duel, there’s a privacy violation and a squick factor coinciding to create the humour. Repression doesn’t have much to do after those two factors come into play.
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But genitals are the only part of the body with the innate purpose of interfacing with other people’s bodies, so the notion that this area is somehow more private and personal than others seems quite contradictory
That’s I think more the point than items “belonging”, people are accustomed to poor sanitation. I prefer the clinical/technical answer that it depends upon what materials and manufacturing techniques are used. Unfortunately a lot of the same harmful substances such as pthalates which had been prevalent in sex toys are also common in kids toys.
Perhaps. But if the kids ran out and started swinging swimsuits around, would the effect be equivalent? Or toothbrushes? Those are also things which many classify as “personal”, but my intuition is that people would not react very much to seeing the same scenario with those.
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It only seems quite contradictory if you live on some other planet, a place where fucking complete strangers is as common as shaking their hands is here.
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the what
I need instructions plz
Um, I’m an old dude (too old to have ever availed myself of these platforms), but even I know about Tinder (and Grindr)…
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I don’t currently have a phone, so I have heard of those services but don’t know much about them. I thought that Cuddlr/Spoonr sounded great, but they had just ceased their operations before I learned of them.
Still, it seems weird that people would need complex telephony systems to engage in such direct activities. Maybe some feel that phones empower them to change their social protocols without as much scrutiny as proposing the switch themselves.
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Well, not being Bonobos…
Again, I’m old enough that this all seems weird to me. Telephonic sex proposals? It’s “low risk” (at least in terms of low investment until you hit a match). I think what we oldsters don’t get is that this is the direct method nowadays. No longer do people trolley bars for the “singles scene”. It’s all online.
But yeah, for some reason the cuddling/spooning thing seems even weirder than relatively anonymous sex.
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Who knew that the suburban mom was down the helmets and capes.
This. Reminds me of an old SNL bit where the parents kept hiding the gun under/behind every single other thing the kid wasn’t supposed to get into (candy, porn, etc.) and the kid kept throwing all the other contraband out for the gun.
As much as I want to agree with the original point that sexuality shouldn’t be shamed, I’m also huge on gun safety as I was raised with it. Of course I also grew up when there was an organization that did a lot for this type of training. I wonder whatever happened to them.
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Shame and embarrassment are totally different, though.
If someone walked in on me while I was sitting on the toilet, I’d be embarrassed, but I wouldn’t be ashamed. If someone saw me having sex, I’d be embarrassed, but I wouldn’t be ashamed. If someone caught me talking to myself, picking my nose, barfing, etc. etc. Those things are private, but they’re not bad.
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I suspect it is at least as much that you’re putting yourself in a community where you know everyone else present is open to that kind of activity.
