Parental Advisory Labels

This paper is an argument for parental advisory labels on CDs and music videos offered for sale and for banning the sale of items carrying such warning labels to minors. It examines the history of music censorship and of warning labels in particular. Labels have become necessary as other societal limitations on content and the availability of material have loosened. Just as parents have developed ways of restricting their children's exposure to other media, they should also be able to prevent their children from buying music and music videos that carry warning labels.

In a society founded on the ideal of freedom of expression and artistic creativity, censorship is always a struggle. Betty Houchin Winfield recounts a brief history of the attempts to censor music lyrics and other creative forms of expression:

Banning suggestive words is not new, especially for written expression. Over 100 years ago, Anthony Comstock and his Society for the Suppression of Vice stifled all kinds of written expression, especially those words and pictures concerning sexuality. In nineteenth century Italy, Verdi's operas, such as "La Traviata," were considered so controversial that the composer wrote different librettos to fit different locales. Community standards ruled even then. For over 50 years on radio, certain songs' sexual lyrics were unacceptable. NBC banned 147 recorded songs in 1940; songs such as "Love For Sale" could only be broadcast as an instrumental (14).

Related Essays

Parental Advisory Labels on CDs & Videos This paper is an argument for parental advisory labels on CDs and music videos offered for sale and for banning the sale of items carrying such warning labels .... (1608 6 )

Internet Censorship .... The Recreational Software Advisory Council known for providing ratings labels on game .... Netguide. Sept. 1, 1996, 1-3. Lemons, J. Parental guidance suggested. .... (3849 15 )

Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll-Sex Education in America .... for sexual abuse concomitant with undisputed parental power, an .... on whether condoms should carry labels warning they .... manipulating the makeup of an advisory panel .... (9645 39 )

ental advisory labels or stickers to albums, tapes, and CDs that are judged to be sexually explicit or otherwise offensive to significant segments of the population" (106). During the 1980s, the record companies voluntarily adopted a rating system and the use of "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" stickers. By April 1990, they had put a standardized labeling system in place. Deciding which CDs should get warning labels can be a complicated decision. Winfield reports, "For a message to be declared obscene it must meet all parts of a threeprong legal test," including the application of "contemporary community standards," patently offensive sexual content as defined by state law, and redeeming social value (12). However, warning labels can be used to give notice that material might be offensive to some audiences, especially minors. These labels are a good beginning. They alert parents to the possibility that a record or CD may have offensive content without having to listen to it or know much about it. However, minors could still buy CDs with warning labels and hide them from their parents. Therefore, minors under the age of 18 should not be allowed to buy material with warning labels, in the same way that they are not al

Category: Arts - P