Chapter Two: Sexual
Sex was relatively easy to describe, being focused on the soma, the body. However, sex sits squarely in the middle of a larger category that is harder to define, something intangible. The word to describe this category is sexual.
So how does Wattpad define the word sexual in the CG? It doesn’t. It does however, use the word 18 times, mostly in the Prohibited section. It is mentioned three times in its ‘ Everybody’ category. The ‘Mature’ category gets only one mention. The bottom line is, sexual content is proportionally the biggest area of concern in the CG rating system, at least in terms of written space. We can acknowledge Wattpad’s efforts to show its users with its sexual morality. However, this does not necessarily mean that Wattpad prioritises such content for scrutiny. As the old saying goes “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk”. I will shed more light on this later, when I review Wattpad’s success at managing infringements.
In the meantime, here is an actual definition. I quite like this one.
The instincts, physiological processes, and activities connected with physical attraction or intimate physical contact between individuals.
Essentially, I like this definition because it incorporates another triad:
1. Psychology (instincts)
2. Physical stimulation (physiological)
3. The Environment (other people)
I find that this definition avoids the pitfalls of biological gender stereotypes and monogamous language quite nicely.
The definition triad also shows why sexual content is such a feeding ground for writers. Sexual tension fed Wuthering Heights. It is woven through Pablo Neruda’s poetry. It had also been pivotal to open our eyes in Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Sexual content has always been integral to literature world wide. It is not the domain of cheap pulp fiction.
But can you have too much sexual content? In my opinion, the answer is no in terms of allowance. Many successful romance stories fluctuate well from Points 1 to 3 to keep things interesting throughout their plots. But you can have the wrong proportion for the Wattpad audience. Pornographic writing, for example, would be too much of Point 2, with barely a peep of Points 1 and 3. Wattpad clearly defines prohibited sexual content very well. How well does it differentiate the differences between Everyone and Mature?
Sexual content as a category actually encompasses a spectrum — at one end, we can describe sexual writing with words such as ‘suggestive’, while at the other end we have the heavily breathed lyrics of Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Closer’. Even the word sexual itself tends to be towards the ‘naughtier’ end — most of us might tell our partners that they “look sexy” when their parents are in the room, but not “look sexual”. For all its importance to our beings, we still repress our sexual selves. But I digress.
Let us look at the relevant section in Mature:
A sex scene does not specifically need to be sex itself and includes other sexual acts (such as oral sex) where it specifically describes the actions themselves.
That still hurts my eyes. Basically it means that any mention of Point 2 has the potential for work to be moved to Mature, given the CG’s poor definition of sex (as per the previous chapter). That seems rather extreme and rather puritanical.
Paradoxically, it does not include the use of methods where the sexual content is hidden in figurative language (i.e. as metaphors, similes etc do not specifically describes the actions themselves). We are of course talking about poetry. According to Wattpad’s CG, such works should therefore not be in Mature or Prohibited, so they are in fact, by the process of elimination, belong in Everybody.
Speaking of Erica Jong — have you heard of her poem, ‘Near the Black Forest’? Here is an excerpt:
Living in a house
near the Black Forest,
without any clocks,
she’s begun
to listen to the walls.
Her neighbors have clocks,
not one
but twenty clocks apiece.
Sometimes
a claque of clocks
applauds
the passing of each day.
Listen to the walls
& wind your watch.
Poor love, poor love,
have they caught you
by the pendulum?
Do they think they’ve
got you stopped?
The poem was used as lyrics by Vanessa Daou for a single that was played heavily through VH1 all day in its time without restrictions.
No actions. No specific descriptions. The poem if posted in Wattpad would have belonged in Everyone, despite its sexual content, according to the CG. If you cannot see any sexual content, I say well, you proved my point doubly that it would belong in Everybody. You might argue that it belongs in Mature anyway because of its sexual content. However, my argument is that you would need a level of sophistication and self awareness before you can understand it. Let us look at some examples from popular culture.
Did you think that Aladdin needed a R-18 (or in Wattpad’s case R-17 rating)? I didn’t think so.
So does Wattpad adhere to its own CG when it reviews or changes users’ book ratings? In the case of my friend who had her book changed to Mature, no it does not. I hasten to stress that her flagged poems did not have any actions or descriptions. They were not even remotely about sex. Let me run down the spectrum. They were not explicit. They were not sexual. They were not naughty. If they were sexy, it was at a cognitive level because of her humour and cleverness in her writing. They were not sex scenes. But for some reason, Wattpad believed that they did. Go figure.
I forgot to mention the Everyone category. Yes, it is everything that is left. Vanilla. Yawn inducing. They are probably stories about oil derricks, historical train tunnels or cat grooming tips. They will have no partial nudity on the cover. I have full confidence in the Knights of the Wattpad Roundtable. I will be safe perusing through the Everyone category while they chop through infringements with their trusty Excalibur, their CG. Or perhaps not.
