The Web needs more soft-core eroticism
By Larry Magid
The Mercury News

There's something I've wanted to say ever since I started writing this column a couple of years ago. Frankly, I wasn't sure exactly how to phrase it without upsetting some people but, what the heck, I might as well say it.

What the Web needs is more soft-core eroticism and less hard-core pornography.

Some of you may be thinking: How dare a ``family technology'' columnist encourage the spread of sexually stimulating material that will undoubtedly be looked at by teenagers and even pre-teens? Yes, it's true, such material would be viewed by young people.

If your goal is to completely shield our youth from sexuality, my proposal has absolutely no merit. But if that's your belief, you had better ban them completely from the Internet and, while you're at it, keep them away from TV, the movies, magazines, the beach and even school. We're raising a generation of kids in a highly sexually charged environment.

When I was a kid, topless photos in Playboy were considered pretty hard core. We didn't have Victoria's Secret back then but, if we did, you can bet that their advertisements would have been banned from the mainstream publications that are only too happy to print their ads today. Read more...