The Knitting Guild Association Forums

I was just over at the TKGA forums. Very nice place, actually. A poster was writing about finding offensive patterns online. How do you feel about that?

When I first started this blog, I was seeking out those kind of things. I was taking the line "You Knit What?" to the limit. And, I was going to be Snarky and critique stuff that people put online. It was going to be fun. I was looking for the funny, "Fuggly", and odd.
There's some bizarre stuff out there. There were people selling knit stuff on eBay that had never even occurred to me. Some of it was funny, but I couldn't put it on a blog that I knew my DD might read. Then, I started finding the sick and twisted. Some of these knitters really need some Dr. Phil. Maybe it's a therapy for them to knit what they can't otherwise talk about. If the examples you listed make you truly sad and disappointed, the other stuff would really get a reaction out of you. Without undue description; in one week, I found pattens to knit: anatomy one doesn't usually see, items you would have to be over 18 to buy legally (or view), alternative definitions of "fantasy items", "toys", "tools", and marital aids, the list goes on. Even with the safe searching features on, I found all kinds of stuff that had deviant meanings for common words. I know that a lot of it is there for the shock value. When I started this, I thought I was a worldly, culturally savvy, tough, grown-up woman. I thought that I wanted to know all about everything out there. How bad could it be?

I was quite overwhelmed in a very short time. And then, I didn't blog at all for a while. I've come to realize that I don't want to know everything that's out there. Sometimes, I want to put my head in the Sand; I want the filtered and sanitized version. Like the newscasters and talk radio people that won't say the Shooter's names when reporting on the recent Killing Sprees; I have decided to not give them publicity. By showing my horror and reacting, aren't I reinforcing their problem behavior?
Not knowing the whole story, but only seeing the photos and reading the blogs, how can a person know when they're egging someone on in their self-destructive spiral? How can we help give others the positive reinforcement they need? But, the actresses that are acting out really don't need the publicity. The Buzz they're getting should be enough.
With everything in the media, is is possible that we are so Jaded by the bizarre? Constantly needing more excitement, more shocking, more unbelievable? Does everything really need to be the MOST ? Biggest, Baddest, Ultimate, Horrific, ? What's next after that?