"Vulgar vehicle decorations" in Maryland

[Trent Lawless]

I knew that would get some of you to read. This guy represents my district in the Maryland state legislature (I didn't vote for him), and the story is now making national print news. Check it out. I, for one, find this ridiculous.

Lawmaker Comes Down on Plastic Gonads
Maryland Lawmaker Wants to Ban Fake Bull Testicles and Other Vulgar Vehicle Decorations

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Feb 22, 2007 (AP)— Fake bull testicles and other anatomically explicit vehicle decorations would be banned from Maryland roads under a bill pending in the state legislature.

The measure was filed in the General Assembly Monday by Delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washingon, who says children shouldn't be exposed to giant plastic gonads dangling from pickup truck trailer hitches. The bill also would ban depictions of naked human breasts, buttocks or genitals, with offenses punishable by fines of up to $500.

"It's time to take a stand," Myers told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail.

The American Civil Liberties Union objected to Myers' bill.

"The legislation is overly broad, and would probably make it illegal to have a sticker on your car of the Venus de Milo from an art museum," ACLU of Maryland spokeswoman Meredith Curtis wrote in an e-mail.

Pamela Campbell whose Bullhead City, Ariz., business sells fake bull testicles, suggested that the swinging decorations can prompt healthy discussions about anatomy and reproduction.

"Do we have to neuter all dogs that walk by us?" she asked. "Where does it stop?"

Last week, Arizona's legislature rejected a measure that would have banned vehicle splash guards bearing racist terms or silhouettes of naked women.

[swarm]

Have a big problem with people decorating their cars with balls, butts and titties out there in Maryland huh? I have never even heard of such a thing. Balls? Really?

[sickman]

swarm said:

Have a big problem with people decorating their cars with balls, butts and titties out there in Maryland huh? I have never even heard of such a thing. Balls? Really?

Yeah really.

See them here in Orlando sometimes.

And this guy is a douchebag in the same regard as the one here in Florida that had funny (sexualy suggestive) bumperstickers banned from your cars a while back.

[steelthunder814]

Just proves my apathy and antipathy theory...Im as conservative as they come but banning something whether u like or not is more offensive to me ...whats next someone going to try to ban Xmas...oh wait!

[lordrahl]

I was going to say they just tried to do that out here in Arizona. I'm not religious so I want crosses and jesus fish banned!! (not really just saying how stupid it is)

Rahl

[Trent Lawless]

swarm said:

Have a big problem with people decorating their cars with balls, butts and titties out there in Maryland huh? I have never even heard of such a thing. Balls? Really?

I've seen them, but only in Pennsylvania. Near Pittsburgh. Maybe it was Steinhoff (oh, wait, he's moving...) ;D

Personally, if I ever saw them dangling there from some truck and my sons were with me, I'd point them out and laugh. My wife would probably agree, but roll her eyes so she could be more like a girl about it. But she'd laugh, too.

[offspring515]

Honestly, if your kid sees them (and I've seen them a few times here in michigan) and he/she is old enough to "get" what it's supposed to be, he or she is obviously old enough to have a talk about human anatomy with.

People are stupid. That's about all there is to it.

[Werner Mueck]

Usually, I'd think you were nuts (get it) but just a few days ago, my sister was driving behind a truck with high suspension and dangling below the trailer hitch were a pair of realistic testicles. She thought it was funnier then hell. I thought it was funnier then hell. We even talked about how you'd make a pair. We had a ball.

[sickman]

wernermueck said:

We had a ball.

NOW THATS FUNNY!!

[mikefortune]

Wow I am with Swarm on this, balls really. Never seen them on cars or trucks up here in the great white north. Balls sounds like something Kevin B might have on his truck

[Trent Lawless]

offspring515 said:

Honestly, if your kid sees them (and I've seen them a few times here in michigan) and he/she is old enough to "get" what it's supposed to be, he or she is obviously old enough to have a talk about human anatomy with.

My wife and I made a decision not to give those parts of our sons' anatomy any "cutesy" names. They are what they are. Would've been the same if we'd had girls, but we don't. Part of the reason for that is that if, God forbid, any sicko would ever do something to them while they were very young, they could tell someone exactly what happened and to exactly what part of them.

I'm going to track this bill and see if it goes anywhere. Tough to tell in Maryland, a very Democrat-state but sometimes so far left it comes back around and leans libertarian.

[offspring515]

Mark that's a very smart way to handle things. I hate parents who think terms like "penis" or "vagina" or "testicles" are dirty words that shouldn't be taught to children. It's the name of a body part, just like an arm or a leg. You obviously have to teach your children that those particular body parts are private, but you shouldn't make your kid go around calling his genitals his "winky" or something stupid like that.

Anyhow, to elaborate, I live just outside Detroit and I work in Dearborn, Michigan and I've seen the testicle hangers twice, right near my work.

[gatekeeper]

Wow, some people have very little to do in their life if they're worried about fake balls hanging from a car.

I agree, kids see that stuff if you have basically any kind of animal so what's the difference?

This whole debate is bull fuck.

[mft]

I'm not one who likes to put vulgar things out in public for kids to see. Sorry if you can't see the difference between animal "balls" and people "balls" (albeit "fake" ones). This is one of those things alot of people that don't have kids like to comment on...telling parents to lighten up.

So if things are just balls...for example, would you want some nude guy come around your kid in the park, jiggling around his nuts in front of him? What's the difference? Balls are balls right?

And I know the "fake" balls are a joke. I've watched Jackass...but really, lets him some respect.

Same thing about bumper stickers. I know a big lib fav is "F**K Bush". I had my four year old and eight year old nephew out, of course, my eight year old nephew says, "What's F**K Bush". Reallll nice of him to see that stuff isn't it?

But of course, many of you will give the old excuse, "Ohh, he'lll hear it in school anyways."

Even my fav bumber sticker "Only F**s Hate Bush"...even I'm against that on bumper stickers.

So call me a stick in the mud.

[bmurderh8s]

We live in America, and because of that we are afforded a little something called freedom of speech/expression.

Now with that being said there will always be somebody who will be offended by something and find a reason why it should not be allowed.

Now I'm a young guy, and you could label me a liberal..but when I was in High school I recall taking a test and I scored middle of the road, leaning slightly towards liberal. Since then I've grown up a bit and became even more liberal. 911 changed the way I looked at everything. Some say freedom isn't free, and thats true to a certain extent, however I believe that by giving up certain freedoms we are in a sense giving in to the Terrorists.

Now, as far as the ball thing, who really cares. I can understand why parents might get upset by it, but as someone said earlier, if the kid is old enough to know what they are, then by that point they should have already recieved "the talk". And if they aren't old enough, well..whats the big deal. They won't get it anyway. I recall being younger and seeing and hearing things that went way above my head. I never gave much of it a second thought.

As far as the F*** Bush bumper stickers go, once again, people have the right, hell, the duty as Americans to voice their opinion. Remember, it's supposed to be for the people by the people. But of course, thats not how it seems anymore these days. And it's a damn shame, especially when a person will question your patriotism over your opinion on the president and the war in Iraq. The minute we start believing everything we hear and stop questioning things is the day we give up our freedom.

In the end, history prolly will not look back fondly on ol Bush. Remember when he first came into office many were saying he'd be a lame duck president. Had it not been for 911 to bail him out, he never would of been re-elected.

As it goes, we live in America and are afforded certain freedoms. I'm tired of hearing stories about people trying to take those away from us.

[sickman]

bmurderh8s said:

We live in America, and because of that we are afforded a little something called freedom of speech/expression.

Now with that being said there will always be somebody who will be offended by something and find a reason why it should not be allowed.

Now I'm a young guy, and you could label me a liberal..but when I was in High school I recall taking a test and I scored middle of the road, leaning slightly towards liberal. Since then I've grown up a bit and became even more liberal. 911 changed the way I looked at everything. Some say freedom isn't free, and thats true to a certain extent, however I believe that by giving up certain freedoms we are in a sense giving in to the Terrorists.

Now, as far as the ball thing, who really cares. I can understand why parents might get upset by it, but as someone said earlier, if the kid is old enough to know what they are, then by that point they should have already recieved "the talk". And if they aren't old enough, well..whats the big deal. They won't get it anyway. I recall being younger and seeing and hearing things that went way above my head. I never gave much of it a second thought.

As far as the F*** Bush bumper stickers go, once again, people have the right, hell, the duty as Americans to voice their opinion. Remember, it's supposed to be for the people by the people. But of course, thats not how it seems anymore these days. And it's a damn shame, especially when a person will question your patriotism over your opinion on the president and the war in Iraq. The minute we start believing everything we hear and stop questioning things is the day we give up our freedom.

In the end, history prolly will not look back fondly on ol Bush. Remember when he first came into office many were saying he'd be a lame duck president. Had it not been for 911 to bail him out, he never would of been re-elected.

As it goes, we live in America and are afforded certain freedoms. I'm tired of hearing stories about people trying to take those away from us.

QFT with a big ol' HELL YEAH.

[offspring515]

MFT if you've seen the items in question, they really don't look like "balls". They are a comic/cartoon version of them. I honestly don't think it's a big deal.

That said I don't have children, and I fully expect my "liberal" world view to shore up a good deal when I do have them. But I don't think a comedic set of testes hanging off someone's truck will be the end of the world. Nor do I think a child seeing a curse word is the end of the world. Responsible, reasonable people realize that children will be exposed to such things (and sadly, much worse) during their lives. As such it's important that when those situations come up a parent takes the time to explain appropriate behavior with their child....i'm assuming Trav that you'd explain to your child that the word he saw/used was not appropriate.

[mft]

Just get back to me when you have a kid offspring and let me know your opinion then

[Trent Lawless]

I have two kids, one of whom can read at age 5 better than most kids at 8, so say the teachers (shameless brag!). So that qualifies me to speak on this, I guess!

Would I like it if my 5-year-old saw a bumper sticker or shirt with the F-word on it? No, of course not. But if he asked about that word, or even if he said it out loud, I'd like to think I could explain to him that certain words should only be used sparingly, if at all. I've told him before that words can be used in nice ways or not nice ways. He's getting the difference slowly but surely, experimenting along the way like every kid does. I certainly wouldn't make a big deal out of it, because once you make something taboo, you make it desirable, especially to a child. And I know my son!

I don't fault people for disliking this sort of stuff. It's a very personal decision as a parent what you want your kids exposed to, and frustrating when society (or certain elements of it) doesn't seem to be in synch with you. But I feel I'd be fighting one losing battle after another if I shelter them too much from that sort of stuff. Better to get an explanation from me than a glorification from their friends someday.

Anyway, whether you have kids or not, I don't know that transitioning from childless to child-full changes one's views that much. It didn't to me. I think we're all brought up a certain way, and most of the time, we remain with that basic mindset as we mature into adults. Variety makes the world go round.

[bmurderh8s]

As a parent, there comes a time when you will have to step in and teach your child right from wrong and whats appropriate and not appropriate. Thats part of the job. I'm assuming being a parent isn't an easy job, but to assume that others in the world should in some way be censored to make your job as a parent easier is obsurd.

Thats what this all boils down to. Parents don't want to take responsibility. They would rather blame Television, music, and society in general. Kids are going to be exposed to this sort of stuff and its the job of the parent to show the child whats right and whats wrong. Bottom line, end of story.

As far as world views chaning when you become a parent, I don't buy that all too much. I'm sure your opinions on certain issues may change slightly, but once you're in your early 20's, you are who you're gonna be. And the values you hold as a human being by that point are probably some of the same values you're going to teach your children.