SphereofWreckening
You can Gish Gallop over this comment section all you want, but you're not worth my time. I'll put it simply for you here since you're so obtuse; outlawing how a person expresses their sexuality, when it isnt at the cost of another persons consent, is shitty and authoritarian.
Have fun defending reactionary and authoritarian actions. Whatever it takes to defend your side, right?
It's not a convient excuse
It is. You're handwaving away criticism of laws that are being applied improperly and unequally. Even if this was a local failure, which it isn't since this type of content is illegal all over China, that doesn't excuse failure to equally enforce in this circumstance.
Who here is arguing otherwise
Plenty of comments are defending China's actions here saying it's necessary to fight sex work. It isn't. It's an authoritarian action taken to stifle sexuality and exert control. You see this most often in fascist governments when setting up dictatorships. And before I get dumb comments, China isn't fascist. But they are authoritarian in several of their tendencies.
I couldn't
K.
What is "Purely Authoritarian"
It's dictating human nature and what is allowed based on governmental morals. You say this is in reaction to the sexual and war crimes that have occurred in China. While that may be the root of the law, that does not make it just in this application of the law.
Consenting adults in the privacy of their own home writing/collecting their own written material are not engaging in or even condoning such tragedies. To harken back to such tragedies when talking about something unrelated is yet another excuse to give cover to authoritarian actions.
If we were talking about pictured/video pornography or prostitution that would be one thing. But this is written erotica. There is no physical person being engaged with. This is at best reactionary and at worst authoritarian.
Also reactionary actions can still be authoritarian. Was the term "purely authoritarian" hyperbole? Yes. Are you being a complete pedant in pointing this out? Also yes.
What cover?
By using "inconsistent enforcement" as an excuse to ignore criticism. There is no justification for these arrests, and yet excuses are being made for what occurred. On top of all of that: inconsistent enforcement is a tell tale sign of authoritarianism as the law is used as an excuse to arrest whoever offends. Even though said laws aren't applied uniformly. Thus manufacturing pretty much any consent needed for an arrest.
You can claim things like western chauvnism and orientalism, but those words have actual meaning that you debase when you throw it out at any criticism of China. This arrest was, once again, reactionary at best and downright authoritarian at worst.
Things like erotica were swept up in this total purge of marketing sex, and enforcement is inconsistent as it is usually regional.
A convenient excuse to stifle a person's consenting sexuality and agency. Written erotica hurts no one, and those arguing otherwise are falling into their authoritarian tendencies.
If you don't like sex work like pictured/video pornography and prostitution I can at least understand your reasoning. Both have massive issues of trafficking and sexual slavery. But swinging the hammer down like this on written erotica is purely authoritarian. And trying to justify arrests made as "inconsistent enforcement" is giving cover, purposeful or otherwise, to that authoritarianism.
Multiple employees beat up a gay man after he had some PDA with his partner. No matter how you look at it the optics are horrible. Short of Mr. Dingus having a weapon or shouting slurs or something like that: there's no justification for the employees to beat and attack him.
I feel like you're jumping through several hoops to put the blame back on the person who was beaten by multiple people.
And then one of the men, pretty forcefully, like, pushed me out of the way on my shoulder,” Dingus said. “And then, you know, next thing I know, that kind of just, I think, sparked the rest of them. ... They all just kind of started attacking me at that point, dragging me back through the floor and continuously punching me in my head.”
They essentially gang assaulted Mr. Dingus, and you believe it's only because of some PDA? I highly doubt it, and believe fully that this is a case of homophobia. And almost certainly a hate crime too.