Russian Duma vows to stamp out evils of Goth and Emo

Alternative people in the supposedly free west have to put up with a lot of rubbish but nothing to compare with this:

Educational Policy Turns Protective
Kommersant, Russia - 2 Jun 2008

For example, the draft law “On Moral and Patriotic Education and Guarantees of the Rights of Children in the Informational Sphere” envisages that all informational products, from books and films to websites and computer games will be divided into groups by audience age as “6 and older,” “12 and older,” “16 and older” and “18 and older.”

Specifically, children under 6 will be allowed to read books and watch cartoons where there is “non-naturalistic description of violence justified by the genre and topic under the condition of sympathy with the victim and a condemnatory attitude toward violence.” After 16, it will be possible to hear “expletives justified by the genre” and watch “depictions of sexual acts between men and women that do not have a pornographic nature.” The draft law “On Children’s Toys” would ban the production and importation of toys that “provoke aggression,” “model actions of a sexual nature,” “justify extremism and a criminal lifestyle,” “depict horror or unbearable pain” or that are created “on the basis of the psychologically incongruous.” That might be, for example, candy in the shape of skeletons or stuffed toys in the shape of bacteria or viruses.

Other legislative initiatives propose imposing a curfew for schoolchildren from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. During those hours, children would be unable to be present in public places under threat of punishment to their parents. Attempts by schoolchildren to send SMS messages with obscene words (including those in Latin transcription) would be blocked by the cellular operator. Schools would be forbidden to observe “artificially borrowed holidays not appropriate to Russian cultural values,” such as Halloween and St. Valentine’s Day.

The drafters of the concept took a particular negative stance in regard to the Goth and emo youth subcultures, which are characterized by black clothing, piercings and a depressed outlook on reality. They authors compared the danger those subcultures hold for society to the dangers of skinheads, soccer hooligans, National Bolsheviks and even anti-fascists. Emo youths, according to the concept, “are subject to suicidal tendencies” and Goth children cultivate bisexuality. “The cost of the sexual services of an underage boy prostitute with Goth attributes is lower than for students in military schools but higher than for usual gay prostitutes,” the authors say, demonstrating their knowledge of life. The government would use informational campaigns for healthy lifestyles to fight the nonconformists, as well as the introduction of “Basics of Orthodox Christian Culture” in the schools and a legislative ban on tattoos and piercings for minors (“with the exception of women’s earrings”).... “The proposed measures are like an imitation of busyness,” commented Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy director of the SOVA anti-extremist center. “Skinheads and Goths cannot be fought with the same methods. The result of the fight will be the same – youth protest will grow even more, and youth will be attracted to everything forbidden, making it even more popular. Our state fought hippies, rockers, metal fans, and lost every time, because there will always be a youth subculture.”

Russia to ban Valentine's Day to 'save' youth
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom Jun 3, 2008

Teenagers who model themselves on Western youth subcultures like Goths — who are accused of “cultivating bisexuality” — are to be regarded by the authorities as social nuisances in the same league as skinheads, football hooligans and anti-fascists.

The authors of the legislation, which mirrors other government measures to promote Russian nationalism, say urgent action is required to end a moral crisis inspired by the West that has seen a dramatic rise in alcoholism and addiction among teenagers.

“Today we have a lost generation of wandering morons whose parents’ moral vision was robbed by perestroika,” said Stanislav Govorukhin, a Duma deputy.

“We have taken the worst from the West because we failed to resist the encroachment of Western values.” He denied accusations by liberal activists that the new laws represented an attack on freedom of expression.

“The essence of freedom is that there should be moral restrictions — that is what freedom is,” he said.