Editor’s Comment
We live in a culture obsessed with drawing lines. That’s largely a result of the idea that lines make things easier. They maintain order. They allow us to see difficult concepts as clear cut, black and white. They create an absolute rule: This is not the same as that. They assign people, places, things and ideas into categories.
But when we look further, it’s clear that in many situations, drawing a line is not so simple. That’s why these perceived distinctions are being moved—or, more extremely, dissolved—every day. Kellan Davidson looks at the blurring of the Internet’s private and public spheres in his article “Separation of Web and State,” challenging the government’s right to citizens’ information. Some lines are harder to eliminate. The distinction between rich and poor in the United States has pervaded the country for dozens of years, and, as Lyndsey Lyman illuminates in her piece “Battling the Poverty Line,” is present now more than ever.
Society’s traditional classifications of what is and is not appropriate are also being questioned: In our world today, can anything truly “cross the line?” For example, some sexual fetishes can go way too far. Stephanie Black’s article “Horseplay and Foreplay” takes a look at—you guessed it— bestiality. Even stranger, Carly Smith writes about people who have sexual relationships with pillows in “Pillow Talk.” And you thought you were kinky.
Some lines should exist, but not all. We must think critically about the lines we draw and the boundaries we decide on as a human race. We must push ourselves to step back, consider the options and decide whether such bold lines are truly necessary.
-The Editors 🙂
See the whole printed Crossing the Line issue here.