About once a week or so, I send an e-mail to a list of people who have expressed interest at some point in writing for catapult magazine, the online publication for which I'm the editor. The e-mails let people on the list know what our upcoming topics and deadlines are. Also, I send out at least one e-mail per issue with questions related to the issue topic. The following questions went out for the upcoming issue, "[Deleted for Inappropriate Subject Matter]":
- What subjects were taboo in your family as you were growing up? How did these taboos affect you? Do you now avoid those topics yourself, have a strong desire to talk about them or something in between?
- When have you felt 'censored', either by yourself or by others?
- The description for this issue references the 'girl crush'. What is your experience with this subject? Or if you're male, is there such a thing as a 'man crush'? Should we be talking about these issues and if so, how? What would be the benefit?
- When is it appropriate NOT to talk about something? When do we talk too much?
- How should parents decide what their kids are ready to see, hear and discuss? Should kids be 'sheltered'?
- How do we set our own boundaries for what we are able to see, hear and discuss?
- How does the church (universal and/or particular) hurt itself and its members by staying away from certain subjects?
- When have you experienced comfort, revelation, etc. because someone (or a community) was willing to talk about something you'd been keeping to yourself?
- How does the issue of 'inappropriate subject matter' relate to art? For example, what is the line between pornography and erotica? The line between horror and 'torture porn'?
