[Manga] Add a content warning for Slavery

[DoubleSnake]

We have content ratings for suggestive, erotica, and pornographic and we have content warnings for gore and sexual violence. I believe it necessary to have a content warning for slavery as well due to the obvious extreme nature of the act. There are obviously age ratings for many things such as shonen and adult themed manga, on television there are warnings for smoking, self-harm, ect. And while there are many mange with on the nose titles such as "My Slave is Way Too Cheerful" there are many isekai titles where a viewer is basically playing russian roulette on whether or not slavery is involved. I personally have read many where there was no mention of slavery in the mangadex, myanimelist, or mangaupdates description. "Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari" has absolutly no mention of slavery in the mangadex or mangaupdates description (Though it does on myanimelist) but I do not blame anyone that made the descriptions for this lack of oversight. It just shouldn't have to come to checking other websites before reading a manga just to avoid something that could easily be tagged. I am not saying this needs to be a tag like villaness or slice of life, but I do think it necessary to have this option in place to easily avoid disturbing those that either at best, find it distasteful or at worst, those that have real world experience suffering that can be triggered.

 

[Turkeyjerkey]

Every one of those isekai manga where the protagonist owns slaves can get fucked as far as I'm concerned, but is a content warning this specific really necessary?

Modern slavery is alive and well, but I feel like there's not a lot of overlap between formerly enslaved people and mangadex readers.

 

[Remocracy]

People writing entire page-length responses about slavery in manga is wild

 

[Gudachiz]

This isn't twitter and Slavery was abolished for most of the world if not all and is seen as nothing more than a thing to make things heavier for stories.
There is a difference between fiction and reality, you aren't glorifying slavery by showing it, just showing it to remind people that its there or idk, for entertainment purposes.
Please have yourself checked if you're saying fiction = glorifying the real thing, that's no different from people who argue that violence in games is the same as doing it.

 

[Gudachiz]

Every one of those isekai manga where the protagonist owns slaves can get fucked as far as I'm concerned, but is a content warning this specific really necessary?

Modern slavery is alive and well, but I feel like there's not a lot of overlap between formerly enslaved people and mangadex readers.

yeah for one the formerly enslaved people more than likely are dead by now or are too old to even read manga to be offended

 

[cksn]

slavery really is just not immoral as long as the slave is treated justly. social equality is not a moral imperative. when we had actual civilization, everyone knew this. people are going to keep writing stories about slavery that don't have as much egalitarian pearl-clutching as you all like. cry more about it.

 

[Remocracy]

slavery really is just not immoral as long as the slave is treated justly

What reading isekai does to your brain

 

[cksn]

What reading isekai does to your brain

it's the other way around. part of the draw of isekai is getting away from the insane moral frame of secular liberal society.

 

[Penthero]

I mean we have slavery today, just in different shape. What do people think penal labor in the US is?

 

[beep_repair]

social equality is not a moral imperative.

Morality exists only within human consciousness. So moral imperatives must be as varied and changeable as the minds that house them. User cksn is not big on of social equality. Got it. But the grand claim about moral imperatives says no more than that.

Due to my views on liberty and consent, and in light of the form of slavery that existed in my county's not-so-distant past, which I believe to have been morally abhorrent, I'm sometimes put off by the casual use of the "happy slave" trope in isekai manga. I don't avoid or condemn stories that lean heavily on the trope, but I've found that I rarely enjoy them much.

I also believe that social equality is, in a general sense, a moral and pragmatic good. But that's just me.

 

[jacoh]

yeah for one the formerly enslaved people more than likely are dead by now or are too old to even read manga to be offended

As you said, slavery was prohibited since a long time, authough, depending on the content, it still may be harmful fo some users. Consider that, in most of the countries there are people still been found working in slave-like conditions, so, having something being legally ended, it doesn't mean that it doesnt happen anymore.
I agree that most of the manga show slavery contextualized in time, places and historic settings. It mean that showing slavery isn't wrong, actually, the population in a whole need to have access to these content in a way they can be concious of how destructive it was, and still is for our society.
To finish the argument, having a [slavery] tag isn't that of a big deal, but is something useful so the folks sensible to it can, at least, be warned.
I think it could be like a normal tag, not as necessary as the contrastful tag (on sexual violence, for example), because the content that big problem, as I mentioned before.

 

[RedBloodCat]

This is just straight up stupid, if you need a warning for that then u have other emotional problems. A tag however is fine, but it should not be a colored warning like "sexual assault" and so on

 

[Shnebs]

Why only slavery? We're gonna need something similar for suicide, child abuse, murder, rape etc cause they're extremely distasteful and offensive. This is dumb.

We do have one for rape, it’s called “sexual violence”, we do have one for murder ect depending on how it’s depicted called “gore” this is just another classification, why are you so against it?

 

[Shnebs]

Virtue signalling, much? I can't just imagine a normal human being reacting like that to a fictional material unless they're a Waspy housewife who's bored out of their mind.

The term virtue signaling has lost all meaning, regardless of the reason why does it matter if they add a “slavery” tag all classifications are beneficial to readers

 

[beep_repair]

What do people think penal labor in the US is?

In some southern states, the exploitation of prison labor fully justifies comparison to slavery, at least on a moral level.

 

[beep_repair]

Content warnings are not a badness prize, so there's no point in arguing about the evils of slavery.

If tons of users (not posters but users) want and will use a slavery warning, then hell yes. Add it.

If not, then a standard content tag should be fine.

 

[Remocracy]

it's the other way around. part of the draw of isekai is getting away from the insane moral frame of secular liberal society.

You did not just unironically write this

 

[Koneko_Nyaa]

So then how would you separate the 'good' slavery from the 'bad' slavery?

A lot of Isekai have the concept of criminal slaves. In modern society, we make prisoners work for their community doing jobs like mowing sidewalks, picking up trash, sweeping the streets, and working the local garbage dump. That's not really that much different, but we don't call it slavery.

Then there are the protagonists that use 'slavery' as a means to protect their people in a world where the property of a rich person may receive better treatment better than the average commoner.

There are stories where slaves are guaranteed full human rights + housing, clothing, food, pay, etc. which puts them in a better position than people living on the streets or working low-paying jobs without housing&food included.

There are also stories of human trafficking and abuse.

What about me: My employer paid me a bonus in exchange for a term commitment - if I want to quit my job, I have to buy back my freedom. Does that make me a corporate slave?

How about debt slaves in manga who voluntarily sell their service to someone who'll pay their debt with an option to buy back their freedom. Is that really that different. Can you unequivocally say it's worse when they're even still getting free housing and food out of the deal?

Slavery is a very broad topic and I doubt the usefulness of shoving every different situation into the same bucket.
It's a tag that I largely ignore on most sites that have it for this reason.

 

[Remocracy]

So then how would you separate the 'good' slavery from the 'bad' slavery?

A lot of Isekai have the concept of criminal slaves. In modern society, we make prisoners work for their community doing jobs like mowing sidewalks, picking up trash, sweeping the streets, and working the local garbage dump. That's not really that much different, but we don't call it slavery.

Then there are the protagonists that use 'slavery' as a means to protect their people in a world where the property of a rich person may receive better treatment better than the average commoner.

There are stories where slaves are guaranteed full human rights + housing, clothing, food, pay, etc. which puts them in a better position than people living on the streets or working low-paying jobs without housing&food included.

There are also stories of human trafficking and abuse.

What about me: My employer paid me a bonus in exchange for a term commitment - if I want to quit my job, I have to buy back my freedom. Does that make me a corporate slave?

How about debt slaves in manga who voluntarily sell their service to someone who'll pay their debt with an option to buy back their freedom. Is that really that different. Can you unequivocally say it's worse when they're even still getting free housing and food out of the deal?

Slavery is a very broad topic and I doubt the usefulness of shoving every different situation into the same bucket.
It's a tag that I largely ignore on most sites that have it for this reason.

I think most people consider slavery when someone gets forced against their wishes into being sold off to others for manual labor and whatnot. Now the problem is that these systems usually grant the enslaved person a small buff in exchange for losing free will, sorta like Shield Hero I guess

 

[Mr_Detective]

@Mr_Detective

If a story is compelling enough to keep you reading as far as 50 chapters, I think you should not merely drop it just because it has a little bit of slavery-related content in it. Usually, most people would be able to decide whether to drop a manga after 3-5 chapters. If the slavery content isn't well done, then it's counted as a part of the story that has bad writing. Many stories have some parts that are not written well. This is up to you. You either drop it for good or endure it until the story progresses past that part. Not every story we read will turn out well as it goes on. Would you have wasted your time if you drop a manga? Well, technically, yes. But if it gets worse, and you keep reading, you'd waste even more time. Again, your call.

A mere mention of slavery or a small part of the story that involves slavery doesn't instantly turn me off. Gore, you see it, you get disgusted right away. Slavery? Not so quick. It depends on how the story is written, and what kind of slavery, and how it's depicted, and so on.

I'm not specifically calling you an "internet expert". That comment was simply general advice for everyone. Read what you like, skip what you hate. Some people waste their valuable free time dissing other people on things they like vs dislike, which is mind-boggling.
A lot of people even take it a step further to try to show off their knowledge, that they think only they know, in the comment section.
"Yo, this manga got X element in it. Well, it makes sense. You know, Japan (insert war crimes, misinformation, exaggerated accusation, irrelevant flaws here)." Some sort of mental gymnastics.
I notice this behavior from Westerners very often. It's as if they want to show their moral superiority. It's more irritating when you know how many skeletons are in their closet.

But this is not relevant to this thread. I'm just saying: people spend too much time bitching about things that don't hurt anyone at all. And then it leads to poor attempts to boost their ego, and then it leads to insulting someone else, which never ends well.

 

[Bhatonhas]

If a story is compelling enough to keep you reading as far as 50 chapters, I think you should not merely drop it just because it has a little bit of slavery-related content in it. Usually, most people would be able to decide whether to drop a manga after 3-5 chapters. If the slavery content isn't well done, then it's counted as a part of the story that has bad writing. Many stories have some parts that are not written well. This is up to you. You either drop it for good or endure it until the story progresses past that part. Not every story we read will turn out well as it goes on. Would you have wasted your time if you drop a manga? Well, technically, yes. But if it gets worse, and you keep reading, you'd waste even more time. Again, your call.

A mere mention of slavery or a small part of the story that involves slavery doesn't instantly turn me off. Gore, you see it, you get disgusted right away. Slavery? Not so quick. It depends on how the story is written, and what kind of slavery, and how it's depicted, and so on.

I'm not specifically calling you an "internet expert". That comment was simply general advice for everyone. Read what you like, skip what you hate. Some people waste their valuable free time dissing other people on things they like vs dislike, which is mind-boggling.
A lot of people even take it a step further to try to show off their knowledge, that they think only they know, in the comment section.
"Yo, this manga got X element in it. Well, it makes sense. You know, Japan (insert war crimes, misinformation, exaggerated accusation, irrelevant flaws here)." Some sort of mental gymnastics.
I notice this behavior from Westerners very often. It's as if they want to show their moral superiority. It's more irritating when you know how many skeletons are in their closet.

But this is not relevant to this thread. I'm just saying: people spend too much time bitching about things that don't hurt anyone at all. And then it leads to poor attempts to boost their ego, and then it leads to insulting someone else, which never ends well.

I agree with everything tbh, thanks for being polite in this whole thing