# Why does Lolita mean child porn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164 "2003-09-02T16:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Anniee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Anniee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anniee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/101 "2003-09-04T07:14:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KGS \* > \*\*What’s curious about **Anniee** is that she didn’t seem all that offended by those [t.A.t.U. Russian girls](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3918731#post3918731) who took lesbian Lolita-ism to a whole new level. So we’re not dealing with your basic, generic, Bible-belt prude here. > > She’s also a [King Diamond](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3927251#post3927251) and [Anne Rice](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3927467#post3927467) fan as well. WTF?!? Now I’m _really_ confused… \*\* Uh huh. I’ve dealt with all of these subjects. Your f\*cking problem? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/102 "2003-09-04T08:00:20Z")
When you say you’ve dealt with all of those subjects, do you mean there are vampires in your neck of the woods? At this point, your previous arguments offer nothing to prevent me from interpreting your comment as a claim for real vampires as a “subject” you’ve dealt with. The attitude you would call “My f\*cking problem” is that you seem wild-eyed with outrage and would rather make things up (HH beating Lo, his age) and call us names than consider our points of view. What do you hope to achieve? Should we all go down to the local library and burn copies of Lolita? Other books by Nabokov? Daisy Miller? Should we rend our flesh as penance for the crime of admiring a work of fiction? Seriously? Are you trying to argue that reading a book such as Lolita causes harm? If that’s your point, you’re not doing a very good job. If you are trying to convince us that you are a better person for being so angry about the crimes of Lolita, again, not effective. Signed, another friendly neighborhood WOMAN misogynist. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/103 "2003-09-04T08:03:07Z")
Heck, now I feel like reading _Lolita_ just to piss off Anniee. And I hope the book has oodles and oodles of child rape in it (okay, I know it doesn’t, but sanctimony bugs me). ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/104 "2003-09-04T10:30:28Z")
Oh, I get hysterical too, Anniee. Oh can you feel it? (Oh can you feel it?) Do you believe it? (Do you believe it?) It’s such a magical mysteria when you get that feelin’ Am I still allowed to describe the new Ashton Kutcher movie as “hysterical?” Next you’ll be telling me I can’t use “mysteria” in every day conversation! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/105 "2003-09-04T12:00:22Z")
Man, I have GOT to read that book… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/106 "2003-09-04T12:46:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \*\*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Anniee \* > > I don’t know who Edward Meese is > > [Edwin](http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/bios/meese.html). \*\* He was also the head of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography (aka the Meese Commission), which (among other things) largely caused the removal of adult magazines from convenience stores. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/107 "2003-09-04T14:04:23Z")
What about **A Clockwork Orange**? Just because some of us like that book, doesn’t mean we advocate or like rape, gangs, or beating up homeless people. Lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/108 "2003-09-04T15:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slowmovingvehicle \* > \*\*Just for the record, **Morelin** - who made the comment about homemakers and romance novels - is a woman. And a very polite and nice woman, in fact. Not especially misogynistic - unless you define “misogyny” as broadly as **Anniee** seems to. \*\* Yeah, I’m female. Thank you **smv** I realize Romance books (no matter who is reading them-and yes, I was making a generalization. I even apologized for it, there was no diss) are soft-core porn. However, as someone ponted out, they are _meant_ to titillate. _Lolita_ is not. _moves Lolita up a notch on must-read list_ ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/109 "2003-09-04T16:02:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slowmovingvehicle \* > \*\*Just for the record, **Morelin** - who made the comment about homemakers and romance novels - is a woman. And a very polite and nice woman, in fact. Not especially misogynistic - unless you define “misogyny” as broadly as **Anniee** seems to. \*\* Yeah, I’m female. Thank you **smv** I realize Romance books (no matter who is reading them-and yes, I was making a generalization. I even apologized for it, there was no diss) are soft-core porn. However, as someone ponted out, they are _meant_ to titillate. _Lolita_ is not. Point being, flowery language itself does not make something pornographic. _moves Lolita up a notch on must-read list_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/110 "2003-09-04T16:21:57Z")
KGS- actually. a few fund’ists (my new non-offensive abbreviation for fundies _G_) DID point out the Paul aspect; I’m sure D James Kennedy did. RE the “misogyny” shown by the female Dopers. Why, they must all be self-hating women! The kind who aren’t outraged by words like “hysteria”. ---
**Author:** ![MetalDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@MetalDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MetalDog)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/111 "2003-09-04T19:05:36Z")
For the record, I am also female. And I’m only a misogynist on the weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/112 "2003-09-04T20:06:02Z")
I just checked the afterword by Nabokov, where he comments on a lot of things that have surfaced in this thread. My edition is in Swedish (unfortunately), so I’ll have to do a rough translation of a key sentence: “His love for nymphettes is only one of the things I dislike about Humbert.” I do hope Anniee never gets her hands on Highsmith’s books about Ripley. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/113 "2003-09-04T20:31:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I had Appel at Northwestern, in, I think, 1989 or 90. I don’t remember the exact year, but I think I was a sophomore which would have been spring of '89. I think it was 20th c. American Lit. > > I don’t remember much of the class but I still remember Appel’s enthusiasm for Nabakov and Lolita especially. I’m still at NU, and that’s the same class I had him in. It was spring of my freshman year (2001). He was indeed very enthusiastic about the book. If I’d had Nabokov as a professor (as he did), I’m sure I would’ve been as well. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/114 "2003-09-04T20:32:58Z")
IIRC somepeople (VN himself) says the book is about Europe (HH) being seduced by America. Old world/New World so of course the new world is much younger than the old world. Does Lo die at the end of the novel? It’s been awhile since I read it but I don’t remember it that way. (the Anniee way) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/115 "2003-09-04T20:53:12Z")
**Zebra** , it’s mentioned in the forward. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/116 "2003-09-04T21:20:03Z")
**Anniee** , wait-you’ve never even READ the book? So how the hell can you comment on it then? Just curious-how old are you? ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/117 "2003-09-04T21:48:09Z")
She read it–but she doesn’t know how to use the “quote” button. She was quoting someone else who said they didn’t read it. If you want to quote someone else’s statement in a non-confusing way, don’t start a new reply–instead, hit the quote button at the bottom of the post you want to quote. It will then show up in your reply box and you can delete any irrelevant parts. If you quote this way, the poster’s name shows up on the quote and no one is confused as to who said what. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/118 "2003-09-04T21:57:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Humble Servant \* > \*\*She read it–but she doesn’t know how to use the “quote” button. She was quoting someone else who said they didn’t read it. > \*\* I think she was quoting me. I believe I’m the only one who started a sentence in this thread as “Seriously, though I haven’t read _Lolita_…” And the only reason I was saying seriously was because of my fourth definition for porn. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/119 "2003-09-04T23:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*Does Lo die at the end of the novel? It’s been awhile since I read it but I don’t remember it that way. (the Anniee way) \*\* I think she gets married and pregnant and Humbert is devestated. And then something happens with Quilty. It’s been a while since I read it too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164/120 "2003-09-04T23:17:31Z")
As I said earlier, everybody dies at the end. That’s why it’s a classic tragedy as well as a comedy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-lolita-mean-child-porn/199164.md?page=7)