American media are awash in images and stories of cruelty to children. That means they're popular enough to sell soap. Simultaneously, people who try to understand it and represent it accurately may be accused of peddling pornography. The ambivalence of Americans is almost as disquieting as the cruelties themselves. In response, Academe shies away in denial of violence.
Reality becomes fog.
Teaching about violence becomes suspect. Violence, in fact, is revolting. An accurate depiction must be that, too. If not, it depersonalizes both the perpetrators and, especially, the victims of violence. Phrases like these reflect, maintain, or hide the oppressors' insensitivity to the plight of the people they hurt.