I would say it is violence that is more harmful.Violence, while being an inbred and natural phenomenon is directly harmful to both parties in the altercation. Sex should not be considered as harmful, provided it is consensual between the two people and they are aware of the risks associated with it, as in these cases it generally is safe sex. In India, any sexual conduct that is not related to reproduction is considered as a criminal offense. While not affecting heterosexual couples to a great extent, this effectively criminalizes homosexuality. In contrast, cases involving wife beaters generally go unregistered or are registered in family courts.
Regarding censoring however, I do not agree with censoring of violent and/or sexual content. My chain of thoughts in this case are as follows..
Violence is widely viewed either in games, movies or even news broadcasts regarding war and crime. While the purpose of censoring either of these is to protect children, they will ultimately be introduced to them around the age of 10-12 through a variety of alternatives including their peers who have already been exposed to the same as well as a general sense of awareness that begins to develop at that age. Further they are also influenced greatly by the family atmosphere and as such end up seeing and/or experiencing violence at times. Considering that the censorship is to protect these age groups only there does not seem to be much effect from the same.
In public forums and media the discussion and presence of sex is widespread. It is also a widely prevalent theme in songs, movies etc. and even books and can even be seen mildly and vividly in the various works of Shakespeare. While there is censoring present in these cases as well, the direct or indirect influence is present when it comes to children. The banning and censoring of sex education in schools is a ridiculous concept for me. While teaching abstinence is not necessarily a bad idea, children should also be taught about safe sex.
I would like to add that considering the impact of combined violence and sex such as rape etc. being profoundly detrimental to the psychology of not just children and women but also other family members, in India at present, there are an increasing number of news broadcasts about rape cases, as well as special episodes in various shows related to the same matter. These shows are watched not only by kids but by the entire family together. There however seems to be no problem letting these episodes and news items play.
@golgothasTerror.. The US is not the only country where sex is censored more than violence. It is the same in India. In fact there are greater restrictions on sex in India then in the US. Only recently has the censorship on sex slackened in India, that too till the extent that people have begun to discuss it. Being a deeply religious and morally self-righteous nation sex has been considered a taboo in India for a while now, which is ironic considering that it is the land that produced the Kama Sutra. A further irony is that this increased acceptance in sex has come from a perception that the US does not censor sex.
To give an example on the same, while surfing channels I recently saw a drama show being promoted where a woman's husband is shot in front of her and she is then apparently kidnapped, that too by a member of the police/armed forces. However something small like even a kiss is rarely shown if at all and most often being censored by changing camera angles and/or hiding it using props.