When Should Books Have Warning Labels?

As many of you know, I am putting the finishing touches on my latest work Emily Martin which is the third installment in the Rumbling Heart series of books. As the books have been released, I've found myself straying a little away from the original idea of the books which is something I am actually fine with as it only enriches the overall story line; therefore, the reader gets more out of it. In the writing of the last three books, I have come across situations and circumstances that have had me questioning which audience my books are intended for. When I first got started, I figured that since I was going for the Drama genre that most of the people who read my work would be adult females. I am perfectly fine with that. However, I've noticed that a handful of the people reading my work are a little younger than I had anticipated, but not terribly young as I tend to use middle diction with my work that maybe occasionally rail on high. It's very rare that I fall to low diction, although there are small amounts of it here and there, usually when the character calls for it.

Still, diction is hardly the reason why I am thinking of perhaps adding what some see as a death stroke to my work at the very beginning of the book. As with some music available today, there are certain works, topics specifically, that are considered much more adult and therefore shouldn't really be viewed or listened to by younger people unless given to them by their parents. I am speaking specifically about maturity level. I have seen some 15 year old's that act quite mature and therefore, I feel, can handle certain topics in the best way possible. On the flip side, I've met 32 year old's that cannot handle talking about something as adult as marital infidelity without making fun of others so I'm not really talking about age restrictions.

I'm sure you all have seen television shows that sometimes offer a message at the very beginning that say something to the effect of "This show is intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised." I never really thought of my work as adult in nature by any means. My work doesn't contain massive amounts of sex and violence, although those topics are touched on here and there. I also, from time to time, touch on other politically motivated topics such as abortion, race, end of life care, and equality of the sexes. The most brought up issue I've seen when it comes to young people reading books is usually the use of four letter words. Again, my work isn't laced with f-bombs, although, from time to time, a character may utter certain words or phrases, but normally only when they are expressing a strong emotion. Out of anger or great despair, we've all uttered f-bombs and used other works that wouldn't make it on prime time television. My question is if a book contains any of those supposedly objectionable topics or words, should that book have some sort of warning label attached to it?

I've read every type of genre from horror to suspense to drama and even erotica. I tend to keep my mind open as you never know when you may stumble across a great work. I already see those sorts of prejudices with regard to certain works out there simply because of their genres. In fact, I've been conversing back and forth with a particularly "Trashy Writer" that writes erotic fiction. Does that mean that their work should be labeled as unfit for certain audiences? When compared to hers, my work is relatively tame when it comes to sex. Still, to say that my work is "better" because of the topics I discuss or the way the material is laid out seems rather unfair. To be completely fair, one of my books contains a scene where two people, different minorities (one Spanish and one Asian) that discuss race and how they each view it in the United States. As a means of understanding each other's opinion, they used racial slurs such as "Jap," "Spic," and "Wetback" all while trying to understand the topic more and not simply to offend anyone. It can be argued that since they are using those words for educational purposes, they would get a pass. I can offer even more.

In my latest book, I developed a character who uses racial slurs specifically to offend and belittle people. While the character is obviously designed to be hated, should the book be labeled as "Mature" simply because of the way the heel character is portrayed and the language he uses? Further still, the narrator occasionally tosses out F-bombs because that is part of who she is. While she may not use those words in a business setting, she isn't afraid to use them while with her friends. Does that make her any more right that the racist character?

What do you think? Labels? Exceptions? What's right?