And precisely, what is my intent? Even I might not fully understand that about myself, let alone the others' intent.Originally Posted by John Kasaian
And precisely, what is my intent? Even I might not fully understand that about myself, let alone the others' intent.
Who was it that had the private parts removed from precious works of art (statues) and had fig leaves attached instead?
Please, no one take offense...
This is a very personal issue. I like seeing a work of art tastefully portraying a lovely couple in a warm embrace. However, if they're both male, that offends me a bit (I'M SORRY). Does that make the artist a pervert? Of course not. Does it make me a prude? Perhaps. This is just one example of millions of possible 'opinions'.
Okay, so here is where things become problematic: if you don't like seeing male same-sex imagery - that's you being honest, and we should give each other the space to be honest, I believe. Nobody would ever suggest what you should or shouldn't like in a photograph. But if you speak about your response by saying "it offends me" then you are stating that you believe the imagery is offensive. That suggests that a photograph of two men portrayed "in a warm embrace" is inherently offensive, and I don't believe that's true. (I should ask you if you feel the same way about a similar photo of two women. If your response is not the same, then why not?)
You might personally find such an image distasteful, or upsetting, or contradictory to your world view of human sexuality, but I don't believe that makes the image automatically "offensive". See what I mean? By choosing to label such a work as "offensive" then you are straying beyond personal opinion and into judgement territory. While you are free to have your opinions on the matter, you invite others to engage you and challenge you when you make your judgements public. There is a fine line between expressing an opinion and passing judgement.
Well said Paul
Of course, you're right. "Offends" was an inaccurate term. I should have written that I just don't like it. Even that may be improper terminology. But I think just about anything can be such that we personally "don't like it".
Ricky Nelson had it right:
"But it's alright now. I learned my lesson well. You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAHR7_VZdRw
Garden Party may be an old song but it's still relevant. It seems like everything is offensive to someone today.
He didn't say the image was "offensive". He said that the image "offends me", which a a personal statement rather than categorical one.
All "an offense has occurred" means in that context is that he was offended. It certainly isn't the same thing as saying "an offense occurred" meaning a violation of law, which is how the phrase is usually used. What offended him was what was depicted in the hypothetical photograph. In any case, "Don't do something if it might possibly offend someone" is not a plausible moral rule.
John Stuart Mill thought, plausibly, that a person should be free to do what they'd like up until the point that it causes unjustifiable harm to someone else. As long as the photographer treats his or her model well, gets informed consent from the model for both the photograph and what's to be done with it, then were would the harm be? It can't be because the image is promoting sex. There's nothing inherently wrong with nudity or sex. If creating sexual desire is wrong, then so would producing makeup, clothes, and a whole bunch of other perfectly ok things, but they're not. Is an attractive person wrong for going outside? What if someone sees them, becomes overcome by lust, and does something bad? It seems that some here want to blame the attractive person, whereas its the person who does the harm that's in the wrong.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
Paul, I can understand that some might misunderstand what I meant by my statement. I've already admitted it was a poor use of terminology. Let's just drop the 'precision' as some of us understand it and move forward.
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