I don't have time (as bedtime is nigh) to make full answer to your comments, however:
1) I do not criticize any individual for what they want to photograph nor do I wish to dictate what anyone should shoot, and, 2) I am not saying that we need a 50/50 split to remedy this problem. It's not about numbers. But something would be nice. A few male nudes here and there. At least an attempt to balance things a bit. More tomorrow, I'm sure... ;-) Cheers, frank Boris Liberman <[email protected]> wrote: >Frank, this is one of the more interesting posts on the list as of >lately. I mean, those not directly related to doing the photography. > >I will omit certain parts for brevity and intersperse my thoughts on >the >matter accordingly. > >On 11/25/2013 4:14 AM, knarf wrote: >> The catalyst for this little missive, I must admit, is Bruce's recent >> series of NSFW semi-nudes. That being said, it's not directed >> specifically to or at Bruce. It's more a comment on the whole female >> nude thing. Others have posted similar photos in the past and likely >> will do so again. > >Let me ask you and other list members - don't you think that the whole >NSFW is as problematic as what you state? Why on earth it would not be >permitted for adults to look at beautiful pictures of human body, male >and female alike? > >For all I care - pictures of smartphones are as pornographic as >anything >else out there, especially in terms of being a distraction from work, >such as mine that requires concentration of mind. > >So, my question stands. Now, consider that as you say the female nudes >far outweigh in numbers the male ones. So then, the NSFW thing does >promote hypocrisy. At least in my opinion. > >And I'm being totally serious here. > >> However until there is some balance between portrayal of the genders >> I can't support female nudes. Because until that happens females will >> be sexualized and males won't be. And I just don't think that's >> right. > >You may be right, at least as far as common sense goes. However, I see >two points: > >1. The less important one is that of free choice. If artist freely >chooses not to work in male nude genre, why would you or I be given any > >right to criticize them for their choice? > >I would expect you to parry with the idea that this choice is not >entirely free and rather is affected by the largely patriarchate >society. To that end, as a quarter-decent chess player, I have prepared > >my gambit. > >2. You see, Frank, what you appear to suggest (correct me if I'm wrong) > >is that there has to be a corrective stimuli applied until the >quantities of female and male nudes posted (not on this list, but >general) are roughly equal. Then, I suppose you would say that your >criteria have been satisfied and all is good. > >That's the point where I would fundamentally disagree with you. You >see, >I firmly believe that in order to correct something in society, such as > >gender inequality two things must be done: > >1. Obviously have the laws that deal with the actions of individuals or > >groups that are, well, unlawful. However, the laws must be absolutely >symmetrical and further applied symmetrically and ultimately - I would >expect as many females to be accused of unlawful acts as males. > >2. Educate the younger generations. > >Any kind of corrective inequality is, well, fundamentally wrong. You >simply replace one bad thing by another. You create atmosphere of witch > >hunt; loud news coverages proliferate, but ultimately society sustains >a >blow. Now, I maintain that as this happens, the society won't be able >to >put a brake on this process and eventually stop at the point of >equilibrium. It will badly overshoot or better yet end up being far >more >hypocritical than it was at the starting point without having sustained > >any useful change. > >I can give you examples related to internal life of my country, but I >much rather do it off list as it will be most certainly not related to >photography in any way. > >> In closing, I'm no prude. And I'm sure I'll be accused of spouting >> the politically correct lefty party line. So be it. > >I did not read you this way. > >> What I'm really doing is expressing my personal opinion. Thanks for >> you indulgence. > >Thanks. You had my mind up and in gear very fast this morning. > >Boris “Analysis kills spontaneity.” -- Henri-Frederic Amiel -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
