Wikipedia defines Censorship as the suppression of speech or other communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.
For centuries in Europe, artist such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Botticelli to name a few, painted wonderful masterpieces that depicted the glorious beauty of the human form in all it’s splendor!! Sculptures were chiseled to perfection of the great biblical and mythical icons of that day along with adorning masterpieces that canvased the walls of the majestic cathedrals.
So…with all that being said that leaves me with one question…WHAT’S THE BIG ISSUE WITH CENSORSHIP IN AMERICA? Why do we shy away from the site of a nipple, the folds of the vagina and the curvature of the penis? I seriously believe we have blurred the lines between art and pornography so to the point that no one can really decipher the difference. I would like to change that perception with my works, even though I am yet forced to conform to what the government has established as the suitable norm, I continue to express my point of view with tasteful yet jaw dropping images.
The general public hides behinds the veil of what the government considers safe viewing. But the human body is a masterpiece in itself. So the depiction of our bodies on film print paint or any other coping or viewing device should be accepted and appreciated as art.
Thought-provoking post.
You make great points and a valid observation. In my observation it is not the “government” who sets the standards and mores, but rather the presumed social elite that set our customs and courtesies that pervade society.
The USA was colonized by and established by puritanical religious people who were escaping that, at that time, amoral and out of control elements in European society. Thereby they established a political choke hold on american identity.
The religious right now exercises that same mentality over the masses to control the hearts and minds for the advantages of product creation.
Creative and appreciative expression in the form of the nude human form is not to be shunned nor scorned. In pornography, it is a gross and crass form of expression that caters to the most base of impulses and urges of the human psychological make up.
When I see a human nude, I marvel at what and how God created the body and what it can do. How it does it. And how everything works together. Then I see the sheer beauty of the form. There is no perfection. We look for symmetry where there can never be any. Sometimes I wonder why we find beauty in that which is not really that beautiful. Our body is functional and not beautiful, yet we see beauty.
Censorship is artificial and a control mechanism and can be disregarded anytime that we choose. I don’t advocate the indulgence of the sinful nature, but I do encourage the exploration of expression of wonder and creative nature. God created us in His image and with many of His capabilities.
One man’s garbage is another man’s gold.