coralseas

As usual, I don't want to post about a topic, but I need to have a blurt about it in here.

Re. Bill Henson in SGAU:

That topic does indeed hit alot of buttons with me, specifically the one marked "nuclear". Don't ask.

In part, I think it comes down to fine hairs...and not knowing the specific nature of the photos makes it hard to comment (but not too hard. I have to shift the stone out of my chest somehow). I am not entirely averse to nude photography of children. Anne Geddes does it all the time and I'm sure that somewhere in this world, lives a lonely, wart-encrusted pensioner who jacks off on her calenders after every trip to the supermarket for more dogfood and anusol...but she doesn't get her work banned.

What's sexual to some isn't sexual to others (I love pointing out the obvious).

Mostly it comes down to what's reasonable..and again that's a matter of perspective or whichever stupid fucking word I mean.

What choices are and aren't reasonable for a child to decide for themselves. What choices are and aren't reasonable for a parent to decide for their child.

Myself personally, I see the potential (I emphasise the P word) for negative consequences. I don't think that decision (to allow my child to pose nude within specific contexts) falls within my boundaries of "making a reasonable decision for your child". Even if they (the child) is all gung-ho, you don't know what they may think/feel years down the track. I don't believe a child has the capacity to make that decision. I would not want to be the person ultimately responsible for that potential situation. Too risky.

Essentially, I feel that by accepting the consent of an underage child, that child has been deprived of making a "real" choice.

This next part is not aimed at Henson cos I know nothing about his art...but I fucking hate "boundary pushing" shock value art. It's always fall over and yawn boring and really quite juvenile.
Make something pretty whydoncha?
Stop setting fire to your penis and then sculpting the results in clay. Leave the dead pigeon being eaten by maggots where you found it, don't stick it in a pram and take a photo.

Do something that's actually creative. Shocking is just lazy, unoriginal and...too easy.

Stone gone. Hands not shaking now.

Some days I am better at communicating than others.
Other days I just want to spend money and post pics of what I buy. But I like that too.
Talk runs the risk of leaving the territory of "therapeutic" and becoming a good way to avoid action. I like action.

I write this crap in here because I have much more control over what I can do with the responses and who can respond. Please don't assume anything about the reasons why I like this.

Will post pics of op shop finds soon

I am not angry.

'NOTHER ADD ON: I don't believe that the answer lies in the total sexual emancipation of children. I don't believe that they are the mental equals of adults and they certainly are not our physical equals. It's a hard path to tread, to teach a child to protect themselves, to enable them to explore their sexuality, to gradually bring them into adulthood where they can fully make all decisions for themselves...but I think it's a responsibility gaurdians (& society, when gaurdians can't, won't or just don't) have to undertake, because the other path leaves them too vulnerable as it does not acknowledge the physical and mental gulf between children and adults.
In some ways the term "equals" is misleading or incorrect...men require different things to women. The elderly require different things to the young, the disabled from the able bodied etc on and on...children require different things to adults. It's about acknowledging these different needs and responding to them appropriately.

My stapeliad is flowering.