General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Does Porn Degrade Women? [View all]athena
(4,187 posts)I am an artist who has spent thousands of hours drawing and painting the figure. There is nothing remotely pornographic or sexual in a figure drawing session. If you have not spent time drawing the nude figure, you have no right to claim that something pornographic is going on when an artist or a group of artists spend time studying and representing the figure. It is sickening to see that so many people out there think that a figure drawing session is along the same continuum as a porn-video shooting session. Indeed, a male model who was clueless enough to get an erection during a modeling session would almost certainly be fired at the end of the session, which is the opposite of what would be expected in a porn-video shooting session.
Those who see porn in a work of art have a problem in their heads. You cannot use the actions of "morality police" who try to ban great works of art in order to argue that there is something sexual in the actual work of art. If you do, you are falling right into the trap the "morality police" have laid.
Of course, I know, as an artist, that the moment I make a statement about art on DU, all of a sudden a bunch of self-anointed art critics and art experts will show up to lecture me about how little I understand art.