winterwolf797

Recent drama and controversy here on DeviantArt regarding what is and is not Mature and/or Explicit Content has been... troubling to say the least. DeviantArt's rules make it difficult to investigate the situation, gaining a better understanding of it from all sides, and the interactions between numerous artists and writers falling into one camp or another do not help. I've been seeing overreaction from- Well, I won't say "both sides" because there are more than two viewpoints, but many reactions back and forth, especially in comment sections, have struck me as childish and willfully ignorant, incapable of seeing things from any perspective but their own. This disturbs me as much as any attack on artistic expression.

There is a lot of art on here I do not care for and there are things that offend me, but I won't spend my limited time hunting those things down, passing judgement, and making trouble for the artists who create them. Likewise I'd hope they do the same because what appeals to me is my business as what appeals to them is theirs. It's only when these things cause real, physical harm to another human being that any of us have the right - an obligation even - to say something and/or take action. I would include "criminal" in that definition of harm, but DeviantArt is worldwide and there are conflicting laws just between states in the U.S. nevermind international differences.

The righteous indignation you've seen from me regarding one of my portraits being targeted has been directed only at those who deserve it - as best as it can be directed since they are protected by anonymity. No one else has really weighed in with an opinion opposing my views, but if they had I'd have responded courteously. I'd even welcome it. What I would not do is use whatever block or ignore feature is in place here just because someone disagrees with me. I would rather do my best to change a person's mind using facts and whatever passion I have for those facts. And if I can't, if you can't, then we should at least agree to disagree without later attacking each each other indirectly through deceitful means. I've never used an ignore feature for any reason, not even in an MMO like World of Warcraft, which I've played since release day November 23rd, 2004. That's a long time full of many encounters with unpleasant and disagreeable players. And beyond that: slandering people who disagree with you, spreading lies and false information about them, does no service to you or any cause you represent. If anything it makes you no better than you imagine them to be.

I'll tell you: this drama, dealing with its effects on me personally, and trying to investigate how it's affecting other people and what brought it on - trying to get to the facts of the situation - I honestly feel like I'm dealing with a classroom of children. This is where I would tell my own kids, "If you can't get along you both lose. You go to that corner and you go to that one, and both of you think long and hard about how you got there and if it was really worth it." I also take away whatever toys caused the fight. I want no part of drama that includes childish insults, misplaced anger, and paranoia. If any further controversy comes my way I'll deal with it, but after this journal entry, after the render I've been working on in support of a suspended author is finished, so am I. Hopefully...

There is one more detail related to this topic that concerns me: it's been said that the same definitions of Mature and Explicit Content that apply to visual art are applied to writing - to the short and episodic stories people upload here. If that's true I completely disagree with it. They are not the same thing. With a painting, drawing, or whatever someone can glance at it briefly and that's all it takes to determine if there is nudity, violence and gore, or ideologically sensitive material on display. With writing, however, in reading someone's fiction, you have to take time to decipher the words, their context, and their meaning. You have to actually get involved and if you think you might not like what's happening you have to make a conscious decision to continue. That is on you, the reader, not the author - especially if it was already flagged as Mature Content. I mean, wow! By these standards I could never post one of Ysabel's stories here. I couldn't post Deshret's either. Maybe some of Layla's...

"Does your deviation, More Riches, contain mature content?"

No. No, it does not as defined by the submission policy. I even made it a point to say as much when I posted the image. There is no nudity, there are no sexual themes, no violence or gore, no strong language, and if anything about this computer generated woman is ideologically sensitive, well then I can't bring myself to care about your ideology. Go review some Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition covers, a magazine sold and prominently displayed on many newsstands, then think long and hard on whether or not your argument against my lesser quality work has merit. If you are ideologically offended by a woman (let alone a fictional one depicted in art) there's something very wrong with you, something detrimental to the continuation of the human species.

Taken directly from the DeviantArt FAQ topic: What is Mature Content? as it appeared on January 18th, 2018 - "Nudity: This flag is appropriate if your work contains explicit nudity; revealing the genitalia of a model or fictional character or revealing a full female breast including nipples."

The character depicted here - my original, fictional character? Her nipples are covered. End of discussion.

Wait. It's not the end? What's that you say? There's a bit of areola showing above the linen wrap? And your point is... what? Nipples and areola are not the same thing. They are connected, true - one surrounds the other - but they are separately defined. I've read lately some people making the argument that a woman's breasts (and thus all parts of it) are sexual. No, they are "sexualized" as a result of certain cultural beliefs. In other words: it's a fantasy. It's made up. It's all in your head.

Do female breasts exhibit certain temporary changes during arousal? Sure. So do many other parts of the body belonging to both genders. If you'd like to make the argument that female breasts are "erogenous zones" and that's what makes them "sexual," well, you could be right from a certain point of view, but still wrong in this instance. Erogenous zones vary from person to person. The breasts, nipples, lips, tongue, neck, and inner thighs are commonly shared spots by women and men. How we react to stimulation of these areas can be different from person to person and depending on the relationship and situation. Again, a lot of it is in our minds. If you try to restrict depictions of the major erogenous zone possibilities then you have to insist that every character on DeviantArt - male and female - dress like a ninja. Or, at least like whichever Doctor Who wore that ridiculous scarf.

The bottom line is: if I wanted to use a Mature Content tag I'd have just rendered More Riches and More Riches II (which, oddly enough, I didn't get a notice for) without the linen wrap, without the slightest concession to modesty, and I'd have never received this silly "correspondence." But I did make that concession. I did it in accordance with DeviantArt's submission guidelines and policies. Funny how that worked out.

And as a side note: "correspondence" is the wrong word for something that appears to be generated automatically and provides no means of actual correspondence. I'm guessing that it's just an auto-report feature where anyone can click that little Report flag under the picture and a passive-aggressive message is sent. I despise features like that; they enable and encourage that anonymous, cowardly behavior generally associated with online interactions. If you're going to use it at least have the courage to make a comment explaining why under the artwork you intend to report. You don't have to be mean. Just say your piece, make your point, and that's that. Treat people the way you want to be treated even if you don't like what you see. It's just images and words on a screen. It can't physically harm you. One of the real advantages of an internet community is that you can think about what what you want to say before you say it. You don't often get that option in everyday life. I'm actually much nicer online because I stop and think about something before I send it. You have no idea how much I deleted from this journal entry. In reality I can be a pretty mean son-of-a-bitch if the situation calls for it.

Censorship and hypocrisy are among those things that bring it out in me.

UPDATE: So... I just woke up to find that a Mature Content tag was forced onto the image anyway. It takes a lot to offend me. This does the trick. Congratulations. I'm disputing it.