So my last couple of journal features are receiving various responses, which is to be expected, because the material featured is rather controversial. Some responses, I hear, are directed toward site admins, which is great. However, I'm sorry for any negative attention it's bringing on ^
arachnid15, whose duties and powers do not extend to most of the issues raised in relation to these features.
There is one comment I just received though, that I wanted to share more openly. I thought for a while about what I felt was the best response to this comment. And finally I decided that the best thing to do was simply to air the person's objections and views as openly as I have displayed the features themselves. Let them stand on their own, regardless of agreement or disagreement.
So here is a comment left by ~
heaven-can-wait on one of my recent journal features. I'm using the person's name to give the person credit for their views, because these are their own words already publicly stated.
hi,
you've put me in your journal and i found it by chance. if i told you that what you've done hurts, then i know i'd only be giving you some other part of me to laugh at or mock. so, i won't say that. what i will say is that there's something very primitive about searching for things, and people, to mock publicly and to do it behind the backs of the ones you mock is cowardly. you have a lot of people here who watch you. i'm sure you appreciate the fact that your art is loved but you're abusing your power by making these journals. you know that your watchers will read what you post, they'll come to our pages and insult us, they'll laugh at us along with you, not caring about how much they hurt they may cause.
you don't define art. it's individual and art belongs to everyone. this picture of mine was something fun. that was all it was. you will disagree but what you're doing here is sad. there's enough sadness in my life already, just like there is enough sadness in the world generally. i can't understand why you would want to add to this sadness. i see things and people here (deviantart) and in my day to day life that i don't like. i see things that i think are ridiculous but i do not mock other human beings for any reason. i'ts not because i think i'm above that sort of thing. it's because i've only walked in my own shoes. i don't know the demons that everyone else lives with. i don't know your own demon that causes you to go behind the backs of others and make fun of them. we all have reasons for our behaviour and i promise you that these reasons would break your heart. the goal of mockery is to put the victim in their place, it's to tear down their self esteem, cause them shame and embarassment, and draw the line between what's acceptable (you) and what is unacceptable (me). the reason you would do this behind our backs is simple. hurting people is fun but doing it to their face is risky. laughing at someone alone is also risky but doing it with a group gives you safety in numbers.
i'm only telling you this because what you're doing hurts people. i'm trying to tell you that there is enough hurt in the world already and that i hope one day you'll stop adding to it. i wouldn't hurt you, or mock you, for any reason at all. i wish i hadn't come here to see your work. i thought some of it was beautiful. this proves that you cannot judge a person by their work alone. you have beautiful photography but that's all that i see here that has any beauty. i have garbage photography on my page but i'm not garbage on the inside.
Feedback 
Neutral
gum anyone? 
Devious Comments
however, some other comments seem to be geared more towards encouraging the use of dA as a dating service. it may be unclear to this person that these concepts must remain separate in order to make a serious statement.
by saying these things i do not mean to take sides, rather i am trying to be the devil's advocate.
my statement is very serious. i'm a woman with all the parts of a woman. i'm a woman that responds to a man when he compliments me. i'm a perfectly normal woman and i'm sick of being forced to hide and defend what i am.
not everything in the art world needs a deep or complex message.sometimes, the only purpose may be that it causes someone to smile. read the comments again that you say make you think we're encouraging the use of dA as a dating service. only this time when you do it, think of the last time you felt good about yourself for no reason at all except for that you were happy to be you. think of how differently you view the world when you're not worried over how you look or what anyone is thinking and how this can come through in the way you speak to other people. pulling my personality out of my comments so that i can effectively get across my message isn't possible. the photos, the comments.. these things are my message.
That doesn't mean it's right to publically mock or ridicule a person for creating what they see as art. Just because it doesn't fit in the guidelines of what the viewer perceives as art doesn't mean that it isn't art to someone.
It's also a bit hypocritical of every person who's commented on these journals to have joined in the mockery. Every single one of us has commented at one point "If you don't like it, click the back button," when it comes to someone protesting -our- images.
How is what's happening here any different from the anti-nude contingent posting all of our work with a "hahah, look at this horrible stuff!"? It's simple, across the board logic - If you don't like it, click the back button.
I can understand the distress at seeing our 'sacred' art nude gallery 'debased' with OHNOES PRON!, but it comes down to another commonly touted, but frequently followed thought- if you don't like policies here, go elsewhere. It's a privately owned site. The violation team is composed of paid employees following standards and guidelines set forth by their employers.
I can see being offended that something you feel is wrong is deemed acceptable by the team, and I agree that the policy is ambiguous, and unevenly enforced, but how on earth did this fix, or alleviate any of that? The best path to change I have seen is cold, rational logic. Present examples of your case. Have a well thought out and presented argument. Present your case to the people who can actually make a difference. The general public, while they'll be happy to join in the mockery, can not make a difference in policy by mocking it.
It's very distressing to me personally, viewing all that is wrong and sad in this world to see anyone perpetuating more cruelty and sorrow. Especially when everyone I've seen participating in this fiasco has suffered at the hands of detractors, and knows how horrible that feeling is.
I'm not interested in arguing about my thoughts on this, or even 'discussing' them (so frequently a polite veneer for "hold still while I attempt to rip you apart"), so I'll wrap it up here, and then leave it be:
There's plenty wrong in the world, why make it worse? Praise and support the artists who are creating art you enjoy, and ignore the ones that aren't. Acknowledge that what is art to one person, isn't art to another, and nothing you can do will change that.
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Find prints of my modeling through the photographers here- [link] Contact me for prints of my photography
#flesh
there is nothing wrong with your personality, or being a flirt. however, it is frowned upon when coupled with the subject of nudes. for example, flirting during a nude photoshoot is seen as very unprofessional, and is specifically addressed in the legal agreement.
no one is asking you to hide anything. it is odd, though, that you are so adamant about having "all the parts of a woman," yet choose to display just one.
it is true that not everything needs to be flooded with deep messages, but by the same token, nudes should not be surrounded by stigmas. these stigmas are perpetuated by inappropriate comments and poor execution.
no one wants to humiliate you. this isn't about you; it's about your images and others like them, and their effect on the art community.
I am with you 100% on this one. I don't like Heaven's work, and I'm not entirely sure dA is even the right place for it, but I think these journal's were pretty far out of line, especially with the mocking tone of being a "serious" art feature.
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yes, i am being asked to hide something. you're 21. it takes a woman about 30 years to figure out just what it means to a woman. it takes that long to see how much of yourself you've hidden for years but you'll find that out in time for yourself.
a flirty personality is frowned upon when coupled with artistic nudes? is this a law? i wouldn't flirt with a photographer, god forbid. just the thought is creepy. but the whole point of these pictures was to show that it's OK to see something like a vagina and not go off the deep end. that's where my personality came in. i did this because i'm sick of seeing women turn into targets on here just because of the types of photographs they submit. tell me how we can change stigmas, the taboos, surrounding us as women if we don't start with ourselves?
as for the lickers, they're funny. they're harmless. they're men being men and there's nothing wrong with that either.
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