My journal. Thus, my rules.
Feb. 25th, 2004 02:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hwangoA user commented on my 2/23 entry ("Now With More Sodium!") with an icon featuring a picture of a woman who is mostly metallic except for her face and her exposed breasts. I feel that nudity can have a place in art, but I didn't care for this particular image, and found it offensive. Rather than try to show the beauty of the human form (to my mind, an acceptable use of nudity in art), this image seemed to me to focus too much on her breasts. If it was saying anything at all, it seemed to say "Even though I look like a machine, I'm still a woman because I have breasts." I think that much of our culture judges women more by their breast size than their minds, and I felt that this image reinforced that situation.
I don't really want naked people showing up on my comments page regardless of whether the images are "artistic." However, I particularly disliked this image. I considered simply deleting the comment, but that didn't feel right. I don't think it's actually censorship, since this is my forum and not theirs. I should get to decide what is and is not appropriate. Still, it seemed to dance on the line of being censorship. Seeking another solution, I decided to appeal to the user.
So...I'm not sure how to say this in the most diplomatic way, so I'll just be blunt - if you comment in the future, could you please not use an icon featuring nudity? That's not something I want to see when I look at my comments page.
Alas, they replied using that same icon (and yes, they do have others), and with the message:
this is art by a famous artist. so sorry you are so close minded. never fear I will take you off my friends list.
I could have done without your rude comment it had nothing to do with parsley.
That bit about the parsley refers to the fact that I failed to update the subject of my reply, so it still said "Re: parsley projects" Anyway, I can't say that I was very surprised by her reply, but I was disappointed. I don't care if the picture is by a famous artist, I don't want to see it on my comments page. That's all I asked. I don't feel that my comment was particularly rude, either.
This whole incident has left me rather annoyed. I don't know why I felt that I needed to defend myself on this issue. It's my journal, and I shouldn't have to make allowances for things that I don't want here. Perhaps I'll go back and delete the comments after all. I haven't decided, yet.
I don't really want naked people showing up on my comments page regardless of whether the images are "artistic." However, I particularly disliked this image. I considered simply deleting the comment, but that didn't feel right. I don't think it's actually censorship, since this is my forum and not theirs. I should get to decide what is and is not appropriate. Still, it seemed to dance on the line of being censorship. Seeking another solution, I decided to appeal to the user.
So...I'm not sure how to say this in the most diplomatic way, so I'll just be blunt - if you comment in the future, could you please not use an icon featuring nudity? That's not something I want to see when I look at my comments page.
Alas, they replied using that same icon (and yes, they do have others), and with the message:
this is art by a famous artist. so sorry you are so close minded. never fear I will take you off my friends list.
I could have done without your rude comment it had nothing to do with parsley.
That bit about the parsley refers to the fact that I failed to update the subject of my reply, so it still said "Re: parsley projects" Anyway, I can't say that I was very surprised by her reply, but I was disappointed. I don't care if the picture is by a famous artist, I don't want to see it on my comments page. That's all I asked. I don't feel that my comment was particularly rude, either.
This whole incident has left me rather annoyed. I don't know why I felt that I needed to defend myself on this issue. It's my journal, and I shouldn't have to make allowances for things that I don't want here. Perhaps I'll go back and delete the comments after all. I haven't decided, yet.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-02-28 01:34 pm (UTC)You were right to complain:
"Are there content restrictions for user pictures? Can my user pictures show anything I want?
Your default user picture is viewable throughout the LiveJournal site, and unlike individual journal entries, it cannot be hidden. It is potentially available to anyone on the Internet. Therefore, we require that your default user picture be considered decent and not contain anything too graphic. Because decency is tough to define, this is generally taken on a case-by-case basis. In general, this means no graphics depicting anything sexual or violent.
Your other user pictures can be slightly more graphic, as long as you do not use them in journals where it would be considered inappropriate. This, too, is taken on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions as to whether or not your user pictures are acceptable, please contact the Abuse Team by following the contact instructions at http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=105."
If this was that person's default icon then it was clearly an abuse.
If it was just one of their stored icons then it's slightly more iffy. I think full frontal is more than "slightly more graphic" but cartoon images do seem to bypass most decency laws. Just go to Suncoast and check out their Anime / Hentai collection. You'll see stuff in there that would also be at home in the hard core porn closet hidden in the back of most video rental stores.
It's nice though that you always have the right to delete whatever posts you want.
This isn't some sort of journal democracy. ;) You shouldn't let other people disrupt your ability to get your thoughts out.