How does your avatar look today ?

[Catrie]

2 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I wouldn't say that they are ornaments or "weak." I would say that the picture imagines them as such, whatever the reality.

does it though?  I don't see it that way.  I don't see the picture imagining them as weak.   Even in Playboy,  the women,outside of Marilyn Monroe, have willingly posed for those pictures.  I've always seen it more as  empowerment for women.  Yes, they are sex symbols, but they know it and revel in it.  They are secure in their bodies and don't care who knows it.   Nothing in this pic screams "these women are weak" to me, not their expressions, not the positions, nothing.  They are exactly where they want to be, when they want to be.  I'd be more concerned if it were 4 women fully clad, surrounding a man, where they looked tired, dejected and resigned to their "place" like they are stuck with no way out. 

[Cristiano Midnight]

[Zeta Vandyke]

25 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

So, let's talk instead about the composition. It features a single man, dressed elegantly in an expensive-looking "power suit," sitting on a chair that is large and grand enough that it might almost be a throne. And around him, clad in sexy lingerie, are four women. None of them are afforded the privilege of a chair: indeed, two are seated on the ground, at his feet. Their state of semi-nudity strongly contrasts with the man's elaborate and nearly over-dressed state. The focus of the picture is squarely on the man: he is at the centre of the pic, and the arrangement of the women, who float on the margins (literally and metaphorically) draws the eye to him

Well this is exactly what we had in mind when composing the shot. So I guess we did a good job here  Not because we are submissive or weak women, or because Orwar is such a womanizing dominant guy (hes actually very cuddly), but  just because we wanted to do a remake of an earlier picture we did two years ago..

And that's about all you should read in to it. Its a picture, composed in a certain way, posted in a very insignificant place on the internet where we post pictures of digital people. And in general the majority of the pictures posted are more sexy/sexualized than they would ever post of real life pictures. Its not to make political statements, insult people, or anything other than fun and maybe a bit of creative expression. Let's not make it anything more than.

[Catrie]

2 minutes ago, Zeta Vandyke said:

hes actually very cuddly), but  just because we wanted to do a remake of an earlier picture we did two years ago..

from first hand experience, I can say he is very cuddly.   I'm a little sad I wasn't invited to the remake, Zeta. lol 

[Orwar]

40 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Rant

   I take it you wouldn't like to join us when we re-shoot this in 2 years then?

[Scylla Rhiadra]

7 minutes ago, Zeta Vandyke said:

Well this is exactly what we had in mind when composing the shot. So I guess we did a good job here

Well, yes. And this is really all I was saying . . . except that I'd want to add that choosing to compose a shot that communicates those things is "political," whether that was your intention or not. I get, again, that this isn't meant to be taken too seriously: it's a "fun" pic. And I don't want you to think that I'm responding to it as though you were making a conscious political statement (as, for instance, that women are naturally subservient, etc.). But it is still true, whatever the intentions -- which are not embedded in, or evident from, the picture itself -- this is a pic that does communicate that idea.

10 minutes ago, Zeta Vandyke said:

Not because we are submissive or weak women, or because Orwar is such a womanizing dominant guy (hes actually very cuddly)

I don't for a moment believe any of those things about you. As I said in my post, I like and respect everyone in this picture. (Except for Rita because . . . who is Rita?)

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   I take it you wouldn't like to join us when we re-shoot this in 2 years then?

That would be a pretty safe assumption, yes. But then I'm pretty sure you knew that before you read my "rant" (sic).

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   I take it you wouldn't like to join us when we re-shoot this in 2 years then?

Orwar, let me ask you . . . if I wanted to do a pic that reversed the gender roles in this one, and I asked you to pose, with three other men, mostly naked at my feet, as I sat resplendent on a throne above you . . . would you feel entirely comfortable doing that?

[Zeta Vandyke]

I believe context if everything. If that picture was posted somewhere not here, it could have had more meaning or a political load. But in this topic, not so much. Only the response to it makes it "politcal" imo.

But enough about this picture. Next time ill get Orwar to sit in his undies instead

[Scylla Rhiadra]

49 minutes ago, Catrie said:

does it though?  I don't see it that way.  I don't see the picture imagining them as weak.   Even in Playboy,  the women,outside of Marilyn Monroe, have willingly posed for those pictures.  I've always seen it more as  empowerment for women.  Yes, they are sex symbols, but they know it and revel in it.  They are secure in their bodies and don't care who knows it.   Nothing in this pic screams "these women are weak" to me, not their expressions, not the positions, nothing.  They are exactly where they want to be, when they want to be.  I'd be more concerned if it were 4 women fully clad, surrounding a man, where they looked tired, dejected and resigned to their "place" like they are stuck with no way out. 

When Marilyn Monroe and others of that ilk were featured in pics, it was generally, if not always, with them front-and-centre. They are not hovering on the margins, or sitting at the feet of a fully clothed and dominating man.

And frankly, a lot of the pics of that era were sexist.

Again, this is not about nudity or near nudity. It's not about sex or sexuality. It's about power.

[Catrie]

I think it's sad that feminism is being used to shame the women that posed for this picture. Because that's pretty much what I've seen from this.   The women were called "ornaments".  When one said she willingly posed for this,  the reply was something about being on the same level as an accessory to hijacking.  It's also been said that the picture inferred that the women were "weak" and shames them for the appearance of being "sexually available" to the man in the picture.  Zeta was the one that posted it in here, not Orwar.   Zeta was one of those behind the making of this picture.  Basically, those talking about "feminism" are saying that  the women didn't know what they were doing, didn't know how it would be portrayed and just overall aren't able to make their own choices, simply because a gasp man is shown in the proverbial seat of power.  When it could be said that he is only there because they want him to be there and he could easily be replaced by them.  In that event, who is/are really the one/s in power?

[Orwar]

21 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Orwar, let me ask you . . . if I wanted to do a pic that reversed the gender roles in this one, and I asked you to pose, with three other men, mostly naked at my feet, as I sat resplendent on a throne above you . . . would you feel entirely comfortable doing that?

   I don't see why not, honestly. Except if you did it I might figure you're up to something fishy.

[BeautifulXu]

9 hours ago, Coby Foden said:

🐡 🐠. . .  🦈😲

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

2 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   I don't see why not, honestly. Except if you did it I might figure you're up to something fishy.

Ok, you're on. Let's do it. It'll take me a bit to find three other male models, but I have a male alt, so that's a start. I'll give you a shout.

And yes, I am most definitely up to something "fishy."

[BeautifulXu]

Just now, BeautifulXu said:

rickety boat!

 

[Ted McGregor]

 

27 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Orwar, let me ask you . . . if I wanted to do a pic that reversed the gender roles in this one, and I asked you to pose, with three other men, mostly naked at my feet, as I sat resplendent on a throne above you . . . would you feel entirely comfortable doing that?

/me hears roars of thuds by dropping male subs all over the grid quivering foam from their mouth as they pass out while this paragraph is read to them. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, TDD123 said:

 

/me hears roars of thuds by dropping male subs all over the grid quivering foam from their mouth as they pass out while this paragraph is read to them. 

So, you think I won't have problems finding volunteers?

There's a male house elf who's been trying to get my attention for months now . . .

[Rhun DeCuir]

1 hour ago, Catrie said:

...he's posing with statues, that are probably of Ancient Crete/Babylonia likenesses.  

Greek, actually.  They are copies of the famous caryatids at the Erechtheion in Athens.

[Catrie]

Just now, Rhun DeCuir said:

Greek, actually.  They are copies of the famous caryatids at the Erechtheion in Athens.

Thanks.  I thought they looked familiar.  😀

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Catrie said:

You are clearly reading what you want into this. 

 

1 hour ago, Catrie said:

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I wouldn't say that they are ornaments or "weak." I would say that the picture imagines them as such, whatever the reality.

I don't see it that way.

Are you seeing what you want to see?

I find that argument facile and tiresome.

I was raised in a highly egalitarian environment. I absolutely see the world differently than you, and many others. That hardly makes me unique, nor does it mean I "want" to see the world as I do. Scylla has captured most of my thinking about what I see represented in the image.

There is however, an extra dimension to my interpretation. The apparent male in power has, on this forum, expressed a penchant for "pushing people's buttons" as a way to gauge whether they are "worth his time". From where I sit, the behavior hinted at in the photograpy has been demonstrated here in the forum. Why would I "want" to see that?

Edited June 8, 2020 by Madelaine McMasters
Spelling, dammit!

[Ted McGregor]

13 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

So, you think I won't have problems finding volunteers?

One might be a problem. I don' t judge him THAT much of a sport ..

No, it' s not Hugh Hefner.

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by TDD123

[BeautifulXu]

5 minutes ago, BeautifulXu said:

 

put on some vitamin E oil!  rub it in!

[BeautifulXu]

1 hour ago, Cristiano Midnight said:

pull up your pants!

[VictoriaGrwd]

[Miakis Littlepaws]

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