Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Male Body as ART (NSFW)

Recently, many artists who work in the gay community -- writers, performers, and photographers -- have come under fire on Facebook and had their profiles and/or pages removed or put in FB jail for appreciating the male form.
Dirk with hubby Jessie

Photographer Michael Stokes and Pornstar Dirk Caber are two who come to mind immediately, but I'm sure the list could go on for miles.

Now you say -- pornstar -- maybe he had it coming?  Well, most of the posts I've ever seen were of him, from chest/abs up, kissing his equally sexy HUSBAND who may or may not have been shirtless, too.

Apparently being gay, sexy, and shirtless while kissing a man is the major issue some people on Facebook have.  And when I say "some people", I mean a small group of Internet trolls who have taken it upon themselves to be the moral choice for everyone else.  They have been scouting out pages which post pictures of gay love, men kissing, a bare bum, etc, and then reporting the images to the Facebook police.

These Far-Right, Christian "activists"claim their rights to do this with their religion and have even threatened the artists in question -- one claiming she would RUIN him.

I have followed Michael Stokes for a long time and truly love his photography.  Seeing his constant updates and pictures have been one of my muses, spurring on all kinds of creativity.  So, seeing people filled with so much hate, it truly bothers me.

I mean, there is a button where you can unfollow/block, and never see the type of content you find offensive.  You have every right to be offended by something -- but that doesn't mean you have the right to inflict YOUR MORALITY on someone else.

How is this any different than...
...THIS?  They're both ART!
copyright 2014, Michael Stokes Photography



This is the picture which got Michael his 30-day ban.  Both men are fully clothed -- but the thought of two beautiful men being attracted to one another was enough to make some angry person (or persons) flip their shit.  This picture was reported and Michael suffered for it.

Personally, I think this image is absolutely beautiful -- as are most of the shots of his I've seen.

A lot of people have come out to defend Michael and have screamed his ban from Facebook was wrong.

Apparently Facebook agreed, finally, and has allowed him back on -- although the picture which got him banned has still been blocked from his profile.  No word from Facebook yet as to if it will be returned.

But there is a much darker issue here -- Facebook's inconsistent censorship of gay and gay friendly artists is simply wrong.  When a small group of trolls people can go on the attack and there be no way for the victim of that attack to speak up for themselves boils down to a witch hunt.

It's wrong.  And it needs to stop.

Facebook needs to look in to new ways in which the victimized can face their accusers -- as it is in any court of law -- and there needs to be some system for the accused to have their say and fight a temporary or permanent ban.

And lastly, Facebook needs to stop perpetuating the anti-gay agenda they seem to have.  If a man posts a picture of him kissing his current girlfriend, then in an equal rights era, another man should be able to post a picture of him kissing his new boyfriend without the fear of being banned from using the service.

So, to the Facebook trolls -- I hope you find some love somewhere to help suffocate all the hate in your hearts.

And for all you fans out there -- here are some more pictures of artful male bodies that fill me with love.









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