So I had a couple of notes in my dA inbox today, concerning the reporting and subsequent removal of one of my submissions; the male companion piece to Itoko. The stated reason was basically that dA doesn't allow pornographic submissions, and Hachibi had an obvious erection. I have several issues with this.
Firstly, and definitely the main thing that came to mind, is that I've seen many, many pieces on deviantART that had far more explicit female subjects. Things with bondage, things with legs spread and genitalia exposed for everyone to see. How is this any different? Is it just that one person got themselves morally offended by my artwork and decided to report it? Did I happen to catch the pieces I just mentioned before someone did the same to them?
Secondly, notice that Itoko is still up, despite the fact that it has bare breasts, pubic hair, and the outlined shape of female genitalia. Guess what, people! She might be aroused too! Her pose and facial expression certainly suggest it. It's just that she's female, so there's no visible sign of it for people to point at and get offended by.
Thirdly, Hachibi featured an erection. So what? It's something that happens to men and boys all over the world, whether they're in a convenient non-public place or not. They're just unfortunate enough to have genitals of the dangly variety, that become more prominent when aroused. As it relates to this piece of artwork, the male in it has a visible, obvious erection. So? He's not doing anything with it. He's not sticking into anyone or anything, he's not getting a blowjob; he's not even touching it, or looking at it. It's just there. It's there because it suited the character and the way I was interpreting him, and it's there as a symbol. The character is aggressive, animalistic, and yes, very sexual in nature. Erections have been used in art to symbolize these traits for millennia. The Greeks did it, the Egyptians did it, people today are still doing it. They don't hurt anyone, these erections. It's a normal function of the male human body. It's only different from a non-erect penis, in this context, because someone thinks it is. (It also looks a little different, but that goes without saying.) I know for a fact that men modeling for life drawing classes sometimes get erections. But the class goes on normally. No one points it out, because no one needs to point it out. Some students even carry on and draw the model with this bonus feature.
My main point with all of this is that the piece I submitted was meant to be art, not pornography. If I wanted to draw pornography, I would just do that, and I wouldn't even try to submit it here, because I know that's not allowed. When I submitted the piece, I carefully looked at the warning options for mature content. I gave it a strict warning, for nudity, and I think for sexual themes as well. I figured this would cover my bases and keep those of sensitive tastes away; why would these options be there, otherwise? Going back and looking at the details about these warnings, the strict option means that: "Anyone under 18 will not be able to view your work. Use this if you do not feel comfortable with your subject matter being viewed by all ages. Keep in mind this does not mean you are allowed to post obscene material. The posting of pornographic materials is strictly forbidden."
Does that seem a little contradictory to anyone else? You can warn for sexual themes, but you can't post anything obscene or pornographic? What counts as a "sexual theme", then? Can we talk about it but not show it? Could I make a piece that was nothing but "SEX" typed in different fonts all over the image area? Could... could I even throw in the word "PENIS" once in a while? Gasp.
Maybe I was just unlucky, that someone reported Hachibi as containing things against the rules, and if I resubmitted it would be just fine. But the fact that dA reviewed the report and looked at the piece and agreed that it should be removed, that's what annoys me, because of the reasons above. You want to see porn in artwork, go to y!Gallery, or Hentai Foundry. Those are pieces where the artist has intended there to be sex in the content, where the viewers are allowed, nay, supposed to feel titillated by what they're looking at. I did not do this piece to put up on a site like that. It's not that graphic. It's just a man, with an erection, who's maybe a little proud of himself for it. But he's no different from Itoko in the "look what I have" aspect.
I was going to crop the offending bits out and post a safe version here, but now I don't think I will, because I shouldn't have to.