Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The things you see on Facebook!

TEXT ON THE PICTURE:

You are an altar where my lover worships
Center of the heated wildness of me

yoni, sacred
gateway to and
of life and
pleasure, i
sing an image
of your textures
and colors.
this and i
are a temple
and a playground
a blossoming
mandala of
soft, folded
flesh

[Note: "yoni" is a Sanskrit word meaning vagina.]

COMMENTS on the picture:

DeliciouslyDeviant
December 8, 2011
2 people like this.

Jason A------
Has the told irony that the pic looks like a vajay-jay been lost lol
Monday [Jan 16?] at 11:20pm

DeliciouslyDeviant
Yoni = vajay-jay
Yesterday [Tuesday Jan 17] at 11:28am

Sarah P---
Oh Jason...
22 hours ago [11:52 pm Tue 17 Jan]

Bob W---- [me]
Looks like an illustration from a textbook on gynecology.
But I suppose it was meant to, hm?
22 hours ago [11:52 pm Tue 17 Jan]

Jaime S---- It's most likely the point. Woman. Strength. Artistic. Beautiful.
21 hours ago [12:52 am Wed 18 Jan]

Sarah P---
Oh yes Jaime girl. You got the point for sure!
21 hours ago [12:52 am Wed 18 Jan]

Bob W----
Well, I guess I didn't. Oh, well, mox nix.
20 hours ago [1:52 am Wed 18 Jan]


MY POST on the picture

4:46pm Wed 18 Jan me
Somebody posted a picture yesterday, a piece of artwork resembling female genitalia, with words like "gateway to joy," "secret of woman's power," "woman's strength," and so on (I don't remember exactly). I made a snarky comment to the effect that it looks like a page from a gynecology textbook.
After thinking about it, though, I have to say it's a damn piss-poor philosophy that defines a woman in terms of her genitalia and makes her an object.
There is far FAR more to a woman than that!
Stephen M-----, Andrew Y----, and Rachel M---- like this.

5:46 pm Wed 18 Jan Shane G----
More to everyone than the sum of their parts but modern man in his idiocy believes giving in to primitive desires and thinking is the right and acceptable way of thinking and progression....sure if ya want mankind to become animals but mankind is more than an animal.

5:46 pm Wed 18 Jan me
That's right, Shane.

6:45pm Wed 18 Jan Sarah P---
I would be that "somebody" you are refering to Bob and I feel that I need to set a few things strait here. First of all, to be honest you have misrepresented what was writen on this peice of art. No where in the picture did it say anything about women's power or strength. I believe the intention was to express pride in that which is most femine, I am not the artist so I can only guess, but that is what I took from it. I think it's unfair to say a philosophy that makes being a woman into some thing small was reprsented at all. Secondly, I did not post the photo although I would. I commented on it which linked it to my page. facebook often shows what you comment on as well. I keep a strict policy about not sharing my opinions about things like that unless asked. Especially when it is a differing view point from my own. I certainly have never sent out a status update to my entire friend list regarding another person's activities. If I am offended or unsure of what is intended by a picture or post I go direct to the source. And I would not refer to that person as "somebody". Lastly you have not mentioned at all that this piece of art work ( and that is what it is weither or not we agree or like it) mentions in very knid terms the ability of a woman to carry and bring life into the world. Obviuosly that fact was meant to be celebrated in the picture and there is nothing piss poor about that. To anyone reading this who may wonder who I am or how I feel about what defines me as a woman, I am Sarah P---. I am strong, smart and very proud to be who and what I am. I am not just woman, I am certianly more than that and please don't think for one second I would waist my time on anything that would reduce me to just genitals! But if that is what you would think based on my prefernce in art work so be it. But that truly would be having a piss poor philosphy. I will make sure in the future that my FB settings offer more privacy.


8:15pm Wed 18 Jan me
Sarah, you speak well, and I agree with you 90%!

In my own defense, I tried today to find the picture I saw last night, and I couldn't find it anywhere. (I started with your page because I recall seeing your name associated with the picture somehow.)
So I was quoting from memory, and obviously did a clumsy job of it.

"...you have not mentioned at all that this piece of art work ... mentions in very kind terms the ability of a woman to carry and bring life into the world. Obviously that fact was meant to be celebrated in the picture and there is nothing piss poor about that."

As they say, "My Bad"!! You're right!
It wasn't obvious to me at the time that that was in the picture, and of course relying on a day-old memory was a bad idea.

That said, I have to say in my own defense that I was taught very forcefully when I was young that a woman's body is almost sacred - because of her ability to carry new life - and that for a guy to defile or degrade that is a horrible thing.

(In this connection, I hold a grudge of sorts against Hefner, Flynt, and Guccione, who did their best to teach a generation of young men that women are objects, to be used for pleasure and then discarded. So when I see a piece of art that seems to objectify women, my temper rises.)

I think I know you fairly well, and what I know of you I like. Yes, you're strong and smart, and deserve to take pride in who and what you are (of most concern to me is that you're a fine neighbor and I'm glad you live nearby).

I had better quit; I keep hitting the wrong buttons here.

Anyway, in sum, thanks for calling me out and speaking your mind, Sarah. I respect that in you!


10:12 pm Wed 18 Jan Me – private message to Sarah
Hi, Sarah. I found the picture (finally, after another 1/2 hour of digging) and read the words on it and the comments. The words are:

You are an altar where my lover worships
Center of the heated wildness of me
yoni, sacred / gateway to and / of life and / pleasure, i /
sing an image / of your textures / and colors. / this and i /
are a temple / and a playground / a blossoming / mandala of soft, / folded / flesh

The whole thing seems to equate (or at least bring together) sexuality, sensuality, and sacredness. I suppose that's so, I don't know of myself; only what married people tell me.


2 comments:

  1. I don't know, Bob. I think your instinct in the first place was pretty accurate. Calling a woman's sex organs "an altar" and worshiping someone for the pleasure she can give is shallow at best.

    It just seems bizarre to me.

    Although I would not have recognized the "art" as women's genitalia unless someone told me.

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  2. It is, or is a takeoff on, art from India. Their ways of thinking about these things are totally foreign to Western eyes and sensibilities, including mine.
    Some of the buzzwords of this (Tantrism, for instance) I heard on campus in the 60's, where there was a fad for Eastern religion and spirituality.
    All that said, I do think the artwork is sex worship.
    I "made nice" to and tried to mollify Sarah because she's a neighbor. I don't want to offend my neighbors too much. That may well be a weakness on my part.

    ReplyDelete