To See or Not To See, That Is The Question

In case you hadn’t heard, the American Family Association is trying to force their narrow minded ideals on visitors to the Overland Park Arboretum. Apparently the AFA, on behalf of a woman with nothing better to complain about, has taken offense at one particular statue. Specifically, the statue is of a headless woman wearing nothing but a button shirt, open, bare breasts, taking a “selfie” of herself.

The story goes that Joanne Hughes (I’m giving her name because it’s emblazoned across the AFA website) was walking through the arboretum when Joanne and family “were shockingly confronted with a bronze sculpture of a headless woman with aroused, naked breasts, taking a picture of herself” (direct quote from the AFA web site).Because they are apparently afraid of the human body and only procreated through a bedsheet in total darkness, Mrs. Hughes filed complaints to have the statue removed so that nobody would have to be affronted by such a spectacle. Needless to say, the OP city council said, “BAH!” and left the statue. The AFA has tried to collect signatures for a petition and has yet to be successful in garnering the required number. I guess not enough people are that worried over a sculpture of a headless naked woman.

What I find amusing is that there are other statues there which could be considered offensive as well, but aren’t. There’s a statue of an obese woman wearing a mini skirt and behind held aloft by a thin man. The woman’s bare backside is clearly visible to anyone walking down the path.

Another is of a nude infant male, anatomically correct, standing in an oval design.

Neither of these are mentioned, just the one of bare breasts. I have a whole rant about breasts in our society, but that’s for another day. Suffice it to say complaining about bare breasts but not a naked baby or a bare behind is, in my opinion, rather petty. The above complaint is supposedly about protecting children from such obscenities, but this is obnoxious. Choosing one statue to complain about while ignoring others shows a narrow-minded fixation which makes me wonder what her problem with breasts is.

Now, to be fair, I know not everyone considers such things as “art.” There are many things I don’t consider “art” but I’m told by those who supposedly know better that it is. However, my opinion is for me. I don’t see that I have any right to tell anyone else what they can and cannot like. And I know not everyone wants to see nudity, even if it is a sculpture or painting or such and not actual real live nudity. And that’s fine. I can appreciate that. But forcing your opinion onto everyone is not the way to handle it. Instead of demanding this statue be removed, trying using it as a teaching tool. If you’re worried it will encourage children to do the same thing, use it as an example of what not to do. Just don’t tell me what I can and cannot see. Let me decide for myself what is offensive to me.

If you’re concerned with your child learning to be “of immoral character,” use it as an example of how not to behave. Rather than be afraid your child might see bare breasts, teach them the human body is not sinful or shameful. And if you can’t manage any of those, then simply avert your eyes when you walk down that path. You can have your beliefs and your version of what you consider to be moral. Teach your children to be afraid of nudity.

Knowledge vs Opinion

I was driving my son to school this morning, and had the radio on the local NPR station. Yes, I listen to NPR. Get over it. Anyhow, the leading news story was that fashion designer Lily Pulitzer Rousseau died recently. Sad, yes, especially for her family, but not overly interesting to me. For those who do not recognize the name, she is famous for designing bright, colorful clothing with floral prints, paisley, stripes, and such. Not my taste, but apparently she was able to turn a side hobby into a booming career. Good on her. We were half listening to the interviews when the story ended with, “Also, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher passed away on Monday.”

I was surprised. Not about Ms. Thatcher dying, although that is sad. What irritated me is the leading story was not about a prominent, albeit former, world political figure dying but instead about a fashion designer. Now, to be fair, NPR did follow through with a story about Thatcher’s life in politics. Still, placing such an iconic, influential person after a fashion designer only emphasized something my son had said the night before: Our society values opinions more than knowledge.

I will veer from my normal rants and not talk politics as such. Instead, I have to comment on how our society has fallen from the bright future of knowledge we once foresaw to the obsession we now have with image. Going through the line in the grocery store, we are bombarded with information about celebrities and their antics, as well as stories on how to improve our image and make people think better about us. We can find articles on make-up, hair, clothing, diets, and a plethora of ways to make ourselves appear better to others. We have become a vain society.

When did we go from revering Einstein and other scholars to revering Kardashians and other rich, spoiled, talentless people? Why have we become so obsessed with image rather than knowledge? Part of it, I believe, is because of the decline in education. Over the past few decades there has been a push to let children through school regardless of grades. Anyone familiar with “No Child Left Behind”? Unfortunately, this allowed some children to graduate high school with little ability to read comprehensively. I realize it also enabled some with learning disabilities to progress more than they would have otherwise, and that is good. However, many schools are not equipped to work with learning disabilities and so just ignore them. The curriculum has been downgraded to make things easier for children, while more emphasis has been placed on participation in athletics. Latin used to be taught in high schools. Now many high school students can barely speak English as a first language. Rather than push children to expand their minds, we have allowed them to grow stagnant in order to not make them feel bad for not knowing their multiplication tables.

As these children grow physically, their mental abilities are not focused or encouraged enough. More emphasis is placed on physical appearance and ability. The star athlete, the head cheerleader, these are the school heroes rather than the head of the honor roll. Once out of school, this emphasis continues in the working world. Dress right and you get promoted. Wear your hair a certain way to attract a man. Everything is about appearance and making others like you more. No more does the intelligent child become the prominent employee. Now the favored ones are the well dressed, well-manicured, pretty people who use more body than brain to get ahead. Is it any wonder, then, that we have become a society so enamored with opinion rather than knowledge? Is it any wonder, then, that a news report about a fashion designer would take precedence over a news report about a political figure?