This thread was locked on 2014-02-18 18:50:42
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
I really do not understand why people are so afraid of erect penises in fine art or well anything for that matter.
So what is the problem and what am I missing?
I think that erect penis in art is very nice. Limp penises are ugly unattractive.
What is the real reason most places ban erect penises in art?
I wonder if a poll taken would it be the men vote or women vote that would make either way acceptable?
This subject has always confused me.
Photographer
Eros Fine Art Photo
Posts: 3097
Torrance, California, US
I'm guessing an erect penis on a male model is equivalent to a female model spreading her labia in a photo. There's no way to mistake either one as being associated with sexuality and eroticism (unless, of course, we're talking about medical photos).
In contrast, one can argue a flaccid penis and a simple nude of a woman show appreciation for the human form.
I, for one, think eroticism can be artistic IF it's photographed well. A lot of times though, shots of erections and spreads lips aren't and are easily recognized as porn.
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Just a part of living in a puritanical society. They are not attractive to me, but some enjoy them, so it should be done - without interference from anyone who "can't look".
-Don
EDIT: I also agree with the guy above me - that eroticism can be artistic.
Model
P I X I E
Posts: 35440
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Eros Fine Art Photo wrote:
I'm guessing an erect penis on a male model is equivalent to a female model spreading her labia in a photo. There's no way to mistake either one as being associated with sexuality and eroticism (unless, of course, we're talking about medical photos).
In contrast, one can argue a flaccid penis and a simple nude of a woman show appreciation for the human form.
I, for one, think eroticism can be artistic IF it's photographed well. A lot of times though, shots of erections and spreads lips aren't and are easily recognized as porn. Pretty much this.
OP, how do you feel about spread labia?
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Emmie wrote:
1,000 % done. But you can count on it continuing, unless the thread gets locked. It's as good a topic as any I have seen here, and it is bound to bring out lots of opinions.
-Don
Photographer
Christopher Carter
Posts: 7777
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Caitin Bre wrote:
I really do not understand why people are so afraid of erect penises in fine art or well anything for that matter.
So what is the problem and what am I missing?
I think that erect penis in art is very nice. Limp penises are ugly unattractive.
What is the real reason most places ban erect penises in art?
I wonder if a poll taken would it be the men vote or women vote that would make either way acceptable?
This subject has always confused me. Erect phalli are sexual.
Don't believe me? Try peeing with one.
See? Not practical. Sexual.
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
P I X I E wrote:
Pretty much this.
OP, how do you feel about spread labia? Done in certain ways I have no problem with it and it can be very artistic.
Model
Jules NYC
Posts: 21617
New York, New York, US
Model
P I X I E
Posts: 35440
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Caitin Bre wrote:
Done in certain ways I have no problem with it and it can be very artistic. But erect penises all the way, no matter how it's done?
Just checking for a bias.
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
Don Garrett wrote:
But you can count on it continuing unless the thread gets locked. It's as good a topic as any I have seen here, and it is bound to bring out lots of opinions.
-Don I agree Don.
I would really hate to think that the discussion of this subject in art can in any way be considered offensive.
I really do not understand this issue and want to hear opinions on the subject. I want to know why people feel the way they do about it either way.
Photographer
Cherrystone
Posts: 37171
Columbus, Ohio, US
Model
P I X I E
Posts: 35440
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cherrystone wrote:
![https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVpe0Fw7Wzw/UJD9FEiGgJI/AAAAAAAAD9s/mET6agl9Xow/s400/troll%2Byour%2Bboat.jpg]() 
You win the internets my good sir.
Photographer
Compass Rose Studios
Posts: 15979
Portland, Oregon, US
Mnemosyne Photography wrote:
Don't believe me? Try peeing with one. God made it that way so we don't pee on our face every morning.
Photographer
DEP E510
Posts: 2046
Miramar, Florida, US
Compass Rose Studios wrote:
God made it that way so we don't pee on our face every morning. I thought He did it to ensure men started the day with a happy feeling...
Photographer
790763
Posts: 2747
San Francisco, California, US
Try this: http://snpstr.com/art/fashion-victims-by-erwin-olaf/. The link contain images from "Fashion Victims" by Dutch eminent photographer (and one of my photographer heroes)—ERWIN OLAF. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see a male model with an tumescent penis with the Moschino bag over his head. In my opinion, the image is considered "art" because it contains some thinking and admiration involved. You don't want to masturbate to the image. Let's suppose that a similar image was made in the style and manner that have a guy with a hard-on and just standing there in bad lighting. Would you think "art" or porn? Gloria Leonard said is best, "The difference between pornography and erotica [art] is the lighting."
Photographer
Compass Rose Studios
Posts: 15979
Portland, Oregon, US
DEP E510 wrote:
I thought He did it to ensure men started the day with a happy feeling... Bittersweet feeling.
All systems check! Sweet!
I wish I could pee right now. Damn.
Model
Jules NYC
Posts: 21617
New York, New York, US
Model
Kelli
Posts: 24529
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I'm with the OP on this, but then again I'm a straight woman, so I'm likely bias.
I'd rather not see labia, ever.
That being said, an erect penis isn't very artistic, but I'm not opposed to artwork with an erect penis if that's what people want to call it. It is closer to porn than art, but hey, it all depends on the lighting.
Photographer
Eros Fine Art Photo
Posts: 3097
Torrance, California, US
Kelli wrote:
That being said, an erect penis isn't very artistic, but I'm not opposed to artwork with an erect penis if that's what people want to call it. Ha! You should see the nude selfies I take with my cell phone. Pure art. Just ask any of the women on Match.com I've sent them to.
(Disclaimer: I am TOTALLY kidding here
...they're not artistic at all)
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
P I X I E wrote:
But erect penises all the way, no matter how it's done?
Just checking for a bias. You can certainly make it look like the intent is porn. But I am talking about it in art.
Just like nudes can be done with intent to just create porn.
Erotic is a completely different world than porn.
I think the mentality of if its spread or its hard so its porn is not a good thing. What if there is meaning and its an expression?
I see porn as nothing more than 2 robots having sex. I don't find it interesting at all. But I also wouldn't tell someone they are wrong for liking it. I believe to each there own.
If a person clicks on to something out of curiosity and finds it uncomfortable then they can just click back out of it. Not try to ban it from everyone else.
Photographer
Jim Ball
Posts: 17632
Frontenac, Kansas, US
Men generally get an erection for two reasons:
That early morning "piss hard-on" we wake up with, and sexual stimulation - whether physical or mental.
It is difficult to separate an image of an erect penis from the inherent sexual implications.
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Kelli wrote:
I'm with the OP on this, but then again I'm a straight woman, so I'm likely bias.
I'd rather not see labia, ever.
That being said, an erect penis isn't very artistic, but I'm not opposed to artwork with an erect penis if that's what people want to call it. It is closer to porn than art, but hey, it all depends on the lighting. You're a woman, and you don't ever want to see labia, I'm a male, and I don't want to see an erect penis, (or any penis, for that matter). But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be done, for, and or by, those who do.
-Don
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
Kelli wrote:
I'm with the OP on this, but then again I'm a straight woman, so I'm likely bias.
I'd rather not see labia, ever.
That being said, an erect penis isn't very artistic, but I'm not opposed to artwork with an erect penis if that's what people want to call it. It is closer to porn than art, but hey, it all depends on the lighting. Funny. I was told by a well established photographer once that the only difference between art and porn was lighting and aperture. Of coarse he was joking and making fun of the way people quickly judge without thinking.
Photographer
NothingIsRealButTheGirl
Posts: 35726
Los Angeles, California, US
Jules NYC wrote:
![https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRl96Gao4ALRxS3YIfHAVo-3mCvphE8z53xxw7xL8CPGgjl5SuRNw]() Mommy Dearest is on Netflix
Model
Jules NYC
Posts: 21617
New York, New York, US
Artifice wrote:
Mommy Dearest is on Netflix Oh I've seen it!
Maybe that's why she was so cranky - not enough pickle.
Model
Janelle Kane
Posts: 208
Los Angeles, California, US
Caitin Bre wrote:
You can certainly make it look like the intent is porn. But I am talking about it in art.
Just like nudes can be done with intent to just create porn.
Erotic is a completely different world than porn.
I think the mentality of if its spread or its hard so its porn is not a good thing. What if there is meaning and its an expression?
I see porn as nothing more than 2 robots having sex. I don't find it interesting at all. But I also wouldn't tell someone they are wrong for liking it. I believe to each there own.
If a person clicks on to something out of curiosity and finds it uncomfortable then they can just click back out of it. Not try to ban it from everyone else. porn is lovely. <3 i think a subject like this is tricky because what some may consider artistic isn't to others. just different tastes i think. ^_^
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Caitin Bre wrote:
Funny. I was told by a well established photographer once that the only difference between art and porn was lighting and aperture. Of coarse he was joking and making fun of the way people quickly judge without thinking. Sometimes "porn" can be skillfully taken - that doesn't mean it isn't porn. Conversely...
(there IS such thing as "bad art").
-Don
Edit: I can pee with a hard-on, by the way, I have done it ! (one DOES have to be careful of the direction the stream takes though).
Photographer
TrianglePhoto
Posts: 582
Chicago, Illinois, US
Art is about a number of things, some say self expression - others say it is a form of communication.
Almost every subject is open to art - social commentary, beauty, internal emotion, etc...
Except, for some reason, overt human sexuality.
Personally, I see no problem with an erection as part of an art piece, Robert Mapplethorpe created an image titled "Erection" (easy to google), an image which I find compelling.
The image of an erection has a great deal of meaning, other than the obvious sexual meaning. It has sub-meanings of power, subjugation, ego/pride and masculinity among other things. Many of these are tied to the sexual nature of the image, but take on other meanings when they appear in other context.
By banning erect penises, the we simply create a self imposed limitation on the available ways to present an idea or emotion.
On the other hand, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
Photographer
barepixels
Posts: 3195
San Diego, California, US
Photographer
Tropic Light
Posts: 7595
Kailua, Hawaii, US
Social norms. Even at nude beaches and resorts, rigidity is frowned upon, even though it's normal for healthy males to have spontaneous rigidity at various times during any given day. The penis has a mind of it's own. Engorged clitoris is usually not noticeable, but it also happens spontaneously.
In junior high school, I always dreaded being asked to stand and read, due to the perpetual boner. Society might frown (or giggle) at guys who put on such displays, but it's a natural occurrence. People who object to it being used artistically should examine their own beliefs.
Photographer
Michael DBA Expressions
Posts: 3731
Lynchburg, Virginia, US
It's a hair-splitting, "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" sort of topic. Your tastes are your tastes, what you like to look at and what you don't are yours, and mine are mine. Some people like chocolate, and others prefer strawberry.
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
Jim Ball wrote:
Men generally get an erection for two reasons:
That early morning "piss hard-on" we wake up with, and sexual stimulation - whether physical or mental.
It is difficult to separate an image of an erect penis from the inherent sexual implications. Ok your missing a few here.
One is as I have been told that he loves me so much that his heart beats very fast raising blood pressure. That the penis is kind of a over flow reservoir keeping his heart from exploding.
I have been given this same exact explanation but that I am so pretty that the heart races.....
How about the temperature. The penis also acts as a radiator to cool the blood flow. Its easily explained as well. It shrinks in the cold.
I had a few friends that got erections with no explanations at all other than it just happens sometimes.
I really don't think that it is just sexual.
Photographer
EnlightendedPhotography
Posts: 828
Eugene, Oregon, US
I had a male model take Viagra during one of my human statue shoots. The female model and makeup artist were not amused. I wanted to take a two by four to his erection.... His wife found out and he has stopped modeling. I have never seen a marble statue with an erection.
Model
Caitin Bre
Posts: 2687
Apache Junction, Arizona, US
Tropic Light wrote:
Social norms. Even at nude beaches and resorts, rigidity is frowned upon, even though it's normal for healthy males to have spontaneous rigidity at various times during any given day. The penis has a mind of it's own. Engorged clitoris is usually not noticeable, but it also happens spontaneously.
In junior high school, I always dreaded being asked to stand and read, due to the perpetual boner. Society might frown (or giggle) at guys who put on such displays, but it's a natural occurrence. People who object to it being used artistically should examine their own beliefs. Thank you.
Photographer
Stephoto Photography
Posts: 20158
Amherst, Massachusetts, US
I don't know why people are afraid of them either, but I admit that just any erect penis doesn't really appeal to me much. For me, it's more about who it's attached too That said, it's always fun exploring something that's taboo and freaking people out 
Photographer
Christopher Carter
Posts: 7777
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Caitin Bre wrote:
Ok your missing a few here.
One is as I have been told that he loves me so much that his heart beats very fast raising blood pressure. That the penis is kind of a over flow reservoir keeping his heart from exploding.
I have been given this same exact explanation but that I am so pretty that the heart races.....
How about the temperature. The penis also acts as a radiator to cool the blood flow. Its easily explained as well. It shrinks in the cold.
I had a few friends that got erections with no explanations at all other than it just happens sometimes.
I really don't think that it is just sexual. Arousal causes increased blood flow, to which a muscle cuts off said blood flow maintaining erection until release.
You don't know dick.
It is NOT a reservoir. You're talking maybe an ounce or two of blood. Not pints.
In fact, you conveniently forgot about the spongy tissue that is the basis of the rigidity of an erection. I hate to break it to you, blood, being a liquid, can't make a penis erect. If it did, the volume of liquid and the pressure necessary to make it rigid, would in fact most likely cause a penis to burst. It's tissue that makes a penis erect, the blood is just part of it.
Temperature has nothing to do with erections. The penis retracts because of lessened blood flow, to keep the organs temperature maintained. When it gets cold, all blood in skin is diminished, because the body doesn't want to freeze. Cold doesn't just make your dick smaller. If that was true, I would be soaking my genitalia in a hot towel every day of my life to keep it as large as possible.
In fact, the temperature aspect is because the sperm must be kept at a different temperature than the body, or else they would die.
While it's true, arousal may not be sexual, it is still the result of stimulation. A bumpy car ride, a washing machine vibration, a gust of wind, etc. But that still has to do with an arousal state from a stimulating sensation.
Regardless, erections have one function.
And no, the penis is not the air conditioning unit of the body. If it was, we would all be cutting holes in our pants and walking with our junk hanging out all the time. We do not cool our bodies with our dongs like dogs do with their tongues. Sweat is the primary cooling mechanism, breathing is a distant second.
Your friends obviously know nothing about basic human anatomy and biology.
And it's amazing that they need remedial health class.
Artist/Painter
JJMiller
Posts: 807
Buffalo, New York, US
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That said, it's always fun exploring something that's taboo and freaking people out 
