Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Is Michelangelo's David pornographic?

55 replies

MissVantaBlack · 25/03/2023 10:06

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65071989

A Florida head teacher has resigned following complaints from parents that their children were exposed to pornography during a lesson where they were shown a picture of Michelangelo's David.

Is the statue pornographic?

Michelangelo's David

Principal resigns after Florida students shown Michelangelo statue

One Florida parent complained Michelangelo's iconic statue amounted to pornography.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65071989

OP posts:
lazarusb · 25/03/2023 10:07

No. Absolutely ridiculous.

Matildapower · 25/03/2023 10:09

No, this is utterly ridiculous, but it is Florida so I’m not surprised

LeilaRose777 · 25/03/2023 10:10

No, it's part of a long tradition in classical Greek art which was revived in the Renaissance. The naked human body was regarded as beautiful and the sculptural art was an expression of that idea.

SunnySomer · 25/03/2023 10:11

No it’s not. The American right are loons.
In fact American culture is weirdly prudish about nudity whilst simultaneously encouraging precocious sexualisation of children (make up, music, beauty pageants…). It’s a very strange place.

TheEverlovingFork · 25/03/2023 10:12

Of course not, the US is getting so far down this terrible road (women's reproductive rights, restricting sex ed, LGBT discrimination, new purity culture), it's hard to see how it can end well.

Baldieheid · 25/03/2023 10:15

No. But as predicted, the pendulum us swinging back the other way and I suspect some areas will take it to extremes.

the last decade has seen police pat leather clad, buttocks exposed, "puppies" on the head at pride, and parents encourage their children to do the same. We've had men in misogynistic women costume read to toddlers in libraries. The USA has had adults twerking in 5 year old faces. Women arrested and then fired for saying sex is fact and can't be changed. Schools teaching 10 year old how to choke safely during sex, how to do anal, etc etc.

People are pissed off and the reaction is extreme because of it. Balance has been destroyed by Queer theory and this is just the start of the backlash. I'm afraid for my gay friends, I'm not going to lie.

CummaCummaChameleon · 25/03/2023 10:23

Baldieheid · 25/03/2023 10:15

No. But as predicted, the pendulum us swinging back the other way and I suspect some areas will take it to extremes.

the last decade has seen police pat leather clad, buttocks exposed, "puppies" on the head at pride, and parents encourage their children to do the same. We've had men in misogynistic women costume read to toddlers in libraries. The USA has had adults twerking in 5 year old faces. Women arrested and then fired for saying sex is fact and can't be changed. Schools teaching 10 year old how to choke safely during sex, how to do anal, etc etc.

People are pissed off and the reaction is extreme because of it. Balance has been destroyed by Queer theory and this is just the start of the backlash. I'm afraid for my gay friends, I'm not going to lie.

I'm sorry WHAT!?! They're teaching American children how to safely choke during sex and do anal?? Was this an isolated incident or a state wide curriculum thing?

Utterly fucking outrageous!!! 🤬

Baldieheid · 25/03/2023 10:33

I believe it was here in the UK, but I am not well versed in the whole thing so may be wrong.
I don't have kids doing the sex Ed stuff at school but I know from friends that it's gone way way way beyond what we learned.

pointythings · 25/03/2023 10:34

@CummaCummaChameleon nobody is teaching any of that stuff in US schools, or in UK schools. It's just people whipping up faux outrage.

The US has always been weirdly prudish, and the British really aren't much better. This is Florida, expect lunacy.

StJulian2023 · 25/03/2023 10:34

You need to ask this question? Of course not.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 25/03/2023 10:34

Only if you are Goliath

Giggorata · 25/03/2023 10:36

This sort of thing is ridiculous but I fear it will run its course.

I have also noticed censorship of certain words on YouTube recently, like sex, suicide, vagina, penis, etc.
What on Earth do they think it will achieve, substituting the word ”grape” for “rape”?

Matildapower · 25/03/2023 10:42

CummaCummaChameleon · 25/03/2023 10:23

I'm sorry WHAT!?! They're teaching American children how to safely choke during sex and do anal?? Was this an isolated incident or a state wide curriculum thing?

Utterly fucking outrageous!!! 🤬

No we’re not, utter nonsense

pointythings · 25/03/2023 10:44

@Baldieheid even that article reports that it's basically hearsay... There's a difference between mentioning oral and anal sex (which should be part of sex education at secondary level) and actually teaching kids how to do it. Choking should definitely also be mentioned; a lot of teenagers are exposed to some seriously hardcore porn and it distorts their view of what is normal. Not mentioning it as an issue doesn't help.
This bit of hearsay shouldn't be used to roll back the progress made.

Baldieheid · 25/03/2023 10:46

I must have misunderstood the news articles, sorry. I've maybe wrongly assumed that because it's been actually raised in Westminster, there's something that needs to be looked at.

Still doesn't make sacking a school principal for showing kids works of art a good thing.

thecatsthecats · 25/03/2023 10:49

This was literally parodied in a Simpsons episode thirty years ago.

DuesToTheDirt · 25/03/2023 10:53

Of course not. A naked person is not pornographic - more is needed to warrant that description, like sexual activity, voyeuristic subjugation, etc.

pointythings · 25/03/2023 11:07

Lots of things have been raised in Westminster - given who's running it right now anything they say should be taken with a pound of salt. The person who raised this in Parliament was Miriam Cates, who is generally very religious, and she used this piece of hearsay when she raised the matter. At the very least she should have fact checked it.

This is politically motivated.

SecondhandMuck · 25/03/2023 11:10

Florida is a basket case state.

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/03/2023 11:13

thecatsthecats · 25/03/2023 10:49

This was literally parodied in a Simpsons episode thirty years ago.

I came on to say just that. The Simpsons - modern prophets.😄

supravit · 25/03/2023 11:25

The far right in Florida are going nuts with censorship. And there's a whole thread in the feminism board defending it.

MrsSkylerWhite · 25/03/2023 11:28

No idea but it’s beautiful, awe inspiring. One of the few lauded sights that surpassed our expectations.

SecondhandMuck · 25/03/2023 11:31

I saw a video on TikTok by an American living in the UK who used this packet of Tyrrell's crisps as an example of something that you would never in a million years see on a shelf in an American grocery store. They're so weird about naked bodies.

Gwenhwyfar · 25/03/2023 11:37

SecondhandMuck · 25/03/2023 11:10

Florida is a basket case state.

Exactly.
Why have you even asked this OP? The answer is obvious.