Imagine an elderly man meeting a young boy, who is no relative or acquaintance of his. As a greeting, he pulls up the boy's shirt and kisses him on the bare stomach. Pedophile, right? Add the details that the man was the leader of Russia and that the boy's mother stood proudly by, beaming at the raspberry kisses. The picture changes, does it not?
Kissing is a culturally influenced custom and in the most of the world, does not automatically equate to sex. For someone to find their way to a site belonging to someone of a different culture, and imply evil where clearly none was intended, is not only narrow-minded and reprehensible, but abominably rude as well.
And yet those who caused grief to the site's owner appear to feel that their actions are clothed in moral rectitude, depite the fact that those depicted were two fictional non-human minors. That certainly does not meet any definition of pedophilia with which I am acquainted. Of course, there really is no reasoning possible here, since one hits that peculiar way of thinking that my way is right, and your way, if you do not agree with me, is evil. That is a way of thinking that has, unfortunately, become all too common in American society.
I must say, however, that I believe that the root cause of the original comments was an active dislike to the prevalence of slash within the LOTR fan community. And fair enough, the tent of the fandom should be wide enough for all of us. As a hobbit slash writer, there are sections of that tent that I do not find at all appealing, and yet I can concede that others might, and wish them joy in sharing with others of a like mind. There is no need for me to belittle them, or imply that they are less wholesome, somehow, and put me off my feed. For indeed they do, but I am sensible enough to just not go there, and let them be.
I really feel that an apology is in order by those who caused a sensitive and gentle artist such unnecessary pain, and I thank you, Serai, for being the voice, as usual, of conscience.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: Sunday, November 19th, 2006 09:28 pm (UTC)Kissing is a culturally influenced custom and in the most of the world, does not automatically equate to sex. For someone to find their way to a site belonging to someone of a different culture, and imply evil where clearly none was intended, is not only narrow-minded and reprehensible, but abominably rude as well.
And yet those who caused grief to the site's owner appear to feel that their actions are clothed in moral rectitude, depite the fact that those depicted were two fictional non-human minors. That certainly does not meet any definition of pedophilia with which I am acquainted. Of course, there really is no reasoning possible here, since one hits that peculiar way of thinking that my way is right, and your way, if you do not agree with me, is evil. That is a way of thinking that has, unfortunately, become all too common in American society.
I must say, however, that I believe that the root cause of the original comments was an active dislike to the prevalence of slash within the LOTR fan community. And fair enough, the tent of the fandom should be wide enough for all of us. As a hobbit slash writer, there are sections of that tent that I do not find at all appealing, and yet I can concede that others might, and wish them joy in sharing with others of a like mind. There is no need for me to belittle them, or imply that they are less wholesome, somehow, and put me off my feed. For indeed they do, but I am sensible enough to just not go there, and let them be.
I really feel that an apology is in order by those who caused a sensitive and gentle artist such unnecessary pain, and I thank you, Serai, for being the voice, as usual, of conscience.