Comment on CEA Discussions: Sex Toys by kozispoon

I am new to DA and learning the ropes. I just went back through my gallery and deleted deviations that don't conform with these rules. I grumbled a bit. Gone is a cartoon robot holding his hard phallus. It's hard because he's made of metal -- but "touching genitals" and "erect" make it a violation. The fact that it is smooth and shaped more like a missile than an anatomically correct penis might have made a difference, but who can say? I also removed a cartoon of two robots having butt sex, using motor oil as (what else?) lubrication. It seemed to violate the penetration and fluids rule. It wasn't just porn; I like the way this series raises interesting conundrums about the posthuman condition. But you know, we play by the rules of our hosts...

The good news in this post is that the moderators have moderated their policy in the wake of broadening their understanding of how their policy disproportionately affects a minority group. I deeply appreciate that our hosts are addressable on these issues and willing to adjust.

But I have to admit: as a queer artist interested in art that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also witty and a little disturbing, I draw heavily from an explicitly homoerotic palette. And rules are often just challenges in disguise. Can I contribute work that conforms to the rules but defies their spirit? You betcha! Will I? Oh yeah, quite probably.

Because at the end of the day, that's what artists do -- push at boundaries, challenge the rules. Those boundaries aren't always about sex -- sometimes they are about skill level or politics or taboos or... But if we deny art's ability to change our views about what is allowable and what is not in our myriad, overlapping cultures, then we curtail much of the value and purpose of art in the first place.