Florida school deems Michelangelo's David statute pornographic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most reasonable people can discern the difference between a child reading about explicit sex and what is depicted in the Bible and by Micheangelo. But most people, I have come to conclude, have abandoned reason in this debate in furtherance of their political and social causes.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not believe the 1st Amendment is absolute but feel very strongly that political ideas, as odious as some are, deserve the highest protection as I believe the courts have ruled. Having said that, I do not know what is being “banned” in Florida but can say generally speaking that I am against kids reading (specifically 8th grade and under) about graphic depictions of sex. I have no problem regulating that content. Just my two cents.

There are no circumstances were kids are being forced to read explicit depictions of sex. None.

You missed PP’s point. People are taking anything and bending it to advance their political view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most reasonable people can discern the difference between a child reading about explicit sex and what is depicted in the Bible and by Micheangelo. But most people, I have come to conclude, have abandoned reason in this debate in furtherance of their political and social causes.

Well it’sna good thing that no child is reading about explicit sex in elementary school.

But I am curious why conservatives are so much more hyped up about kids being exposed to sex than they are to violence.

When my baby was baptized someone gave us a book of illustrated Bible stories for little children. I ended up giving it away because truly, they were all awful stories — God flooding the world and killing off most of mankind, people being thrown into a lion’s den to be mauled to death, and so on. NOT appropriate for small kids!! Also have you read that one about Lot sleeping with his daughters? Or the slaughter of the innocents? Even the brutal killing of Jesus or the stoning of the adulterous woman—way too mature of themes for children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most reasonable people can discern the difference between a child reading about explicit sex and what is depicted in the Bible and by Micheangelo. But most people, I have come to conclude, have abandoned reason in this debate in furtherance of their political and social causes.

Please stop both sides-ing this. I’m not sure why so many Republicans think that elementary school librarians are pedophiles, but they’re not. And by the fascist rules set up by the Republicans, the stories depicted in the Bible mean that it shouldn’t be in school libraries. That’s by their own metric and in some schools they have stripped the shelves bare of all books deemed questionable by fascists. The “sex” stuff is a distraction. This is how the GOP is taking education and representation out of schools.

The reason has been abandoned by one side, the side that has had Michelangelo’s David declared pornographic, FFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most reasonable people can discern the difference between a child reading about explicit sex and what is depicted in the Bible and by Micheangelo. But most people, I have come to conclude, have abandoned reason in this debate in furtherance of their political and social causes.

Well it’sna good thing that no child is reading about explicit sex in elementary school.

But I am curious why conservatives are so much more hyped up about kids being exposed to sex than they are to violence.

When my baby was baptized someone gave us a book of illustrated Bible stories for little children. I ended up giving it away because truly, they were all awful stories — God flooding the world and killing off most of mankind, people being thrown into a lion’s den to be mauled to death, and so on. NOT appropriate for small kids!! Also have you read that one about Lot sleeping with his daughters? Or the slaughter of the innocents? Even the brutal killing of Jesus or the stoning of the adulterous woman—way too mature of themes for children.

Cain with the big rock and angry face right before he bashes in Abel’s head and then Abel’s lifeless body is forever etched in my brain from our little Sunday school lessons.

[Anonymous]

My kids are familiar with the statue of David. My youngest is in 5th grade. They didn’t hear about it in school. They first saw it on a tv program. I think the statue is famous enough that it is a pop culture reference as the “naked statue.” Shrug.

Relatedly: if everyone is fine with showing it and discussing it with middle schoolers—perhaps the biggest silly knucklehead phase of kids—then are we similarly fine with kids drawing doodles of penises (whether in a drawing of a person or a stand-alone work of art focused exclusively on that appendage) at school? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/11/nyregion/is-it-really-art-or-is-it-obscene.html

FTR, I’m generally troubled by FL politics since I’m a lifelong Democrat who lives in MoCo, MD by choice, but I think everyone should recognize (1) this isn’t new and (2) this isn’t exclusive to FL conservatives.

See the NYT article from 1999 about CT: parent asks for the school bus route to be changed to avoid driving past a 15 foot statue of David. The article goes on to highlight several other CT examples where people complained about other works of art in public spaces (nude drawings, girls in swimsuits, picture of condoms, etc.). Read the article, and see if you can find the obvious grammatical error/misspelling that surprised me for a NYT piece.

Any locals remember the big mural painted in Rockville decades ago? It included a rainbow of people, one of whom was a black girl brushing a white lady’s hair. Guess what? Public outrage at the “racist” “subservient” depiction prompted editing the mural by replacing the brush with her holding a lollipop. Apparently that wasn’t good enough and the “offensive” mural was covered up. At the time I thought it was ridiculous; I assumed the two were mother and daughter—and I suspect in 2023 anyone living in our community (or anywhere really) would assume the same. I mean, every commercial now includes diverse families. Perhaps the Left has evolved?

Bottom line: both sides censor art for political gain.

[Anonymous]

What is the racial composition of the student body? 43% of Tallahassee Classical School students are White, 35% of students are Black, 9% of students are Hispanic, 8% of students are Asian, 4% of students are Two or more races, and 1% of students are Hawaiian.

Do we know who complained about it? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

https://youtu.be/stutOCcFLjw

ICYMI: Liberal Floridians have insisted upon removing offensive art (Neptune, the Kirby, statues featuring penises, etc.) for decades in an effort to blend in and appease others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the racial composition of the student body? 43% of Tallahassee Classical School students are White, 35% of students are Black, 9% of students are Hispanic, 8% of students are Asian, 4% of students are Two or more races, and 1% of students are Hawaiian.

Do we know who complained about it? Just curious.

How is that relevant? Crazy zealots in every racial group. Florida is a big sinkhole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the racial composition of the student body? 43% of Tallahassee Classical School students are White, 35% of students are Black, 9% of students are Hispanic, 8% of students are Asian, 4% of students are Two or more races, and 1% of students are Hawaiian.

Do we know who complained about it? Just curious.

How is that relevant? Crazy zealots in every racial group. Florida is a big sinkhole.

Just curious.

FWIW, the most conservative voices in my liberal school community (mcps) are black and Hispanic parents with certain religious affiliations. The Tallahassee school is rather diverse. While I suspect many posters assume whites parents complained, I’m not making that leap.

After reading a couple articles, it seems as though the school dropped the ball by ignoring the courtesy heads up protocol which they had used in prior years—and which schools in mcps use prior to reading certain books, watching certain videos, family life instruction, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/11/nyregion/is-it-really-art-or-is-it-obscene.html

FTR, I’m generally troubled by FL politics since I’m a lifelong Democrat who lives in MoCo, MD by choice, but I think everyone should recognize (1) this isn’t new and (2) this isn’t exclusive to FL conservatives.

See the NYT article from 1999 about CT: parent asks for the school bus route to be changed to avoid driving past a 15 foot statue of David. The article goes on to highlight several other CT examples where people complained about other works of art in public spaces (nude drawings, girls in swimsuits, picture of condoms, etc.). Read the article, and see if you can find the obvious grammatical error/misspelling that surprised me for a NYT piece.

Any locals remember the big mural painted in Rockville decades ago? It included a rainbow of people, one of whom was a black girl brushing a white lady’s hair. Guess what? Public outrage at the “racist” “subservient” depiction prompted editing the mural by replacing the brush with her holding a lollipop. Apparently that wasn’t good enough and the “offensive” mural was covered up. At the time I thought it was ridiculous; I assumed the two were mother and daughter—and I suspect in 2023 anyone living in our community (or anywhere really) would assume the same. I mean, every commercial now includes diverse families. Perhaps the Left has evolved?

Bottom line: both sides censor art for political gain.

As a Democrat, you had to go back to 1985 for an example of the Democrats “censoring art” for “political gain.” 1985. Your other example was apparently the work of one parent with one child who was disturbed by a statue’s ween. So: there is no both sides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are familiar with the statue of David. My youngest is in 5th grade. They didn’t hear about it in school. They first saw it on a tv program. I think the statue is famous enough that it is a pop culture reference as the “naked statue.” Shrug.

Relatedly: if everyone is fine with showing it and discussing it with middle schoolers—perhaps the biggest silly knucklehead phase of kids—then are we similarly fine with kids drawing doodles of penises (whether in a drawing of a person or a stand-alone work of art focused exclusively on that appendage) at school? Just curious.

Some of you are really difficult to take seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are familiar with the statue of David. My youngest is in 5th grade. They didn’t hear about it in school. They first saw it on a tv program. I think the statue is famous enough that it is a pop culture reference as the “naked statue.” Shrug.

Relatedly: if everyone is fine with showing it and discussing it with middle schoolers—perhaps the biggest silly knucklehead phase of kids—then are we similarly fine with kids drawing doodles of penises (whether in a drawing of a person or a stand-alone work of art focused exclusively on that appendage) at school? Just curious.

Some of you are really difficult to take seriously.

How so?

FTR, I couldn’t care less if a 6th grade art class or history class discussed David. My kids have seen it and I bet most kids have. I similarly wouldn’t be upset if my kid drew a penis…but I they would get in trouble at school for doing that.

ICYMI: MoCo schools send home notices before certain books are read, certain videos are shown, family life instruction, etc. It’s a simple step to avoid parents from kvetching about this nonsense. Nothing would offend me, but I recognize the courtesy heads really isn’t for me…it’s for others who are more apt to be concerned or even troubled. Apparently some parents opt out of certain instruction.

With the shifting demographics in MoCo, I think we will see more situations like this. ICYMI: halloween has been cancelled at mcps in direct response to the religious beliefs of black and Hispanic immigrant families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are familiar with the statue of David. My youngest is in 5th grade. They didn’t hear about it in school. They first saw it on a tv program. I think the statue is famous enough that it is a pop culture reference as the “naked statue.” Shrug.

Relatedly: if everyone is fine with showing it and discussing it with middle schoolers—perhaps the biggest silly knucklehead phase of kids—then are we similarly fine with kids drawing doodles of penises (whether in a drawing of a person or a stand-alone work of art focused exclusively on that appendage) at school? Just curious.

Some of you are really difficult to take seriously.

+1