Laurie and Debbie have been collecting tidbits from the Web:

Because we work with photographs, we are very interested in the brouhaha over French citizen journalism. We would blog about it ourselves, if Republic of T hadn’t said everything we could possibly think of, and said it all well. In particular, we were glad to see that he brought in the case of Josh Wolf, currently in jail in California for refusing to turn over video of a G8 protest.

Body words are getting dirtier. We find it especially interesting that “penis” has become an acceptable word in more-or-less common usage, while vagina can get you suspended from school, (no joke, during a production of a play I guess we have to call The V-Word Monologues). We’re glad to say that that particular suspension has been overturned. You can also, apparently, cause an enormous furore by using “scrotum” in a book for children. We were under the impression that roughly half of all children have scrotums (scrota?), and most of the rest have vaginas. Are people surprised?

On a related note, the inimitable Susie Bright is challenging the “Not Safe for Work” convention, with her “Not Safe for Prudes” proposal.

Unless you would tag The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and Art World as “NSFW” —don’t tag anyone else who covers the same turf of sexual politics, erotic culture, and the full breadth of the English language. And yes, those editors publish bare breasts— in some cases, every issue. Think about the media class distinctions every time, and you’ll find yourself exercising freedom of speech. It’s that easy.

We’re both a bit uneasy about conflating “media class distinctions” with human/social class distinctions. Nonetheless, Susie makes interesting points and careful distinctions, and it’s worth thinking about.

Our fictional Reese Witherspoon movie has a new ending. DePauw University is no longer dealing with the Delta Zeta sorority, based on this incident.

Amarama is starting a much-needed advocacy group for fat people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Check it out if you’re local; steal the idea if you’re not.

And on a final cheering note, Serene points out this lovely gallery of outdoor nudes (well, topless, anyway) by Jordan Matter (who, believe it or not, is a natural light photographer specializing in head shots). As Susie would say, this set is not safe for prudes. Click to see them all.

France, citizen journalism, Josh Wolf, journalism, scrotum, vagina, censorship, NSFW, nudes, photography, fat, health, body image, size+acceptance, Body Impolitic