Petrus Boots ~ Journal ~ Page 7

† March 7, 2008

As is often the case in the waning hours of the evening, following The Daily Show I hang in to see what the moment of Zen is and to catch the latest installment of The Colbert Report. This particular evening, Stephen's guest was Leonard Nimoy. Having been a Star Trek fan from way back and well into The Next Generation, I thought it would be interesting to stay up and see what Spock is up to these days. As it turns out Mr. Nimoy has moved into the art world, specifically the art of photography.

This evening Mr. Nimoy was making an appearance on the Colbert Report in order to promote his new book of pictures entitled The Full Body Project. In short, his new book is a collection of photographs which depicts nudes of large women. From what I understood, his choice to produce these images was to show how everyone is beautiful, regardless of society's standard. And as we all know or accept, society's standard when it comes to female beauty is thin and slim. Or as Stephen put it, "Ok. Here's my problem with it, Mister. Society has agreed what beautiful is. Ok. Blonde, thin, big tits. Ok? This is questioning what society has agreed upon. What other part of society do you want to just chuck out?" Only Colbert could say something like that on national television and get away with it. He is, after all, the master of political incorrectness.

As for me and most men in general, delving into issues of what is considered female beauty and what is not generally leaves us labeled sexist at best; or worse, simply branded a male chauvinist judgmental prick. But despite the possible consequences, I feel the need to express some thoughts or (if you prefer ) opinions on some of the societal acceptance and personal preference issues which were raised through this interview.

First of all, as a disclaimer to possible repercussions, I will say this. I do believe everyone to be beautiful in their own right. The perception of physical beauty is a subjective one. I mean... different strokes for different folks, right? And beyond that, if beauty can not be found on the outside, then more often than not, it's on the inside. And if you can't find it there, then you're just not looking deep enough. I believe that wholeheartedly. As an example: to some, Hitler was a beautiful man; to others... an ugly monster. But perhaps the truth of it is, he was a beautiful monster. As far as a societal trait brought to the forefront of human consciousness, through his rise and fall, prejudice as a way of life took on a whole new level of revulsion. So yeah, Hitler was one of us and we would do well not to forget that. The seed of self-righteous prejudice is within all of us and it's our choice whether we want to water it or not. The irony is, if you truly want to be free of all prejudice and judgment, then you must see the beauty in all of Earth's creatures, whether they be fat, thin, black, white, yellow, red or Hitler. For there's a little Hitler in all of us. And if we can't love it to death, well...

"Lord I'm not the one to tell, this old world how to get along.
I only know that peace will come, when all I hate is gone.
I've been searching, for the Dolphins, in the sea....
Ah but sometimes I wonder, do you ever, think of me.
This old world will never change...."

† "Dolphins", Lyrics by F. Mills
† From the Album, "Solitude" by The The

"I'm gonna look twice at you
until I see the Christ in you."

† "Christ in you", Lyrics by Mike Scott
† From the Album, "Universal Hall" by The Waterboys

That's the deep of it, but for now, I need to resurface and skim over the subject of what in our society is considered physically beautiful and what is not. What I found from watching the Leonard Nimoy interview were contradictions and reverse discriminations. What Spock was trying to tell me with The Full Body Project is that I and everyone else in the world should find fat beautiful and to not do so is societally... unethical. But if I am to honestly tell the truth here, when it comes to the female anatomy, personally... fat is not where it's at. There. I've said it. Go ahead, shoot me.

Now... for anyone reading this who may or may not consider themselves overweight, the last thing I want to do is make anyone feel bad about their body or more importantly themselves. Besides that, who cares what I think anyway? But in the same respect, I don't want to feel bad about myself because of a personal preference when it comes to the female body. It's not that I'm telling anyone they have to lose weight, it's just that I want to hold onto the right to like what I like and not feel like I'm some sort of prejudice prick for it. I know there are men in the world (perhaps Leonard is one of them) who like, what is it they say these days, "lots of junk in the trunk", but I'm not one of them.

Then again, perhaps Mr. Nimoy has unequivocally entered, "The Art World". You know, the art world where if you don't see the art and beauty of a toilet hanging on the wall of a national museum, you are considered ignorant to the relevance of it. It's the same vibe. But personally, I don't get that world and have no interest in tying myself up into a knotted pretzel trying. The genius of Jackson Pollack? He was a fucked up drunk with some serious mental problems and I am supposed to sit in awe? Fuck that. When my daughter of seven was introduced to Pollack through her grade 2 teacher, I wondered why he had to be the first artist she was introduced to through school. I mean, why not Michelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci? After some feelings of disgust and bewilderment, it finally dawned on me why. She and the rest of her class could create a Pollack. To try and get the grade 2 class to paint in the style of Da Vinci or Michelangelo would have been (with few exceptions) impossible. And that's what it's about right? Everyone is equal, everyone can be an artist, everyone is physically beautiful and anyone can be President of the United States. Sounds like a Kurt Vonnegut story I once read.

Well... George Bush has proven that yes... anyone can be, but not everyone should be President. It seems I've gone off topic somewhat. Now where was I? Colbert, Nimoy, pictures of fat chicks and here is where it gets strange.

What truly disturbed me when I saw Mr. Nimoy's work displayed, was not so much what but how it was presented. There was one particular image (shown here) where Nimoy explained how it mirrored a Matisse entitled "Dance" (shown above). That he was inspired by this painting was not the issue. The issue was the fact that not only his piece but also the Matisse were censored through strategically placed black lines. What does that say? Cellulite should be admired by everyone, while natural elements of the female anatomy such as nipples, vaginas and the derriere are too disgusting for television and should not be seen by anyone?

This censorship reminded me of another time when I was flipping through the channels and I happened to land on a show about breast implants. A personal pet peeve, when it comes to the female anatomy. Why women do it, I will never understand. I guess it's the "big tits" thing Stephen was talking about. Strangely enough, last night on the Colbert Report they did a thing on breast implants and one woman said she hasn't had to pay for a drink since she got her breasts done. So that's it, it's about getting drunk for free. Anyway, what I couldn't understand was the image I saw when I accidentally landed on the channel. It unabashedly showed the plastic surgeon making an incision into the flesh of the breast (which was rather gruesome) but thank Jebus the nipple was blacked out. Does that make any sense? Is this how twisted society has become?

What has the world or those who would protect us got against female nipples? Why do they feel we need to be protected from seeing them in a public forum? As far as I'm concerned, they not only serve a practical function and purpose but they are also fun to play with. What's wrong with that? Seems natural to me. But not in this world. In this world, I and anyone (including my seven year old daughter) can see a woman get plastic implanted in a perfectly natural and uniquely personal part of her body, but seeing a nipple would surely give us nightmares. Newsflash girls... there are lots of men (I consider myself one of them) who sexually prefer smaller breasts. I hope that comment doesn't upset women with breasts on the larger size but as I've found out through living this life, you can't please everyone nor should you even try.

So big or small, please... just give me natural. Give me nature. And when I look at nature (with few exceptions, such as bears that fatten up for the winter and sea mammals which need fat for warmth) obesity is not a factor until we reach the top of the food chain. One could argue, "well I've seen a lot of fat dogs" but then, who are the ones feeding them? We are. And through our over consumption and poor eating habits, what hole is it we are trying to fill? Is it the Spiritual vacuum we are trying to satisfy through more more more and bigger is better? Did Stephen nail it when he said, "I don't have any problem with the women being large. You've got a good point. The models are thinner and the average American woman is larger. Everything about America is bigger. We have big S.U.V.'s and we got big butts to fit in those S.U.V.'s. That's what we do. We supersize it." So it's big tits or flat chests, fat or anorexic, the polarization of forces which permeates and surfaces in our society in more ways than we are willing to see. Somewhere in the middle is Joe and Jane average, with (give or take a few pounds) an average sized healthy body which seems to get overlooked, yet they should feel guilty for seeing it's natural beauty? I guess that's the nature of average and dare I say, normal.

All this, while the lowly nipple is feared and hidden from view like some twisted secret, blacked out in a declassified government document. And girls... don't even get me started on society's need to censor the penis from view. Never mind the black lines, male frontal nudity gets a NC17 rating every time. And this, while no one seems to be able to do anything about spammed dicks staring me in the face every time I get my email. Contra-dick-tions, I feel like I'm permanently watching the U.S. Democratic primaries or something.

Speaking of the U.S. primaries, what is the deal? After enduring two terms of a Bush Presidency which has moved the clock of Armageddon ever closer to midnight, how can Americans still buy into and vote for the politics of fear?

I've been watching the show and how people's opinions and views are manipulated into "vote for me". As an impotent observer, I have watched the battle between hope and fear and lately it seems fear is winning. How can this be? When clearly... listening, believing and acting on the politics of fear has put Americans (not to mention the rest of us) in the position they find themselves today... debt ridden, war fatigued and generally mistrusted if not outright hated by the rest of the world. Come on people, question everything you hear and then question it again. In other words, wake up!

I didn't have a strong opinion one way or another of Hillary Clinton before this all started and actually thought she was alright (taking into account the crap she has had to go through with Bill's oval infidelities) but now that I've watched her performance... she frightens me. Clinton accuses Obama of using Rove tactics, while she herself actually puts them to use. She and Bush's pick for the next President are the ones who have the experience and will protect the people from terrorists at three in the morning, while Obama is just talking hope and inspiring the nation? Jesus. And the NAFTA memo with Canada surfacing just in time to cast doubt in the minds of Ohioans before the vote, sounds like a Kerry swift boat deal to me. This, while Bush stooge and ally Stephen Harper (the present Canadian leader) is apologetic and more then happy to keep it in the news with an investigation disguised as a favor to Obama? Please. And Florida once again becomes an issue, wonderful. While we're at it, why don't we chastise the liberal media for being easy on a man who from my point of view had few if any negative qualities to embellish upon. All this stuff just sounds too familiar.

So the mud slinging has begun. According to Hillary only she and John Bush (I mean) McCain have experience, while Obama only has words and a speech he gave in 2002. Meee-ooow. One has to ask (and a few have), exactly what experience did Hillary gain during her stay at the White House? If one wants to get nasty, perhaps this could be a suitable comeback to put her experience and leadership abilities into perspective. She couldn't even keep her husband in line and satisfied while she was First Lady, so what makes her think her influence will be adhered to by the rest of the male tyrants of the world? But you know what, I believe Obama would not stoop so low and so far he hasn't sunk to the depths she, on the other hand, is willing to dive. That my friend is how Barack Obama has gained my respect and admiration. In the face of it, he just shakes his head.

I didn't want to believe it, because with my daughter's life ahead of her, I just want to hold onto the last bit of hope for the future I can muster. But now what my brother told me, that Democrat or Republican, Clinton or Bush, they are all part of the same club, has a ring of truth to it. I see now, how the same methods of fear are being applied in order to win. It's all sales and we are the consumers. I personally am not buying but that doesn't matter because I'm on the wrong side of the border.

Despite the possibility of it all being staged purely for entertainment purposes and distraction, I can't deny one thing. I can't deny the chills which travel through my body when I listen to Barack Obama speak. With that fact and intuitional guide, I have to believe that there is more to this man then just empty rhetoric. It's the last sliver of hope in an increasingly hopeless world. Short of Gandhi, King and the Kennedys I have never felt an affinity towards political leaders or politicians, let alone, trusted any of them. Now for the first time in my adult life, someone in the guise of a politician has captured my attention and imagination. If there has to be someone (and there has to be someone) who will be saddled with the responsibility to lead the most influential nation through the next Presidential term ending at the ominous date of 2012, please... let it be Obama.

Label me a male chauvinist if you must but I can't bear the thought of another bush in the White House.

"Fat woman standing in a queue
her hat, shoes, coat and gloves were blue
and when she turned around I knew
It was a wonderful disguise
It was a wonderful disguise"

† "Wonderful Disguise", Lyrics by Mike Scott
† From the Album, "Bring'em all in" by Mike Scott and The Waterboys

Now it's time to get back to work on the painting. It's a slow process but when you keep chipping away, eventually the work gets done. The key is to stay in the moment, at most... taking a day at a time, and before you know it's dinner time.

If you want to check out how far I've traveled, there's a new slide show in the New or Oil section of the site.

"I have a dream."
Just words.

Note: To reach other entries of the past just use the Index on the right by choosing the date, a flyout title will also appear to help in your inquiry. Or click here for Page 6 of the Journal.