Nudity V.S. Pornography in Pagan art

Nudity does not equal porn. I think this is an argument we in the art community have been trying to say for decades, if not longer. Pagan art is no exception. Nudes should be viewed as beautiful, and nude deities should never be censored or be considered blasphemous.

Except, of course, when it crosses the line of "artistic nude" to "porn." And yes, it has happened.

For the record, I believe sensuality has a place in art. I will say I'm not as comfortable with sensuality and religious/pagan art, but I understand that when it's there, it's there for story telling purposes. However, there's a huge difference between sensuality and explicit porn. And quite frankly, I don't want to see it in my religious iconography.

I've been an artist for years, and at this point I've drawn plenty of artistic nude models. So I feel it's okay to say I understand artistic nudity. In many cases, going back to ancient times, nudity has helped emphasize both time and purpose in pagan art. The goddess Nut was almost always depicted as completely nude. Several images of Aphrodite (which includes the Venus de Milo, which is a Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze) are nude. This extends to male dieties as well, with several Greek gods (prominant ones, at that) shown nude often. The god Min was always shown with an erect penis, as well, extending this imagery into slight sensuality, however He is a god of fertility. Several images from Ancient Egypt will depict sexuality, however they are almost always telling us stories, myths, or they have magical properties.

So, with that laid out, I should tell you where this rant started. On deviantART, I'm a member of the group "GoddessLove" and enjoy some of the beautiful imagery devoted to the Goddess. However, one day when checking my messages, an image appeared (because I watch the group, all images submitted and approved there shows up in my messages) that I was quite frankly disgusted with. It was an image of Aphrodite, in a very explicitly sexual pose. I decided to go and click on it, and the artist EXPLICITLY states it as hentai, and all of the comments it recieved disgusted me. I looked at the folder it was located in and just about lost it. "Skyclad Goddesses." There were images contained in it of what I would consider classic skyclad goddesses, yes, but it also contained images of the goddesses that weren't just sensual-they were porn. Their pose, stance, and overall appearence wasn't "skyclad," it was sexual. I commented on the folder, suggesting some of these were "tasteless" and was told I didn't have to look if I didn't like it. 

First, it showed up in my watch you dumb bitch. Second, how the hell do you justify this crap? That's like coming into my room, smoking a cigarette, and telling me "You don't have to breathe over here" when I complain. Sure, I wouldn't if YOU WEREN'T IN MY PERSONAL SPACE WITH IT!!! So, I'm irked, to say the least. Perhaps it's just me who likes to keep their icons clean of porn. I'm sure someone's going to bring up something about censorship and leftover Christian stigma, but I've encountered a "We don't need to see that shit!" sort of vibe concerning sexuality in shrine. But even in magic that uses sex, there's classy and there's trashy. This crap is trashy. And I don't want to see it in my art.