Can Nude Photos be Art?

[Buxtehude]

Art teacher in hot water over topless photos

Saturday, June 17, 2006; Posted: 3:18 p.m. EDT (19:18 GMT)


QUICKVOTE
Can nude photos be art?
Yes
No


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Until they found the topless photos, Austin High School officials considered Tamara Hoover an excellent art teacher with a knack for helping students find their creativity.

Now, she's fighting for her job.

The photos, which were posted on Flickr.com by her partner, depict Hoover in the shower, lifting weights, getting dressed, in bed and doing other routine activities.

Hoover said Friday the photos are art and makes no apologies.

Answer the Poll http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/16/naked.teacher.ap/index.html

[Heidi]

1. Of course they can.

Poll has been Heidi'd. :hi:

[Buxtehude]

2. I don't think there be much dissension on this. LOL. n/t

[Heidi]

4. I'm an artist.

You'll get no dissent from me.

[Buxtehude]

11. I like your sig line.n/t

[Yupster]

40. I think I need to see hundreds of them

to form a valid opinion.

[madokie]

3. nothing more beautiful than the human body, period

[Jigarotta]

37. yes, absolutely agreed!

well, one of the beauties on this earth.
There are certain constructions of the human body that are pieces of moving, living art. No lust, no porn, just pure beauty that you can't help staring at (but if you do, you're a perv :sarcasm:)

[AnOhioan]

5. Without a doubt....yes

Despite what the bible-thumpers and prudes would have us believe.

[rman]

6. "can be"? sure

As much as paintings and statues of nudes can be art.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Too bad she's a teacher, and...

that puts her into a "special" class of people who can't do what many of us can. In this country, anyway.

Right or wrong, cops and firefighters have been fired for nude pix, and others for looking at them. That's just the way it is here in the Puritan US of A.

It's all for the kids, eh? Can't have their role models and mentors being normal people.

[Jed Dilligan]

25. Maybe if teachers got to be a little sexier

people wouldn't avoid the profession like it had V.D.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Since she works with children

did she disclose to her employer, her other profession before she was hired?

People working with children should be aware that their lives will be scrutinized. If what she doing is 'art' then she should have been up front about it and deal with the issue before it became a problem, ie before she got hired.

[Buxtehude]

10. Interesting point

but I feel this would give children a healthier out look on sex if we could look at the body as art instead of a sex object.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Teaching children

to honor and enjoy human sexuality is different from compromising the terms of your employment.

[Buxtehude]

17. But who would have thought

to look on flicker for nude pictures of your teacher. It's a dicey subject to be sure.

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. Some parents have nothing better to do

especially if they get 'suspicious' about a teacher they don't like.

We lost a great language arts teacher for a very similar reason.

[Buxtehude]

23. I have personal experiences myself

they don't pay anything and then your the butt of any radical parent with an ax to grind.

[Terran1212]

38. You wouldn't happen to be from Georgia would you?

[DoYouEverWonder]

45. Close

North FL.

[JDPriestly]

21. How can you teach art without showing nude pictures, statues, etc.?

A great leap forward in western art occurred when artists began to examine the structure of the human body and draw and paint nudes. Much of the great western art depicts nudes -- statues, drawings, paintings, photographs.

Working with children has nothing to do with the fact that nudity is accepted in art. You can't draw really good likenesses of human bodies unless you can deal with nudity. There was nothing for the teacher to be "up front" about because she was "up front" about being an artist.

A picture can be extremely erotic although everyone in it is fully clothed. A picture can depict someone nude without being erotic at all. A nude picture of someone lifting weights, for example, may not be -- probably isn't -- very erotic. Nudity and eroticism are not the same thing. Nudity and sexuality are not the same thing. Nudity celebrates the human body in all the glory God gave it.

I wouldn't want nude pictures taken of me -- but that is because I'm not very "up front" about who I am physically. Frankly, I don't have a very good body image -- it's a generational hang-up. If other people feel comfortable having nude pictures taken of them -- that's their business. We are supposed to be a free country. This poor woman did not join a convent when she became a teacher. Why doesn't the anti-nudity crowd just require female teachers to wear burkas and be done with it.

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. None of that has anything to do with the fact

that her partner posted nude pictures of her/the teacher on a website.

That is the issue here. The teacher is trying to argue that these pics of herself should be considered art, which they may very well be, but it would be inappropriate for her to show her students nude pictures of herself, dont' you think?

[JDPriestly]

35. Depends on the pictures. The students will giggle, but they will

get over it. I cannot imagine that a picture of someone lifting weights in the nude would be very erotic or objectionably suggestive. Would I post such pictures on the internet of myself? No. Do other people have the right to do it? Yes. Does the fact that you are a teacher and your students might happen to see the pictures deprive you of your First Amendment right to post the pictures? No. Even though she is a teacher, she has First Amendment rights. She did not take the pictures to school and show them around. Her boyfriend posted them on the web. She allowed them to be taken. People can choose to look at them or not.

How much nudity is too much? Where would you draw the line? Some religious groups would object to a scoop neck blouse or a very short skirt. I would not. That's the problem. Once you start censoring pictures, etc. you inevitably have to make a judgment about what is decent or indecent. And ultimately that is a personal, subjective matter. You and I might say -- no breasts. But someone else will say -- no nose. Who is right? It is by imposing rules of this sort that groups like the Taliban and the religious right get their control. They make those who think differently than they do feel guilty. It starts with not showing this then not showing that and soon women have to wear burkas. Regardless, I would not give this person any money. I think the whole thing may be a scam. It sounds like a made up issue and a distraction.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

42. She didn't show them to her students!

This whole thing was started by another teacher with an axe to grind. That being said, I was 17 when I had a theatre teacher who invited her students to see a production of the "The Blue Room" she was acting in. This wasn't in a public school setting, but rather an extracurricular theatre class. I don't think any of us were scarred by seeing our teacher naked and on stage. No one hassled her in class. It was a non-issue, but then again we were all G&T theatre kids. So we "got" it. "The Blue Room" is way more explicit than any of the photos on her flickr.com page.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

41. It's not her other profession.

Have you even looked at the photos?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. The article mentions

"her partner" which makes me wonder if she is a lesbian. And if she is, then perhaps that is more the motivation for her job problems?

Just guessing.

I'm a teacher. We get naked, too!

[Buxtehude]

12. LOL

I thought teachers were born with cloths on.
You make an interesting observation I thought that myself.

[rfranklin]

13. Would you post a few photos for the cause?

Just wondering....

[Buxtehude]

14. Oh but if I could.n/t

[Fleshdancer]

29. She is a lesbian and her partner is a well established artist in Austin

There's definitely a lot of speculation down here that her sexual orientation is playing a role in this. They're after her pretty hard...they don't want to just fire her, they want her teacher's license revoked! Crazy.

[Buxtehude]

36. I'll bet those folks had relatives in Salem.

I just can't understand the mean streak in this country. This is not just disagreement it's out and out hatred. I wonder about this new rush by states to pass 'shoot to kill laws'.
This theocratic environment is breeding a dangerous paranoia.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

43. Yes, she's a lesbian.

I think that's probably a good portion of the motivation for this witchhunt.

[Buxtehude]

16. Do you look at the lines and form?

or do you just think about humping their brains out? I guess it just depends on interpretation. :)

[Buxtehude]

18. Could this be a reason?

The school was attended by President Bush's daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

[acmejack]

20. Help Tamara's defense!

Blurb from the site:
snip>
ARTIST AND ART Teacher (termination pending) at a high school in Austin, Texas . Looking for help with funding the gathering of evidence to defend myself against the Austin Independant School District. (both civil and criminal). They are firing me for pictures of me being on a website (celesta) and claiming the website is pornographic. The district isn't even asking to hear my side. At this time, I have been advised not to share too much information about my case. But as soon as I get the ok I will gladly share more of my story. PS: when you donate i will send you a one of a kind drawing/painting/little something something sweet ok?

http://www.myspace.com/mshoover

[Toots]

22. I think this subject needs a lot more research to base a sound decision

:evilgrin:

[Buxtehude]

24. You just want to see the pictures.n/t

[leeroysphitz]

26. The nude female form is a work of art in and of itself and it's

representation or depiction can be and is considered art regardless of media. Just so long as drape an $8,000 blue curtain over the naughty bits first. :sarcasm:

[davekriss]

27. Unequivocally, YES

One must operate with an odd definition of "art" to ask such a question.

[Poiuyt]

28. I think we can all agree that these are VERY pornographic

Michaelangelo, Degas, Rembrandt...They're just like Larry Flynnt. Terrible.

[rasputin1952]

30. David:

We don't want Ashcroft to see that....:evilgrin:

[Poiuyt]

32. Nothing an $8,000 curtain won't fix

Great smilie!

[Buxtehude]

34. No wonder

it just took one fig leaf.LOL

[samsingh]

33. yes

[Hippo_Tron]

39. Of course it's not, this is America, SEX = BAD!!!!

[JHB]

44. Can ursines eliminate bodily wastes in an arboreal environment?

In some quarters, that's practically the definition of art!

(Nudes, that is. Not scatalogical bears.)