I know how it goes. You're torn between two evils: to click or not to click. That Not Suitable for Work (NSFW) tag is mocking you, egging you on to click through and see the scandal. But you're at work or in class and what if people glance over your shoulder and see the eroticized superheroes or the nude photos of activists?
You'd surely never live it down.
This conflict can drive people to dismiss the post so fast, it's like it never even existed. The promise of nudity, sex and teasing photos is enough for people to deny their curiosity so fast, it's as if they had just been offered a copy of "50 Shades of Gray" at church.
It's uncomfortable, I get it.
But while people speed-scroll through their feeds, they are simultaneously dismissing an entire subsection of art screaming to be seen. Erotic and explicit art contains some of the most moving and impactful messages of our contemporary society. These artists make bold statements about diving into a person's being, past the image presented to the rest of the world. It attempts to de-stigmatize long held notions about sex, beauty and, essentially, being.
Termed-explicit art can show strength and resilience.
My most recent click on an NSFW post was to an article on Refinery29.com, entitled: 9 Portraits of Survival: What Breast Cancer Really Looks Like (NSFW).
The post highlights David Jay's photography series honoring women who are diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. The project is an exercise in raising awareness about the disease in a beautifully aesthetic way. But, if someone ignores it simply for its NSFW warning, their goal of awareness falls by the wayside.
Explicit art can also be a tool for activism.
In a bold Facebook statement against ISIS, Aliaa Magda Elmahdy posted an NSFW photo of herself and a fellow activist desecrating an Islamic State flag.
Elmahdy is a member of the Ukranian feminist, activist-performance group FEMEN, who supported the photo's release. In an interview with VICE News, founder of FEMEN Inna Shevchenko said, "With the picture we want to criticize the killings, rapes and public executions by Islamic fascists, who are breaking news... Enough of tolerance! Don't be scared to offend... We call not to fear them, but to resist them."
So, yes. I agree that I could pass up the opportunity to view photos of people masturbating. But I'm not going to ignore the incredible stories following the lives of strippers in Texas, just because it is #NSFW.
How do you feel about the NSFW tag? Do you have any suggestions of erotic or explicit art series to see? Let me know at mamccrea@asu.edu or via Twitter @mmccreary6.
