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Things Fall Apart

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by
kathycf
, 03-05-2007 at 02:27 AM (1359 Views)
Things Fall Apart

is a very good book by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is also a good title for this blog entry. In the context of online communication, we are both limited and free. We are free in the sense that we "speak" to each other without any preconceived notions about each other, through a distillation of ideas and words on a page. The limiting part of this is we have no backstory on the people we are communicating with, we have no depth of understanding of what goes on in other parts of people's lives outside of what we see written down in a blog or a forum post.

In day to day life, with the people we see in person this affects us to a point, but not nearly so much as strictly knowing someone in an online way. It is easier to take people's words in context when we know so much about them, as is the case in our day to day life. For example, my best friend and I have known each other since 1980, so when I say things, or when she does we have a better grasp of where the other person is "coming from". This is not to say that misunderstandings don't occur, because they certainly do. It is just easier to get the backstory on a person when you know them better.

Partially relating to my last entry is an incident that occured at another site I belong to. A very nice young lady there had created a game "mod" (player created content for an existing game) which featured a great deal of nudity. This woman is a naturist, or nudist and wanted her creation to match her lifestyle. This is not prurience or lewdness, she feels nudity is a natural way of life. It is not a philosophy I subscribe to, but I respect her point of view.

Anyway, part of the modification added townspeople walking around the streets and also featured scaled down models to represent children...with adults and children being nude as the towns were now "nudist camps". I commented that I did not find the "child" nudity to be appropriate and she got very, very hurt and upset with me. I felt as if I was on trial, and my motivation was completely misunderstood. I was not objecting because I found the nudity nasty, I could care less if there are nude adults hanging around or not. It isn't my cup of tea, but it doesn't make me freak out either. I just didn't like the idea of kids being nude, and I have my own reasons for this which I am not going to go into.

So, I hurt a friend....and I felt as if I had bothered some people here (I did lose my temper with a somewhat rude kid here) and it was not one incident that made me want to isolate, it was several all on top of each other.
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  1. 's Avatar
    Kathy,It's not how they understood it that counts.It's how u meant it.And i don't understand how ur "friend" didn't make sure from you that what u said was just because u didn't like it not asu said because u find nasty.Finally,I think you r looking at one side here.Yes,words can hurt.but they can make someone happy as well(would u give up seeing someones' lol because of something u said)I'm not making any sense .
  2. Virgil's Avatar
    Don't worry about it Kathy. I would have objected to the whole thing and perhaps I would have been deliberately nasty. I don't feel that nudity of any kind should be a part of respectful web sites. The web is a public area. There are conventions and norms of dealing in the public domain, and in my opinion they should apply to the web. Whether she likes it or not, she cannot walk around the streets nude. As to the child nudity, well that is border line child porn. I would have been outraged. Appeasing this woman would only have encouraged her more. An outcry to say "I don't agree with this and I find you shameful" establishes a norm in the public consciousness (of course most people will have to agree with it) and establishes a borderline in her mind as to what the general population considers propper, whether she likes it or not. Perhaps Kathy you weren't strong enough.

    As to "Things Fall Apart," before it was the title of the novel you mentioned, it was a line from a Yeats poem, "The Second Coming."
  3. kathycf's Avatar
    I appreciate your feedback, sam96 and Virgil. I think that I need to clarify a few things, though.

    The added in content was part of a game, which is already rated mature due to violence. When I say a "mod" I mean that it is something like a plug in for an existing program. Mods that gamers make are for fellow members of that particuar games community. The website in question is not owned by me, nor am I a moderator there, so I have no say so in how the website is run, except by voicing my opinion.

    I have expressed my own personal views on nudity in gaming with my blog entry entitled "My business?", where I simply state that how somebody plays a game in the privacy of his or her own home is completely not my business. The young lady in question is 18 and while bright and creative, she does tend to lose perspective on her work. She realizes now that she over-reacted, and to her credit, always gives warnings about any nudity in her work. The reason I was not aware of it in the mod, or plugin if you will was because it was being play tested and had not been released to the general community, so she had not compiled a complete readme.

    As to the question of nudity at all being seen online, I respect your opinion Virgil, but you must realize that many great works of art feature nudity. When we say "nudity" this does not automatically mean porno, which yes, does not have a place on most websites. If people want to see porn that is their business, but indeed, keep it out the mainstream.

    Nudity can also mean Art. Sculptures and paintings spring to my mind the most, but I am sure there are other artistic mediums which utilize nudity. These works should not be censored nor should they be confined to areas where "impressionable" minds will not see them. I think the works of Michelangelo, Rubens and others are beautiful...nothing "dirty" about them. I don't think that is what you had in mind, but I did want to clarify that point.
  4. Virgil's Avatar
    Your point is well taken on artistic nudity. And i agree. My only comment on porn was with child nudity.
  5. kathycf's Avatar
    Thank you Virgil. I understand.

    She didn't have any pictures like that posted, the nudity was contained inside the game.