Guess who's back-back-back! Back again-gain-gain! I'm a proud female, bisexual, hardcore gamer, Nintendo Girl. Recently got into a "Journey to the West" high. My switch friend code is: SW-3338-6686-9684 If you don't like Bungou Stray Dogs.......................get out!
OVER 18!
Just had a really cool idea for a good interpretation of a GOOD Scooby-Doo show: What if Scooby was actually Shaggy’s service dog for a food allergy?
And Shaggy is a culinary prodigy and is able to create dishes, no matter the ingredients or how meager it is, that taste absolutely divine. Thus, they travel the world to attend cooking events and competitions, while going sightseeing on the side. And THAT’S how they stumble upon mysteries.
They can even have that core concept help with the mystery solving every once in a while.
Shaggy: “Dude, you claimed that you left the rice simmering on the stove when you heard the scream, but when I taste-tested it, there’s no way it was there for that long. Heck, the rice itself wasn’t even washed properly!”
There could even be a crossover with Gordon Ramsay, where Shaggy uses 1% of his power to find the missing lamb sauce!
Fred is the same Autistic trap-loving himbo we all know and love, and is also a college graduate with a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering (B.M.E.). He and Velma are both in a polyamorous relationship with Daphne, but he and Velma do not have romantic or sexual feelings for each other.
Daphne is the hyper-feminine resourceful one of the group. I want to keep the aspect of her being of Scottish descent, as well as her family line being “danger-prone”. She is an accomplished martial artist and the one who often helps with improvising disguises, survival techniques, lockpicking, etc. She’s basically a very fashion-oriented jack-of-all-trades. She is in a polyamorous relationship with both Fred and Velma.
Velma is our classic lesbian detective. She has a degree in Criminalistics, being the one to gather major pieces of evidence and is able to piece together a timeline of events to solve the mystery. Don’t worry, she’s still a nerd and does hours of research on the places the Mystery Gang plan to visit in order to “properly absorb the experience at the site”. In every scene of relaxation, she’s always reading a massive book (both fiction and non-fiction). She and Fred are in a polyamorous relationship with Daphne.
In one episode for Velma’s birthday, they surprise her with a trip to the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
Yes, the characters and the scenarios they're in are fictional, but the chemical surge in your brain from frequent exposure and/or sexual gratification derived from viewing that stuff is very much real.
Your reward center can't tell the difference between what's fictional and what's not. It doesn't go "oh, this child is not real, I'd better turn of the chemical reactions!" It just gets bombarded with a crap-ton of feel-good chemicals and associates that goodness with whatever stimulus caused the arousal.
If you consistently view content of, for example, children being sexualized, where that pedophilia is painted as acceptable and enjoyed, you are conditioning an arousal response to children and/or childlike characteristics.
You can go on and on about how you're immune and fiction can't affect you, but you aren't. Psychology says so;
The sexual script approach has been widely used in the literature to examine the relationship between pornography consumption and the endorsement of specific sexual attitudes and behaviors (Wright et al., 2022).
The 3AM Theory (Wright, 2011) provides further insight into this relationship by suggesting that individuals acquire new behavioral scripts through media exposure (Acquisition). These scripts can later be triggered by similar media content (Activation) and applied in real-life situations (Application). According to this model, pornography provides consumers with sexual scripts where violence is depicted as normal, acceptable, and even enjoyable.
The activation of such scripts is influenced by content-related factors (e.g., attractiveness), individual characteristics (e.g., gender, motivations), situational factors (e.g., sexual arousal), and the accessibility of the script (e.g., vividness). The application of these scripts is further influenced by beliefs and moral standards. If a script conflicts with internal moral values, it may be suppressed (Wright, 2011).
The normalization of violent sexual behaviors in widely consumed media, such as pornography, contributes to the justification of violence during sexual encounters, shaping societal views on acceptable sexual practices.
Source here for the above two.
"Dark romance novels promote and romanticize abuse, illegal activity and a lack of consent. The novels have real-world implications and should not be dismissed just because they are fiction."
Source
Psychological research heavily links the consumption of media that glamorizes sexual assault to an increase in Rape Myth Acceptance. These myths are false cultural beliefs that excuse perpetrators and blame victims.
Source
2. "Fiction doesn't affect reality!"
Where did this narrative of "fiction doesn't affect reality" even come from? There are multiple real life examples that show the opposite.
Jaws is a fictional movie. Yet it lead caused a massive, wide-spread panic surrounding sharks and their "potential for bloodlust", leading to the overhunting of millions of sharks, almost to the point of near-extinction.
Minstrel shows were fictional depictions of black people, yet they managed to influence the perception of us as "stupid, violent and sexually immoral". Stereotypes we still struggle to shake to this day.
Media often presents manipulative relationship dynamics as evidence of deep, passionate love rather than abuse.
Stories like “Twilight” or “Fifty Shades” present controlling, possessive behavior as romantic devotion. Stalking becomes “persistent courtship,” isolation becomes “wanting to spend all our time together,” and manipulation becomes “caring so much that boundaries don’t matter.”
Romanticized portrayals can teach audiences that controlling behavior is normal or desirable in relationships. Dramatic portrayals can make people miss subtle real-world manipulation.
Source for the above two
A study published by Oxford University Press, called "Fantasy and Reality: What is the truth?" states;
When I discuss the effects of exposure to mass media with various audiences, one of the comments I hear most often is that anyone old enough to “know the difference between fantasy and reality” is not affected by media content. In other words, fictional stories do not influence us because we “know they are not real.” This fantasy/ reality argument represents a major misunderstanding of the psychology of the media…
An article published in association with the American Academy Of Political and Social Sciences, called "The Impact of Factual versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes" states;
Sociological research suggests that human minds are hardwired to first accept everything we comprehend as true, and only later exert the mental energy to evaluate and reject what is false. Because fiction bypasses our natural skepticism, it serves as one of the most potent forces shaping human culture, law, and empathy.
3. "I use it to process my trauma!"
That behavior is known as "reenacting" your trauma. It does not help.
In general, reenactments are an unconscious attempt to reconcile, reframe, or repair a trauma that occurred in childhood. Sexual reenactments are no different. Most sexual reenactments originate due to childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault in adolescence or adulthood. Although not every former victim of sexual violence will have a need to reenact their trauma, many do. This is because most sexual trauma goes unprocessed. Most sexual abuse victims don’t talk about it due to feelings of shame and the fear that they will not be believed. Many try to put it in the past the way friends and family encourage them to do. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work, and they end up reenacting the abuse in some way. As it is with other forms of abuse, typically, former victims tend to either reenact their trauma by continuing to be victimized or by becoming abusive.
Source
Ongoing reenactments are a reflection that a patient is continuing to act in stuck and rigidified ways. In addition, reenactments often lead to revictimization and related feelings of shame, helplessness, and hopelessness. Consequently, an important goal of treatment is facilitating an understanding and control of reenactments. Reenactments are caused in part by powerful unconscious forces that must eventually be verbalized and understood. Thus, in order to address reenactments and to break their repetitiveness, the therapist should help the individual to understand why they occur. However, before proceeding into this phase of treatment and exploring past traumatic relationships and experiences, the therapist must first have achieved a strong and solid therapeutic alliance with the patient. In addition, the patient's safety must be firmly established, and any acute problem areas, such as chemical abuse problems or ongoing self-destructive behavior, need to be stabilized. Once these issues have been resolved, exploratory therapy may begin.
Source
It is a maladaptive coping strategy which functions much like a band aid on a bullet wound.
Using sexual content to cope can reinforce traumatic neural pathways or lead to an escalation in the intensity of content needed to achieve the same numbing effect, potentially recreating aspects of the trauma.
You are not healing. You are numbing yourself, and you think that because you don't feel anything you are fine. This is not fine.
Experts do recommend interacting with the cause of your trauma, but not through violent pornographic material. Experts recommend addressing the root causes of the trauma through trauma-focused therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) rather than relying on sexual behaviors, which are viewed as symptoms of unresolved distress rather than solutions.
4. "Anti-ship is pro-censorship!"
According to Marriam Webster, the act of censoring is defined as;
Let me be clear when I say this;
Anti-shippers do not want these topics to be removed from media as a whole.
There are many tasteful ways that these topics can be explored in a narrative which can make for great storytelling and help victims feel represented.
All we want is for these topics to be taken seriously, and not portrayed as something good or acceptable.
5. "Anti-shippers are puritans!"
It's honestly so funny to see y'all misuse that word all the time.
Actual Puritans are against sex being in media as a whole, whether it's vanilla or not.
Actual Puritans are religious fanatics who believe a parasocial relationship with god is the only means of salvation from sin.
Anti-shippers don't want that. Anti-shippers want you to stop wanking it to written/drawn child porn.
Anti-shippers do not want sex to be entirely removed from any piece of media.
So we do not meet the dictionary definition or historical characteristics of actual Puritans and, therefore, cannot correctly be referred to as Puritanical.
Do your research before you go name-calling.
6. "Anti-shippers are fascist!"
What exactly relates fascism with anti-shipping?
Fascism is the belief that your nation and/or race are above all others. How does that correlate with being against the romanticization of abuse?
7. "Anti-shippers are perpetuating purity culture!"
Again with the misused terms 🤦🏽♀️
8. "Don't like, don't read!"
Is just another form of anti-intellectualism. The fandom equivalent of "it's not that deep". If you don't want to be criticized, then don't post it.
9. "Video Games make you violent hur de hur!"
Video game violence doesn't hijack your dopamine pathways the way sexual content does.
The sheer flood of positive chemicals released during sexual gratification can be accurately compared to doing hard drugs - the only difference is that hard drugs prolong the chemical flood to unnatural lengths.
Video game violence, on the other hand, simply reduces emotional and violent impulse control. It doesn't necessarily "make you violent", it just shortens your fuse.
source
Violent sexual content is a completely different ball game. And according to the studies provided above, it does, indeed affect you negatively.
10. "They're just pixels, we're not hurting anyone!"
Sure, they are just pixels. But that's how it all starts.
It's not the fictional characters we're worried about - they're fictional, after all - its the consumers of that content.
Pedophilia, zoophilia, necrophilia and the like are paraphilic disorders.
A paraphilia is defined as;
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition; DSM-5), paraphilias are defined as any “intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physiologically mature, consenting human partners”
Not all paraphilias are bad, they only become bad when they involve harming others (i.e. pedophiles harming children, zoophiles harming animals). Then, it is known as a paraphilic disorder.
An article on Paraphilia published on MD Searchlight says;
These types of disorders often lead to harming others, which can result in legal problems. This fear of getting into trouble with the law can discourage these individuals from seeking help. Generally, those who do get professional help are often required to do so by law, or persuaded by their family, friends, or partners.
An article published by Psychology Today, on Paraphilias, says;
Behaviorists suggest that paraphilias begin through a process of conditioning: Nonsexual things can become sexually arousing if they are repeatedly associated with pleasurable sexual activity.
The process of encouraging a paraphilia by repeatedly viewing or masturbating to related content is called "habituation".
And, in the context of harmful paraphilias, refers to a behavioral escalation where the individual becomes desensitized to the initial stimulus, leading to an increased need for stimulation or more extreme behaviors to achieve the same level of sexual arousal.
Read up on "Drug Habituation", which is very similar.
Eventually, jerking off isn't going to be enough.
Eventually, fictional sexual material of children and animals are not going to be enough.
The thing about paraphilias is that they escalate. You may think that they're small and harmless for now, but, with continued encouragement, it only gets worse.
The same way a drug addict becomes tolerant to a lower dose and begins to seek higher and more dangerous ones, you will eventually see fiction as insufficient and move on to harming real people.
Danny, after a close call with identities and the league: we have to tell them at some point, maybe they'll understand. . .
Billy holding Danny by the shoulders, trying to literally shake sense into him: Danny. We are two black-haired, blue-eyed, vigillante teenagers. I'm homeless and your parents are actively hunting you. My name is literally Batson. This is no longer just about age. Unless you want to become a rich Gotham kid, you better lie like your life depends on it!
OK FUN FACT i also thought this picture was hilarious when i encountered it a few months ago, so i was curious how it ended up on wikipedia
it turns out the uploader is in fact the woman in the photo (she's uploaded a few other pictures of herself to other articles) and she ran an extremely web 1.0 site on the topic of bondage
this was apparently a long-standing fantasy of hers and she in fact did an entire video plus accompanying photoshoot about it, which was run in a bondage magazine in the 90s and did in fact take place on an abandoned train track. they committed to the bit hard enough that there's even a shot of the sinister villain looming over her with a big document labeled DEED and a pen
the best part is that according to this page, there were two "villains" involved (the woman's two partners, apparently), and the other one was dressed as a gorilla. sadly there are no images of the gorilla kidnapper because that sounds like. even funnier.
anyway i thought this whole thing was kinda cute, lol
I mean this in genuine way, but how are you against pro shipping (an ideology based around being able to separate fiction from reality) and you still like horror? I thought that you believe that apparently what you like in media represents your morality in real life so therefore do you condone violence?
so! great question actually. i genuinely wish proshippers would leave me alone but i guess yall keep coming back lmao.
i DO believe it’s important to be able to separate fiction from reality, it’s a very important skill. i DONT believe there should be sexualization of trauma, abuse, or assault.
i don’t believe the media you enjoy represents what you like in real life in most cases, horror is a very wide spread genre.
however, i do believe if you push abusive relationships and whatnot onto characters, and continuously feed into it like “oh he rapes her so good” or whatever (something i’ve actually seen) it’s unhealthy. espically whenever i’ve seen CHILDREN in these communities having adults willfully interact with them.
not to mention, everything has to be taken in with a level of moderation. i can’t watch horror all the time because it will scare me, and effect my mood. i think the same for toxic dynamics.
i don’t mind people trying to show abusive relationships in media or using characters to cope with their own. i don’t like when people are taking trauma millions go through (and many proshippers THEMSELVES haven’t gone through) and making it seem like it is to be desired.
now i’m begging yall to leave me alone. i have a job and everytime one of yall interact with me it makes me #anxious
Yes, the characters and the scenarios they're in are fictional, but the chemical surge in your brain from frequent exposure and/or sexual gratification derived from viewing that stuff is very much real.
Your reward center can't tell the difference between what's fictional and what's not. It doesn't go "oh, this child is not real, I'd better turn of the chemical reactions!" It just gets bombarded with a crap-ton of feel-good chemicals and associates that goodness with whatever stimulus caused the arousal.
If you consistently view content of, for example, children being sexualized, where that pedophilia is painted as acceptable and enjoyed, you are conditioning an arousal response to children and/or childlike characteristics.
You can go on and on about how you're immune and fiction can't affect you, but you aren't. Psychology says so;
The sexual script approach has been widely used in the literature to examine the relationship between pornography consumption and the endorsement of specific sexual attitudes and behaviors (Wright et al., 2022).
The 3AM Theory (Wright, 2011) provides further insight into this relationship by suggesting that individuals acquire new behavioral scripts through media exposure (Acquisition). These scripts can later be triggered by similar media content (Activation) and applied in real-life situations (Application). According to this model, pornography provides consumers with sexual scripts where violence is depicted as normal, acceptable, and even enjoyable.
The activation of such scripts is influenced by content-related factors (e.g., attractiveness), individual characteristics (e.g., gender, motivations), situational factors (e.g., sexual arousal), and the accessibility of the script (e.g., vividness). The application of these scripts is further influenced by beliefs and moral standards. If a script conflicts with internal moral values, it may be suppressed (Wright, 2011).
The normalization of violent sexual behaviors in widely consumed media, such as pornography, contributes to the justification of violence during sexual encounters, shaping societal views on acceptable sexual practices.
Source here for the above two.
"Dark romance novels promote and romanticize abuse, illegal activity and a lack of consent. The novels have real-world implications and should not be dismissed just because they are fiction."
Source
Psychological research heavily links the consumption of media that glamorizes sexual assault to an increase in Rape Myth Acceptance. These myths are false cultural beliefs that excuse perpetrators and blame victims.
Source
2. "Fiction doesn't affect reality!"
Where did this narrative of "fiction doesn't affect reality" even come from? There are multiple real life examples that show the opposite.
Jaws is a fictional movie. Yet it lead caused a massive, wide-spread panic surrounding sharks and their "potential for bloodlust", leading to the overhunting of millions of sharks, almost to the point of near-extinction.
Minstrel shows were fictional depictions of black people, yet they managed to influence the perception of us as "stupid, violent and sexually immoral". Stereotypes we still struggle to shake to this day.
Media often presents manipulative relationship dynamics as evidence of deep, passionate love rather than abuse.
Stories like “Twilight” or “Fifty Shades” present controlling, possessive behavior as romantic devotion. Stalking becomes “persistent courtship,” isolation becomes “wanting to spend all our time together,” and manipulation becomes “caring so much that boundaries don’t matter.”
Romanticized portrayals can teach audiences that controlling behavior is normal or desirable in relationships. Dramatic portrayals can make people miss subtle real-world manipulation.
Source for the above two
A study published by Oxford University Press, called "Fantasy and Reality: What is the truth?" states;
When I discuss the effects of exposure to mass media with various audiences, one of the comments I hear most often is that anyone old enough to “know the difference between fantasy and reality” is not affected by media content. In other words, fictional stories do not influence us because we “know they are not real.” This fantasy/ reality argument represents a major misunderstanding of the psychology of the media…
An article published in association with the American Academy Of Political and Social Sciences, called "The Impact of Factual versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes" states;
Sociological research suggests that human minds are hardwired to first accept everything we comprehend as true, and only later exert the mental energy to evaluate and reject what is false. Because fiction bypasses our natural skepticism, it serves as one of the most potent forces shaping human culture, law, and empathy.
3. "I use it to process my trauma!"
That behavior is known as "reenacting" your trauma. It does not help.
In general, reenactments are an unconscious attempt to reconcile, reframe, or repair a trauma that occurred in childhood. Sexual reenactments are no different. Most sexual reenactments originate due to childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault in adolescence or adulthood. Although not every former victim of sexual violence will have a need to reenact their trauma, many do. This is because most sexual trauma goes unprocessed. Most sexual abuse victims don’t talk about it due to feelings of shame and the fear that they will not be believed. Many try to put it in the past the way friends and family encourage them to do. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work, and they end up reenacting the abuse in some way. As it is with other forms of abuse, typically, former victims tend to either reenact their trauma by continuing to be victimized or by becoming abusive.
Source
Ongoing reenactments are a reflection that a patient is continuing to act in stuck and rigidified ways. In addition, reenactments often lead to revictimization and related feelings of shame, helplessness, and hopelessness. Consequently, an important goal of treatment is facilitating an understanding and control of reenactments. Reenactments are caused in part by powerful unconscious forces that must eventually be verbalized and understood. Thus, in order to address reenactments and to break their repetitiveness, the therapist should help the individual to understand why they occur. However, before proceeding into this phase of treatment and exploring past traumatic relationships and experiences, the therapist must first have achieved a strong and solid therapeutic alliance with the patient. In addition, the patient's safety must be firmly established, and any acute problem areas, such as chemical abuse problems or ongoing self-destructive behavior, need to be stabilized. Once these issues have been resolved, exploratory therapy may begin.
Source
It is a maladaptive coping strategy which functions much like a band aid on a bullet wound.
Using sexual content to cope can reinforce traumatic neural pathways or lead to an escalation in the intensity of content needed to achieve the same numbing effect, potentially recreating aspects of the trauma.
You are not healing. You are numbing yourself, and you think that because you don't feel anything you are fine. This is not fine.
Experts do recommend interacting with the cause of your trauma, but not through violent pornographic material. Experts recommend addressing the root causes of the trauma through trauma-focused therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) rather than relying on sexual behaviors, which are viewed as symptoms of unresolved distress rather than solutions.
4. "Anti-ship is pro-censorship!"
According to Marriam Webster, the act of censoring is defined as;
Let me be clear when I say this;
Anti-shippers do not want these topics to be removed from media as a whole.
There are many tasteful ways that these topics can be explored in a narrative which can make for great storytelling and help victims feel represented.
All we want is for these topics to be taken seriously, and not portrayed as something good or acceptable.
5. "Anti-shippers are puritans!"
It's honestly so funny to see y'all misuse that word all the time.
Actual Puritans are against sex being in media as a whole, whether it's vanilla or not.
Actual Puritans are religious fanatics who believe a parasocial relationship with god is the only means of salvation from sin.
Anti-shippers don't want that. Anti-shippers want you to stop wanking it to written/drawn child porn.
Anti-shippers do not want sex to be entirely removed from any piece of media.
So we do not meet the dictionary definition or historical characteristics of actual Puritans and, therefore, cannot correctly be referred to as Puritanical.
Do your research before you go name-calling.
6. "Anti-shippers are fascist!"
What exactly relates fascism with anti-shipping?
Fascism is the belief that your nation and/or race are above all others. How does that correlate with being against the romanticization of abuse?
7. "Anti-shippers are perpetuating purity culture!"
Again with the misused terms 🤦🏽♀️
8. "Don't like, don't read!"
Is just another form of anti-intellectualism. The fandom equivalent of "it's not that deep". If you don't want to be criticized, then don't post it.
9. "Video Games make you violent hur de hur!"
Video game violence doesn't hijack your dopamine pathways the way sexual content does.
The sheer flood of positive chemicals released during sexual gratification can be accurately compared to doing hard drugs - the only difference is that hard drugs prolong the chemical flood to unnatural lengths.
Video game violence, on the other hand, simply reduces emotional and violent impulse control. It doesn't necessarily "make you violent", it just shortens your fuse.
source
Violent sexual content is a completely different ball game. And according to the studies provided above, it does, indeed affect you negatively.
10. "They're just pixels, we're not hurting anyone!"
Sure, they are just pixels. But that's how it all starts.
It's not the fictional characters we're worried about - they're fictional, after all - its the consumers of that content.
Pedophilia, zoophilia, necrophilia and the like are paraphilic disorders.
A paraphilia is defined as;
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition; DSM-5), paraphilias are defined as any “intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physiologically mature, consenting human partners”
Not all paraphilias are bad, they only become bad when they involve harming others (i.e. pedophiles harming children, zoophiles harming animals). Then, it is known as a paraphilic disorder.
An article on Paraphilia published on MD Searchlight says;
These types of disorders often lead to harming others, which can result in legal problems. This fear of getting into trouble with the law can discourage these individuals from seeking help. Generally, those who do get professional help are often required to do so by law, or persuaded by their family, friends, or partners.
An article published by Psychology Today, on Paraphilias, says;
Behaviorists suggest that paraphilias begin through a process of conditioning: Nonsexual things can become sexually arousing if they are repeatedly associated with pleasurable sexual activity.
The process of encouraging a paraphilia by repeatedly viewing or masturbating to related content is called "habituation".
And, in the context of harmful paraphilias, refers to a behavioral escalation where the individual becomes desensitized to the initial stimulus, leading to an increased need for stimulation or more extreme behaviors to achieve the same level of sexual arousal.
Read up on "Drug Habituation", which is very similar.
Eventually, jerking off isn't going to be enough.
Eventually, fictional sexual material of children and animals are not going to be enough.
The thing about paraphilias is that they escalate. You may think that they're small and harmless for now, but, with continued encouragement, it only gets worse.
The same way a drug addict becomes tolerant to a lower dose and begins to seek higher and more dangerous ones, you will eventually see fiction as insufficient and move on to harming real people.
"consensual grooming" grooming is never consensual dipshit . saying that shit is deeply ingrained within victim-blaming and rape culture whether you like it or not .
victims never "consent," implying they do is quite literally fueling these exact systems that are holding back victims from speaking out, even more so if they are women, fem-presenting or fem-aligned .
as an actual grooming victim; my trauma is not your fucking fetish . genuinely go fuck yourself you disgusting predatory piece of shit . just say you're a fucking pedo and get it over with so we know to put you on a list .
Here's me trying to interpret how Danny's hazmat suit would look like if it were more realistic, based on my experience with biohazard PPE.
I feel like I also need to add a disclaimer to not use this as safety advice. Please consult your local health and safety guidelines prior to handling ectoplasm, ecto-contaminated materials, and/or ectobiological organisms!
I was today years old when I learnt about what those symbols in Aboriginal art represented I honestly can't believe we never got taught that, even when I was studying art. I always assumed they had meaning but no one [no white person] had ever bothered to mention it. I'm glad I learnt something new today.
Yeah, I think a lot of people tend to look down on Aboriginal art because they think it's a form of abstract art that is just lines and shapes but almost all of them tell a story. Sometimes it's a very obvious story, such as the emu dreaming where the waterhole flooded, and sometimes it's more symbolic.
the circle in the middle is a waterhole/dam or billabong. The squiggly lines coming out of it are small rivers. the dots represent the earth but because they are in neat lines, it almost feels as if they have been flattened by the flooded water, especially as the vector lines draw out from the waterhole in the middle. the emu tracks are heading toward the waterhole, and the three lines in the middle are marks left by their tail, implying that they are wading through the mud to get there.
It's a birdseye view of a moment just after the waterhole floods and afterwards the emus go looking for food.
It's Interesting, because the original artist D. J. Ross was from Yuendumu which is in central australia, so this would have been a rare time that there was enough rain to flood the waterhole.
Dreaming stories, kinship links, sacred rites, keeping track of biodiversity and songlines are some other topics covered by Aboriginal art.
In the same way monet painted the middle class and the local landscape in the late 1800's/early 1900's Aboriginal people also paint the average lifestyle of our people. It just looks different.
For example, this picture shows a LOT of activity. The men at the top left of the picture are doing a cultural burn near and around a sacred site, the women at the bottom left are digging for food. across the river, on the right the people are preparing food and in the center, two people (presumably elders) are preparing for a ceremony.
I wouldn't say these all happened at the same time, more that this was a common undertaking over a set of time.
it takes time to understand and not all symbols are the same in all areas, but once you do understand them it becomes easier to see the story being told.
So yeah, I hope this gives you the chance to look at Aboriginal art with new eyes
Here's some Aboriginal art in my home that OP recommended me to share! This art is from Edward Blitner, who is a recognized contemporary Aboriginal artist from Naiyarindji. This piece is titled Lightning Man & Kangaroos and depicts a figure from Aboriginal mythology that is commonly referred to as Mamaragan or "Lightning Man" in English, as well as two kangaroos fighting.
There are so many Aboriginal artists out there that you can support, and many of them go unrecognized. Take a peek if you're in Australia and see if your local galleries carry any!
I don't care, I ship it! @purplemermaidprincess7 - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
