Censoring Sexuality in the Arts Since the beginning of their existence, art and artists have fallen victim

to censorship. The second amendment of the Bill of Rights states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Lets focus on the freedom of speech, shall we? The freedom of speech or expression allows any US citizen to express himself in any means he chooses, so long as he does not infringe on the rights of others. More and more artists works are becoming censored due to their portrayal of the naked human body. People become offended that a person would create such perverse and obscene works, when really they are the ones being offensive. When a true artist paints an image of a woman in the nude, he is not doing it to have something to drool over later that night; he is capturing the beauty of the human body, uninhibited by material things. Others take those things and turn the artists motives around on them. It is those who are too caught up in their own bigoted ways, too closed minded to see things for what they truly are, that are turning works of art into works of pornography.

The government is now telling artists that their pieces cannot be displayed in galleries due to their graphic nature when they are simply a study of the human body. Some of the most recognized works of art are those of naked human bodies. Michelangelos Creation of Adam painted on the ceiling of the roof of the Sistine Chapel originally depicted God and Adam in complete nakedness, along with his nude statue of David. Les Demoiselles dAvignon by the cubist, Picasso, Premonition of Civil War by Salvador Dali, they all illustrate the human body in its rawest form. Perhaps one of the most recognized sketches in the entire world, the Vitruvian Man, found in Da Vincis notebook, is that of a fully naked man! What if the creative genius of those remarkable artists had been stifled, and their works never displayed? Art now would be so incredibly different. Who is to say that we dont have artists among us today that will one day impact as many people as the Old Masters of art have? If the government continues to drag down the creativity of modern artists, it wont be because I havent tried my very best to do something about it! Its time to stand up! Stand up for what we know is right! We must rid ourselves of artistic censorship! The second amendment spells it out pretty clearly; an artist should be allowed to express himself even if that includes creating works of people sporting nothing more than a nice tan.

The artist has just as much right to paint a picture as you have to not look at it. Thank you.