Vanilla,

Keep it up by all means, but be aware that the law does not see things the way you do. You can keep punching out your ideas on right and wrong as much as you wish. The law says that children must be protected from bad adults, idiot adults (including parents)and from themselves until they are old enough to make rational decisions for themselves.

After they reach their majority, they can do as they damn well please. Until then, they are protected from people like you who, while you might not be another Henson, have been supporting him most loudly.

The law wins over personal opinions on such matters every time.

I have to say that I am astounded by some of the posts here and the opinions expressed. What a divergence of views! One thing stands out for me and that's the inevitable bias promulgated by the religious devotees who have obviously been brainwashed into thinking that anything the bible says is sinful, so it must be that way

I am getting on in years now (well over 70)but memories of my youth were hardly "innocent" in the terms that most like to categorise children. By the time I was 10 there wasn't much I didn't know about the human body. Perhaps this was because the two boarding schools I attended in the UK had a very open and healthy attitude towards this sort of thing. Both schools had their own swimming pools and we always swam naked even in the sports events and we all considered it quite normal and certainly not sexual in any way, so from the age of 9 until I left school at 18, it was a breath of fresh air not to hide from puritanical and religious conservatism. Over the years I have posed for numerous art classes and am totally happy with the way I am naked or otherwise and feel it is only in the minds of the deviate that forces him/her to want all this censorship. It is impossible to legislate for all the minorities. It is that way we lose our freedom. So Steel,Morgan and particularly Vanilla and Fractelle, keep up the good work with your eloquent and articulate arguments

I was 12 years old when I presented my Religious Instruction teacher with an essay on why I had decided I was an agnostic, citing some of the many contradictions in the bible and that much of what was presented as truth was scientifically impossible.

I have not altered my opinion regarding religion, if anything I have simply become further convinced and am now an atheist regarding the god as described in the bible.

While that is a personal anecdote, and I have no idea how I would've felt about being asked to pose nude for an established artist at that age (I was very shy), I was by no means an devoid of any idea of consequences for my actions.

Many people who are aghast at the Henson photos are behaving as if the girl is a mental vacuum. While she is most certainly NOT sexually mature, neither were the photos sexually suggestive. Having viewed a couple, anyone thinking that these atmospheric photos are pornographic should seriously consider psychiatric help.

PS

MR Right, two points:

1. Law is subject to change
2. The law is an ass (Charles Dickens)

Oliver writes
'Some cultures cover-up: some cultures don't cover-up. Especially, say three hundred years ago, in less economically/technically, people often went naked. There was no guilt.'

Some cultures give their young daughters to uncles and some cultures sodomize their boys. And guess what? There is no guilt. So what does it say about this cultural practice?

Mr Right,

Perhaps. The law is subjective, and already prosecutors at the DPP are arguing over how the Queen v Henson might play out. Henson's pictures, as Fractelle points out, aren't sexually suggestive, so they can only be prosecuted if nudity itself is deemed sexual.

It's going to be fascinating, legally.

I'd also like to add that there's not one person posting on this board that I don't believe has the best interests of children as their primary consideration. There is enormous, enormous disagreement about how those interests are best served. They very fact that we are all here, furiously typing, and getting ourselves into knots of anguish proves that we want children to be protected.

I also think it's worth stressing yet again the point Gynx made above — you don't have to have a mucky mind to interpret these images as sexual.

I must say, I've never received so many insults in such a short space of time in my life. I make people sick to their stomachs, I'd be an unfit parent suitable to be interviewed by the police, I'm a pseudo-intellectual who's totally up myself, I'm heavy handed. I'm collecting them - keep 'em coming!

One thing a couple of people observe in me is a dislike of people disagreeing with me. Of course, you may think what you want, but I — ironically — disagree. I love dissent, and I'm really enjoying the way the whole country is suddenly talking about art and photography and Bill Henson and what's appropriate and inappropriate. Where we draw the line in the sand. Whatever we come up with, this discussion helps.

One thing I've learned about child sexual abuse of any kind is that one of the biggest challenges is disclosure — getting kids to admit it's happening to them. Disclosure is everything — once you know, you can catch the perp and stop them abusing. It seems to me this public conversation could possibly encourage some kids to tell others that they've experienced something inappropriate. I dunno, maybe it's wishful thinking, but you never know.

runner,

I am not saying sodomy is okay nor any perversions. I said that some society's do cover-up, whilst others don't. stop.

It would be inappropriate to go naked around a Western capital city. But in the remote highlands of New Guinea, perhaps it is okay. My point was that not all societies feel guilty about displaying their bodies. Genesis alludes humanity felt guilty about "guilty" and to original sin. When A&E were on their guilt trip, there may many a Pacific islander happy to have a dip in the wave in the-all-togther without any guilt or misbehaviour.

Of course, there are moral issues regarding actvities beyond this simply-stated anthropological fact.