Dear Corri,

I too have issues with nude portraits of children.

I stated my views quite clearly during the Henson
debate.

And as I stated then, I don't expect others to
agree with me.

Art is subjective and does reflect the society
in which it was created.

Today we have a society filled with child and
familial abuse - so yes, nude pictures of six to
12 year old children does disturb me (- regardless
of what the child or her father in this case,
says). Also, why bring up the photograph now?
Why was there no refence to it during the Henson
debate? I imagine Henson could have used the
support at that time.

Why cant art be exploitative?

Steel Mann makes a very good point which gets ignored in all this. Amid the outcry and demands for banning the photography of nude kids, there are thousands of kids suffering dreadful abuse of a very concrete kind, but you don't see endless forums carrying on about it. Why is that?

A few weeks ago when those 18 month old twins were left to die in their cots while the family went on with life as usual around them. Why weren't there dozens of posts and pages long comments threads about that?

Have we come to the point where something is only real if we can see a photo of it in a newspaper or footage on tv? There are abused and neglected kids in every suburb in the country, yet we get all fired up and outraged over a photo a mother took of her daughter. What does that order of priority say about us?

I've said it before but a huge part of this is coming from activist, socialist feminists.

Exploiting the maternal instinct and misandry in our political system is a key factor and has been for the last couple of decades when it has come to censorship. Again as with the religious the moderates (feminists) have no influence, the core group are constantly barraging our politicians and media with complaints and well-disguised arguments as to why such-and-such should be banned and is abusing something or someone.

Even Foxy here has been fooled into thinking that an artwork with a naked child who volunteered and is happy with it SOMEHOW is connected with child abuse. When it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

No one here has mentioned that between the Henson and Olympia episodes, the exhibition by a female artist in Victoria of two naked 11 year old boys in support of Henson...yet now now we see a similar 'furore' to Henson. It's coming from somewhere and it's coming from socialist feminists (as well as the religious puritans like Rudd).

Steel, this goes back to my original question - would this have been as explosive had it been a boy? Even 11 year olds?

To ChainSmoker, I'd add that I also tried to raise the issue of child exploitation generally - but it is not as sensational as artistic nudity. Unfortunately it is the media that grabs our mindspace and, for a large part, feeds our intellectual diet. But this is also another form of censorship.

Steel, your comment that Olympia "volunteered and is happy with it" I think also goes to the question of whether a 6 year old encouraged by her mother to pose naked was able to make a reasoned decision. Of course she was happy with it ... it made her mum happy. But was it exploitation? I am not shying away for exploitation in other areas, but this is the one that has grabbed our headlines.

So you care aobut exploitation? Look at farmers across Australia who use their children as free labour.

You are dismissing the opinions of a child. It's completely disingenuous. People such as Rudd are treating children like mindless animals and zombies, who are unthinking beings who have no ability to reason. That is patently absurd and it's why children don't go around stabbing other children with knives.

The real disgrace and outrage is that KRudd is *daring* to question the child and her mother and calling them irresponsible and disgusting in public (as with the Henson model). Mentally what do you think that does to the child? Telling her that her mother should be locked up for something like this? One day she is happy and proud of the photograph. The next some vile politician starts using it for political purposes and calling her immoral. That is the outrage. Our PM should be apologising to the girl and her mother. It's a disgrace.