[Stephanie Brim]

I don't recall the specifics of the chat - I don't have a transcript so I won't argue the accuracy or inaccuracy of other people's recall of a conversation over four years ago. But I did NOT advocate someone else post what he thought would be a controversial image for the sake of stirring controversy. In fact, I was talking with said individual because he approached me and said he wanted fame through controversy, and did I think it would be a good way. I told him to post the image if he wanted to post the image, wanted feedback, and was prepared for whatever reaction it generated.

I've never said I was unaware of the potential for controversy of my image. I knew it would probably tweak a few folks - the same folks who had been previously posting hateful comments on other male nudes that I had posted and should have never been controversial. But why do you consider my response of posting that image to be either meritous of the outrage, or disproportionate as a response to the contemporaneous conversation about nudes and censorship? In case you didn't notice, I sat there and took my lumps when the image caused controversy, and I took them with grace. You could say the image itself was disrespectful (I'd disagree with that), but you can't say I handled any of the responses with anything other than respect.

I can't remember whether or not I was there. I probably have logs on the other computer, but it's heavy and I'm NOT lugging it up from the basement. I do remember the image, though, and I'm glad you left it up.

I think that shaming, whether body shaming or sexuality shaming, is horrendous. I think that sometimes women are objectified in photographs, but that Sanders and Emil are not the ones doing it. I think that a portrait of an erect penis is not pornographic because it's just a penis, but there are some poses that photographers put women in that could definitely be considered as such. I think that the image was a *perfect* response to the conversation, and proved admirably that there is an obvious bias against male sexuality in photography that simply isn't there when it comes to female sexuality. I also think that it is vitally important to keep encouraging people who make a statement with their photography to continue doing the work. Controversy tends to breed discussion, and discussion can, at times, bring changes in thinking.