So, choice… By definition, choice is “an act of choosing between two or
more possibilities” and by definition choosing is to “pick out (someone
or something) as being the best or most appropriate of two or more
alternatives”

Why choice you might wonder? It is because I have a question relating to choice:

Is it your very own choice and truly a representation of yourself, if somebody or an organisation has influenced and manipulated; you, the people you know, the people
you don’t know and the entire environment or situation, to only allow
for a single option or outcome that they have dictated?

It is no coincidence that many might “choose” censorship. To “choose” the
only option provides us with this sense of ownership and control over
something that we are entirely influenced and manipulated into believing
is the only option.

There is more than one type of censorship though and you have to be aware of
that. There is self-censorship and forced censorship. Pretty self-explanatory, one is a personal choice the other is not. Side by side self-censorship can be overlooked, especially around the genre of nude portraiture and especially in an environment where forced censorship is enforced and dominant. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if
self-censorship is a genuine choice, a coping mechanism or if it is influenced by the presence of forced censorship.

In this case (the environment of Instagram), there is no such thing as
Self-censorship. Why? Because self-censorship is dictated to us,
therefore making it forced censorship and the only outcome available.

For it to be about censorship alone, it seemingly brands any male human
being who mentions the word as maybe a pervert, creepy or controlling of
someone elses body. If that were the case, I personally would not be spending hours,
days and weeks thinking long and hard and writing my thoughts down.

As a qualified photographer, photography is absolutely about more than
just the subject, shoot day, a finished work, being creative, being
social or socially accepted, trying to heal something on the surface or
deep within yourself or others. It’s about more than popularity, fame,
numbers, followers and likes. And lastly, it is certainly about more
than just nipples or any other hidden part of the human body.

Photography always conveys something more. Whatever that may be on an individual
level, censorship is there to suppress nude portraiture and tarnish it
as dangerous or wrong. Whether it be from a viewers
perspective or as a creator, there is no individual choice. Censorship
is entirely enforced upon us within this broad social setting.

But it isn’t about Censorship! It is about choice and how long term dictative
actions, manipulation and abuse can change and distort our genuine and
most natural thoughts and feelings, stripping us of the ability to
formulate our very own choices and break free from this web of
manipulated entrapment.

To “choose” an environment where censorship is enforced, is to encourage and show support for dictative control, social abuse and manipulation… No ifs, no buts, it is as clear as daylight.

You know as well as I do that very few things will ever look like they did close to 100 years ago. Dismissing the presence of dictative techniques in a modern and online world is dangerous and opens the door to a completely new breed of control, not over a country but a huge portion of the global population. Of course, no dictatorship will ever
look as dangerous or as threatening as those that failed in the past…

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