by Marty Coleman | Sep 13, 2012 | Mark Twain, Naked vs Nude - 2012 |
Nipplegate
The New Yorker posted a funny cartoon online this week. It was taken off Facebook by its censors because it violated the terms of service. The violation was that it showed ‘nipple bulge’. In truth it showed a cartoon Adam and Eve sitting down leaning against a tree. They were naked, as you might expect. The drawing had 2 small ink dashes for Adam’s nipples. Those weren’t violations. Then they had 2 ink dots for Eve’s nipples. Those were violations of the ban on ‘nipple bulge’ (their words, not mine).
Here are the offending and non-offending marks.
- Not Offensive
- Offensive
It is the height of absurdity and The New Yorker wrote their own blog post about it that I think you would get a kick out of.
NIPPLEGATE
Then FB reversed it’s decision and decided to allow the cartoon. The New Yorker however did not trust them and so posted an even more inflammatory and provocative cartoon. You can see it if you dare.
NIPPLEGATE – The Exciting Conclusion
I meanwhile, in support of The New Yorker, have posted my own offending marks. They are behind the tree in the drawing above.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Mark Twain
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 12, 2012 | Mae West |
I read a great article online about Decision Making in the New York Times Magazine this morning. It led me to today’s drawing and topic. I will link to the magazine at the bottom of the page.
It’s All Your Fault
If you only had more willpower. If you only learned to discipline yourself. If you only weren’t so spoiled, gluttonous, slothful, lazy, indulgent, selfish, stupid, immature and short-sighted. If only you had more glucose. WHAT? Glucose?
Well ok, it’s Your Brain’s Fault
Once again, science is making progress in understanding who we are, how we work and what we can do to improve. There has been a number of studies in recent years that go under the heading of Decision Fatigue and Ego Depletion. What do those terms mean? Decision fatigue is the phenomenon whereby each decision you make in a day diminishes your willpower and ability to make subsequent decisions. Your brain acts like a muscle in the sense that it gets tired after so much exercise that it really can’t work that well anymore. Ego Depletion is when your ability to retain your decision making skills at your ego’s normal level is diminished. That is why we tend to make bad decisions (or can’t make one at all) in the afternoon or evening, after a long day of decision making. But why is this? Well, research seems to be indicating that the reason is a depletion of glucose in the brain. Sugar basically. it doesn’t stop the brain from working, it just stunts the decision making areas of the brain.
Parole in the Afternoon
In a study of Israeli parole boards they found that being brought up for parole in the early morning, right after breakfast, the convict had a much better chance of recieving parole than a criminal with the same sentence for the same crime had if he came before the parole board late in the morning, before lunch, or late in the afternoon. In all these cases the difference was the board members inability to decide, not the individual merits of the cases. Why was that? Because they had already made so many decisions that the best, easiest decision was to make none at all. Leave the decision for another day was the best choice in their decision fatigued mind. And what made their mind fatigued in this way? Lack of glucose.
The Dieting Catch 22
So, how does this apply to dieting? Dieting is all about will power, right? It’s all about deciding again and again and again, not to eat certain foods. What does that insistent decision making do? It depletes one’s ego, the person’s ability to make decisions in their best interest. So, what is needed to restore that ability to make the right choice in dieting? Eating is what is needed. What to eat? Sugar. How is that for a catch 22?
1. In order not to eat, a dieter needs willpower.
2. In order to have willpower, a dieter needs to eat. *
Moral failure vs Brain Science
One of the best things about our paying attention to scientific discoveries is that it lessens judgment but increases our ability to change and grow. It is the search for the truth that can help us, and the old, simplistic moral condemnation is ineffective (and alway have been) because it doesn’t help us understand and act on what the real truth is. And the real truth is that we must pay attention to our biology, our chemistry, our cultural and social behaviors and analyse them not with ignorant condemnation but with neutral and effective judgment.
Judge Yes
Judgment of self is not condemnation of self. It is realizing that you are doing this one thing and, without condemning yourself, that can decide that you will change doing that one thing into doing another thing. The truth is you won’t be more effective (and more likely will be less effective) by dumping a truckload of guilt on yourself in the process. It’s not an excuse and it’s not a license to do something bad. It is just a more effective and positive way to pursue the change you want to see in your life.
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? – New York Times Magazine 8/17/11
Let me know what you think of this.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Mae West
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 11, 2012 | American, Heroes - 2012, New York City |
9/11
In Memoriam
Total dead: too many
Total injured: too many
Total relatives and friends of the dead and injured: too many
Total military dead in subsequent wars: too many
Total military injured in subsequent wars: too many
Total relatives and friends of the war dead and injured: too many
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 10, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Banking on Care
I am not against bankers and I am not against banks. But I am against them saying they are one thing when they actually are another. Just like any other business, they, as a corporation, are not set up to care about you. They are set up to make money for their shareholders. That is what drives them and sustains their operations. If they don’t do that, the bosses lose their jobs and so do a lot of other people. That is how banks, insurance companies and other ‘service’ industry businesses work.
But what about when they say they care about you? The individuals in that bank or insurance company may indeed care about you for no other reason but that they do. But the company itself? It does not care about you in the same way. It cares about you as a paying customer, as a PR help, as a problem, as an easy mark, as a taker who isn’t making them much money, or any number of other designations. But the company itself doesn’t care about you.
Care in the Corner Office
The higher up the person in that company is, the less they can care about you. This is not because they are money grubbing capitalists. They might be giving away a ton of money to charity. They might be caring for their entire extended family. Then again, they might be money grubbing. But, even if the higher ups have a heart of gold, they are unlikely to care about you. Why? Because they don’t have contact with you. The higher up they are the more contact they have with the shareholders, not you. The shareholders care about you as a vehicle for them to make money. It sounds severe and cold and mean. But it isn’t. It’s just the way companies work.
Care is not a product
What matters isn’t if they care or not, it’s if the product they sell helps you or not. Their ads, their PR, their front man or woman in the branch office may all say we care, but since we aren’t naive enough to believe that, all that really matters is whether you are getting what you pay for. Pay attention to that and you won’t be under false expectations and let down when the truth comes out: they don’t care about you.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman
Quote by Mark Twain
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 7, 2012 | Naked vs Nude - 2012 |
Is It What It Is?
Do you investigate what you are afraid of? Do you purposely move towards it to find out what it is really all about? Read the story below for a great example.
The Naked Waitress and the Cop
Back in the 80s and 90s I taught beginning drawing and figure drawing at various community colleges around San Jose, California. I also was a waiter and manager at a local restaurant there named Eulipia. I asked a fellow waiter if she would want to model for pay for my figure drawing class and she said yes. The class went off without a hitch. A year later I asked her again and she said she wanted to but now had a boyfriend. The boyfriend happened to be a cop. He didn’t know about the modeling from the year before so she wanted to talk to him about it first. She came back a few days later and said she had talked to him and he was fine with it. A week later though she said he had kept asking questions, had said some not so subtle jabs about what he thought she really was doing. She was worried about it which made me worried about it because I needed to make sure I had a model for the class that day. She assured me she would do it regardless of what he said. Great.
The day arrived and we were going to meet where we worked and drive together to the school. When I got there though, she was with her boyfriend and it looked a bit tense. She told me he wanted to talk to me. Great.
He came over and said, ‘I wondered if it is ok if I come along to the drawing class.’
This is not what I was expecting. A jealous, judgmental cop boyfriend watching his new girlfriend disrobe in front of a bunch of people and just stand there naked. I had visions of headlines the next day saying ‘art instructor killed by off duty cop in fit of jealous rage’. Great.
But he then said, ‘I long ago decided that anything I didn’t understand or feared I would face head on and seek to understand it. I want to come to see what really happens in a figure drawing class. She has told me what happens but I still have visions of something bad and dirty. I want to face that and see what it really is.’
How could I argue with that, right? I told him he could come along but he had to stay in the back of the class and not interfere. I told her she had to focus and not be distracted or intimidated by him being there. She understood and he was cool with that so off we went to the class.
The Naked Fear
The class was held at Mission College in Santa Clara. It was a HUGE spaceship style building that screamed intimidation and bulk as you drove up to it. I was sort of feeling that way about this new twist to my simple desire to get a model for my drawing class. Now I had a very bulky and intimidating cop/boyfriend about to sit in on my figure drawing class with his girlfriend as the singular object of close to 30 sets of eyes. Great.
The way it works in a figure drawing class is that the stage is a simple raised platform in the middle of the room. The students sit on benches around the platform and draw from all angles. The model has a place to change and comes out in a robe. He or she get on the platform, takes the robe off and starts to hit various poses. The students have already been instructed as to what they will be doing and they start in on it. We start with very quick poses and move on to longer ones. I call out the time and tell the model to change poses. The first pose might be as short as 20 seconds but most will be 1-5 minutes long for the first session. There will be a break then longer poses, up to 20 minutes towards the end. He or she might be sitting, laying down, standing, stretching, balled up, tense and muscular, draped and sleep-like. I had Katherine go through the poses, never looking over at her boyfriend. She also never got distracted, doing what I asked and being a great model for my students.
The Naked Revelation
When we took our first break Katherine got on her robe and the two of us went over to talk to her boyfriend. Much to my relief he said, ‘I completely get what is going on. It is exactly as she said it would be. I was imagining sexual poses, lascivious ogling but what I saw was a very focused and intense art moment. I am so glad you allowed me to come, I am not at all worried about it now.’ What he saw were the students intense in their work, me busy instructing, reminding & encouraging, and Katherine being deliberate in finding the perfect pose, adjusting if needed and staying as still as possible. What he saw was all of us working very hard.
He was not able to see that in advance. But because he had the guts to face his fear he was able to put the fear aside and see things for what they really were.
What worlds do you fear and don’t understand? What steps are you taking to find out what it’s really all about?
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Drawing and story by Marty Coleman
Inspired by a suggestion of Andrea Myers to address the topic of facing your fears. Thanks Andrea!
Andrea Myers
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