I am the new Gallery Moderator of Artistic Nudes (along with ^arachnid15), and I have a personal story to tell. It's a story that relates directly to many people's experiences here on dA, and to a new CEA policy announcement made today.

CEA Update 20081119: Lewd and Sexual Commentary

First of all, I am referring to this Policy News linked immediately above, announced today by $realitysquared, who is the head of dA's CEA team. For anyone who does not know, this is the group who takes care of Policy violations - prohibited content, copyright violations, and harassment issues. And the announcement made in in his Policy Update is an unequivocal statement that lewd sexual comments made in regard to nude art and nude models will no longer be tolerated on deviantART.

I am very pleased and happy to see this official announcement made, and I say this both as a deviant and as a GM whose gallery is very much affected by this issue.

Despite an overall very positive community here on dA, there have always been a few people who use the site for purposes that are not the most artistically minded. Unfortunately, insults and sexual comments toward nude art and nude models, even a few such comments, can cause a great many very fine artists to feel reluctant to post their works or leave their works open to comment and discussion. I am one such artist, and here is my story.

When I first became active and started posting regularly on dA, I inevitably received a couple of "hot pussy" comments on my Artistic Nude photography deviations. I remember reporting these comments to the Help Desk as harassment cases, and finding that the deviants making such comments were suspended or banned immediately. I was quite gratified at this response, as it meant that the person who left those comments could not continue behaving this way toward other deviants and their works.

Some months later, similar comments were again left on some of my own deviations, as well as on a Daily Deviation image of another deviant who is a personal friend of mine. I again reported these comments to the Help Desk as harassment cases, but at this point in time received the response that site administration no longer considered there to be any action necessary in such cases. It was recommended that I merely block the user and hide the comments.

To me, this was not a satisfactory response. I felt that it was a "blame the victim while letting the offender go free" response. And my primary point of contention was that it allowed the commenter to continue to roam the site freely, leaving disrespectful, lewd, and insulting comments on other works. I felt unwilling to leave my art on a site that took that approach and stance, and I put my galleries into storage until such later date as a shift in policy might again occur.

While I missed posting work on dA, the administrative response had been clear, so I did what I felt was the right thing to do for myself, removed my works, and enjoyed the other aspects of deviantART.

Fast forward several months, to the need for a new Gallery Moderator in the Artistic Nude gallery. I was asked if I had interest in applying for the position, and after some thought, felt that it was something I could do a good job of. But I knew that having no gallery of my own work on the site would certainly come into question.

In discussing my application for the GM position with $Moonbeam13, I told her of my experiences and point of view that led to me removing my galleries, and she took the initiative to investigate. She came back to me saying that she and $chix0r had conferred, had found this situation to be unacceptable, and were going to implement some policy changes. I said that I was very happy to hear that, and would be thrilled to reinstate my galleries and come on as GM, knowing that my works and those of others would no longer be subject to this kind of inappropriate behavior with no administrative response.

While I was very excited and wanted to announce this positive change right away, $Moonbeam13 and $chix0r requested that they be have the opportunity to make the official announcement first, as it was a change pertaining to their positions. Of course I respected their request, and this is why I have been making a few very vague references to the fact that some positive news was on the way, without being able to say anything further on the subject.

This is also an explanation, for anyone who might have wondered, of why I made a very sudden reversal of my position in making my galleries public again. The answer is very simple: My removal of my galleries was action I felt necessary in relation to a specific policy. That policy has changed, and thus I have gladly changed my own actions in response.

Finally, for anyone who is not sure what to do if they or their deviations are still the object of sexual, lewd, or other inappropriate comments: While as a Gallery Moderator I will speak out strongly on this issue, a GM's administrative role does not include dealing with the resolution of harassment cases. Please use the Help Desk, and file a report under "Harassment," with a link to the deviation and particular comments. This sends your report to the CEA team, headed by $realitysquared, the deviant who made the official statement linked again here: [link] that lewd and inappropriate comments toward nude art and artists will not be tolerated.

I again thank $Moonbeam13 and $chix0r for taking the time to investigate this matter, and $realitysquared for making such a clear and strong official statement of deviantART's stance on respect toward nude art, and all art. And I am very pleased to be helping inform the community of what I see as a very positive change for all of deviantART.