de·vi·ant (dē'vē-ənt)
adj. Differing from a norm or from the accepted standards of a society.
n. One that differs from a norm, especially a person whose behavior and attitudes differ from accepted social standards.

art (ahrt)
n. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

The following views are strictly my own and do not represent deviantART as a company or as a community and are based strictly upon my own observations.

I'm going to start by introducing myself. I am Nick, and I am a long time member of this wonderful community. I originally started as a digital artist, working within Photoshop and later submitted some of my poetry to express myself and some of the emotional issues that I have dealt with over the years. Later I went on hiatus and was MIA for a while but in 2006 discovered that I had a liking for photography and found that it was something well suited for me to continue with my artistic background which was centered in music and musical performance as a way that I used to express myself.

With that, I would consider myself fairly aware with the arts, such as presentation, preservation, and advocation. This topic is making the rounds on deviantART lately but I don't feel that the message itself is being taken seriously. There's a large lack of respect for others and their work that has recently become more of a problem than I have noticed with other places that I use to share what I do with others.

I would like to put emphasis on the golden rule. The times change and we change with the times, but one of the things that will never change is the concept of treating people the same way that you would like to be treated. The concept of keeping negative comments to yourself if you don't have anything positive to contribute. We have our opinions on what we like and that is one of the foundations of art. However, blatant disrespect, ignorance, and immaturity are NOT tied in with expressing an opinion. Using words in a way to promote hatred, intolerance, or to belittle another person is not acceptable.

Now, when you put the words deviant, and art together, we have a medium for people to share art in a community that is not as conventional as your average traditional art. This is what makes this website as great as it is. We have a place to share so many different mediums with one another that the ability to express ourselves are limitless.

The issue is that some people would rather express themselves by being very disrespectful and rude with no remorse of whether or not they may hurt another persons feelings who only wanted to share their vision of the world with others from their perspective. This needs to stop. Sadly, it never will because there are individuals who prefer to invoke chaos and hurt rather than share the love of art with people who are truly here to love and appreciate what others do.

I will be the first to admit that there are genres of art that I don't care for. Rather than visit those galleries and spew negativity I do something that others should do: Avoid the galleries I don't care for, don't look at the art I don't connect with, and keep my thoughts to myself. Some of us are here only to share, some of us to receive critique, but there is a line between critique and disrespect that is crossed more than not. Providing critique is something that will help all of us grow as an artist, but how can people grow when others only point out the negatives in a way that are more hurtful than helpful?

A recent example is one of the Daily Deviations awarded today and the content matter. As a mature deviation, it would seem that there is an influx of immaturity to grace the comment area. With the content being restricted to those 18 years of age or older, I would expect to see adult conversation about the deviation. Not comments about homosexuality being a disease or nudity being pornography. Let's put emphasis on the word disease:

dis⋅ease [di-zeez]
n. a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.

Next is pornography:

Now, the problem with this word is that rather than having a concrete definition the meaning alone is going to vary from person to person based upon our own opinion or impression of the piece. I clearly view pornography as something used to purposely invoke sexual arousal and depict acts of sexual contact. I never in my life would have thought that a picture of two people kissing in the nude as pornographic. Those that do, do these people realize that we came into this world completely nude and vulnerable?

If we are going to throw the word "disease" around in a way to express disgust, then these people are diseased in the head to think in such a meaningless way. Let's throw all assumptions out of the window and deal with absolutes.

DeviantART is absolutely an incredible place that I have called my artistic home for many years, and I'll be damned if I let ignorant people with no tact or respect ruin it for myself or others. As someone who really appreciates art in all forms, I would like to respectfully ask everyone to please think before you comment. Please ask yourself before you post a comment these questions:

"is this going to contribute to the community?"
"is this going to generate a positive reaction from others?"

If you can answer "no" to either of those questions, then please move on without disrespecting the artist on their deviation. If the piece is a daily deviation, then please direct your feelings to the gallery moderator that selected it. Is it so much to ask to read the rules and follow the policies? It is something that we all agree to before we even complete registration here. Apparently there is an influx of people who quickly click "I agree" who later cry foul play when they are reprimanded for breaking such rules.