The Dividing Line between Reasons and Rationalizations

Where is the censorship line drawn?  Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Cambridge, is photographed with her bare breasts showing while sunning one a private balcony one half mile from the nearest road in the south of France.  

How does a person rationalize taking the photos and selling them for what we have to assume is millions of dollars? The photographer says, ‘I could see her through my lens so she obviously was not in a private situation.’  What about the idea that she doesn’t want photographs of her breasts to be shown to anyone, much less published and seen by millions of people.  Does that count for anything, does that matter?  Obviously it isn’t a persuasive argument to the photographer, to the agent selling the photos, to the publisher purchasing the photos or to the editor and writer arranging and captioning the photos.  They know she doesn’t want those photos taken or distributed. So, what is their rationalization? They might say, ‘Well, if she didn’t want her breasts shown she shouldn’t have shown them’ What do you think of that argument?  Did she show them to the world when she exposed them to the sun and air on that secluded patio?  Was it her fault?

Everyday Modesty and the Mundane

A friend of mine here in Tulsa, a news anchor, is an extremely modest woman. She is livid that anyone would do this and that laws allow it in certain countries.  She said she would die of photos like that of her were exposed.  She says it is a private, intimate moment, not one to be shared.  What do you think? Is being nude in and of itself an intimate state of being, no matter where you are and what you are doing?

Others I know say it is just no big deal.  It’s not a scandal, it’s not a moral failing on her part, it’s not a embarrassment. It’s just a woman sunning topless in private. Big deal.  She isn’t in flagrante delicto, she isn’t doing anything outlandish. She is doing something incredibly mundane and pretty boring. Laying down and sunbathing, hardly the most arousing of activities whether topless, bottomless or both. Her boobs are shown, alright already. Done. Next.

Blame

What do you think of this whole situation? Is it ok or not that the photos were taken, sold and distributed? Who is to blame for it happening?  Does Princess Kate hold any blame?

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Drawing by Marty Coleman

Quote by Anonymous

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