Appalling sight

I grabbed a bottle of cold coke at a nearby convenient store today and as I was waiting for my change, I tried browsing some magazine copies on the newsstand. And guess what, I have seen the most appalling cover magazine ever! The three original Viva Hot babes - Andrea Del Rosario, Katya Santos and Maui Taylor who had been literally out of the circulation lately, grace the cover of this month's FHM issue. Using woman's bodies and turning them into pieces of commodity (at 150 pesos per copy!) is nothing new to me. I have grown accustomed seeing scantily clad women posing for FHM but this one is really sticking out like a sore thumb.

I appreciate art when I see one. I appreciate women who have been blessed with voluptuous bodies (appreciating a woman's figure, doesn't make one a lesbian). I believe that a woman's body is one of the perfect examples of our Maker's artistry and creativity. But to use both to objectify women by equating them to healthy and delectable fruits we serve on the table, is no longer an art for me--it's exploitation!

I have to raise a debate between art and pornography. There's a thin line between art and pornography, so thin that most people can't decipher which is which. If art is subjective, then the artist is just using his art form to express himself. He has his own views on things when he started conceptualizing his art. But surely his art will have an impact on his audience. If he thinks it won't have any impact to viewers, then he is thinking that his viewers are idiots and he is actually undermining their intellectual capacity.

Let's exercise our freedom to think, as the creators of FHM exercise their freedom to create such degrading images of women. Subliminally, what messages can be derived out of the cover picture? Melon, watermelon, and papaya--fruits of these kinds have a hard rind and juicy flesh. Now, think why these fruits have to be slovenly splattered all over their bodies and of all spots, placed near their private parts! Your guess is as good as mine.