![At the edge of a cliff, a nude man on his hands and knees sporting red skin, horns, and a devil’s tail is anally penetrated by another man who stretches wings on his back.
This digital picture was generously contributed by Kelly. Beyond being a beautifully drawn piece, I can tell that Kelly put some thought into it because, in his contribution, he wrote:
I am a gay man, and every now and then I create digital erotic/pornographic art as part of my personal journal of homosexual men. When I saw your site, this piece came to mind because here I explore something that I thought was interesting. The angel being the aggressor and the devil being the submissive. The other way around would have been fairly an obvious thing to depict—I think. But, this gave it a twist that made for an interesting visual.
Spend mere moments looking at erotic imagery, and you will find religious imagery. Catholic school girls in their ostensibly “modest” outfits, eroticized crucifixions, and sexy and seductive devils or innocent and virginal angels.
The dominant religion of Western civilization, Christianity, has appointed angels and devils as symbols of good and evil, respectively. Considering traditional Christianity’s sex-negative views, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to guess whether the devil or the angel is the symbol more commonly associated with sex. This religion’s pairing of sex and sin therefore unsurprisingly makes devils and angels common characters in sexual narratives.
When sexualized, angels are often depicted as being violated, their presumed innocence and virginity stripped from them at the hands of a devil. But this is tiresome. Why should sexual aggression be forever outcast to the realm of evil? Consensual sexual aggression is precisely what I seek from others in my pursuit of happiness. Why should we try to aspire to the sexual sterility that virginity embodies? (Can we say “virgin/whore dichotomy,” everyone?)
What’s more, beyond the religious role reversal, I enjoy the fact that Kelly’s subjects are both male—possibly gay. Extremist Christian views on homosexuality embody the very evil they claim to fight. They are so disrespectful to fundamental human rights that, like Martin Luther before him, Bishop Spong published a manifesto last week, in which he wrote:
I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. […] I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.
Inclusivity and diversity is, indeed, the path of God. Whether struggling against homophobia, religious persecution, gender bias, or adultism, we would do well to remember that every person on Earth is born free and equal in dignity and rights.
-maymay](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krt22iV2Te1qzs83zo1_500.jpg)
At the edge of a cliff, a nude man on his hands and knees sporting red skin, horns, and a devil’s tail is anally penetrated by another man who stretches wings on his back.
This digital picture was generously contributed by Kelly. Beyond being a beautifully drawn piece, I can tell that Kelly put some thought into it because, in his contribution, he wrote:
I am a gay man, and every now and then I create digital erotic/pornographic art as part of my personal journal of homosexual men. When I saw your site, this piece came to mind because here I explore something that I thought was interesting. The angel being the aggressor and the devil being the submissive. The other way around would have been fairly an obvious thing to depict—I think. But, this gave it a twist that made for an interesting visual.
Spend mere moments looking at erotic imagery, and you will find religious imagery. Catholic school girls in their ostensibly “modest” outfits, eroticized crucifixions, and sexy and seductive devils or innocent and virginal angels.
The dominant religion of Western civilization, Christianity, has appointed angels and devils as symbols of good and evil, respectively. Considering traditional Christianity’s sex-negative views, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to guess whether the devil or the angel is the symbol more commonly associated with sex. This religion’s pairing of sex and sin therefore unsurprisingly makes devils and angels common characters in sexual narratives.
When sexualized, angels are often depicted as being violated, their presumed innocence and virginity stripped from them at the hands of a devil. But this is tiresome. Why should sexual aggression be forever outcast to the realm of evil? Consensual sexual aggression is precisely what I seek from others in my pursuit of happiness. Why should we try to aspire to the sexual sterility that virginity embodies? (Can we say “virgin/whore dichotomy,” everyone?)
What’s more, beyond the religious role reversal, I enjoy the fact that Kelly’s subjects are both male—possibly gay. Extremist Christian views on homosexuality embody the very evil they claim to fight. They are so disrespectful to fundamental human rights that, like Martin Luther before him, Bishop Spong published a manifesto last week, in which he wrote:
I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. […] I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.
Inclusivity and diversity is, indeed, the path of God. Whether struggling against homophobia, religious persecution, gender bias, or adultism, we would do well to remember that every person on Earth is born free and equal in dignity and rights.