Do My Balls Look Big in This? When Classic Art is Deemed ‘Pornography’!

Principal forced out of her job over naked statue farce

Hope Carrasquilla, a school Principal in Florida, has resigned from her position after receiving complaints that sixth graders (11–12 years old) were being shown ‘pornography’ while learning about art. The ‘pornography’ in question was Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture, shown above.

Ms Carrasquilla only started working at Tallahassee Classical School a year earlier, but she announced her resignation last Monday after being given an ultimatum by the chair of the school board: Quit or be fired!

The class on Renaissance Art triggered three complaints, including one parent who described the statue as ‘pornographic’, and another two parents who said they wish they’d known in advance if their children were going to be shown such shocking material. I assume the one who thinks it’s pornographic has never seen actual pornography.

The children were apparently uncomfortable in the lesson, which reminds me of that uncomfortable feeling during our sex education classes at school! I got over it. I suspect they will too.

The lesson also included Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”.

And Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.”

The Principal expressed her sadness that her tenure ended the way it did. The other parents had no say in whether she was effectively dismissed.

Easily offended

One wonders how some people survive in the modern world when they’re so easily offended. They’d be horrified if they went to a National Trust garden in the UK, where there are many naked Italian statues in the formal gardens and on the parterres. Sometimes, there are portraits of naked people hanging in the houses, too!

I think the embarrassment or discomfort on the part of the kids was probably down to there being adults present telling them to look at the pictures of naked bodies, not that there’s anything wrong with the art itself.

Back in the 1500s, private parts might have been covered by leaves, to protect people’s sensitivities. Apparently, the Roman Catholic Church once considered nudity to be ‘immodest and obscene’.

But it’s not the dark ages. It’s the 21st Century! People give their kids smartphones with unlimited access to the internet… And they’re worried about a statue of David? Honestly?

Two months earlier, the school had agreed to give parents advance notice of anything controversial being discussed in class. They didn’t realise that Renaissance Art was controversial.

The story was first reported in the Tallahassee Democrat.

Source: The Associated Press on MSN and The Independent

© Susie Kearley 2023. All Rights Reserved.

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