Can We Cut It Out With The Racy Avatars?

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I'll list the things that offend me:


1.) People that think the answer to their own fears and dislikes is to make sure no one exercises their right to decide their own likes and dislikes.


2.) People that think the answer to their own fears and dislikes is to ban those things.

3.) People that, in the future, may post an avatar of something as bland and devoid of personality as themselves. Such as a big skillet of Hamburger Helper. Or a big pot of macaroni and cheese. I will be offended. I will request that no such foods (if one may actually call them "foods") ever be posted again. For I find those foods to be the root cause of the moral decay of America, leading children to thinking that cooking is just adding the noodles from packet "A" and the sauce mix and a cup of water. Think of the children! They could be irreparably harmed by seeing big, digusting skillets of processed foods! How will we ever convince them to eat their broccoli if they see big, steamy pans of Hamburger Helper (the cheeseburger one) and even Tuna Helper?! My Gods, do you see what that could lead to?! Why, a study by one of the leading universities has discovered that kids that don't eat their broccoli are 103.6% times more likely to return library books five days overdue, stick their used chewing gum underneath school desks, and look at old National Geographics in the dentists office (the ones with the !Kung! women in them.) We must act now to save the children! We must ban the possible avatars of any "just add hamburger or tuna" ready-to-serve in 20 minutes meals! The future of our nation is at stake! Please help! I'm sitting here, the only one concerned about this crisis (and while it is immensely satisfying to play the suffering martyr---would someone please pass me my crown of thorns...it's over there behind my halo), and everyone just thinks it's silly! Well, it's not! This is an important issue! You laugh now, but wait til you find empty cheese packets from Kraft in YOUR kid's bedroom! Who'll be laughing then, eh!?
 
I have the sexiest avatar here. :D

I don't like this idea. It would be an inconvenience to Spark to do this, and why should our friend Spark be inconvenienced when these unregistered viewers can't be inconvenienced by a simple registration?
 
Originally posted by Safety Guy
Murnax had the idea first, and I like it:

Then TonyCCW echoed it.

I like it. Can it be done?
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Murnax gets full credit for the idea. I was holding back until I couldn't hold back anymore... :p
 
i sit squarely in the camp of "have whatever avatar you want, short of obscenity". this takes into account that there are avatars on BFC that offend me, that have nothing to do with scantily-clad women.

in order to enjoy the freedom to post whatever avatar i choose, and enjoy the avatars of others, i must tolerate the offenders. i accept this. if guidelines were to be imposed upon avatar acceptability, those that i find offensive would assuredly not be included. and guess what? that'd be lame, as only some of the community would be satisfied, and i would be left in the cold. then the process would begin again. it just doesn't work.

as it stands, the only "solution" is to leave things as they are, and do what we can as individuals to censor or moderate whenever possible, for ourselves.

the internet is a wild place, and very difficult to police, when it comes to children or co-workers. when you're home, turn off the avatars. when you're at work, maybe just skip the forums, until you get home, and surf something else (surely your breaks at the PC don't last longer than a few minutes anyway!). the www is like network television, only violently amplified. just as you would wait until the kids are in bed before watching an unsuitable movie or documentary, we must do the same with our PCs. it is inconvenient, and oft-times downright frustrating. however, i feel that it is necessary, in order for us to enjoy the freedom of expression, despite its pitfalls.

as for non- knife knuts, and their opinions of the community: this is harder to address, and i don't mean to generalize, but i will say it anyway. those foolish enough to form opinions of the knife community based on avatars most likely won't be swayed from their preconceived notions anyway. i did not join this forum to educate those opposed to knife ownership or discussion. some folks, however, did (at least, in part). they feel that it is a responsibility. once i am unable to choose my avatar (or signature, or whatever) as i see fit, i become an unwilling party to their view. i do not feel this is the case with "racy" avatars. quite the contrary!...

when i stumbled on this forum a little over a month ago, i noted the diversity in avatars, and this told me one thing: Bladeforums.com is a community of many different persons, who are all interested in knives, in one form or another. in addition, they are diverse and free-thinking, and a select few are willing to veer from what is considered normal, or ordinary, or even acceptable, at the expense of being shunned, or ridiculed.

i like that.

abe m.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
Ah! Enter stage right: a constructive suggestion! (We haven't had one of those in this thread in a long time.)

IF Spark could do that, it certainly would elliminate this objection, wouldn't it?
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Alright, this is just plain crazy. I'm sure Spark would never listen to such a moronic idea. For starters I am a Basic Member, patiently waiting almost a week now for my Gold Membership to kick in (cough cough), and I enjoy seeing the Avatars. It helps me find my posts and other user's posts. If you were to take that away from me I'd be really PO'ed!

I thought a lot of us collectors were into knives as an art form. If that's the case, why are we offended by half naked women? Most of the pictures I see could be considered artistic. Many knife makers here are artists. Why are you trying to censor everyone's artistic expression and prevent other's from viewing their artistic expression? You sir need to pack up and leave.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
Again...

The objection is that seeing these avatars will discourage people who might otherwise register and contribute to our discussions.

The objection is that people who come here with pre-conceived stereotypes about knife knuts and the knife community will only have those stereotypes quickly reinforced by seeing such avatars. There's an old saying, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression."
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As of now, in the U.S., with all of the liberals and their anti-gun and anti-knife slogans spewed throughout ALL media, there are probably just as many, if not more, people who are offended by knife collectors and their knife discussions as they are about nudity.

This liberalism has people convinced that it's ok for two guys to tongue kiss each other on TV, but they better not have a pocket knife.

Bottom line, the more you try to placate these people the more they will try and take from you. Perhaps we should focus on the wants of the members of our little club rather than those who have chosen not join.

If anything at all, maybe those people who have not joined our club and are looking in on us will realize that there really is no correlation between a person's avatar and how crazy, or sane, he may really be.

If all else fails, when I'm uncertain about what to do, I always ask myself "What would Curly do?".
 
Originally posted by WadeF
I thought a lot of us collectors were into knives as an art form. If that's the case, why are we offended by half naked women? Most of the pictures I see could be considered artistic. Many knife makers here are artists. Why are you trying to censor everyone's artistic expression and prevent other's from viewing their artistic expression? You sir need to pack up and leave.
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Here's a test. Imagine that we changed the women in those racy avatars to semi-naked men. Men kissing each other. Ugh, I think I just scarred myself for life. But anyway, would you still feel the same way about it being art?
 
Just a quick,(serious) question for those who are offended by scantily clad woman avatars, do you take the same offense to scantily clad woman engraved on the ivory handles of $5,000 custom knives?
 
I am just wondering why this thread is still sitting in the Blade Discussion Forum.

Hello Mods..... No Knife Content... No Knife content.

BTW. I suspect the guy pictured in my avatar is almost completely nakid.

n2s
 
The only thing I got out of this, is that Gollnick
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Agreed. After his deprived daytime, what he must do at night makes me not want him to hand off a Playboy or Hustler to me :p

Now...let's all stop this idiocy and E-mail Benchmade in protest of the recent 721 discontinuation!
 
Originally posted by NeedleRemorse
Now...let's all stop this idiocy and E-mail Benchmade in protest of the recent 721 discontinuation!
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You're b*tching about one model? Do you have any idea what BM did to their balisong line?... :mad:
 
Cutty, I believe the expression is "get laid."

Not that I'm arguing for a "grammar forum" or anything.

I just looked at the poll, and I think 9 were for "censorship" :) and 27 were against. More than I thought would be for it.

Okay, so I think we could "clean up" BFC a bit for those just "passing through" and getting an eyeful. Can it be done without getting rid of anyone's avatars? I still like the "reverse enable" idea.

If that is not feasable, then I really want that half-nekkid Rosie kissing Hillary avatar. I bet some would be shocked into changing their positions if they were subjected to such a sight! :)

Karl
 
do you take the same offense to scantily clad woman engraved on the ivory handles of $5,000 custom knives?
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First of all, that knife was not $5000.... only $2500.

Second, there is something about the sort of slightly abstract look of scrimshaw that differentiates it from the realism of a photograph.

And

Third, if I were asked to curate an exhibit of balisong knives for the public, I would not include that one. The purpose of such an exhibit would be to overcome prejudices and stereotypes and leave the viewers with a positive image of knives and balisongs.

Knives in general have a public image problem, especially post 9/11. Balisongs have long had an extra image problem. I see no reason to add more stereotypes to that list.
 
Originally posted by T. Erdelyi
Just a quick,(serious) question for those who are offended by scantily clad woman avatars, do you take the same offense to scantily clad woman engraved on the ivory handles of $5,000 custom knives?
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Yes. I have seen pictures of some of Bob Loveless's etched "nekkid wimmin" on some of his blades, and wouldn't give him the time of day after seeing these.

Gollnick, you're right on. It's not about censorship, it's called maturity. I find it interesting that some of the most vocal objectors and "racy" avatar owners also have some "firefighter 9/11" stuff in their sig lines, like they have the high moral road. :rolleyes:

Keep dreaming guys.
 
Originally posted by swede79
Gollnick, you're right on. It's not about censorship, it's called maturity. I find it interesting that some of the most vocal objectors and "racy" avatar owners also have some "firefighter 9/11" stuff in their sig lines, like they have the high moral road. :rolleyes:

Keep dreaming guys.
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:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Now I understand how Sean Hannity feels...exasperated by the Left.

It is about censorship. Mature men can enjoy mature pics.

What's the 9/11 and fallen firefighters have to do with anything here? Typical leftist tactics and mindset. A ploy honed to perfection during the Klinton regime. Evade, change and shift the focus.
:rolleyes:
 
I find it interesting that these dolts don't have the fortitude to name names, and my THESE dolts I mean Swede79. Obviously you were referring to Ken (he has a 9-11 sig line and what you prudes would call a "racy" avatar), and I don't think his avatar means anything about his morality because I don't judge people by avatars. If I did judge people by pictures though...

singleFlipOpen7.JPG


Note the crucifix links. Hmm...I wonder if the tight-assed nature of this thread has anything to do with religion. Knive's are art. Would you turn down a Michaelangelo just because of its nudity?

Ken is a beloved member. Care to see his profile?

Biography Married w/ 2 daughters, Gulf War USAF Vet.
Location Pompton Plains, NJ USA
Interests Knives, sheathmaking, firefighting
Occupation Firefighter/EMT Clifton, NJ

So a Gulf vet and firefighter, wife and father isn't high morally? I hope a liner fails on you.

Such ignorance. Sorry to anyone feeling offended, but this thread has to die, it's getting bad.

I sound like a jerk, and at this point I don't care. The only moral thing here to do is to lock this thread because the subtle insults are showing a lack of maturity.
 
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