There are certain issues, attached to a time, that resinate throughout art. One of those issues facing people today is revenge porn. It is the subject of both a TV show I am streaming and a book I am listening to. This issue coming up in two mediums I am consuming at this time and the fact that I now have a daughter got me thinking.
The first thought that entered my mind was it must be weird to live in a time when it is common to send nude pictures to your significant other. I always wonder what the tinder era was like for dating. I was married by the time dating apps came to be. It is an ironic bit of a thing as I did meet my wife through a dating website but that is far different from a dating app and the first iPhone didn’t come out until a year after we were dating.
In the time of my dating life it would have been difficult to send nudes to someone on a flip phone or Blackberry. Polaroids existed but were out of fashion and digital cameras required download and then email. I am sure people took nude pictures of each other or themselves as gifts for their significant other but the transfer wasn’t as easy as a text or a DM. What is a common practice among dating people wasn’t during my time.
Having a daughter I realize that her experience in the world is going to be so different from mine. My sons will too but let’s face it the world is built for white men. My sons won’t nearly have the difficulty my daughter could and won’t face the same challenges as her. They, hopefully, will not subject any women to the challenges my daughter could face but it is unlikely they will face them themselves.
Still the common practice of today may not be the common practice of 15 years from now. We have no idea what challenges our children will face and it is unlikely to be anything we have ever faced in our lifetimes. Human being tend to overweight their own experiences. They create one world views in their minds and believe in absolutes. This is foolish and it is the practice of fools. Everyone’s reality is different. Our children lives are going to be so different from ours it is hard to comprehend.
As a parent I view myself as a guide. My children are their own people. I only exist to assist them in life. To help guide them through the challenges of life. I have no knowledge of the experiences they will go through. In order to relate I am going to have to step behind their eyes. To attempt to see the world how they see it. Only then can I offer any bit of advice. I cannot advice them based upon my experiences because I grew up in a world so far removed from their’s it isn’t even funny. My children are going to face challenges beyond my imagination and I have to be ready to help them when they need it.
David Huzzard Writes 