Thread "Naked child in a comic" in forum "Tips and Tricks/Support *"

Posted at 9:09AM, Sep. 1, 2021

I'm not from US and I'm trying to understand what is considered illegal here.
What about drawing of a naked child that is not porn? One of my comics is a slice of life story about growing up where main character's little sister goes through a phase when she turns into little exhibitionist and is curious about differences between boys and girls. It's something small children sometimes do. She's not spreading her legs or bending over, just standing in bathroom and explaining to her sister that sex happens when mom and dad go to bed and kiss. It's a comedic scene because as any child she's asexual and she has no idea what she's really talking about.
Is something like that allowed here? If it is illegal here, I'm just going to skip this part. It's only few pages out of around 400.

Posted at 6:09PM, Sep. 1, 2021

I really don't know…
I'll have to ask the other admins.

Posted at 1:09AM, Sep. 2, 2021

Okay, I'll wait. Until that happens I'm not going to post anything like that and just enjoy the website.

Posted at 2:09AM, Sep. 2, 2021

Here's what they said :)

PIT_FACE wrote:
I mean, it doesnt sound like its being done in a lewd or exploitative manner so it sounds fine to me. Law wise, i dont know. but as far as "holy shit, is this chilled prawn??" i'd say it's fine.

Banes wrote:
Oy, yeah. I saw that question and thought “wow, I’m glad I don’t have to make that call!”

I don’t really know - it’s good of the creator to ask about it first though! - what do the rest of you all think?

Emma_Clare wrote:
I’m not 100% on law regarding drawn depictions of nudity. However there is a video on YouTube that is covering a recent lawsuit filed by the guy who was the baby on the front of one of Nirvana’s albums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbzVozrpRZk She explains that nakedness of children in art is not inherently child porn. It depends on the context of the piece and how it is being framed. (The movie Cuties would be closer to child porn than Nirvana’s Nevermind baby because it is framing the girls in a sexually evocative manner.)

However, if they’re still worried about it, this could also be the set up for a really funny running gag where the child’s nakedness is artfully covered by plants, speech bubbles, hand gestures or the like. The creator could get really creative with and it would add to the sense of joy the child is experiencing throughout this phase.

I hope this helps. 😊
Emi

Tantz_Aerine wrote:
I think Em said it all (just saw this thread) and we should just copy-paste her answer (and everyone else's) to the thread.

Posted at 1:09PM, Sep. 2, 2021

Maybe adding something to the topic, the tone I'm going for is something like this scene from Kindergaten Cop, where this boy wants to share his knowledge with adults, just in my case it's an older sister taking care of of her younger sibling. Most of the time I cut the frame to not show full body.

Where I live (Poland) rules about pornography do not apply to pieces of art, especially when we're talking about drawings and paintings. Something like Cuties is a difficult topic and personally it's not something I would approve, since filming it required using real child actors. Using children for photography or film might have some negative influence on their mind and developement, but in case of drawing there is no real child involved, it's just some ink on paper.

I'm so used to reading manga with that type of humor or watching French paintings about history, sometimes showing something like naked children playing in ancient Egypt, that for me nudity doesn't automatically have sexual meaning. But that's me and Poland, I need to respect your law on this website, so that's why I asked.

So… I guess you're okay as long as I don't plan to show sex with child, which is not what I intend to do.

Posted at 7:09PM, Sep. 2, 2021

Yeah, I think going by the consensus you'll be perfectly OK :D

Posted at 4:01PM, Jan. 3, 2022

The US is a giant mess when it comes to nudity, especially because so many people – and many influential sorts and politicians – keep conflating nudity with sex and all of those things with pornography, usually out of ignorance and just plain stupidity.

Art should be far beyond any of that kind of rule or standard. At the very least, Poland seems to have that much right. Perhaps one day, the US will catch up with the freedom people constantly talk about but rarely seem to actually know what it is.

But added to that the fact that this is make-believe people in a make-believe story that doesn't take place in this world we inhabit should be more than enough for anyone. Unfortunately, at the same time, a huge amount of people – especially in America! – don't understand the difference between reality and fantasy.

Legally, you should be fine anyway. These groups of idiots can't possibly afford to try and file suit against someone who doesn't even live in the country, to say nothing of all the other reasons it wouldn't work. If anyone gives you trouble, you can always just take down the comic and let them deal with the unhappy readers you can send their way.