It's All Perspective

with a different perspective, a size 5 diaper does fit a 4" penguin (and 4" penguins need diapers)

A comment during yesterday afternoon's commute home made me think about perspective. It's easy become lulled into the assumption that everyone sees things the same way you do, even in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary.
Take art. We have a gallery within walking distance of our home, and we're not infrequent visitors. I love art, but I'm not good at art appreciation. I know what I like, and what I like is literal. A tree must look like a tree. A pretty swirl of colors can be a pretty swirl of colors, and I may even buy it and take it home, but don't tell me that it's a tree.
It's the same story with appreciating the skill involved. I'll be the first to admit that I'm incapable of producing at least 90% of the art I view. However, just because you can paint a duck with a blender coming out of its head, doesn't make the painting a worthwhile endeavor. I mean really, who wants that?
But it's really all just perspective, right? I mean, someone out there - and probably lots of someones - really wants to see the duck with the blender. Any day, that painting will be sold, taken home, hung on a wall, and the lucky purchaser will think what a funny statement that makes. Surely, at least half of the people who've tried to read this blog have thought "dear god, who writes this shit." And, that's okay.
And, you ask, what's the comment that spurred this philosophical musing? Well, on the way home, larger than life and planted right next to the car on an on ramp is a billboard with a more-than-almost naked woman on it. In fact, if you squint your eyes, you can see oh-hint-oh-nipple (which, by the way, I can now recommend not doing while you drive.) Each time I see it, I cringe a bit because it's for cosmetic surgery, and this body image is being crammed down my daughter's throat every day. Lest you should begin to commiserate, I'll let Keira herself dispense with this line of thought. As we approach the billboard:
K: Mommy, is that a mommy? (mommy = any adult female)
M: Yes, that's a woman.
K: Mommy, it makes me sad.
M: Why?
K: That mommy is so sad.
M: Why is that woman sad?
K: Her shirt fall on the floor. She's going to be cold.
Gotcha. It's not objectifying a female or promoting the slicing and dicing of women for aesthetics. She's cold. She doesn't have a shirt, so she must be cold. I can live with that.