Did I have trouble because of it?
Well, in the sense it was meant, no. I wasn't contacted by anyone. I wasn't warned or threatened for the use of copyrighted material. The images were there one day and gone the next, removed, I assume, by the image host I had used to upload them.
However, there is a story to it. A story that might be called:
What Happens When People Who Shouldn't Read My Blog Read My Blog.
The story begins at the end of March last year with yours truly posting a week-long tribute to one of my all-time favourite female bodybuilders, Sarah Dunlap. Two of the posts were confessional, explaining how certain images of Sarah had served to trigger a particular fantasy in my imagination, and the specific post At Home With Sarah II placed this fantasy within the context of my fantasies about female bodybuilders in general, and my own personal experience of muscle worship with a martial artist while I was living in Italy in the 1990s.
It's one of my most personal posts, and it is also one of the pieces of writing I am most proud of. As well as that, it's also one my favourites because the feedback I've received about it from readers suggests that it is something that some, if not all, female muscle fans can relate to, and its enduring popularity seems to confirm that.
About a week after it was posted, the number of hits it received went through the roof.
On a normal day, the blog will get about 1,500-2,000 page views. Suddenly, that post alone was getting 500+ hits an hour, and my 'blogger dashboard' told me the source of the hits was a (regular, not a fans of female) bodybuilding forum.
I followed the link back to the forum, where I found a discussion thread about Sarah on which my fantasy woman herself was engaging in the conversation.
At first, I was excited at the thought that Sarah had read the post, perhaps all the posts about her that week. But this excitement quickly turned to horror.
The link to FMS had been posted with a question:
What's the deal with your shmoe's story ??
Eh?
And Sarah had replied: Who is THIS [writing about me]? WHO are they talking about? I have no shmoe story, except for the one where I laugh...
And it got worse when one of the forum members put up the whole post there.
Sarah: You know what is funny about this? Those photos were taken by Land of Venus. I got put up in a resort in Phoenix for two days, made $2,000 for the shoot (only about 4 hours of photo shoot, but they will never go away!) and now somebody says they were there?
Now I've read and re-read it as a result of this experience, and for the life of me I simply cannot understand why ANYONE whose first language is English (and anyone else with a reasonable command of English) could POSSIBLY think that I was claiming to have had a muscle worship experience with Sarah herself - that I was actually 'there'. But this is what it was clear she (and others) thought I was saying...
Sarah: This is why I never did another shoot for pay like that again. I signed off on it... One shoot in my life I lose rights to, and look what happens? Thanks for the information, will have to send my manager there to flag the content... it's just wrong.
And then the images disappeared to be replaced by...
A few days after the images disappeared I considered deleting the whole post. I even considered deleting the entire blog, albeit briefly. I'm glad I didn't.
In one sense, Sarah was quite right. It is wrong. I often post photos I have no right to post. It's amazing that in the two and a half years FMS has existed that this is the one and only instance of anyone objecting to the use of the images.
On top of that, nor do I have any right to complain that something I wrote and posted on the internet has been misconstrued. I fully understand that he who lives by the blog runs the risk of dying by the blog, as it were!
Perhaps I shouldn't be so sensitive about it. One bad review and look at me, taking up your time moaning away about how misunderstood I am. But you did ask!
I'd like to think I've never had any complaints from the hundreds of other women I've written about, or from the photographers whose work I have praised or used to illustrate my writing, because they understand that FMS is my way of showing my appreciation to them, and that is the spirit in which they take it. I've never been contacted by a photographer directly, and on the rare occasions these wonderful women have got in touch, or mentioned the blog elsewhere, comments have been universally positive, and I am extremely grateful for that.
But most of all, I'm grateful for the fact that creating this blog has put me in touch with other female muscle fans. People I have never met (nor am I likely to ever meet) but who care enough to actually be concerned that I might have got myself into trouble.
People who should read the blog.
You considered about deleting the whole blog?
ReplyDeleteOh man, that would have been sad, really sad...
That post about Sara was excellent, too bad those people did not take the time to actually read it...
Anyway, great blog as always, I hope FMS will keep going for years!
I considered it, yes, but VERY briefly. It was the reader comments, on the original post, and those that were sent by email by others who want to remain anonymous which stopped me from doing that.
DeleteSo, as always, thank you for your kind words.
Wow! I guess reading comprehension is not one of their strong suits. I mean, if they took to time to look at the context of the blog posts it would have been abundantly clear that the pictures you posted weren't from a session or anything like that. I lost respect for Sarah.
ReplyDeleteIt's not you're fault these idiots don't know comprehend what they're reading. You didn't do anything wrong and this incident shouldn't deter you from writing this awesome blog.
Cheers!