Penis Avatars

I think as long as it is theirs and in the cage that they wear it doesn't matter. At least you can see what device they are in.

Though points for originality - 0 points.

 

Bear with me here. I know I'm long-winded so for the skimmers out there I put the 'pull quotes' in bold.

We live in a phallocentric world. I am often conflicted in my thoughts about chastity. Chastity is centered on penises and at the same time has nothing to do with them. Sometimes I feel like this site is saturated with endless 'dick waving' and I roll my eyes, but then I remember that at one time I knew nothing of these things and I had to learn them somewhere. What makes The Mansion unique is that chastity as a 'lifestyle choice' is well represented in the membership, and it seems that as people move along the spectrum from new to experienced their content trends toward more serious or substantial aspects of 'chastity-as-life' and away from 'yay! my dick's in a cage!'
This is in no way a criticism, just an observation. I think both are necessary. So how this leads to avatars--
When I first started joining chastity forums I thought it was the convention to use a photo of your locked penis as your avatar. I observed that those who did so seemed to be treated as more 'legitimate' and their content was generally better received and responded to. It's slowly becoming the opposite now.
Fast-forward, um well, a lot of years, and digital cameras are ubiquitous, online shopping is common place and consequently it's simple and easy to get a relatively cheap device and then get a picture of your locked penis online. But at the same time, galleries are actually things now on pretty much all these sites, and having a photo or two of your locked penis online no longer makes you as unique as it once did.
Your avatar is no longer the only means you have for some kind of graphic representation of yourself on these sites. But a 'cock shot' is definitely the easiest avatar to have, and obviously it's 100% unique so no worries about having to find some cool icon that no one else uses. So I totally understand why 'cock shots' are still a thing.
I like this 'movement' (revolution? maybe too strong a word) towards a less graphically phallocentric activity feed, but I think it will take a while until the 'cock shot' is no longer the default choice. I'm willing to work towards that but I also think I need some patience because it's a fundamental shift in the accepted norm, or even the expected norm, at least in my observations.

 

Living Curious I think you 100% nailed it!
I also remember when a nude image as an Avatar was a statement of being genuine.

 

i think that if the Ladys don't like it then we shud be polite and not do it. You an always put some in the gallrey if you want to.

 

I don't really care either way myself, but if going for a shot of the cage while it is being used, maybe try and be a little artistic about it? I have part of one of my old cages as my Avatar. but I zoomed in on the R pendant that sits on the locks shackle and used a soft blur on the surrounding parts.

 

I would have imagined the lady's that use this site would not be overly shocked by shots of our caged parts however if they prefer we did not use them then I'm happy with that

 

Personally I find it's actually more boring than shocking.
Or perhaps shockingly boring.
Even the simple knowledge that the member with the cock avatar has such a lack of imagination is a bore.
Not to mention browsing the mansion in a public place, an airport for example. It's a bore to have to angle your screen in such a way as to hide the fact that your website of interest is festooned with images male parts.
Oh and then there's dubious pleasure of communicating with someone who who wishes represent themselves visually as a dick.
I believe the dick avatar to be a sort of "default avatar selection response" (DASR) for those males who didn't or generally don't think or wish to.

Moreover, I think the worst part of all is the sight of the plastic ones you can almost smell them.

 

Interesting view and hadn't really thought about it that way, like I said happy not to use them

 

Let's just face it.. penis will never be a pretty thing.. well, without a bow at least. I suggest a rule is a good thing. While I don't personally care, I do think that the Mansion should be a comfortable place for everybody.

 

This thread is becoming hostile. I can understand both sides of the argument. The simple truth is...the community is sexual in nature and the users here should expect to see naughty pictures here and there. Also, there is so much more to Chastity Mansion than pleasing all the Doms/Dommes. It's a place for people to feel welcome and for subs, keyholders and everyone in between to learn, chat and discuss experiences. I wouldn't want to scare off any new users who are just posting their avatar and didn't think about the debate this thread brings up.

Let's not forget that the written content within the threads can be very vulgar at times and explain very dirty things in detail. So cleaning up the avatars is not really going to shield the apprehensive reader. I realize chastity can be used for non-sexual reasons and you might not want to see a penis picture. At the same time, if you are so offended by a naked picture...odds are you wouldnt join a kinky chastity community anyways.

 

Ok, perhaps an offer in compromise to start off with. For now there will be no smelly plastic device penis pics. Hey. It's a start

 

I think it shows a lack of imagination, If I want to look at a dick I can pull down my pants.

Dianne

 

As long as members here are putting their own images, I have no objection
Cocks and cages are part & parcel of the very theme of this website
So those who chose to become members here, are prepared to view cocks & cages
Secondly,
The Avatar does not even consume 1% of the computer screen
So if someone does not like such avatars, they always have the freedom to look at the remaining 99% of the screen!
What to see is after all your choice! Isn't it??

 

That's exactly right.
This being the case, perhaps we should think carefully about sort of membership we wish to attract or repel with such imagery.

 

I've noticed that a lot of comments above talk about the Ladies not wanting to see penis avatars, its not exclusive to them. I really don't want to see them and if its someone's avatar I don't have a choice its just there. What you put in your gallery is up to you but banners and avatars should not be penises. At least that's my opinion.

 

As a newbie who previously had posted My Darling's caged penis as my avatar I received a message suggesting a change may be appropriate and reflect better taste. I agreed but also want to point out we did spend time looking at the various devices in order to see what others were using.

 

My wife thinks my penis is beautiful. That does not mean I will post a picture of it (She calls him by name) as my avatar.
I think this entire conversation, while lofty, is silly. "We want to talk about locked penises but god forbid we actually see one." "Oh, and let us protect the ladies' eyes from improper visage by all means"
Have any of you been to a forum about cars? Welding? Gardens? Dogs?
Please lets all come down from our perch! The forum is such a greap place! We are here in all our manifestations. Tolerance, please!
Ss

 

Therefore a chastity forum should be flooded with penis avatars?
I just checked a dog forum and there were no dog penis Avatars neither was there a wall of steering wheel avatars on any car forums.

The topic of this forum is chastity and thankfully includes all aspects of it from the spiritual and ethereal to relationship and lifestyle aspects, cage sizes gender issues and a myriad of other chastity related views, discussions and ideas which does indeed make it a great place.

I know there are certainly some who would prefer the site to be more dickcentric and dickdominated and would consider anything else to be "lofty" nonetheless, they are tolerated here, even though they may have confused us with http://www.dickmansion.com

 

Is there not an option that can be utilized to view the site as text only? personally I don't mind them either way, even if they're a little unoriginal (no offence to anyone who has, Ive probably had one at sometime also ).

 

But Krambus, Avatars are so useful to be able to recognize people you can clearly see who has posted where and on which topic.
As well as allowing others to recognize them, an Avatar also provides members with opportunity to express something of their nature or feelings toward chastity.
I for one would be greatly disappointed at being forced to use a text only rendition of the site purely because it had become so graphically penis oriented.

By the way, I represent many members who have the same feelings but would not wish to stand up and express them for fear of attack.

 

I personally don't have a problem either way. Yes, this is a chastity site that centers around chastity, but as previously mentioned, chastity is, for the most part, not just about cages. It is just as much about devotion, submission, Dominance, denial and anything else that anyone wishes to throw into the mix. I used a pic of my cage for quite some time until Blue Eyes made is donation offer and changed it. Was no big deal to me. I was and still am sort of proud of my pic. Is being used on welcome page of chastity-UK and pops up when you do a image search for "male chastity". But also, this site is also about Female Domination, so I agree, if the ladies here would rather not see an array of caged dicks, then we, as submissive males, should honor that request.... just my lowly opinion.

 

Why are we doing this again? Have we also gone back to sending private messages to new members.
As I said in the last thread on this done to death subject. I do not have a dick shot avatar and that is my choice.
I do not like the idea of pressure being applied to new members to change there avatars.
If @Administrator changes the rules then HE will be the one to post notice.