Dancing Bear

[Aurora199]

Did anyone else notice the dancing bear print on the Thread Banger Blog? I saw it this morning and it just about made me sick.

Several years ago I saw an awareness ad on TV that I've never been able to forget. It showed how dancing bears are tortured. They are kept in horrible conditions, they have metal chains pierced through their lower jaw, and they are forced to stand on hot-plates (thus making them move their feet appearing to dance). I realize that the print is "art", but I still don't know how anyone could market something of this nature.

If it was marketed as a way to raise awareness then maybe I could understand it.

[ladyjanewriter]

I didn't see that - was that one of the ads on top? I don't think the people behind ThreadBanger actually control that content.

But yes, that does sound horrible, about the bears. I'm not big on animals as entertainment, unless they're raised in loving homes by gentle-training technique trainers. And well, they wanna do the trick, I guess.

[Aurora199]

It's part of the blog under "Christmas of Curiosities".

Here's the response I received from the artist ohmycavalier
"Hello, the fact that you are questioning that print is great, it’s actually what you are supposed to do. All my work has to do with anthropomorphism and the way we have interacted with animals for so long, sometimes pretending like they are humans and at the same time fearing them because they are not like us at all. I think the cycle of entertainment and abuse associated with dancing bears is a perfect example of that, for some reason we are intrigued by making this very wild, and possible dangerous to us animal, act like a human. Not just like a human, but like a clown, something we can laugh at and no longer feel threatened by. That is something about our nature that I am very intrigued by, and I think this need to make nature seem “more like us” has lead to much abuse and degradation of the environment in general.
That is a short version of my thesis; I hope that explains something to you though. I am not at all an advocate of bear dancing, quite the opposite, but these images are part of our culture and I think it’s important to explore them. I think the fact that you are slightly disturbed by it is exactly what you are supposed to feel.
Thanks for your note
Julianna 12 December 2007 12:17pm EDT"


I'm not sure if "slightly disturbed" covers it....