AITA for jerkin' it to Goya's Black Paintings?
Emojis for convenience and humor: 🎨🖼🍆💦
I know someone's gonna yell bait about this but idc, like, what? Do you want proof? Video evidence? Grow up.
So I (30x) really like Goya's Black Paintings. Like, Saturn Devouring His Son, Duel with Cudgels, A Pilgrimage to San Isidro. I think they're hypnotic, beautiful, evocative. They make me feel emotions I can't quite explain properly.
As the title says, sometimes I beat my meat to them. Whatever. It's not really about horniness. But the intent doesn't matter.
Recently (in a discussion about sexuality in art, I promise it was relevant, similar sentiments were being shared) I mentioned to my partner (33nb) that I do this. They were pretty taken aback.
Apparently, they find this 'gross' and 'kind of dodgy' because Goya's black paintings were never intended to be shared with a wider audience. They were art that he did not mean to share, painted on the walls of his house near the end of his life. They say it seems like the work is too personal to jerk off to, that it seems invasive or like a violation.
I don't think it's a big deal. The guy is dead, it's not like his ghost knows what I'm doing. It's a good thing to consider, but I don't think it ultimately matters, ethically.
So, I guess AITA for this?
OP here with some updates.
1. Some people in the comments seemed confused by this so I want to clarify.
My partner is not dubious about the 'jerking off' aspect, but instead the spread of Goya's art when he did not intend for it to have an audience. They find the mugs, t-shirts, posters, and other merchandise just as ethically dodgy.
This isn't an issue of masturbation being worse, or "thought crimes" this was an issue of my engagement with the wide spread of Goya's most private works.
2. They have since caved and also jerked it to Goya's paintings just to give it a shot. Well, they tried. It wasn't for them. They get where I'm coming from (the paintings evoke strong emotions that are very complicated, beating your meat as a form of stimming can help you with working through these.) It just wasn't their style. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. Re: variations on "you couldn't torture this information out of me". Sorry you have so much shame about your sexual proclivities. Try unlearning shame and loosening up a bit, perhaps.
4. At the request of @monikererror, I will now be rating how much I enjoy each painting for this activity. Full review below the cut.
