[SciPy-Dev] removing the Lena image

[Alan G Isaac]

On 8/15/2015 12:10 PM, Anne Archibald wrote:
> If we're being precise about language, this image is not unobjectionable: there are indeed people who have objections to it:

You misunderstand: I was *asserting* that it is unobjectionable.
Merely noting that some people object is the wrong measure,
and that is the path to censorship.   For a recent discussion, I recommend
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/


> this image is not being proposed for removal
> for feminist reasons. It is being proposed for removal because the license is a problem.

As you know, I made no case against removing it.
Someone else mentioned the possibility of code breaking.
If code breaking is a concern, it would be possible
for skimage.data.lena() to fetch the image from the USC-SIPI Image Database
http://sipi.usc.edu/database/download.php?vol=misc&img=4.2.04


> Please don't play devil's advocate or language-lawyer with social-justice issues.

I did neither.
I do claim that there is no social justice issue involved
beyond the risk that the vagaries of popular opinion can be
advanced as justifications for censorship and cultural destruction.
For a recent discussion, I recommend
http://laurakipnis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/My-Title-IX-Inquisition-The-Chronicle-Review-.pdf

Don't worry; I'll say nothing further about this.

Cheers,
Alan Isaac