T/S Golden Bear MURAL REMOVAL

Yeah but that was in a time when you could call a snowflake a snowflake and not get sued or forced to attend sensitivity training classes. What hath we wrought?

This issue really is the poster child for social stupidity at its worst.

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That sort of thing has been gone from the commercial side what, over 20 years now? WWII has been over now for 74 years.

I can’t see that CMA would be well served to plant their flag on this particular hill. It is a maritime school for training future mariners after all, even if the cadets don’t see it that way.

While some of those “murals” in question were more suggestive than others, one should take a step back and question if this would be permitted at any shoreside office (marine industry or otherwise). I don’t think so. Many in our industry lament this mindset, but like it or not, the “good 'ol days” of “rough and rowdy sailors” is quickly leaving us. You can complain all you want about “sensitivity training” and similar, but it is not going away, and those who choose to refuse to adapt in some form will not find a career for much longer. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I consider myself a professional, and hold myself to the standards of someone earning a six-figure salary.

As noted by another, this is not WWII, and painting risquĂ© images in this manner on an airplane nose or ship’s bulkhead is no longer a thing. Do you want to get a tattoo that says “Mom” in a heart atop an anchor? Might as well fully embrace that image and go all the way
 Do you like pirates? Do you imagine yourself being some swashbuckling Romeo, a super-sailor having his way with the women in port before dashing away to destinations unknown? You probably have the poster in your room of the quintessential WWII bearded sailor, captioned “You Bet I’m Going Back To Sea!” No? Too much? What if you were on a date with a woman (not in school with you) and you gave her a little tour of the ship, proudly describing this artwork
would she be impressed, or mortified? For the older guys amongst us, would you enjoy knowing your daughter at Cal Maritime was viewed with this mindset, and the school encouraged it? If you say “it’s a man’s industry and she better get used to it” then I feel sorry for you.

To the cadets complaining: Do you own the ship? No, you don’t. Therefore, you do not get to deface property on your own accord. You do not get to opine what is acceptable and what is not regarding things which are not even your own, nor will affect any reasonable aspect of your daily life. Do you plan on arguing with the Captain or C/E on your first ship after graduation, because they will tell you to do something you don’t agree with? If so, then I sincerely hope you are not assigned to my ship.

This form of artwork is hardly worth memorializing. Take a picture with your cell phone and move on with your life.

No but I sure as Hell don’t want some twit snowflake with a sensitivity problem saying doing so creates an actionable offense if I did.

No one here said that.

Don’t project your own fears and beliefs on others. My daughter has the personal strength and wisdom to work effectively in a world that doesn’t always suit everyone with a sensitivity problem and I sure as Hell don’t have the right to change society to protect her from what some self appointed sensitivity policeman thinks it should be.

Get over it snowflake. You and your ilk are the problem, not a bunch of cartoons.

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Mariners that support CMA cadets here have no skin in the game. Why make CMA fight this battle alone?

They need to post similar “art work” on their own ships and when the company objects tell them that they believe changing company policy back the 1945 version is a matter of utmost urgency.

“FTG” stands for: “Eff” the Guard"


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The policy would require a guidance manual be written for approval/non-approval.

The Guidance Committee, consisting of the Master, C/E, Chief Mate and 1 A/E will then sort the “mermaid” category further into the categories “sexy mermaid” and “slutty mermaid”. The committee with then parse the “slutty mermaid” category as follows: slutty mermaid with nipple and


The senior officers could work on this while cadets run the ship.

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Well if I were still looking for miss right I’d promptly move on to the next one who has enough of a sense of humor and isn’t easily offended. Luckily I’ve found her and we have both been laughing at this nonsense.

I’m not one to say we should go back to the “good ol days” but why the fuck should going to sea become as stifling as an office job? Why is everything so bad these days when we are just trying to be seafarers? What kinds of sea stories will future generations have if we continue down this path? Yeah it’s a business and a career but we should be allowed to be sailors in some form. Otherwise it’s just a boring job

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I have no skin in this game and have already posted my views regarding shipboard graffiti. I will let this be my last comment. The first few “murals” may have been viewed as cute but after 100 the ship begins to look like a NY subway car. Kids will be kids and I understand that but if I was employed on the ship I would have tolerated it for the length of the cruise. Said “murals” would have likely disappeared by the next cruise.

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Lentils to citrus fruit comparison. No one is telling anyone to paint anything. A lot of social engineering snowflakes are saying no one should do anything that causes them discomfort. The cartoons are just a vehicle for their insecurities.

I find toilet paper ads that use cartoon bears offensive but life has more to offer than trying to to prevent some ad agency from creating the stupid stuff. When my world is so small and I am so hyper-sensitive that a cartoon of anything, no matter how gross or pointless moves me to attempt to impose my beliefs on others it is time to look inward. I don’t have to buy a certain product, I don’t have to look at everything I see, I don’t have to do anything that disturbs me to do and I sure as Hell don’t want to have some self appointed guardian of goodness to tell me what I am allowed to see, hear, or think.

If the State of California wants to have clean white bulkheads on their ship then they can paint them. Claiming they need to be painted to protect some snowflake’s psyche is pure bullshit.

I personally find the photographs of the Cheeto in federal buildings incredibly offensive to the point of nausea but I don’t whine about it and demand my feelings about it are pandered to.

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They will start out with “Once upon a time 
” and contain no references to alcohol, premarital “relations” or four letter words.

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You nailed it. What upsets me is not so much the removal of the murals as the ominous implication that erotic depictions of the female form will henceforth not be tolerated. The school would have been well served with announcing the removal as general maintenance, only to sneak the new guidelines in at a later stage.

@Kennebec_Captain raises some valid points. The school doesn’t have much to win by picking this particular fight, and you could even deem it irresponsible not to prepare future generations of sailors for this brave new world of ours. However, that doesn’t make this particular step in the march of progress any less lamentable.

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Hanging on the wall in my bedroom is a Golden Shellback certificate from February 18, 1988. Along the left side are two topless (gasp!) mermaids, arching their backs and tails as they “swim” alongside other assorted aquatic critters. On the bottom, in fine print, is the source of said shocking artwork
the USNI.

Does the Naval Institute still print such lewd images to commemorate memorable events in a mariner’s life? Have the PC police struck down yet another part of our shared profession? I am too dang frustrated with the whole affair to dig too deeply today. It seems this makeover of the Golden Bear could have been accomplished in a less contentious manner. Simply issue a statement to the effect the bulkheads are becoming crowded, the images will be photographed and archived, and future murals will take their place under a guidelines a), b), c).

Easy way out? Maybe
but it simplifies the whole discussion.

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They are not making this claim, you are.

“Guidelines” written by some self appointed guardian of the community morals is far more offensive than a pair of tits breaking the waves of some south sea lagoon.

If guidelines are absolutely required to keep the snowflakes from wilting, how about a simple guideline like “if it can be viewed in the Louvre or any other national museum of arts or history (including the National Archaeological Museum in Naples) then it should be good enough for baby sailors.”

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“Recently, members of our faculty, staff and Corps of Cadets conveyed to our campus leadership that they found some of the content offensive and inappropriate.” Thomas A. Cropper President California State University Maritime Academy

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You care deeply about this issue, but not enough to actually show up during your break.

That was articulated far better than I could; fully agree.

My 15yo was at the Louvre last spring and when I asked him about the day his response was, “Dad, it was beautiful
I just can’t describe how great it was.”

a moment when you realize you may have done ok raising a kid.

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Does that by any chance house stuff from Pompeii?

As a matter of fact it does and it is far from offensive. One room in particular elicits a lot of giggles from little old ladies and teenage girls.