George,

This e-mail is a commentary on the "erotically charged photo" that never made it to the presses.

I've met all types of people from all over the world and from all sorts of cultures here at the Institut de Touraine (there was an article about the
Institut in the Washington Post in 1993 if you're interested on reading up on it).

Yes, it is true that Charlotte is not New York or Paris (where one can see advertisements with nude women plastered all over the city sans aucune probleme). However I've heard it said time and time again from foreigners that America has an unhealthy attitude towards sex. We love violence yet have a problem confronting sexual matters (although we have become ridiculously obsessed with sex in the media over the past 20 years or so).

I remember visting Belgium and watching a TV program intended for kids about the age of seven to ten, according to my Belgian friend as I don't speak Flemish. The subject jumped suddenly from some kind of word games to the topic of intercourse in the animal kingdom. Coming from an American society I found this a bit bizzare, but, that's part of daily life in Belgium. Just thought I'd share a bit of cultural comparison.

Joseph Cheeks (electronic mail, December 12, 2000).