This literature review examines the different opinions of 20th and 21st century writers and their ideas on the naked body. It will look into what the nude is in comparison to the naked, and also at power as well as physical perfection. The literature chosen are: Kenneth Clark: 'The Nude: a Study in Ideal Form', John Berger: 'Ways of Seeing', Rosemary Betterton: 'Looking On', Michael Gill: 'Image of the Body and a modern comparison Frances Borzello's ‘The Naked Nude’. All these writers have something to say about the way in which nudity is portrayed and how the subject is viewed accordingly. All authors look into why artists have chosen to depict the nude and explore what this means for feminism, pornography and religion.
Berger, Clark and Gill all see the nude and the naked as different concepts; they all attempt to explain the variation between the two, but Borzello’s opinion is the counter argument towards this as she claims the naked and the nude are interchangeable concepts.
All the authors’ works are interlinked, whether their work inspired another, or they worked together, all their theories stem from each other. Gill was the producer for Clark's TV series on the nude and Clark was the main inspiration for Berger and Borzello to write their books which also both feature a section where they address Clark's book directly.
Kenneth Clark’s 1956 obscurantist book 'The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form' was the basis for all the following books in this literature review. 'The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form' looks into the past to view how the ideal nude was depicted. After writing his book, Clark presented his TV documentary series ‘Civilisation’ which was aired on BBC2 in 1969. It was produced by Michael Gill and was the inspiration f...
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...r. The woman is usually posed in a way to entice the viewer, the male presence, and the same ideas are used in advertising in modern day. Sensual eyes have been used in representations of the female nude for many years and can be seen in the expressions of the traditional oil paintings too. Berger illustrates this point by looking at Bronzino's Venus, Cupid Time and Love (1503-1572). The painting depicts Cupid kissing Venus but Venus's body is displayed in a way which has no connection to the kiss. The body is displayed towards the viewer, the man looking at or painting the painting, who we assume still has his clothes on. The image's only purpose is to appeal to his sexuality. Men use the nude artwork to gain reassurance of their own manhood. Even though at first, the painting of the woman may seem centred around the nude model, the female is actually powerless.
Wykes, Maggie, and Barrie Gunter. The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill. London: SAGE, 2005. Print.
Alice Neel's most talked about painting, a Self-Portrait of herself, shocked the world when she painted herself in the nude at the age of 80-years-old. Neel, a 20th Century American Portrait Artist, painted models for over 50 years before turning the attention to herself (Tamara Garb). Neel wasn't a pinup girl and had depicted herself as the complete opposite (Jeremy Lewison). Unlike Neel, women avoided self-portraits of themselves, and nude self-portraits barely made it to canvas (Tamara Garb). Because of these reasons alone, Neel's Self-Portrait attracted scrutiny (Jeremy Lewison). Though Neel declared the painting to be frightful and indecent (Ibid), it still directed its focus on femininity, and the challenges women had to endure in our
Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.
The novel also portrays a space where a woman’s body is something to fear and hide. "My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. Did I really wear bathing suits at the beach? I did, without thought, amoung men, without caring that my legs, my arms, my thighs and back were on display, could be seen. Shameful, immodest. I avoid looking at my body, not so much because it's shamefull or immodest but because I don't want to see it. I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely."(P.63) Women fear their own bodies, they don't love themselves. Which is unfortunate because having love for your body can create a very powerful space for a woman. When women learn to love themselves and their bodies and not fear what they can do with them, they gain self-esteem and confidence to do whatever it is they want to do.
In this paper, I will attempt to review the debate on pornography in Chapter 4 - State and Society - of Philosophy and Contemporary Issues, Seventh Edition by John R. Burr and Milton Goldinger.
Sexual objectification refers to the way in which a person sexually reduces another by treating them as a mere sex object (Halwani). Sexual objectification is rarely referred to as a benign topic, though throughout this evaluation, an enlightened, thou broad range of opinions are discussed emphasising the ambiguity of the term in relation to the morality of sexual objectification. Halwani’s definition only embraces ‘treatment’ and or the ‘behavioural’ aspects of sexual objectification, nevertheless Halwani recognises that the process by which someone is sexually objectified occurs most frequently throughout the following scenarios: During casual sex, as the parties desire nothing more than the others body party, essentially their sexual parts. When we look at naked pictures of people and become intrigued by their sexual aspects. Engaging in pornography, as the material already objectifies it’s actors as models (Halwani). Perving on a person’s bodily features such a “her booty” as he or she walks by. Catcalling, by reducing the person solely to their physical appearances and lastly, fantasising about someone, as it objectifies them solely on their physical appearances and can in turn symbolise men or women holistically (Halwani, 2010, pp 186). Allowing for a broader discussion in relation to when sexual objectification is morally permissible (if ever), idea’s constructed by Immanuel Kant, Martha Nussbaum and David Soble are broadly evaluated in order to construct when sexual objectification is permissible.
This paper explains the history and development of the nude art in the Renaissance and Medieval period. In the Renaissance age the patrons and artist readopted the antiquity of the classical Greek into representation of nude. This is an epoch when drastic changes occurred in which Christian authorities no longer viewed the nude art as something conflicting or shameful. In contrary they believed that nude being reformed in ancient in classical antiquity portrays divine characteristics and emancipates the light that is pure and heroic (Long, 2008; Bonfante, 1989; Tinagli, 1997). To establish a further understanding why during the Renaissance age nude art brilliantly portrayed human anatomy, the work of some most remarkable artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Masaccio and Durer are described (Long, 2008) These minds welcomed the classical antiquity into their paintings and sculpturing and often the Greek athletic figures and mythological Venus figure were used as ideal models in depicting nude art (Bonfante, 1989). The classical renewal of nude art had specific roles attached to both male and female nude, in the world of art. The religious figures were depicted in antique forms as to convey their theological status and importance. In contrast to the Renaissance period, the Medieval representation of nude art was rare and Religious authorities oppose its development as they believed it may lead to sin and degradation (Long, 2008; Steinberg, 1983). In short this paper will present a historical overview of the nude art and how the diverse cultural attitude towards depiction of nude existed in each period.
As defined by MacKinnon, pornography does indeed cause harm to the women. In her argument, MacKinnon successfully demonstrates how pornography displays male supremacy over women, and how women are mere sex-objects. For the purpose of this paper I will further elaborate on MacKinnon’s argument of pornography depicting women as simply sexual objects and also displaying women as being sub-human to men, almost slave-like. Lastly, I will discuss how pornography lacks literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.
M.D. “Body Image: A Clouded Reality”. Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge 2.2 (2004): 58-65 pg. Web. 18 Nov 2013.
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. NY: Basic Books, 2000. Stassinopoulos, Arianna. The "Natural Woman" Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. Entry found under "gender" Microsoft Bookshelf 2000 -.
One of the most prominent and detrimental forms of sexual objectification is in pornography, where it defines a woman’s role as a sexual object for men to use freely (Insert Plato Citation). It was concluded that 88% of the scenes on porn contain acts of physical aggression, which can overexpose men into thinking that this sort of aggression is normal and raise their tolerance of violence (Insert PornStats Citation). It can further warp the minds of the watchers into thinking that this is what relationships and sex are truly like, when in reality many women are forced into the industry or are overly intoxicated to keep the entire experience feeling numb (Insert ThePinkCross Citation). Pornography also touches in on an even darker subject of pedophilia, or the paraphilia involving sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Pedophilia is mostly found in males, who are also the sex that is 543% more likely to watch pornography (Insert PornStats Citation). Television shows and movies exhibit men of all shapes, sizes, and ages married or dating women of one body type, which is usually young and slender. The combination of the media and pornography feeding into the desires for young, petite girls by exposing them in an explicit way leads to the statistic that one in five men are capable of being sexually aroused by children, to some degree, though they may never act on those feelings (Insert TheGuardian Citation). On the other hand, it is still likely to see people telling young girls to not dress in a revealing manner. In the way society uses this, it is almost an oxymoron. The media is telling girls to look a certain way and when they do they are shamed for it. It should be left at if a girl is too young to be wearing ‘that short of...
Heldman, Caroline, PhD. "Sexual Objectification...: What Is It?" The Society Pages. Sociological Images, 2 July 2012. Web. 04 May 2014. .
Pornography and feminism have had quite an odd relationship. Feminist writers such as Gloria Steinem have denounced the sex industry while it has continued to expand exponentially. Due to technological advances such as the internet and cell phones, pornography is easier to access then ever before. Some publications even estimate that gross annual sales for pornographic videos would exceed four billion dollars (Rich 2011: 1). With this much money being invested into an industry that operates in a capitalistic society, it would be ignorant to hope that it would cease to exist. The truth is that pornography is not going anywhere. The issue that feminists from many different strains are debating is if porn is detrimental to women. And if so, how truly immoral is it? In this paper there will be an examination of how the two different radical-feminist theories have dealt with pornography while also discussing why the issue of pornography can be seen as such a confusing topic for feminists as a whole.
Images that eroticism is implied tend to represent the availability of the women’s bodies, in the implication that they are objects of eroticism (Sturken and Cartwright 2009: 116), consequently affecting the way society views women such as illustrated in Figure
In ancient Greek society, nudity was revered as a natural state of being. In exercise, art, and daily life, nudity was closely associated with the Greeks’ concept of youthfulness and beauty. The era was and continues to be famous for the depictions of precise, idealized anatomy that proliferated sculpture, pottery, and paintings produced by artists from the time. But this obsession with and celebration of the au naturel wasn’t afforded to all members of society. The lugubriously low social standing held by women at the time forced them to assume a more conservative way of dressing, as they continued to be disenfranchised and devalued.