dinsdag 5 maart 2013

Is it sleaze or is it Art? Nudity in the Media.

During the Academy Awards show last week, host Seth MacFarlane presented a song that caused a lot of controversy on the internet. This song, the so-called Boobs song, was about our host being pleased that he had the pleasure of seeing a lot of female breasts in films recently. Understandably, this song got a lot of flak. Jamie Lee Curtis wrote in her article in The Huntington Post that the song might be a big hit on the internet but it demeaned the Academy Awards show. Was this all only about ratings, opined Curtis in her well worded message. Geena Davis added fuel to the fire by saying on the internet that Seth MacFarlane was disrespectful to the women mentioned in his song. And that he was disrespectful to women in general. Only one week before this curious incident, a young lady by the name of Melissa King had had to hand over her tiara of the Teen Miss Delaware elections, because she had appeared in a video in which she was seen doing sexual acts. The interview before the sexual acts made it clear she did it for the money, which was a paltry 1500 dollars. I sometimes think how is it possible that in this year, 2013, we can still be so incredibly shortsighted that the skin on our bodies and the nature of ourselves as human beings, can be so debated still, most certainly in western civilizations. We know so much about the human being. Why then do we deny that human sexuality is a part of ourselves? Why is anything that someone does to show sexual behaviour or even exhibitionist behaviour considered as amoral and dirty? The human species would not have come this far if not for procreation. Procreation happens to go thru sexual contact. Most sexual contact is established once we are nude. If we can accept that the human being is at best a flawed creature, why keep continuously nagging at that human being's deficiencies? No, Mrs. Curtis, any woman who chooses to show her breasts is not by defintion a bad example. It so happens that in this society most men like seeing a woman's uncovered breasts. Of course, we do not live in a perfect world. Most men will immediately agree to that. But this does not mean we should hold ourselves up, noses high in the air, disapproving of everthing or everybody that shows a little skin. We should first ask ourselves, why does this person choose to show herself like this? Maybe she does it for a good reason. Maybe she does it because she thinks it is a really beautiful shot. It might very well be. Maybe she does it just because it is a good paycheck. Is that a bad reason? I think not. There are many websites which post young women's pictures who volunteer their homemade nude pictures because of their own desire to do so. It may very well be an expression of the sexual development this person is going thru. As part of that human experience, I would say, that woman who does chose to show herself, is beautiful. And she can be admired by the men around her. Think for once, on the other side, that also women like to see a naked male now and then and also for this sort of thing, there are plenty of examples on the internet, where men are showing their assets and women look at them with desire. That man, who shows himself, also is beautiful and can be admired by the ladies around him. Actor James Franco recently also defended an explicit film about gay lovers, saying "Sexuality is such a big part of our lives." Yes it is. And I think more people should learn to accept that. In Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome, nudity was not frowned upon. Sexual activity was not found repulsive. No, they accepted it as part of our lives. You too, please, accept it, in whatever form you chose to accept that. Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Davis, I am willing to accept you are not interested in seeing women who choose to bare themselves. That is absolutely fine. But please, don't automatically assuem the worst. Don't call all of those ladies who work as exotic dancers bad examples just because you hold up other standards than they do. These very standards are the reason why one might think one is a bad example but as many people as there are, as many standards there are. I am a man and I like to watch a naked woman now and then. As long as she chooses to do that and has that choice in publishing that material, there is nothing wrong with said nudity. Because it is all part of the HUMAN EXPERIENCE. And aren't we all Human Beings?