"The cure for it, ironically, is to stop caring so darned much about nudity. If it doesn't rile us, then it's not going to be a route to riches. Once that happens, we can turn back the clock, perhaps even to Michelangelo's time, and we can look at a picture of a lovely human specimen and appreciate it for its inherent beauty. It's a sad thing to turn the one thing that's truly ours -- our bodies -- into a source of shame."
Update: I found the picture of Vanessa Hudgens nude, finally. (Man, they must be working hard at keeping it off the web.)
She is beautiful.
And what a totally innocent picture. I tremble to try to imagine how messed up one has to be to be very upset about this.
One has to hand it to Disney, though: at least they did not freak out enough to cancel their projects with her. Well done.
27 comments:
I share the sentiments of Martha at MSN, but not only about nipples. Adam's pee-pee has been an acceptable feature of public art for centuries, as has Michaelangelo's David's proud member, but the female vagina has yet to be liberated from its archaic banishment from the temple and traditional artistic depictions, with the exception of Courbet's "Origin of the World". Even Playboy has shown it not much respect or acceptance. Until we accept the sight of penises and vaginas, this is still just empty talk.
Penes are becoming more accepted in regular film. We see them in "The Pillowbook", "Belly of an Architect", "Drowning by Numbers" to name a but a few in mainstream cinema. However, the erect penis is still taboo.
We see that we are allowed to see more of women in regular movies as well, full frontals acceptable in "Walkabout", "The Notorious Betty Page", but again, there are quieter corners receiving less exposure, though quite evident in "The Wall" in a non sexual context. I can't understand why, since they are prevalent in the world of, ever seen a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe?
If we are allowed to see the uterus in "Prosperos Books" (another fine Shakespear film), why not a vagina once in a while.
By vagina I guess you mean vulva, like most people do. The vagina is the internal tube.
When I said uterus, did I mean womb?
It's like that part of town where you could get to all the shops blindfold, but you don't known any street names...
Just found the map. I guess mons pubis are oft seen in films, but labia less oft. Vaginal orifice is visible in some nigh medical images.
I think I prefer the term yoni.
"Just found the map."
LOL!
Hey, why the need to defend nude celebrities? I LOVE nude celebrities!
Provided they're nice-looking. Roseanne Barr and Rush Limbaugh may definitely be excused.
Yes, you too, Mr Osama, now beat it! Don't you have a Ramadan to celebrate or something?
This photo is indeed 100% innocent. I remember when there was scenes of children skinny-dipping in Disney movies, and nobody was promised to the Blazes for it.
Now, THIS nude women image, on the other hand (the one protruding from the middle of the back), is definitely obscene. Or so it was said when Picasso painted it. :-)
"Chicks"? Is that really a good translation?
My friends however, found it quite disgusting when they got to know that this cute celebrity did this. They said that on how disgusting, perverted, and immoral has she became. When I instead said that it was a nice thing that she did, then they were laughing at me and called me a horny, sex-addict. The girls especially, were against it among my frineds there. They believed that all I said that was nothing but sheer bullshit if to be taken seriously. Since in Malaysian culture, nudity, especially of a woman, is equivalence with porn.
Skinny dipping in Disney?
Chicks is a good translation, young ladies (bablefish) is a bit dry.
I think at the age 16 I was still gun shy of nudes. It took a few years to relax and see with my eyes, and not convention. Strange considering the daily nude in two of the national newspapers (Page 3 - The Sun, Page 7, Starbird - The Star). I still wasn't prepared for threading my way through topless sunbathers on the quayside in Yugoslavia by age 19.
eolake said...
"Chicks"? Is that really a good translation?
Nope, it's not. There's nothing trivial or slang about the word "demoiselles", it's nice and poetic.
Better translation would be "damsels", or "missies", or just "young women".
Anurag,
Unfortunately, like in Lebanon, Malaysia has a whole uptight culture about nudity, and sex too. Not only do people mistake the two, but they have a guilt-ridden approach to it, considering perfectly natural things created by God as dirty, sinful and impure. The cultural barrier is like a brick wall. You won't be able to "simply" go through it or push it down. You need to bring it down intelligently and patiently, brick by brick. Good luck in helping your friends open their eyes.
Or, alternately, you could make a military coup, become President, and blast that wall down with the cannon of a tank! ;-)
What's most amusing, is that the majority of men, and many women, display an overly prudish attitude while in reality they're probably much more sex-obsessed than you and I. The several recent political scandals in the USA are proof enough: the more they're repressed, the more they're obsessed.
Recently, an article relating testimonies of women in muslim countries -talking about sex and the real attitude of people toward it- was censored by Lebanese authorities. "Even if everybody knows the truth, it is forbidden to say it out loud." ):-P
The "robes" (various religious leaders from all religions) are scared to death of losing their authority, status and power if people happened to get rid of this artificial culture of sin, shame and constant guilt about "immorality".
I seem to recall that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized naked, in front of a whole crowd. And nudity was often the sign of biblical prophets.
Your only "fault", as I see, was to be honest about your beliefs. And your "punishment" was to be misunderstood for being, not relaxed about these natural things, but "obsessed with perversion". THAT is the true bullshit.
Alex,
Yes, I remember watching a Disney movie with innocent skinny-dipping of children. Perhaps Swiss Family Robinson, but I'm not sure, it was more than 20 years ago.
Myself, I only had the occasion of going to a topless beach at 25. I had already done Med School with its social conditioning unraveling role, but of course a beach is a very different context from "work".
Still, there were no problems for me. To my surprise, to be honest. I expected to react "you know how".
Since I have the same feeling toward naturism, I believe I'm ready for it. I'm just in a country where being ready is pointless. (General outcry chorus from the Morality Leagues and the Robes.)
The A level comment thre my cultural perspective/precoception, they were the exams we sat at 17/18 in the UK. The whole coming to terms with it the British way was easy compared with a stricter society. In Britain we all cross the barrier at some point. It is a country of great mixed standards, but less so than the US.
Pascal,
Unfortunately, I am not a Malaysian but an expatriate here from Indian which is worse. However, I took Pervez Musharraf's step to do it back home, I will get assassinated since Indian people are far brilliant and large in number than its neighbouring Pakistan. In Pakistan, all the religious figures are somehow called to be as terrrorists by America since they go against their leader. However, the Hindu fanatics are grandely supported by the Americans and as you could see all American figures respected Hinduism in all aspects. However, I am not against Hinduism since I am a Hindu but since Hinduism is the oldest religion, many might have manipulated it based on their views and some for their needs. My parents will forget about me and they might get killed since my fellow countrymen would do anything to bring down if I become a military leader of India. Sorry, Pascal for insulting you a lot of days back for calling you with unacceptable names. Sorry about that
Consider yourself excused, Anurag. I don't even remember old insults from you. My memory is very bad for that kind of things. :-)
Fanatism is bad no matter the involved religion (it's perhaps the thing they all have most in common). :-( And they all get manipulated by politics through their leaders.
I wish you good fortune in your life, whatever path it takes.
Thank you Pascal.
Did you know that Vanessa had to apologise to the public for her nude photographs? I don't understand when will this end when should keep on apologising to prudes of this world. Soooo depressing?! What do ya think abt this all of you? Do all of you agree with me or not that its so depressing?
I think that Vanessa shouldn't have apologised? This would give 'prudes' encouragements that they're more powerful. Hey, lets do something abt it.
I think Vanessa should have given more nude photographs.
I agree. But perhaps it's not a big problem compared to way and crime.
Eolake said,
'I agree. But perhaps it's not a big problem compared to way and crime.'
Waht does way mean in this sentence? Seriously.
Yes, its not such a problem.
Silly me, I meant to type "war".
Thanks. It's fine, everyone makes mistakes and learns from it. Well, you're forgived.
2day somebody called me to be a pervert on youtube, since i defended her nude pics.Their reason is' at some point we're nude, and I am a perv. cause i lookin' up to it. Who's right me or them?
Are we all here havin' mental problems? This is because, most of my friends suggest me really to see a mental doctor because I love to see at naked women. Does that mean that me, Eolake, ALex, and Pascal are all psychopaths? I can't get them. Now, I can't get it out of their minds because to call me to be psychopaths. They think that i am a psychopaths who needs extensive pschological surgery.
Most people say that Vanessa is now a pornstar due to her nude pics. inaddition, they say that takin' a nude pic. of yourself is a disrespect to yourself. Is it so?
Why isn't anyone showing any reactions to what I said? i am not angry but common, she's being attacked you ppl appear to be hypocritic in your move when you talk about defending nude celebrities. Common, answering something on yahoo's answer and question would be a thing of defending and moulding-up some ppl's mind. Lets not give-up, we can do it. One girl there said that she looks disgusting in that pic. and one has to be a stupid enoough to call this nice. One also said that since this was taken when she was a around 16, its a child porn. Do something?????
Well it seems seeing Girls Like Vanessa Hudgens Nude is really what keeps the paparazzi busy :-) Im just waiting for the backlash from the New Gene Simmons Tape to hit the net and it will be on everyone will be going nuts
Post a Comment