March 11, 2012
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RE: Nudity is WRONG (NSFW)
Sometimes a post really rubs me the wrong way, and I simply have to post a rebuttal. This post by @amandakristian17 is such a post. In it, she says that nudity is wrong. I wholeheartedly disagree. Nudity is the most natural thing in the world. We are all born naked. If it wasn’t natural, we would be born with clothes on.
She says that not everyone wants to see “breasts, bum, and genitalia all over the web, television, etc.” While some may agree to this, I don’t. I don’t mind seeing naked people. She goes on to say that you do not need to post pictures of yourself nude to make yourself feel beautiful. That, I agree with, but I think her approach is off. You shouldn’t be ashamed to be naked, and if you feel comfortable to post nude photos of yourself, you should be able to do that…just do it for the right reasons. She strengthens her argument by posting pictures of classic artwork such as the Mona Lisa. While, yes, that piece of artwork is beautiful and clothed, there are MANY classic artworks that feature the model nude, including but not limited to the following:
Titan, Venus of Urbino, 1538
Jules Lefebvre, Chloe, 1875
Michaelangelo, David, 1504
Michaelangelo, The Creation of Adam, 1509
Lucas Cranach, Venus and Cupid, 1509I think nudity is beautiful, and should be celebrated for the beauty that it is. There doesn’t have to be anything sexual about being nude either. For instance, I think this is exquisitely beautiful, and I don’t understand why people are so offended:
No, you shouldn’t post photos to MAKE yourself feel beautiful. You are already beautiful, in your own, natural skin. Why do people insist on making people feel ashamed of their own bodies and nakedness? I sleep naked and I love it!!
Here are some tasteful photos of nudity that I found on DeviantArt:
NUDITY IS NOT WRONG!!! IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!
Comments (42)
Poor David. It was probably just cold in the building.
When it comes to art, I don’t mind it *as* much but when its random photos of some naked chick its kinda gross, to be honest..and i’m far from being a prude and a nun..that part was kinda offensive dear :
nicely said
@TheTheologiansCafe - http://www.popdaily.net/forum/images/smilies/newyork/ny18.gif
I agree. People that think nudity is wrong were probably ruined by their mothers.
I’m with you! I definitely don’t think it’s cool for people under the age of 18 to pose nude for anything. However, I think that nude artwork is complete tasteful and beautiful. Nudity is definitely not wrong or unnatural.
You forgot “The Birth Of Venus” D:
Dug your choice of pics….
@TheTheologiansCafe - M. was just trying to make it tasteful as apparently D. was really well-endowed when aroused.
I sort of agree with what Unconventionalbutterfly said.
It isn’t always about a “prude” or a “nun”…
Quite frankly, I believe the body is beautiful, and should be blessed and this is the REASON that I think that it should be covered. Hey, if some people want to go to nude beaches, etc, then I get it. Parade it around, whatever.
However, ASIDE from older art, now days, most nudity is merely to get attention, and honestly? From what I see? The wrong kind.
I personally am highly against nudity in movies/films/plays for many reasons. One of them being that as an actress (and one who is trying to go into hollywood) acting is not ABOUT nakedness. I tell people to look back on all of the films that we love and adore the most as a culture, and many of them do NOT containt nudity.
I’ve spoken with people in hollywood who have actually said this, “An actor/actress should never be required to be nude. Acting is about acting, there are very few instances in which it is not about exploitation.” We went on to say, “Sure, if it’s a halocaust scenario, or something to effect, understood… but most often, it’s only there for shock, and exploitation…” and honestly? ABOUT 99.9999999 percent of the time, it’s not even realistic. How many films do you see/enjoy where the person who is naked is a normal every day body? Hardly at all.
It’s always miss “skinny minny” with ”huge fake boobs”… What do you think that does to young women in this society? Everyone thinks that that’s the standard for beauty, because we get used to seeing it that way, which is again, another reason why it’s exploitation.
If it was “fair” … I’d say maybe it was about something else. (As in, actually put a woman on the screen that looks ANYTHING like that first, or last painting up there… it happens SOOO rarely that it’s silly)
Nudes in older art don’t offend me so much (like your first pictures) and maybe because people didn’t look at them as “sex”… often now days, that’s all nudity is portrayed as… “sex, sex, sex, sexy, nude, naked, sexy, bla bla bla…”
Agreed!
There are some ground rules- No children, no teens under the given society’s age of maturity, which in most cases is 18.
If a person looks just as lovely clothed, then it is to his/her advantage to use discretion in public.
No one should broadcast their genitalia in public, at least in my opinion. Breasts, though, not being genitalia, are not, to me, pornographic. Again, it should be a matter of discretion.
Always consider the real and likely potential audiences. If immature men are going to put the woman at risk, she does best to cover up. If arrest is a likely consequence, why stir the bee’s nest- unless your goal IS arrest (i.e. Portland, ME, last year).
Agreed.
I like that last shot from deviant art.
as long as everyone involved is of age – and chooses to participate under uninfluenced conditions – it’s all good… not sure why everyone’s got their skivvy’s in a bundle… but the giant pendulum of acceptance is sure to swing the proverbial conservative way at some point in time…
I mean, I wouldn’t post nude pics of myself or anything, but I don’t see what’s wrong with nudity. Nothing dirty about it, unless it’s genital close-up shots.. Lots of those floating around Xanga…
Yeah I was born naked. I also sucked on my mom’s tit for a while afterward but it would be wrong if I did it now. Same with being naked. Have some morals people.
I like there was no schlongs in this post.
Nevermind. This post is horrible. Thou shall not post pictures of schlongs.
I’m naked!
(under my clothing)
@TheTheologiansCafe - HAHA!
@UnconventionalButterfly - I’m sorry, I took that part out…I posted it off the fly, without any editing.
@buddy71 - Thanks
@Ricardo98 - Probably, lol
@clumsyandunaware - LMAO, that was awesome.
@RazielV - I didn’t really forget…I just didn’t want to post a whole slew of stuff, you know?
@Kellsbella - Thank you
@LKJSlain - I don’t disagree with you on your points of exploitation, but that wasn’t really my argument. I simply don’t see anything wrong with nakedness. There’s certainly far too much pressure for women these days to be super thin, and I think it’s sad. It’s also sad to see so many men agree and push the issue.
@RighteousBruin - Obviously, no one under 18 should be posting nude photos, that’s certainly wrong.
@Thatslifekid - I know, isn’t it lovely?
@xplorrn - Exactly!!
@fightingXstronger - Gah I agree with you there!
@SKANLYN - I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong with nakedness, in the right context. Obviously no one should be walking down the street without clothes, but if you want to look at nude photos or movies or be nude in your own home, there’s nothing wrong with that.
@SolidStateTheory - LMAO. Sooo sorry the statue of David upset you
@Rob_of_the_Sky - As are we all
The point of clothing was protection—to keep our skin from being damaged.
Somewhere along the line we decided to invent modesty, and fashion—two of the WORST concepts ever.
Modesty is based in the idea that humans are such COMPLETE animals, that women need to cover themselves comepltely—lest some poor mortal be tempted to want congress (Willing or not) with them. Say WHAT? This is the moral equivalent of telling a person who’s car has been stolen that it’s THEIR fault…how dare they flaunt their fenders! Had they no shame? Clearly, the thief was inflamed by pure lust for their wheels! (You get the point, I assume?)
And then there is fashion. Somewhere along the line, it wasn’t enough to cover everything—you had to do it with STYLE. The idea was supposed to be seeming more attractive to the opposite sex. Sure. Which is why men read Vogue, Elle, and all the other fashion made, right? They freaking DO NOT. The only “fashion” they show interest in is the Sport’s Illustrated Bathing Suit Issue…and it’s NOT for the damned couture.
SO…my spin. Skin is fine..I like mine.
I’ve never read her post, but I’d argue she put it pretty wrong. Nudity is NOT wrong, but there are times and places for it. All we can do to prevent it from kids, if that’s her concern is put Mature settings on it. The sad part is that people only look at it in a sexual side, and because of it, being naked or being human feels more like being a disgrace than it should be. Thanks for helping to remove the stigma with the art pictures.
@crazy2love - OH GOSH! I agree with you on that
So totally sad.
I’d love to for once see a situation in which nude women who were a size 10, 12, 16, and even above maybe were portrayed in art as being sexy/lovely.
Doesn’t mean I’d approve of the content, but I’d appreciate it more than all the “nude” thrown around now days
I disagree. The only people who think nudity is beautiful is when they see in under the context of sex. I’ve taken life drawing classes where I had to draw males, intersexed, females, young, old, scary-thin to morbidly obese.
Pooping is natural, doesn’t mean I wanna see people go to the crapper or know about that epic dump they took after eating a Taco Bell value box.
Seeing people’s dangly parts outside of drawing class is just a huge “NO” from me, thanks.
I saw the post and I figured that the person that wrote it was young. She looks young, has 17 in her name, and all of her examples were teenagers. I figured her thoughts on nudity were heavily influenced by the beliefs of her parents and that it was pointless to say anything on her site. I agree with you 100%. Nudity is natural and beautiful. However, I grew up in a household where the naked body was something to be ashamed of. It was sexual and people cover themselves in shame because of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Some people in my family actually believe that if a child sees a naked body they will instantly become sexualized and perverted as adults. I remember my parents practically tripping over themselves if they walked from the bathroom their bedroom without a towel or a robe and my brother and I saw them. She won’t develop a healthy attitude toward nudity until she gains some independence (if even then).
crazy2love, great post. @LKJSlain - Did you ever see the Jack Nicholson movie, “About Schmidt”? There’s a scene where Kathy Bates (in my opinion one of the best actresses of her generation) disrobes and slips into a hot tub with a startled and surprised Mr. Schmidt (Nicholson). Obviously, she’s not 18, and not a size 4. I found it “shocking” upon first viewing it, simply because it’s a risk most people wouldn’t take unless they have a “perfect” body they don’t mind showing off. I wasn’t the least bit offended by it, it was relevant to the story (sure, they could have done without it and still found a way to make the point they were going for, but it was totally apt for her character to do something like that), and I thought, “GO Kathy!” Anyway, just 2 cents from me.
I DO think a lot of filmed nudity is gratuitous. And for that matter, one-sided. What’s the ratio of naked women in movies to naked men? And not just Mel Gibson’s ass – I’m talking balls out (pun intended) nudity. But even then, I’m not offended, I just roll my eyes b/c it’s pretty transparent. There’s a difference in the nude human body, which is about as natural as it gets (clothing didn’t appear until sometime after the first humans, I’ll wager), and pornography or exploitation of the human body.
Our naked bodies are beautiful.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t be used against us.
Especially on the Internet.
Not sure if you saw my response to her crappy blog, but I was pretty close to doing the same thing as you lol. Venus of Urbino was actually the first work to come to mind when I saw her post :p
@Erika_Steele - meh, I did notice the same thing, but evidently (bc I’m a creep) she has a fiance and writes about how Christians should act, yet also talks about smoking weed and drinking behind her parent’s back. I figured she obviously has enough autonomy, and deserved a rude, troll-ish remark.
@babiipnay7o6 - fiance? in high school? lol. she wasn’t interesting enough for me to stalk her page.
I wholeheartedly agree… Great post and yes those pics are in very good taste.
What I saw in the post you referred to stating that nudity is wrong, was some very sexually suggestive poses by non nude young women, partially clothed. I guess that is the point she was trying to make about nudity being wrong.
I disagree with her and the nudes on this post of yours shows that nudity can be done in good taste.I do not see the sexual suggestiveness here that I saw in amandakristian17′s post.I know there are a lot of people who think it is cool to just let it all hang out on the internet and I think that is wrong to drop your clothes for attention.All nudity is not in bad taste and your post here proves that.
NUDITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read the post just now that generated our excellent challenge. I think you did a good job with this, but I still think she is basically right.
One thing for sure, modesty and virginity are not relics of America’s imperfect past.
It is an interesting debate. We should not be ashamed of our bodies, but I am not so proud of mine that I would sex-text it to anyone. lol Do we put museum nudes in the same category as centerfolds? I doubt it.
Is there a connection between STD and obsession with physical beauty. Maybe, maybe not. I just think there has been a change in the culture.
Let’s talk about it in 500 years. lol
@crazy2love - @LKJSlain -
Just from your “women are under pressure to be thin” convo, I thought you’d both appreciate this. http://www.newfaces.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/elle-france.jpgTara Lynn, a “plus size” model who posed for the cover of Elle France a while ago. She does a bunch of interviews on why it shouldn’t be a big deal and how we should love our bodies
(And you can look up Nancy Haysse as well)
@tgwiy - thank you.
I’d also like to add, in my mind, that is a tasteful nude
Nowadays we tend to think that all that is art is highly intellectual, and thus merely intellectual, and therefore not “bad”.
But the thing is, they didn’t have photographs back then and many old nude paintings were “for the private use only”. Tasteful photos are more beautiful, but what is more beautiful does not arouse me less. In fact I find artsy photographs on average much “hotter” than typical pornography, which is usually cheap, fake and unnaturally exagerrated.
Do I therefore think this art is “wrong”? no. I think it is beautiful. Lust is a part of human life and a nice part. It’s like saying pictures of food are wrong.
I dont think nudity is wrong, nor (in reality) is any nude or naked image. the problem from a Christians standpoint is twofold (1) To distinguish from good nudity/art and bad nudity/lust/pornography? (2) Most men (and a growing number of women) look at porn and nakedness as porn, it induces lust and masturbation, which are seen as sins. So, just like with drinking, most choose abstinence over moderation. Now, I will totally go into an art museum but you wont see me going to a sex or adult expo for this reason.
In addition, those who are not turned on by any form of nudity intrigue me. I cannot say they are lying but I also cannot act like nudity doesn’t have an affect on me, or other males, and many females too; so for someone to react like nudity should be common and we should also be dancing naked in the street is a bit of denial on how humanity sees nudity.
I very much agree with the Genesis story, where clothing was used to both, hide form one another and from God, because now are minds were distorted, what was beauty is now seen as shameful or lustful. I often wonder myself, as a Christian, if we really expect in the end to be going around wearing clothes since Adam and Eve did not until after the fall. If there is some sort of reconciliation in the end (and I think there very well will be) then we should be expecting we will all be naked and will think of one another as God’s beautiful creation but not merely objects of lust and sexual gratification.
@PervyPenguin - lol
you are very right.
How strange that she brought Renaissance art into her post…?
“Nudity is wrong…period”
That’s what the popes of the mid 1600s thought, mandating the desecration of beautiful, irreplaceable art. *GASP*
Nude women are my absolute favorite to sketch!
Great post.
The strange way this country views nudity and sex can be seen by contrasting it with the view on violence. In a Supreme Court ruling on whether an extremely violent video game can be sold to minors, one of the justices who said it had to be allowed to be sold due to freedom of speech, in the same writing said that sex does not fall under that category. What???? It appalls me how much horrible, gratuitous violence is accepted on TV and in movies, but Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” makes people go hysterical. Bizarre. The natural human body, even expressions of sexual love, are affirming, kind, and positive, yet so many people outraged and horrified by these (“I must protect my children from these horrible things!”) while giving minimal concern to violence, which harms, destroys, and even kills other people. It baffles me.