|
Digital rendering by Eric. |
Pornography is a way of exalting the feminine. We are a culture that has worked very, very hard to put the feminine down, and to me it's a form of Goddess worship that has sprung through the cracks in the system. Critics say that porn causes us to have idealized, unrealistic and fantasy-driven views of women, which is funny to me because it's obvious that the largest consumers of these imaginary views of women are women, in the form of their shopping and fashion catalogs. Female sex appeal is surely used to sell to men, but it's used just as much to sell to women. And here, it's as dangerous as you're willing to see it, because the real women rarely match up to the ones they see portrayed, and the ones that do often still feel unworthy. Meanwhile, women rarely have opportunities to see and experience one another in a such a way that they might notice they're normal for their imperfections, and no less attractive. In marketing to women, the emotional reaction to a sexual aesthetic is used to get you girls to swipe your cards. It's intended as a means to an end, which somehow bestows legitimacy. But when sex appeal is the end in itself, it often becomes the object of derision, which is because it's an honest position refusing to pander to shame. I would love to see a gallery show filled with photos from the Victoria's Secret catalog. The new medium would convey a very different message. Anyway, this woman has a beautiful body, but to me her real appeal is her eyes, and the angle of her gaze. (She's a Pisces, right?) We are rarely blessed to see an undressed or partly-dressed woman outdoors, and when we do, the usual nudist ethic is that she not be too evocative in her comportment: half-dressed, holding her breath, garments seeming to slip off, making eye-contact and aware that she is being seen: these all evoke. The sense that she has just been caught or taken by surprise is rather engaging as well. I am not into hair spray or makeup, but I find this woman appealing because she seems friendly and not entirely willing to say yes, but clearly contemplating it. |
