by Forest, Will
The cameraman relaxed, pointing the lens down at the ground. “Are you guys, like, some religious group or something?”
Renee rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “It’s not about religion. We represent the Corporal Rights Movement. Our goal is greater acceptance of our bodies, especially accepting nudity as a social norm. Now you all…what you’re doing is reinforcing nudity as a condition exclusive to sex and drunkenness.”
“It’s all good, baby,” the clipboard man cooed. “You’re promoting nudity, I’m promoting nudity. As for sex, that’s natural, right? And being drunk, well, that just helps people overcome their inhibitions.”
“The whole point is that you shouldn’t have to overcome your inhibitions,” said Terrence. “Society shouldn’t make us ashamed to be nude. And the media shouldn’t lead us to associate nudity automatically with sex.”
“Alright, alright,” the cameraman held up his free hand. “You all need to chill. Maybe the more people see videos like the ones we produce, the more they’ll realize they should be nude more often.”
“Yeah, that’s great, and in the meantime you guys make a fortune with your videos,” said Jacob, “while these young women risk ruining their futures, because your videos don’t help change society’s view on nudity, they only reinforce the existing ideas about shame and sin.”
“Wake up, kiddos,” said the clipboard guy. “Sex sells.”
Jennifer hissed through her teeth. “Look, nudity sells too, independently of sex, but our point is that it shouldn’t have to be about sex, much less shame and sin.”
The cameraman and his partner exchanged glances and shrugged. “Why are you spending all this time yapping at us, if you’re not evangelizing or proselytizing or whatever,” the cameraman asked. “Do you have a business proposition for us?”
“No, we can handle filming our own projects, right guys?” Renee looked around for support.
“Let’s go,” said Terrence. The group of friends started to walk away.
“You mean you’re not going to sign?” The cameraman sneered. “Well, we’ll just blur out your faces then.”
The group stopped. Heather turned back. “You filmed us on the balcony, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes. Oh, yes indeed!”
“Fine,” she replied. “Then I want you to show my face. And I hope you zoomed in on my breasts, you perverts, so people can read the message clearly!”
“That’s right! She speaks for all of us,” said Renee.
“Well,” the cameraman sang, “if you want to have your faces show, then you have to sign the release form!”
A few moments of indecision hung over the group. “Heather’s right,” Jacob finally said. “They filmed us with our body-painted messages. It’s good publicity. Where do I sign?”
All five CRMers, pride masking their disappointment, read and signed the release. They shuffled away. Jennifer, lost in her musings on police officers, their uniforms, and their modes of transport, left Heather and Renee bickering about lost opportunities on the stage at Ricky’s and on the balcony on Bourbon Street.
Terrence slowed down to wait for Jacob. “Back there on the balcony,” Terrence told him, “we knew we were being filmed. We knew there could be video of us posted on the web.”
“Yeah,” said Jacob, “but we didn’t imagine the irony of having to cede permission, to ‘Chicas Locas’ of all possible entities, to not blur our faces, when most of the time what we complain about is the media blurring other body parts.”
“No kidding. What did you call it? Oh yeah…it was our lesson in erotics.”
3
MARCH
March
Open Minds
“Hey, does anybody have the four types of Renaissance nudes?”
“We don’t have to know those for the test, do we?”
“I think so. He said it’s cumulative.”
“So does anybody have the four...”
“Yeah: nuditas naturalis, virtualis, temporalis and criminalis.”
“And in English that would be…?”
“Naturalis is showing a birth or something in harmony with nature. Virtualis is when the nude is a symbol of innocence or purity. Temporalis is when the person is supposed to be poor, and criminalis is a scene of lust or other sin.”
“But didn’t Dr. Ross say something about the interpretation, that the interpretation on the part of each viewer would be key?”
“Sure, that’s where the church stepped in, because they decreed that the depictions of unclothed bodies had too much power over the minds of people unaccustomed to seeing nudity. They imposed a now legendary censorship that ended up characterizing, perhaps more than anything else, the differences between classical versus medieval art.”
“That seems like a pretty broad generalization.”
“And it set the stage for Michelangelo and the other Renaissance artists, who wanted to reinterpret the human form as it had been depicted in classical antiquity.”
“You mean nude.”
“Yeah, nude, but also in the sense of nude as perfection. They wanted to portray ideals.”
“But then Dr. Ross said Michelangelo wasn’t content with just representing nudes as static ideals, so he pushed the limits of what he could do with painting and sculpture by experimenting with veils, or like his series of chained captives struggling to free themselves.”
“Wait a second. I thought the veils were a result of the church authorities’ accusations of obscenity.”
“Yeah, he pushed the limits on obscenity, but the Pope ended up defending him, remember? And then when he died, I mean when Michelangelo died, they put into effect a new anti-obscenity law and made other painters go back and cover up all the genitals in Michelangelo’s paintings. Even baby Jesus!”
“So the veils were painted on after he died, then?”
“No, most of the veils and robes and such were painted or sculpted originally by Michelangelo. What was added after he died were the little briefs or diapers on some of the paintings. Any sculpted genitals were just covered up.”
“But the Pope kept commissioning his works!”
“He was in trouble with the church not just because of his nudes but also because he…”
“Because he was gay.”
“No, he was in trouble with the church because he sometimes dug up corpses to conduct anatomical studies. Or else he paid other people to dig them up. As far as his love for men, I don’t think that’s ever been that extraordinary, then or now, but at the time people weren’t categorized the same as today, at least not as ‘alternative lifestyles.’”
“Okay, already: no soapboxes, grandstands or hobbyhorses allowed.”
“Well I always heard he was bi, not gay, anyway.”
“The point still applies. People didn’t classify themselves the same way.”
“Yeah, but I wonder if…”
“What?”
“I wonder if people who are more open to nudity are also more open to sexuality. I mean, I know, we all know, that nudity isn’t the same as sex. But maybe people who are more comfortable with appreciating naked bodies can more easily appreciate the beauty and sexuality of both males and females. Does this make any sense?”
“Well, coming from you, Allo, I don’t know…”
“Sounds like a confession!”
“Alright, alright, keep laughing. I don’t mind admitting that I’m bisexual in a room full of naked co-eds. I don’t think any of you are surprised, or else you’re not brave enough to admit it. But I’m serious. If sexuality exists on a sliding scale, then maybe nudists tend toward the middle, where the people who aren’t exclusively gay or straight are.”
“So you’re calling all of us bisexuals? I don’t think I want to be labeled like that.”
“Sorry. Maybe I’m just trying to say nudism, since it can open minds, can at least increase tolerance for different sexualities. Or, hell, maybe I’m just plain wrong.”
“I think that the most
accepting mind—whether housed in a nude body or a clothed one—sees past labels of that sort. Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Shakespeare—they had no need for them.”
“I agree with you. That’s a good point. But all that stuff about people in the past not having words for it, that’s crap. Of course they did. They might not have described the person with a label like gay or bi, but you can bet they had words for behaviors, preferences, and the sexual acts that took place!”
“I’m really confused.”
“What’s your problem, Greg?”
“Do I look bisexual to you?”
“C’mon, you’re just making fun of me now!”
“I’m starting to feel pretty bi!”
“I’m no authority but I think any kind of sexual preference, including bisexuality, is something you’re born with.”
“Maybe I was born bi and I’m just now realizing it.”
“That could really be true. Just stop looking at me, will ya? Look at Daphne.”
“Y’all let me know when you work this all out, okay? Meantime, who can help me decipher what I wrote in my notes here? It says ‘males before the rev., females after.’”
“That seems barely fair.”
“Dr. Ross mentioned a theory that artists painted male nudes predominantly before the French Revolution, and females after, although the distinction is only valid up until about the 1960’s. Since then, the representation of males has been catching up with females.”
“But not in the movies or on TV!”
“Slowly but surely.”
“I bet Dr. ‘Context-is-everything’ would say that context is more important than gender parity. Sure, let’s have more nudity, but let it be nudity that doesn’t always mean sex.”
“Who’s got the main differences between Western and non-Western portrayals of nudes?”
“I do. Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Non-western nudes are more likely to be contextualized, active, and abstract. Western nudes are more likely to be isolated, frozen, and perfected. Except for the bit about the bits, remember? Genitals on Western nudes are traditionally diminished, and on non-Western nudes they are traditionally exaggerated.”
“You’re saying European men have smaller penises?”
“Maybe that’s what you’d like to believe? No, I’m saying European and American artists were and maybe still are more likely to draw, paint or sculpt the genitals at a size reduced to scale, but non-Western artists have usually depicted the genitals—male and female—at larger than scale.”
“Why?”
“Censorship vs. worship. The Western church condemned sexuality, but in other parts of the world sexuality was often interpreted as a powerful force worthy of adoration.”
“Phallic worship.”
“Not just male but female too, more like fertility worship.”
“Fertility means creativity. So sex isn’t just procreative, it’s also creative, as in inventive.”
“Right, and clothing or painting and piercing play a big part in sexual creativity because they have to do with how we present our bodies to attract mates.”
“So that’s why you got your nipple pierced, Alex?”
“No, I did it because I’m bi. You know, one nipple one way, the other one the other way.”
“Could have done that with your ears. Doesn’t that hurt?”
“It makes it really sensitive. I like that. I’m a sensitive kind of guy.”
“Stop yawning. You’re making me sleepy and I want to pass this test.”
“Sorry, it’s like I’m slipping out of my body. It’s so cozy and dark in here. Are we naked? I’m adrift in a sea of voices.”
HUM 200
Humanities Seminar: Aesthetics of the Body
Exam 1
Dr. Ross
Gulf Coast University
Name (print):___________________________________
Date: _________________________________________
Honor Pledge (sign): ____________________________
Instructions: In a bluebook, write answers of three to four paragraphs each, using as many specific examples as possible. You should plan about twenty minutes per essay. You may use a dictionary but no textbooks or notes.
1. Compare representations of nudity and movement in the spatial and temporal arts of traditional Africa. What factors can distinguish such representations in the cultures of sub-Saharan Africa from those in the north?
2. Can we generalize about how the human body could represent spirituality or the divine in the pre-Columbian Americas? Compare examples from the Inuit, Muisca, and Tupi cultures.
3. What range of meanings could male and female nudes encompass in the visual arts of the Renaissance? How did Michelangelo affect this range?
Bonus: Write a one-paragraph interpretation of the legend of Lady Godiva as it pertains to current Western contexts for public nudity.
HUM 200
Humanities Seminar: Aesthetics of the Body
Partner Research Project Assignment
Dr. Ross
Gulf Coast University
Why must social nudism be an option only for those willing to pay resort memberships and buy houses in special gated communities? Or for folks who, with a wide range of motives, take snapshots of themselves standing naked in the backyard and then post them on internet sites designed for that purpose? The very idea of naturism goes against ghettoization, yet unfortunately this is often how societies deal with the idea of social nudity, by imposing exclusivity whether in real estate or in cyberspace. For your partner projects, I would like you to choose, together, a country or world region to research regarding the past, present and future of social nudity in that area. It may be that “social nudity” will mean nudism or naturism in your area during a given time period; however, at least for some historical periods, the modern terms nudism or naturism can’t properly be applied retroactively to describe cultural attitudes toward nudity, even if nudity was prevalent. You may even find that in a certain time or place, “naked” meant what we would describe today as “in your underwear.” In other words, and once again: context is everything. Explore what attitudes toward nudity existed in the past and see if they have continued or changed in the present. Then, foretell the future. Will the growth of naturist tourism, for example in the Caribbean, lead to a greater acceptance of such tourism among the locals? Will global warming lead to a larger variety of clothes-free activities and venues? Base your predictions on the latest information available online and in press.
*Also, don’t forget to turn in your next journal entry by next week.
Greater Freedom of Sensation and Movement
Christopher leaned back in his office chair and propped his bare legs on his desk: standard procedure for decision-making lately. Several naturist organizations wanted interviews. They had first priority. Then came all the main networks’ news shows and also NPR. Even with Angela handling half of these, it was too much. Could some of the students interview? Why not set up a student panel for at least a couple of the interviews? After all, the Corporal Rights Movement had assumed many of the initiatives, like the “Nude-Out” starting in a few minutes in the Humanities Building courtyard, advertised as an afternoon of clothing-optional fun, food and facts about their organization and about social nudity in general.
Just a few months ago, who would have dared think that all this could be possible? Clothes-free courses and a nudist student group bringing positive attention to the sensuality of the body unadorned! He consulted his watch. It was time to head down to the courtyard to help get things started.
From his first-floor office window, Dean Wishinsky saw Dr. Ross enter the courtyard as it began to fill up quickly with nude students. The dean muttered a few choice words under his breath and fumbled for an aspirin in his top drawer. The phone rang.
“Wishinsky! What’s going on over there? The courtyard looks like a nude beach!”
Dean Wishinsky swallowed his aspirin w
ith a gulp of lukewarm coffee while choosing his words carefully for his answer to the provost. “This is another consequence of Ross’s seminar.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Is he that philosophy professor up for tenure and promotion this year?”
“That’d be he, yes.”
“Well why are you so calm about it? And what do you mean, ‘another’ consequence?”
Wishinsky sighed. “I’ve already checked with the university counsel, who was not at all pleased at having to admit that Dr. Ross is right: the students are not doing anything illegal. That is, as long as nobody…hang on a moment, I’ve got it written down here...according to state law, as long as nobody is ‘exposing the genitals, breasts or buttocks with lewd or prurient intent.’”
“Well who determines intent? If that’s not lewd exposure then I don’t know what is.”
“Brad, I really don’t like to have to take their side. All I’m doing is repeating to you what I’ve just learned myself. The students are going about their regular activities, except without clothes. There are so many of them out there, what would you say, maybe sixty? If you see somebody, well, make it to second base as we used to say, then that’s a different story. That would qualify as ‘lewd and prurient intent.’ Or, you know, flashing or exposing only the genitals…but when they’re all nude, how can anybody flash?”
“I follow you. But who’s making sure nobody makes it to second base?”
“Not me, Brad. I’m the dean, not the umpire. In fact I think that kind of monitoring would fit the bill for ‘prurient intent’ as well.”
“I think I understand you, Herb, but I want you to understand I’ve got a local TV crew at the door and parents and alumni on the phone. The media is clamoring for Ross and the other one over in the education school, what’s her name, Salgado? This is a big deal. You know Ross, do you think he fathoms how big of a deal this is?”
