Talk:Nudity and feminism

This is a really good topic to address in this course. I think everyone should take a minute to consider how nudity is used in either art/commercial uses and the different images they have. I found the "sex sell" part very appealing to me. Sometimes when I see some of these commercials that show really hot males/females to sell some very body unrelated products I couldn't help but ask: Is that really necessary? I remember watching this burger commercial where a flight attendant suited woman eats the burger in a very erotic way with all the close up shots (Mile High Burger, available on Youtube) and it really made me uncomfortable. I am not lying to say that we don't like to see beautiful faces and bodies, but it seems that our society has come to a stage where physical attractiveness is being abusively valued. The wiki page well captures that concern in my opinion.

However, after I carefully read this wiki page I realized that this is a pattern of human civilization. From ancient times to present, from art to religion. We have learned to appreciate and value sexual attractiveness through all kinds of medias long time ago. Nudity without a doubt had always been a crucial part in it. And I am very impressed to see that the original post tries to identify the difference between male and female nudes as it points out that one being positive while the other being passive. I would like to suggest that maybe give more information about how differently modern male/female nudes are portrayed? What could be some of the discrimination/stereotype in it? How to distinguish pornography and art? What role does feminism play in the modern "sex sell" trend? Overall I really enjoy the post, good work mate!

I really enjoyed reading this article, because the writing was able to address my personal frustrations of seeing women (and men, although less frequently) being objectified in media. The author of the article was able to use concrete examples in solidifying her argument that nudity is a violation of the female body, particularly when females are being objectified in order to sell a particular commodity, or when nude photos of females are leaked online. She also raises the interesting, yet contrasting opinion on whether or not nudity should be perceived as “art”. In my opinion, this is strikingly familiar with the recent controversy surrounding the movie 50 Shades of Grey, for example, whether its plot is one of a romantic or abusive nature.

It is quite interesting to note that nudity can draw so many observations pertaining to racialization, sexualization, and religion. These observations are increasingly evident and there is without a doubt that most women, and men are aware of this issue. However, this article prompts me in questioning the following: is nudity going to continue being displayed in media for its ability to bypass one’s rationality? Is the increased liberalization of attitudes towards sex nowadays a determining factor for advertisers to continue using nudity? Will “sex sells” ever become an outdated concept or will this always be the case in media?