The Myth of Empowerment: Part One

January 5, 2022

NUDES

I have been wrapped up in conversations and thoughts that use words like ‘empowerment’, ‘male gaze’, ‘ownership’, ‘autonomy’ for the last few years. And I always come back to one question: Is it possible to admire and appreciate the female nude in art without it being sexualised?

In my last year of high school, I focused on the nude still life for my final art project. Lots of statues and Calvin Klein adverts. See below. My thinking was ‘Huh, so weird that the Romans used the same poses for their statues as the CK ads in 2002’, ‘Why are women’s bodies often seen as more beautiful than men’s?', ‘Is it possible to appreciate bodies and not sexualise them?’, ‘How can I detach shame from the female form without it then only finding worth in itss sexual desirability?’

I didn’t tackle any of those questions or any possible BIG questions about the male gaze or the hyper sexualisation of pre-pubescent female bodies, because that’s not the nature of high school art. I actually ended up mostly painting male torsos (because I felt uncomfortable drawing and painting women’s bodies knowing that they would be sexualised subconsciously), and those male torsos weren’t sexualised, not by me anyway. But they were based on primary and secondary models who had ‘good’ bodies. Which does increase the ‘risk’ (why might it be a risk to sexualise a nude figure?) of sexualisation when using a naked body as a subject in art.

It is a wonderful product of the feminist revolution that the shame attached to female sexuality and the female body is being chipped away at. Women should not ever be ashamed or embarrassed by their bodies, and they should understand and truly believe that their worth lies in SO MUCH MORE than how sexually desirable a man finds them. That is literally the least important thing.

But this newfound love and appreciation of female bodies has not escaped commercialisation, consumerism, and the capitalist society in which we live finding 100 ways to make a profit from us just trying to reclaim ownership and pride in our form. Naked bodies are VERY popular now as household objects (candles, planters, vases etc), and especially women’s bodies. Almost always toned, slim, curvy, sexualised bodies. And yes, they are gorgeous and I’m completely for the empowerment of female sexuality and the female body but how do we enjoy and admire the body without sexualising, is that even possible? Is the female nude able to be the subject of art without pandering to the male gaze?

Emily Ratatowski (supermodel and actress) recently published ‘My Body’. A memoir-esque series of essays which try to unravel the very complex and nuanced experiences that she has had regarding the fetishisation and sexualisation of her body, as well as her own understanding of control, empowerment, autonomy and the consumption of the female body. It has had mixed reviews. I am not about to add my opinion to the stack but I will use part of her most famous anecdote as a point of interest here.

Ratajowski became famous from the now infamous ‘Blurred Lines’ music video, during the filming of which she was sexually assaulted, and she has said that she was initially made comfortable, and persuaded to do the project, because there was an all-female crew. This interested me. It interested me a whole lot more when I found an old MTV article from July 2013 (when it was released, https://www.mtv.com/news/1710633/robin-thicke-blurred-lines-nude-video/) where the female director is quoted saying, “I wrote the idea as a nude video and refused to do the job when they said they didn't want a nude version, that no one would see it”.

The article goes on to say:

‘Martel (the director) wanted to make sure the entire cast was cool with the concept and that included the nude models. So, she enlisted an all-female crew to shoot with her, to guarantee that they were comfortable with the nudity and to ensure “zero sexual tension." She said, "It was really annoying to have to do two videos in one day. The plastic clothes were so uncomfortable and the girls had to keep putting them off and on and it was exhausting. This was the pain for all of us. "The shoot was amazing otherwise. We were laughing the whole time," she added. "I love talent, and I make sure they are comfortable always... When the guys came out, the guys were so sweet and such gentlemen that helped as well. We all had fun."

Of the three guys in the video, two have been accused of sexual assault.

I find this disturbing. The female models were put at ease and given a false sense of security by the all-female crew and it was a female director who came up with the idea to have three naked, young, girls dancing around three fully suited men who are singing about pursuing a female despite unclear consent. (Sidenote: unclear consent is NOT consent).

I have many friends who are/ have been models and have done nude or semi-nude shoots. I have always asked them how they feel. I have been consistently told by female friends and models that when doing nude/semi-nude shoots they are most comfortable and even happy and ‘empowered’ when shooting with a female photographer and/or crew. In fact, they sometimes really enjoy the experience. Ratajowski said on her Instagram that ‘Being a sexy girl in a music video made me feel hot and cool and powerful. I told the world that the experience was empowering, in many ways it was’.

This is how my girlfriends have felt. Hot, powerful, in control of their bodies. But when the images and footage are shared more widely, are they still in control? Do they care who is using those images and for what purpose? Haven’t they just contributed to the society in which girls and women are hypersexualised and are now being told that it is empowering to get naked almost as a ploy to get them to create more content without needing to be persuaded or coerced? If I paint or photograph or sculpt a naked woman because I am in awe of the female body, am I just handing her over to be sexualised and objectified by my audience?

I don’t know. All I know is that Emily Ratajowski initially felt comfortable, safe, and ‘empowered’. That video made her famous. But was she empowered or exploited?

Those are the real blurred lines.