Let´s talk about nudity...

missycab

What annoys me is that they show only one kind of breasts (huge, can-poke-you-in-the-eye kind of breast). They forget that they come in different sizes and shapes!!!
 

The crowned one

minrice said:
I would rather look at a beautiful, naked woman than a man any day.
So would I BUT..


minrice said:
The female form is truly beautiful. :)

..Actually so is the male body. Its just that our naughty bits hang on the outside and look ridiculously out of place when not in use. Fit Men look best in form fitting pants/shorts and no shirts. Advertisers know this, so it is what you get.
 

firemaiden

The crowned one said:
Its just that our naughty bits hang on the outside and look ridiculously out of place when not in use.
:laugh: exactly... women are decorative men are useful :laugh:
 

WolfSpirit

firemaiden said:
...just shooting off at the mouth again... but I (influenced by my years in France) think sexism is wonderful... the kind of sexism that recognises that men and women are different is delightful. It is a privelege and a pleasure to be a sex object if I SO CHOOSE. The worst thing is a sexless society. How terrible to get dressed all beautiful and go out, as a woman in our sober American cities and be COMPLETELY IGNORED. How I miss Paris..

Isn't that because everyone is at home, looking at photoshopped women with breasts the size of weapons of mass destruction ? ;)
I don't know, I've never been to the US, but when I see American movies I don't have the impression of a sexless society - lots of sexual innuendoes (sp ?) in the media. Maybe people should stop looking at the beauty ideals we get projected through the media and notice real people again and how beautiful and sexy they can be.
 

Nevada

The nudity in the decks I own doesn't bother me at all. It's tasteful, and even where it's a bit sexy, it doesn't turn me off at all. But I have seen some that distorts people's bodies in an obviously provocative way, and I tend to be turned off by that. I think overly provocative artwork tends to feed unhealthy views -- especially for women and girls -- about how we're supposed to look in order to be desirable to men. Perhaps it does just as much harm to men and boys in feeding expectations that can't be realized by actual, un-enhanced women.

Artwork has fed our ideals about beauty through the centuries, to some degree, and I like idealized beauty in sculpture and paintings, when it stays within the realm of possibility and normality rather than freakishness, and when it's also presented in perfect form as a metaphor for beauty of spirit, or the beauty of nature.

I like it less so when it's presented in a crude way. But that is, I suppose, a matter of personal taste. There's apparently a large market for that, so maybe I'm the odd one -- or one of the odd ones -- in my feelings about it.

Sex and nudity are a part of life. If not for sex, none of us would be here. The problem, for me, is when it's presented as a sole reason to live rather than in balance with everything else in life.

Edited to add: The exception for me is when provocative art is meant to be humorous, when it pokes fun at too much emphasis on sex or body image. To me humor is the scrubbing bubbles cleanser of the psyche, because it exposes all the fallacies in our thinking processes, reveals our shadows for what they are, and gets us to see what we're really doing when we objectify people -- that we're objectifying ourselves too.

Nevada
 

Morwenna

Cat* is right: female half-nudity is not the same thing as either-sex whole-nudity. And actually, male figures are often quite sexy if they're half-clothed; even the men on the Yeager are pretty hot stuff if you look at the shape of their shorts... :D In general, though, I find the realistic males can be quite sexy if partly clothed (at least legally for out in the street).

That aside, I don't mind nudity in most cards, but sometimes I wonder how clients will react to it; I've often read at renfairs and fortunately I've never had a bad experience with a client, but I've also often wondered how long it would be till something happened. One reason I'm considering retiring everything from public venues except things like the Hanson-Roberts! (Yes, there are other fully-clothed decks, I know...)
 

Shade

I know this was touched on briefly before but:

At some point western culture (I do not have the art background to speak on Eastern culture) decided that it is acceptable for men to be topless but it is not acceptable for women to be topless. I remember a nation freaking out when Janet Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl and certain parents in this country acted like their children had been forced to watch a snuff film. They are breasts, they are normal, but we see them as slightly taboo. Think of all the different devices that are marketed for women to have privacy while breast feeding.

What I find odd about our current mood of naked men = bad, naked women = ok is that it is nearly the opposite of Greek art which deeply influenced western art styles. In Greek art - especially sculpture - it is reasonable, if not ideal, for men to be naked and women to be covered up. Women are rarely depicted nude in greek art unless they are Hetaera (courtesans) or Aphrodite. Compare Kouros statues to Kore statues.

So I noticed in other threads that there were complaints about topless women in Tavaglione's tarot of the Stars but no problem with the tpless men.

So when we look at a deck of tarot cards I imagine we have to take into account the universe it is set in. Are the women in these cards exploited in their universe - or are they in control of their own sexuality. Take for example the Secret Tarot by Nizzoli (my favorite so i am biased). When I look at the many female nudes in that deck I don't see women who look uncomfortable with their sexuality, or who I feel are bartering with their bodies. I see women who are powerful in their own right and at peace with their bodies. http://tarotpassages.com/bsec17.jpg

As to "real" bodies. I am reminded of the Dove "Real Beauty" soap campaign in which we saw people who did not have perfect bodies - most of them would be described as overweight - in just their undies selling soap. People HATED these ads.

The women: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/blog dove girls.jpg

the men: http://radio.weblogs.com/0107064/MyImages/dove-boys.jpg

People were very upset by this particular campaign and didn't knwo how to react to the types of bodies they were not used to seeing in the media.
 

Cat*

Shade said:
I remember a nation freaking out when Janet Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl and certain parents in this country acted like their children had been forced to watch a snuff film. They are breasts, they are normal, but we see them as slightly taboo. Think of all the different devices that are marketed for women to have privacy while breast feeding.
As I might have said before, naked female breasts (even nipples) aren't that much of an issue in Europe (well, I mostly talk about Germany, since that's where I live). When I first discovered there are products to stick over nipples to keep them from accidentally showing under tight clothing, I was shocked-amused. I mean, usually European women don't show their nipples on purpose (outside of erotic situations), but I've never heard of it being an issue over here like the Janet Jackson incident has been. It just happens. They are part of our bodies and react to cold just as male nipples do. It just shows more, because of tighter clothing/different attention to female breasts. *shrug*

Shade said:
As to "real" bodies. I am reminded of the Dove "Real Beauty" soap campaign in which we saw people who did not have perfect bodies - most of them would be described as overweight - in just their undies selling soap. People HATED these ads.
They did? Wow, I only ever met people who absolutely loved them. Might be cultural differences once again. Or maybe my circle of frineds and acquaintances is not very representative.
 

WolfSpirit

I am with Cat* about the Dove commercials, I only heard positive things about them !
I note that we are both females in Europe, maybe that makes a difference :)
 

Sulis

Shade said:
As to "real" bodies. I am reminded of the Dove "Real Beauty" soap campaign in which we saw people who did not have perfect bodies - most of them would be described as overweight - in just their undies selling soap. People HATED these ads.

The women: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/blog dove girls.jpg

the men: http://radio.weblogs.com/0107064/MyImages/dove-boys.jpg

People were very upset by this particular campaign and didn't knwo how to react to the types of bodies they were not used to seeing in the media.

Maybe people 'hated those ads' in the USA or maybe even in California but I know that here in the UK those ads have been welcomed like a breath of fresh air.

I know that over here folks are getting a bit tired of seeing airbrushed and retouched perfection everywhere.

As for nudity in tarot - it bothers me not a jot.
I would like to see more of a balance of body types in tarot decks though, in both male and female depictions of nudity.
Silicone breasts and pumped up muscles just don't do it for some of us. I know that I for one like people to look like people, not like Barbie dolls.