Nudity in Art vs Pornography
Art is the process of using one’s skills in creating and sharing objects, experiences, and conditions which stimulates the thoughts, emotions, and beliefs of the audience through their senses.
People have been creating works of art since ancient times as evidenced by the many artifacts uncovered in ruins of ancient civilizations. The way that they were presented has shown modern man how the skills of the artists were developed and how art evolved through the years. The subjects of art can be diverse. They may be of nature, man, geometric patterns, animals, religion, or man’s day-to-day life. One very controversial subject in art is nudity.
The human body has been one of the main subjects for artists. In ancient times, especially in Greek art, the nude male human body was the most common subject. Today, one of the first subjects that artists paint is the nude female body.
Nudity has been a favorite subject in paintings, sculptures, and photography. The practice probably started with the depictions of gods and goddesses in ancient paintings. Since they were deities, they wore none or little clothes, and it was but natural to paint them as such.
Today, however, there is a question of when nudity is considered an art or can be considered as pornography. Pornography is the depiction of the human body for the purpose of erotic and sexual arousal. It can be found in the different types of media: magazines, books, photographs, animation, films, recordings, videos, drawings, sculptures, and paintings. In fact, ancient nude works of art were considered unfit to be displayed by the 19th century people who have uncovered them.
They were, however, made and seen as works of art by those who created them. It is only in recent times that the thin line between nudity in art and pornography has been drawn even closer.
The difference lies in each individual’s perception and interpretation of the subject. It is important to note that nudity in art is intended to let people appreciate the beauty of the human body.
Pornography, on the other hand, is intended to arouse the sexual feelings of individuals and the audience. Models pose in such a way that their expressions convey sexuality and eroticism.
Summary:
1.Nudity in art has been an accepted subject since ancient times while pornography is an unacceptable expression which has been developed in later years.
2.Nudity in art is natural and is meant to let the audience appreciate the human body while pornography is intentionally done to arouse sexual feelings in the audience.
3.Models of nude artworks pose naturally and do not convey any eroticism while pornographic models have expressions and poses that are erotic and sexually arousing.
4.Nudity in art is accepted in society while nudity in pornography is seen as inappropriate and is banned in most societies.
5.In some cases, what one person may view as art might be viewed as pornography by another depending upon how the presentation affects the audience.
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Nope. There is no difference between art & pornography in art: The distinction is an imaginary one .
I shall now debunk our authors premises, with historical context.
“1.Nudity in art has been an accepted subject since ancient times while pornography is an unacceptable expression which has been developed in later years.”
Nope. This is a common misconception, but images & texts pertaining to the act of sex & sexuality, what our author would argue is porn, has existed in art since mankind first found a way to scrawl rudimentary images having sex.
Later societies constantly pretend that earlier societies didn’t do it, from the erotic frescoes of Rome, to the carvings of India’s Khajuraho Temples, to the 35,000 years old carving from ancient Germany (about 10,000 older that the “Venus of Willendorf”).
“2.Nudity in art is natural and is meant to let the audience appreciate the human body while pornography is intentionally done to arouse sexual feelings in the audience.”
Then you’ve just declared any amount of ancient classical art pieces to be pornography, since many of them were designed to arouse.
” 3.Models of nude artworks pose naturally and do not convey any eroticism while pornographic models have expressions and poses that are erotic and sexually arousing.”
What does one mean pose naturally, any pose one can do with the human body is by definition natural. Such a distinction as you are trying to construct is a distinction without a distinction, because the poses one would use to arouse are as possible by humans as the pose of eating.
” 4.Nudity in art is accepted in society while nudity in pornography is seen as inappropriate and is banned in most societies.”
Which just goes to show the double standard. The subject matter is the subject matter, which is why this tactic has been used for centuries to try to get artwork banned. You can’t show kids this image because it’s porn…. Oh you mean Michelangelo’s David is porn? How is it porn? It has nudity in it.
“5.In some cases, what one person may view as art might be viewed as pornography by another depending upon how the presentation affects the audience.”
Which again shows that the difference between what makes up pornography & what makes up art is an artificial distinction, that only exists in the minds of people who imagine it exists.
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Why of course…there is always going to be that one pornboi who defends pornography.
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Although I can see the distinction that some would like to maintain between ” natural artistic expression” and “that which excites one’s sexual lust and passion”; the REAL difference is only in how we REACT to the stimulus. Children, IF they are exposed to “artistic nudity” see no real distinction, because everyone has been taught that nudity is wrong, period! Children may laugh and giggle because something naughty has been revealed. The older and more mature we get, the sooner we ACCEPT by peer pressure, that viewing nudity is okay. Other cultures, however may not look at nudity in the same way. For them it is a non-issue. Both older boys and girls will find some nude bodies attractive and stimulating, while others are “unimpressed” with the fat, ugly, bodies and faces. Those “newly familiar” with sexual expressions, perhaps will be curious to learn and see more. Maybe even experience such. Others, will think that “Marriage” is the “acceptable” outlet for such experiences. None of this, however is ever viewed as strictly “natural artistic expression”. To think that Sex has not gotten a bad stigma, regardless of how it’s viewed, is to have one’s head in the sand, so to speak. Less “civilized” societies wouldn’t have a problem with this. I agree with the comment by Matthew Lane above.
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This is by far the best article about this subject. People need to understand that when Adam and Eve were created. Both nude. Now once they sin, then they felt embraced. Which means when men were in a perfect condition no malice was present. So nude is not evil. Porn is evil.
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I fully agree with Matthew lane.
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