Enlightened Male2000

August 28, 2010

What’s Going on in France?

Filed under: Body Acceptance, Culture — Tags: , — martin @ 4:51 pm

From Digital Journal.com

The beaches of St Tropez and other French resorts are witnessing the decline of what was once a common sight – ladies in topless swimsuits.

Topless swimsuits and bathing made their first appearance on French beaches in 1964 near St Tropez on the Riviera, and they have been there ever since, as well as on all the other beaches in France, on which topless attire is permitted. But the halcyon days of topless culture may well be threatened.

In a sure sign that the winds of change are beginning to blow, Eres, a top French name in chic and trendy swimsuits, has announced that they are selling more one-piece full swimsuits than topless versions for the first time.

A survey asked women why they now prefer to cover up.

Psychologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann carried out a study on the reasons why women liked going topless back in the mid-90’s, a time when the practice was extremely popular.

He looks back today on that period and comments the changes in attitudes that have been revealed by an updated survey carried out by independent French online news site RUE89. He sums up those changes by saying that “Cultural reference points have completely changed in the last fifteen years. What was once fashionable has now become old-fashioned, and young women in particular no longer think twice about stigmatizing in a very emphatic manner the “old women of 50” who dare to take off their bikini tops.”

So, in a country where seventies cliché styles such as bell-bottomed trousers and mustaches are making a comeback, why are women saying no to nipples on beaches?

Here are the 10 most quoted reasons that the survey found.

One. “Because I don’t see any benefit to be gained from having suntanned breasts.”

Among the reasons given for that opinion were an amusing “Because I don’t want my breasts to look like crumpled brown toilet gloves” as well as a more down-to-earth “I need to look after them if I want them to remain firm as long as possible.”

Kaufmann found in 1995 however that white breasts on a suntanned body were not even considered to be a fashionable, never mind desirable, asset.

Two. “In order not to show everything at once. I prefer to be coaxed into that.”

One 29-year-old who prefers not to go topless explained why. “Understatement is much better. I prefer to sharpen appetites rather than deliver everything on a plate. It may seem ridiculous, but I prefer to respect myself and my body. That’s who I am.”

For Sandrine Renault-Pannetier, who works for a well-known French fashion consulting firm, “We are now living in a game of peek-a-boo. The seduction game has become more subtle, more elaborate.”

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July 31, 2010

Softer Curves

Filed under: The Female Form — Tags: — martin @ 2:15 pm

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June 9, 2010

Body Art on Feminine Canvas

Filed under: Erotic Art, The Female Form — Tags: , — martin @ 1:52 pm

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May 24, 2010

Body of Visual Delight

Filed under: The Female Form — Tags: — martin @ 6:47 am

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May 9, 2010

The Vibrant Photography of Francois Benveniste

Filed under: Photography, The Female Form — Tags: , , — martin @ 6:56 am

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Few photographers capture human emotion in a way that captivates us.  Francois Benveniste from France is one of them.  You feel you know his women by looking at his work.

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April 3, 2010

The Creative Talent of Mother Nature

Filed under: The Female Form — Tags: — martin @ 12:07 pm

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April 2, 2010

“Imponderabilia” at the Museum of Modern Art

Filed under: Art — Tags: , , — martin @ 4:23 am

The Naked Truth of a Nude Art Exhibit

From www.popmatters.com

By Aaron Sagers

As I encountered the two nude women in the doorway, I hesitated. The other people in the room watched, expecting me to do something and I felt the pressure. The women faced one another silently, and though I didn’t speak, I had to interact awkwardly and slip between them; contact between bodies impossible to avoid. It was the most aware I’d ever been of myself while crossing a threshold, despite it being the women who weren’t clothed, I was the one who felt naked that day at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Imponderabilia1

The nude women in the narrow doorway are living pieces of art in “Imponderabilia”, a performance art exhibit at MoMA that opened last Sunday and continues through May as part of “The Artist is Present” career retrospective of Yugoslavian creator Marina Abramovi?. Other performance pieces of the collection include a nude woman reclining with a fake skeleton on top of her, as well as two clothed people sitting across from each other touching fingertips, or sitting back-to-back with hair wrapped together. The artist herself will also be taking part in the exhibit, by literally being present during open hours of the museum, sitting at a table silently, across from members of the public who are free to take a seat.

Along with Abramovi?’s own appearance, the longest solo performance of her career, her sound pieces, photographs and video of work that couldn’t be recreated at MoMA – such as when she and her former collaborator began at opposite ends of the Great Wall of China and walked until they met one another, three months later – make the collection nothing short of remarkable.

But it’s the butts that get all the buzz.

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March 20, 2010

Carla Van de Puttelaar

Filed under: Photography — Tags: , — martin @ 5:57 pm

Carla Van de Puttelaar

Van de Puttelaar was born in Zaandam, The Netherlands. She attended the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1991 to 1996. She specializes in portrait photography, mostly portraying nudes. She currently lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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Like the works of other contemporary Dutch photographers, such as Rineke Dijkstra, Hellen van Meene and Desiree Dolron, her works show influences of Dutch Golden Age painting in their composition, use of light and color, and rendering of textures and surfaces.

To achieve her photographic effects, she utilizes film rather than digital photography. Most of her works are untitled, enhancing the effect of alienation, while retaining a strong element of eroticism.

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March 9, 2010

Tony Ward through the lense of Herb Ritts

Filed under: Art, Photography — Tags: , , — martin @ 6:54 pm

Herbert Ritts (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits in the style of classical Greek sculpture. Consequently some of his more famous pieces are of male and female nudes in what can be called glamour photography.

Herb RittsHerb Ritts, 1952 – 2002

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January 25, 2010

Mother Nature’s Provocations

Filed under: Gallery — Tags: — martin @ 6:35 pm

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