Shigeru Nakamura
New member
I'm curious, when it comes to nude photos and paintings, where do my fellow humans draw the line between artistic/tasteful and pornographic? My wife & I both enjoy nude photos and drawings, but we don't like porn, and as open minded as we are we draw the line between tasteful and distasteful a bit further back than some people do these days.
Most people seem to draw the line at penetration or genital stimulation, if it contains those then its generally regarded as porn. My wife & I though draw the line at context and just how much is showing. A lot of sites claiming to be artistic, such as Met-Art or Hegre-Art push what we consider tasteful. Naturally a full nude photo can fit into an artistic category, but we do not consider it artistic when the girl has her legs wide enough to see the vulva, and recently some "art" photo sites have been putting up full spreads with fingers or shots with a focal on the genitalia. To us, that isn't artistic and its demeaning, by focusing on the genitalia or showing it in such crass detail objectifies the model and says "Hey, look, a vagina! Oh, and there's a woman in this photo, but aren't you more interested in the vagina? Afterall, she's just a sex object."
Then there is context, there is a difference between sensuality and full on sexuality. Sensuality is alluring and sometimes its actually best and more enticing not to show the actual "nude bits" as it leaves a little to the imagination. Sexuality/eroticism is meant to excite and stimulate the viewer in a fetishistic or sexual manner, and in our minds this pushes it into the pornography column. It's hard to explain without visual examples, and I don't feel comfortable finding any, but I'll try my best to give an example in words. A sensual image shows the female (or male) form but doesn't forget to show that there's a human being in the photo, and focuses on the curves and face of the model with an enticing look and powerful pose rather than an objectifying/erotic pose and motif of focusing on or maximizing the breasts/genitalia.
So, opinions? I'm especially curious about what the women on here think, seeing as most nude photography is aimed at a male audience with female models, so naturally they have reason to have more concern about the whole "Objectifying women" stance.
Most people seem to draw the line at penetration or genital stimulation, if it contains those then its generally regarded as porn. My wife & I though draw the line at context and just how much is showing. A lot of sites claiming to be artistic, such as Met-Art or Hegre-Art push what we consider tasteful. Naturally a full nude photo can fit into an artistic category, but we do not consider it artistic when the girl has her legs wide enough to see the vulva, and recently some "art" photo sites have been putting up full spreads with fingers or shots with a focal on the genitalia. To us, that isn't artistic and its demeaning, by focusing on the genitalia or showing it in such crass detail objectifies the model and says "Hey, look, a vagina! Oh, and there's a woman in this photo, but aren't you more interested in the vagina? Afterall, she's just a sex object."
Then there is context, there is a difference between sensuality and full on sexuality. Sensuality is alluring and sometimes its actually best and more enticing not to show the actual "nude bits" as it leaves a little to the imagination. Sexuality/eroticism is meant to excite and stimulate the viewer in a fetishistic or sexual manner, and in our minds this pushes it into the pornography column. It's hard to explain without visual examples, and I don't feel comfortable finding any, but I'll try my best to give an example in words. A sensual image shows the female (or male) form but doesn't forget to show that there's a human being in the photo, and focuses on the curves and face of the model with an enticing look and powerful pose rather than an objectifying/erotic pose and motif of focusing on or maximizing the breasts/genitalia.
So, opinions? I'm especially curious about what the women on here think, seeing as most nude photography is aimed at a male audience with female models, so naturally they have reason to have more concern about the whole "Objectifying women" stance.