Feminism Without Clothes

It’s not too late…there’s still one more day of Banned Books Week left! So, grab your favorite banned book (here are some recommendations), and start reading. My pick: To Kill a Mockingbird.

Photography by John, August 2006.

P.S. I think that it’s important that as many people as possible know how hairy I am. Fleshbot agrees.

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Guess what, everyone? It’s super fun guessing game time!

Today’s game: what ethnic group will Senator George Allen (R) of Virginia insult next!?

Now, do keep in mind that you can’t pick Jews, East Indians, or blacks- Allen has already revealed his true feelings about them to the world.

Also, Arabs don’t count.

So, who’s next? Hispanics? Asians? Native Americans?

Unfortunately, there are no winners, even if you do guess right. With racism, everyone loses.

The losers have to go here.

Photography by Simon, July 2006.

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I’ve got a fairly good political entry prepped- dripping with sarcasm. However, I thought I’d give everyone an update about my life: I’m going to be doing some traveling.

I’m going to be in New York City for the second week in October, and in Vancouver for the last. I’m going to be in Seattle for the first week of December. I’ll be shooting in all three places, although in some cases shooting isn’t my first reason for the trip.

As far as 2007 goes…other places that I’d like to visit to shoot include California and Florida. I’d love to be able to find a way to go to FetishCon 2007 and BondCon 2007. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

 

Photography by Bob Coulter, June 2006.  

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Way back when, I wrote a post regarding why this blog is here. Here’s an excerpt from it that I’ll be expanding on today:

The third reason is to give a voice to something that is often objectified- the nude body. Whether it’s porn, art, or in between, these figures are usually silent. I know I can’t be the only one who finds images where one has at least a hint of who this person is or what the context was when it was created much more intriguing, as well as easier to appreciate on multiple levels.

In my last entry, I was lamenting my hairy body as well as the fact that I had to conform to a certain extent in order to be able to continue a career as a nude model. A commenter remarked that shaving my pubic hair would just lead to male objectification. I asked for clarification.

In any event, to answer your question about shaving one’s pubic hair and male objectification, I say it has to do with how males operate mentally. We are nearly always more visually-oriented than women. Seeing something gets a bigger reaction from us than hearing it or smelling it or tasting it. The more modified from the norm a woman’s body is, the more the man’s mind sees that body less as a human being and more as a thing that looks good. It’s the same reason people, both men and women, like cars that look ‘cool’. A car doesn’t NEED to look cool to function, but when it’s been tricked out with $50,000 dollars worth of modifications at West Coast Customs it’s suddenly more than just a means of transportation, it’s a thing of pride and joy. It’s a personal statement of style.

Strictly speaking, and no offense intended, the female body IS an object, just as a plain, unadorned car is an object. But when those objects are primped and polished to within an inch of their life as with porn actresses and ‘pimped rides’, it’s far easier to see them less for their intrinsic value as a person and a means of transportation respectively and more as Jenna Jameson, Hot Slut Extraordinaire and the Pussy Wagon, Hick Dream Truck.

Jesus Christ. Where to begin?

Okay. I looked it up, and regarding males being more visually-oriented than females when it comes to sex, he’s probably right on that one. Whether that’s genetic or learned or what is still up for debate.

But, okay, that’s that. Let’s get straight to the point.

I am not a plain unadorned car. I am, however, a thing of pride and joy to the people in my life. And, despite a full bush, many people find me attractive. If they didn’t, I’d probably be out of a job.

Should women avoid being attractive or stop shaving because it makes them more prone to objectification?

And, while we’re at it, are all men really that shallow and misogynist?

It boggles the mind.

Let’s get back to one of the reasons for this blog’s existence. Bush or no, decked out or not, women are objectified far too often. This blog is an attempted step towards seeing a person behind a silent image of an object. If my words aren’t enough to break through that objectification- I’ve failed.

But I don’t think this blog has failed. Let’s end with another comment left on this blog.

Came for the boobs, stayed for the site.

Photography by Tom, taken in August, 2006.

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Hair.

I’m a hairy gal. It’s thick, coarse, and black, and can be found on my pubic area, arms, legs, above my eyes, under my arms, and, it’s looking like, my upper lip. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad.

I’ve blogged before about having bush- something a lot of nude models don’t have- and how there’s no way in hell it’s going anywhere. The hair on my arms stays put, as well- it’s somehow not as offensive as the leg or pit hair I have. The eyebrows get tweezed, and I’m horrified about the upper lip- this appears to be a recent development, and I’m not sure how to deal with it.

If I wasn’t a nude model, I would have stopped shaving my pits by now- I did my senior year of high school, and it was great. Most guys(and girls) labeled me a lesbian, but it was also the year when I had my first real relationship- with a guy.

But, I can’t be hairy and feminine- I can feel feminine, but, to the rest of the world, I wouldn’t be. And part of what I do depends on that. I’m pretty sure that my bush, by now, has caused a couple of photographers to pass by me- especially in regards to glamour photography and the like. But, you can’t please everyone.

Unless I’m planning on doing hirsute fetish work, a la Furry Girl(who is awesome, by the way), and not much of anything else, the hair goes.

I guess that makes me a sell-out; maybe a true feminist would say, “fuck it,” and throw out her lady Gillette. But at this point in my life, I don’t think I’m able to.

Photography by Mike, taken in June, 2006.

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I recently stumbled upon a list of the Top Ten Worst People in the Bush Administration. According to this guy, they are:

1. George W. Bush, President
2. Dick Cheney, Vice President
3. Karl Rove, Chief Political Adviser to the President
4. Don Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
5. Paul Wolfowitz, Former Deputy Secretary of Defense
6. David Addington, Chief of Staff to the Vice President
7. Douglas Feith, Former Under Secretary of Defense and Head of the Office of Special Plans
8. John Bolton, UN Ambassador
9. I. Lewis Libby, Former Chief of Staff to the Vice President
10. Alberto Gonzalez, Attorney General

Notice anything? No women.

I demand that women be given positions of evil in this administration! Surely we are just as sinister and capable of ignoring morality as any man! Fight sexism in the workplace! Equal corruption for equal work!

Photography by Gary, taken in July, 2006.

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Bad news, everyone. This blog will have to be taken down. I’ve received some very sad information that I was previously unaware of.

Apparently, feminists don’t pose.

I hope I still get to keep my membership card.

Photography by Domenic. August, 2006.

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Recently, I outed a no-show photographer. I posted identifying information, including his email address and phone number.

After some reflection, I’ve decided to edit this information out of my entry regarding this photographer. No, he hasn’t sent me the money that I’ve lost. And I still think that the bastard had it coming.

But…I think that, when it comes to some things, it’s best to take the high road and be the better person.

Even if you’re a little late doing it.

 

Photography by Gary, taken in July, 2006.  

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There are some issues I will never quite understand. I can rant and rave about poverty and racism all I like- but the fact is, I’m a rich white girl born into an ideal situation.

A lot of women in third wave feminism have pointed out that second wave feminism, for all the good that it did, was dominated by middle-class white women. This makes sense, when you think about it- discrimination towards their sex was, for the most part, the only discrimination they faced.

Should I feel guilt because I’m white and rich and American? Throw myself into “helping the less fortunate?” The former doesn’t make any sense, and the latter is patronizing.

It’s not as if I haven’t have difficulties in my life- everyone has. I don’t think creating a “my life sucked more than yours” contest makes anything better. And, there were lots of kids in the well-off area that I was fortunate enough to grow up in that had it better than I did- and lots who, I’m sure, had it worse. It’s hardly my fault that things happened the way they did.

Should I keep silent about my background? Or should I even talk at all? How dare I speak about activism and change when there are so many others who are more qualified and “get it?” Isn’t even writing this an insult to others?

It’s a privilege, it’s a background.
It’s everything that I own,
It’s thinking I’m the hero of this pretty white song,
It’s thinking I’m the hero of this pretty white world.

-Heavens to Betsy.

Photography by John, August 2006.

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The creator of the blog Empowered Sexuality has been reading Feminism Without Clothes since its infancy. I stop in every now and then to enjoy it. He recently posted an entry about empowerment and ignorance with regards to sexuality. Read it here.

The last line of the post reads, “This woman is not empowered, she is ignorant.” And I have a problem with this.

How can we assume to know what that woman is or isn’t? She may be ignorant, she may be expressing her sexuality, she may be thinking about the money. She may be having the last laugh.

It’s a mistake to think that all people who do something remotely related to sex as a profession are expressing their sexuality. Are strippers, prostitutes, and porn starts truly expressing their own, personal sexuality? Maybe. Or it’s the money. Or the attention. Or a multitude of other reasons.

They may be ignorant, or they may not be. But the one thing they shouldn’t be is judged.

Photography by Mike, taken in June, 2006.

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