Paging Andrea Dworkin
Via Bondage Blog comes this link to an interesting discourse on advertising images of women. But I was amazed by the casual one-sentence dismissal of kinky people, in a line that calls an image of a “‘woman-in-pain-but-she-loves-it-really” “misogynist iconography”.
There is, of course, a vast community of women who enjoy bondage and/or pain, plus the people who love those women. So now all these people (a huge chunk of the BDSM community) are misogynists? I’ve read that passage several times, and I just can’t see any way to read it that doesn’t attribute misogyny to all BDSM erotica with female subjects. I thought those sorts of baseless generalizations went out of fashion when civilized people started laughing at Andrea Dworkin.
Here’s the “misogynist iconography” in question:
What grosses me out about that image is that it appears to be one of those advertising images where they’ve used Photoshop as a “digital rack” to stretch the model, so that she appears unnaturally long in the torso and limbs. That’s gotta hurt.
Shorter URL for sharing: http://www.erosblog.com/?p=1081
But modeling is all about uncomfortable and unnatural poses.
I’m just missing the connection between that image and BDSM and misogyny. But as a feminist myself I am familiar with the near puritanical bent that some of my sisters hold toward any kind of liberated view of sexuality. I don’t get it, it makes me frustrated that the movement gets sidetracked on this issue while women are still making 75 cents to every dollar a man makes.
Go figure. Clearly all of that BDSM has warped my brain.
All I know is, that pic makes me think ‘gor’ and ‘position of a pleasure slave’. ;)
Which is to say, I rather like it.
Pain? In this picture? It makes me think of the times when my clit, in a sensitive mood, is under delicious pressure from a pair of tight jeans. I’ve been known to freeze in place on the brink of an orgasm for minutes. Not that I look like the model when this happens to me – I’m a person who eats breakfast – but hopefully you get the idea.
I believe it is impossible to gauge what what Dworkin meant when she discussed porn and media images of women.
Dworkin was a woman who had a fucked up life and it twisted her into something bitter and joyless. In many ways, I pitied her because she always seemed totally unable to connect with happiness or naughtiness or irreverence on any level.
I’m a serious person, I take misogyny seriously. Yes, the images of women who are already rocking body types that are unnatural for the overwhelming majority of women (like 90%) is, IMO hateful and twisted. The further airbrushing and photoshopping of these bodies is worse.
But BDSM is not misogynistic in and of itself any more than vanilla is misogynistic. Yes, there are assholes who dress up their abuse in the terms and language of BDSM. But that’s what assholes and abusers do. That’s not BDSM.
Lastly, this picture is not a BDSM picture! How is she in pain? Hunger pangs maybe (although stephanie seymour is one of the models who has a more healthy shaped body). She’s not restrained. There’s no whip or implement of pain. Is it a yeast infection from tight jeans? Are her shoes too small?
*shrug*
I’m guessing the person who saw pain in that picture is someone whose body type would make the posture painful. It would surely be painful for *me*, so that’s not intended as a slam. You need to be flexible and/or slim before that’s a comfortable posture.
It seems to me as though I’ve seen this pose in a Irving Claw image from the 50’s. Certain feminist theorists have problems with any depiction of women – whether overtly BDSM oriented or not. There are a lot of BDSM signs in contemporary advertising imagery, and it seem like it used to be mentioned in the community a lot more a few years ago then it seems to be today.
Oh! That position is supposed to be painful? It isn’t for me. And I’m a fat-ass if there ever was one. I’m tall and long-limbed, though, and I do yoga, so yeah, maybe it would be painful for some people.
I dunno, I mean, I’ve seen misogynistic pictures, but this? It just looks like she’s having a bit of a stretch. She looks happy.
Hmmm – on the subject of the photo technique, it’s a fish-eye lense – or at least, that’s what USED to be used to get that type of technique. As for the BDSM and misogyny, well – apparently someone has their dictionary all upside-down and bass-ackwards.
I’m a sub in a D/s relationship, and there is absolutely NO way that my Master would be considered a misogynist. He adores women, and me in particular, and shows me every way imaginable that he does. Up to, and including, calling me a goddess and literally worshipping the ground that I walk upon at times.
And while that may not *sound* like a Dom-like response, trust me, it is. He is all about the domination in the scene – the fact that along with it, he is comfortable enough in his authority to then worship the ground that I walk upon shows his understanding of my importance in our relationship. And I adore him for it.
~M
As another person who does yoga, I just thought it looked like she was moving into the camel pose, which is a great stretch and not at all painful.
I mostly noticed the cute embroidery.
Why does this even hafta be a BDSM pic? She looks like she could simply be on top, not in pain, but on the edge of orgasm, leaning back to push down hard on her lover’s cock.
Am I right? ;)
I think the problem with the photo is that the woman is an object. If she were participating in a sexual act with bondage it wouldn’t be a problem…but this photos soley exists to make an object out of this woman. If I were to look at a photo of a woman tied up I wouldn’t look at her and think, “oh she’s in pain.” But I do actually look at her and think she is in pain.
Just my two cents. Jane
Most liekly the poor model is grown like that. And too many people have told her she looks beautiful.
No, she is not. She’s got terribly long limbs and body, very thin, it makes me feel sorry for her – and for me, because I am afraid of a situation when I would have to watch her MOVE – must be a terrible sight.
I just hope nobody buys whatever she’s modelling for.
In the past week I’ve put up a series of ads on my blog, all based on the theme of “sex sells”, everything from plates to shoes. I agree with Freya here … there is a big difference between being misogynisitc and being naughty.
Some people just take things too seriosly and don’t know how to have fun. Shesh!
I don’t think there are any connotations, maybe a yoga pose?
I think the idea is to be sensual. The sexual aspect, whether it be BDSM, misogynistic, oragamic, or tantric, depends on the persuasion of the viewer. Enough that many different sects of society, representing many lifestyles, will relate to it. The subtleness provides no offense to those with a puritan point of view.
She’s realy cute. Never understood why people object when they see a beautifull woman showing her beauty. How can you be offended that way?
By the way, isn’t that Gor position with your hands behind the head in the neck?
It seems that the Russians send a spy-satellite around the sun trying to locate the planet Gor