PBS. Shakespeare. Not exactly a combination that screams evil pornographic smutty filthy filth, now is it? Until you hear about Sir Ian McKellen getting naked as King Lear, and marvel at the mix of outrage and ewww that the notion seems to bring out of people. Just read the comments on the above linked post alone… and if you need more convincing that Americans are tight-assed about nudity, ask ten people in line at the supermarket whether it’s okay for people to get naked on screen or on stage or on the beach or in the fenced-in privacy of their own back yard.
Here, by way of contrast, is a thoughtful article and discussion (in the comments section) of real-live nudity and whether or not it’s artistically and culturally appropriate, aesthetic and/or harmful.
When I was 15 or 16, my high school bought a block of tickets to the touring production of Equus in Boston. Any student could sign up and go for free. A faculty member drove us in, fed us dinner, and herded us all efficiently into our seats. I didn’t know in advance that two characters (a young man and woman) would get naked onstage. And it wasn’t her nakedness that made everyone shift in their seats, it was his. I’d seen a penis before, but never a real live stranger’s penis loose in the wild, so to speak… and I remember the subtle shock that rippled through the audience. It was partly the sheer vulnerability of it, and partly the symbolic value — anything might now happen. And because of the staging — the play is typically done in the round, and the audience is essentially right on stage — the whole experience was very immediate. We could see the sweat in the actors’ armpits and the goosebumps on their thighs when the air-conditioning hit their bare skin… and suddenly the whole scene was so much more visceral.
That was 30 years ago, and things have moved forward. But this culture is still pretty damn confused in its response to public nudity. Nowadays it seems pretty much accepted for beautiful people to get naked, but let a non-airbrushed person show their skin and suddenly it’s icky and…. and what? I think that word we’re looking for is real. Nudity that we can objectify is fine. Nudity that makes a person more real instead of less — even in a completely non-sexual context — now, that’s scary.
And it is scary, that’s the thing. I say on the talk to me contact form that I won’t send people naked pictures. I’m not sure I would even take naked pictures of myself, not because I’m ashamed of my body, but because I have been socialized to believe that bodies are private. And also because so often women don’t have control over our own bodies, and so the idea of physical privacy becomes much more twined with ideas of safety and self-determination.
So I wouldn’t do a reading naked. I wouldn’t get naked to sell my books. But I might go to a naked beach one of these days. I would definitely skinny-dip with strangers (have done it before). And I would probably get naked on stage or on screen for a role, if it was what the story required.
So what’s the difference? What are the boundaries? No answers here, just questions right now, and curiosity about what others think and feel.