Female Nude and the Male Artist

 

Nzekwe Phillips Lexie Okai; clay and fiberglass on wood which is evolved using traditional Benin methods.

This is an absolutely gorgeous piece!*

The unclothed human form, male and female, is beautiful. I am comfortable with it as an art form, in many instances enjoy the works. I'm not even bothered too much by the ones that border on porn, except when the artist tries to pretend it is high art rather than a titillation piece. In those cases, artistic dishonesty is a turn-off more than the artwork itself.

Personally, I don't question expression of the body and actually believe that the unclothed form is more natural than covered, just as pre-colonial societies demonstrate.

That said, we live in different times. And as much as I respect the nude form, I am, many times, torn between appreciating a particular artist's nude female work and struggling with his entrenched, patriarchal stance as expressed by the artist. When engaging the work of male artists that are new to me the question is in the back of my mind: "Sure, he states how much he appreciates the nude female form, but who is he really?"

How does the artist's patriarchy inform his work and selection of subject matter? At the foundation of patriarchy is objectification and silencing of females.

To me the question is: Can a patriarchal male inhabit another dimension in his work with the female nude such that she, in that instance alone (no other areas of his life), becomes a full human equal to him in intelligence, maturity, creativity, sexual choice, and spirituality?

The male artist-female nude is a complex domain.

*NOTE: This discussion of patriarchy and art has no reference to artist Nzekwe Phillips Lexie Okai or his masterful art. The image of his piece is shared solely because it is exquisite and exhibits tasteful representation of the nude female form.
  

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The Loud Silence of Sexual Violence

Between 150 armed terrorist taking over federal land (standoff) and a 12-year-old boy playing with a toy gun in a park (murdered); between state control of female reproductive rights and gendered self-actualization; between, between, between the incessant oppressions and aggressions that seep in through cracks in the wall and hit the roof like a felled tree.

Living while black and in possession of a vagina in America is one hard-ass nut to crack. The only reason there are any black women still walking and breathing in this country is 'cause there are millions of them who are hard-ass nut crackers. Ase!

Yet, yes, from time-to-time we gets real ty-yard.

I am exhausted by the cap-flapping for Cosby, employing any sort of twisted logic to justify denial and minimization of Cosby own admissions in his signed deposition. This by patriarchal men and their female allies.

On the one hand, there is the expectation of racial loyalty because this predator is black. The penal equivalencies argument that Cosby should escape punishment because his white counterparts guilty of greater or equal offenses have not be punished is feeble-minded and exceedingly immoral.

Then there is this: The notion that 50 women could not simultaneously remain silent for 30 years concerning the sexual crimes of a single predator.

Please, post the address of your rock (digital or analog) because there is an error somewhere preventing delivery of your mail and memos. This is the only thing that explains why you have no conception of the level of silence and secrecy that attends sexual violence.

I am not going to go into excruciating detail about the domains (workplace, interpersonal, home, school, etc.) and the relationships of trust (father, brother, boss, teacher, pastor, doctor, etc.) exploited to perpetrate sexual terror.

And, to quite honest, I am not qualified to provide the kind of therapy needed to truly raise your consciousness to the level necessary to grasp the threat women are exposed to routinely.

So, for you own knowledge and curiosity, do this: Ask your mother; wife, fiance, or girlfriend; daughter; niece; and very close female friends if they have ever been raped, sexually assaulted, or molested in any way at all.

On second thought, it may be wise to invest in professional therapy before you do that. Because, if you have a good relationship with the women in your life and they feel comfortable talking with you, you should be prepared for the unexpected.

Once you have talked it out with your therapist and the women in your life, go to those women and admit the occasion(s) when you have, on a "major" or "seemingly small scale" have crossed the boundary of mutual consent.

If you cannot or will not do these things, why you go hard in the paint for people like Cosby and R. Kelly, regardless of race, should be much more clear to you now. That is, if you can be honest, at least, with yourself.

Perhaps you are a sexual violence apologist. And like slavery apologists, identification with the practice does not stop at shielding others from accountability.

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