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‹ Photo Notes · 31 října, 2019
Remember the craze around the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy? Even though it was pretty trashy literature, it instantly became a worldwide bestseller, and mostly women, not men, devoured every word and couldn’t wait for the next instalment. It was similar with the mediocre film made from the first book. Cinemas were packed to the brim, with dreamy sighs echoing from every row.
Just to be clear: I don’t see a problem here. This article is merely a reflection, a thought that not everything has to be the way it looks. Or the way we see it… The impulse, however, was a discussion in a photography group on Facebook on the topic „the objectification of women must be prevented“. I agree with that….
Those who know me know that sexism is alien to me, and I hope that shows in my photos. Every model is a personality to me, not a piece of meat. But once we start working, by the very principle of it she becomes an observed object for me.
A part of our lives is so-called leisure time. This time includes, for example, our cultural and sports activities, trips, visits, but also parties, sex or, say, photo shoots. And it’s precisely during those last activities that we often, and gladly, play games. Voluntarily.
It’s Halloween season now, and lots of people head to clubs dressed as vampires, zombies and so on…
During a LARP game, dozens of men and women „die“ deep in the woods.
The director of a big company walks into a BDSM salon and pays to be humiliated for the next hour.
And somewhere else a young woman, tied to the bedposts, experiences excitement and delight during her first spanking.
Another one steps into a similar role in front of a photographer.
All of them are playing some kind of game. Tomorrow they will go back to work or school and behave according to established social norms. Today, though, they took on a different identity (and who knows whether this one isn’t the true one) and surrender to an exciting or entertaining game.
The success of the aforementioned trilogy was built precisely on the popularity of the game of dominance versus submission. Ask the women around you; most will confirm that they like to be submissive in erotic play (note: you will also often learn that they are submissive with a man but dominant with another woman). We simply like these games…
As children we played all the time. Cowboys and Indians, soldiers, teachers, doctors…. Then we grew up and the games had to step aside. That doesn’t mean they’re gone from us. Maybe you too like to play a role. Some do it at home behind the bedroom door, others in a group of like-minded friends.
Some become part of a work of art. The subject becomes an object. Voluntarily. They accept a role they feel good in and give it everything. And once the work is finished, that subject looks at themselves as an object, and likes what they see.
I don’t see sexism in someone artistically portraying a role, say a submissive one, that somebody else voluntarily offered. Everything I described here can exist with maximum respect for the other person. You usually spot a sexist person only after getting to know them better. From their overall communication and behaviour; in the case of an artist, for instance, from the fact that over the long term they favour explicit content over form, from the titles of their works, their own comments on their work and the like.
Don’t judge by first impressions, they can be wrong 🙂