Body as art. A FB discussion that briefly touched on of body image issues made me think about what we consider art. If a sculptor takes a chisel to a stone and creates a beautifully shaped human figure, be that of a man or a woman, we call it art. We go to museums to marvel over it and if the piece is done especially well, countless pictures of it show up in magazines. We call this art. When a body builder or anyone who is very fit displays his or her body, most of the time, reactions are quite different. Often there is talk about such a person as being self absorbed and if it’s a woman, pictures deemed as demeaning to women and… fitness. So my question is, why the difference? It can’t be about the effort. - Body sculpting (I think that would be a better than body building term) is hard, hard work (I bet my friends who do it would agree). It can’t be about aesthetics. After all the sculptor with a chisel is trying to reproduce the ideal that some body builders have achieved. The materials and techniques are different but is that a good reason to put one down and worship the other? So why the difference in perception?
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:44:56 +0000