I was an art student, not so many years ago. The idea that nudity in an artistic context could be “outrageous” did not often occur to me.
But I was an art student. I did have to use my mind, my eyes, my ears, and my tongue to “see”. I did have to quickly come to terms with the fact that not everything people think is “right” is right.
Unfortunately, art education (not to mention education in general) is in a dismal state in the Arab world. Most people were not as lucky as I was to have been subjected to different ideas and ways of thought.
Today, I posted this fantastic article on Jadaliyya that discusses Alia Mahdy [link contains nudity]. Here’s an excerpt:
“Alia’s picture does not play by the rules, and this is why both liberals
and Islamists have condemned her. She is not “waiting” for the “right
moment” to bring up bodily rights and sexual rights in post-Mubarak
Egypt. She is not playing nice with the patriarchal power structures in
Egypt. She is not waiting her turn. Her mouth is not open and pouting.
Her breasts are not large. Her eyes are not hungry or afraid. She is not
wearing high heels. Her vagina is uncovered. She is not selling
anything, and she is not trying to turn us on. Her use of fishnet
stockings appears to be a commentary on the clichés of commodified
seduction. Her nudity is not about sex, but it aims to reinvigorate a
conversation about the politics of sex and the uneven ways it is
articulated across the fields of gender, capital, and control. She is
staring back at us, daring us to look at her and to not turn away.
Daring us to have this debate.”
I liked the article enough to post it on my Facebook account. And the debate started. If you are interested in the matter and would like to see a healthy debate taking place, I’d recommend you visit this thread.
Here are some highlights:
MohammadN: I’m pretty sure that you’re not supposed to post nude pictures of yourself no matter who you are. It’s not a question of having the liberty of posting them or not, but it’s more of a you don’t want that kind of attention, the negative one. Whether it was models or pornstars, they get paid really big to get naked, and not all of them accept getting full nude (I’m just talking about models, not pornstars). Taking pictures of yourself and posting them is somehow disturbing, because you’re being the worst type of attention-seeker.
MohammadT: I’ve heard that argument a lot, and I really don’t get it. Everybody’s acting so wise and fatherly as if she’s a minor who’s acting up and rebelling, and here’s the biggest problem. People don’t want to take it seriously because they want to avoid to deal with the fact that an adult made a decision but they still want to berate her.
FarisM:
”….In recent months, females involved in protests at Tahrir Square were subjected to “virginity tests” by the military junta. The “virginity tests” were administered via the age-old method of inserting two (male soldiers’) fingers into each woman’s vagina…” That’s what people should be outraged about. Simple minded people who are just ready to shake their heads agreeing with religious/political authorities on defining what’s moral and what is not. Doing sex in public isn’t immoral… expostulate who is doing it with violence, is.
Not what I dislike is necessarily immoral and not what I like is necessarily moral. Immorality is when violating man’s right.”
SarahH: “All I have to say it that such a bold action is too soon to be made in the Arab world. It has been done before by feminists around the world, she is not a first. if this lady could defend herself with strong point of views and proper words then the idea of her images may have a stronger effect on people. Men and women alike have full right to do whatever they want with their bodies. The fact that this woman decided to share her body with the public is slightly “shocking”. Plus, the idea that she is just another girl-from-next-door, makes is more “shocking”. We are surrounded by naked women everywhere we look, but if we see the image of a girl or a boy that we might bump into is the supermarket, then we get scared.”
YazidA: “Appreciation???? ART??????????? I know what nude art is, and these pictures are anything but ART, there’s no sense of artistic touch in it!”
RobaA: “What is art? My favorite work of art EVER is a urinal. It isn’t just my favorite. Art critics agree that it is the most influential piece of art in modern history. What about Picasso? What
about Les Demoiselles d’Avignon? The critics HATED it. They thought it was demeaning to art. He was depicting prostitutes. What about Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass? I definitely think it is artistry. She is an art student. Rebellion can be an artistic statement.”
AmerA: “The bottom line is we need to understand that what the majority agree on should not be the rule for everybody because the majority does not, by any mean, means everybody. Actually, any free community should be judged on the way “minority” is treated. In this case, Alia, simply, did not agree with what the majority agreed on and that is her choice, as simple as that.”
RaedW: “There a million different ways to prove you opinion it just doesn’t have to be taboo!”
BanB: “A lot of people here are tossing around words like morals, immoral, art, shocking, tragedy, wrong, religion, crime, authorities, rules, negative, freedom, opinion, animal, human, etc. Believe me, each one of those words means something different to you than it does to me than
it does to Alia. So quite frankly, making a bold statement like “posing nude is immoral” is one of the most philosophically invalid things you
can say. Alia’s statement on the other hand IS valid. She is imposing nothing on anyone’s beliefs; rather she is suggesting something new,
different and those who wish to read further into it, can. Those who don’t wish to do so, don’t have to. The one thing we really canNOT do is
make any form of judgement. These photos weren’t put out there for us to judge – we’re missing the point entirely.”
AlaaI: “But about morality, well, nobody forced anybody to see them, and I don’t think that what she did hurt anybody. I think it’s silly, but it’s non of my business, I have no right to judge her, nor does anybody else. If you think she did scratch your morality, I think you need to complain more about the type of video clips that gets shoved to you and your kids. And apparently it seams ok when Haifa is doing seduction on TV, but if she had a point I think everybody would be crying. I think it’s time to tell people, seriously, grow up.”
