Classical art...or misogynist crap?

[Thunder]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/n...oklyn-graveyard.html?_r=1&src=mv&ref=nyregion

This piece of art, was hated even before it was installed at NY's City Hall.

Mayor LaGuardia hated it cause' he had to see its naked ass every time he went to work.

Women hated it cause it suggests the strong white man is virtue, and the naked women by his feet are vice.

what say you? classic art...or women-hating crap?

 

[OscarB63]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/n...oklyn-graveyard.html?_r=1&src=mv&ref=nyregion

This piece of art, was hated even before it was installed at NY's City Hall.

Mayor LaGuardia hated it cause' he had to see its naked ass every time he went to work.

Women hated it cause it suggests the strong white man is virtue, and the naked women by his feet are vice.

what say you? classic art...or women-hating crap?

considering some of the other crap that people consider to be "art", I don't think they have any right to complain about this one.

 

[Thunder]

i must have walked by this thing 1,000 times.

I found it funny...not offensive.

there is a statue of Teddy Roosevelt, riding a horse, infront of the AMNH. By his side are an African dude dressed like a 8th century Zulu warrior, and a Native American looking like the Last Mohican.

should that be removed too, as a symbol of white supremacy?

 

[Cephus]

Geez, oversensitive much? :roll:

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I think it's sexy . . . I like that kind of stuff. . . .so classically Greek. Sexist? Probably - sure - why not? Still sexy. If my body looked 1/2 as good as hers I'd undulate with a snake under his immense virtue any day for all eternity . . . who wouldn't?

Maybe sexy isn't appropriate for a public setting? Erotica - eh?

 

[Thunder]

I think it's sexy . . . I like that kind of stuff. . . .so classically Greek. Sexist? Probably - sure - why not? Still sexy. If my body looked 1/2 as good as hers I'd undulate with a snake under his immense virtue any day for all eternity . . . who wouldn't?....

makes me wish I too....was made of hard stone.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Sadly - when I strike that pose with my snakes coiled on the floor I'm repulsive - Medusa on a bad snake day.

Definitely not sexy.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Probably a bit of both. Art doesn't have to be socially refined in order to be art.

It's a beautiful and well-rendered piece. Sexist? Yes, almost certainly.

But that doesn't mean it isn't still art. And trying to wipe the world of all signs of oppressive cultures past does not help us avoid them in the future.

Furthermore, it needs to be viewed through the social evolutionary development of the time. It was erected in the 1920's. Women had only just recently gotten the right to vote. In the scheme of things, women were viewed as even less human than black people.

Hell, our Constitution was written by a bunch of property-owning white men who didn't believe anyone except them should have the full rights of the Constitution, and even that was a bit radical. That's how things were in the late 18th century. We update it to fit our improving ethical development as we go along, but we don't just throw it out entirely on the basis that it was written by racists, classists, and sexists. Rather, I think it's a great reminder of how far we've come. The people who were once the great forward-thinkers of their time are now appallingly unjust and bigoted compared to your average Joe in 2012. That's amazing.

Considering the time, this is really not that bad. The woman as the signifier of lowly sin was just an automatic mental association at the time. It's exactly the same way that if I say "clever like a ___" you mentally fill in the blank with "fox."

It's very beautiful. It's a reminder of where we were. And it compels us to see how far we've come.

As far as people being upset about nudes? I get really tired of this Puritanical crap. It's just a depiction of a naked body. It's not like they're involved in some sort of kinky pornographic scene. Get over it, people.

 

[the_recruit]

I am deeply offended by this "art". The women's naughty bits are far too small and hard to see. I couldn't even discern a woman down there until I googled imaged a large version of it. How am i supposed to fap to this? We need big, perky, salacious tits on our statues.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I am deeply offended by this "art". The women's naughty bits are far too small and hard to see. I couldn't even discern a woman down there until I googled imaged a large version of it. How am i supposed to fap to this? We need big, perky, salacious tits on our statues.

Yes - agreed.

 

[Thunder]

Id be offended if he had an erect penis.

 

[johnny_rebson]

I am deeply offended by this "art". The women's naughty bits are far too small and hard to see. I couldn't even discern a woman down there until I googled imaged a large version of it. How am i supposed to fap to this? We need big, perky, salacious tits on our statues.

You could volunteer to put implants in.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Id be offended if he had an erect penis.

They should have given him some bigger leaves - you know - for imagination's sake.

 

[Goshin]

Art is often offensive to someone.


This one doesn't bother me.

 

[Paschendale]

I think it's indicative of misogyny in a lot of cultures, including parts of our own. Men have taken all sorts of opportunities to claim that masculinity is virtuous and femininity is evil. Duplicitous Eve was the reason honest Adam was cast from the garden. Pandora was the source of all evil in the world. Masculinity and strength are part of Yang, while weakness and femininity are yin. Izanagi, a male deity, is the source of all life, while Izanami, his wife, is the source of all death. Yes, in classical Japanese myths, men had to go and steal childbirth from women.

This particular piece of art is not offensive by itself, but it highlights a lot of really pathetic sexist crap. Why so many men are so afraid of women is something I will never understand.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Hmm - maybe people need to see it from her point of view to appreciate it.

Perhaps she's plotting her own attack - sneaking up on him - soon to spring from the depths and devour him whole dragging his soul to the pits of hell.

She's not angelic - she's a ****ing demon sent to destroy his angelic goodness.

She's evil.

I like her.

 

[00timh]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/n...oklyn-graveyard.html?_r=1&src=mv&ref=nyregion

This piece of art, was hated even before it was installed at NY's City Hall.

Mayor LaGuardia hated it cause' he had to see its naked ass every time he went to work.

Women hated it cause it suggests the strong white man is virtue, and the naked women by his feet are vice.

what say you? classic art...or women-hating crap?

I at 1t was going to say that you would have thought this was one of those piss or **** Jesus art works, but then after reading the NYT article I quickly realised that this falls way farther into the depths of distaste than that (to them anyway)....:roll:

 

[Matt Foley]

Why is art which puts women in their proper place always considered misogynist? Geez you guys are so bigoted.

 

[lizzie]

I happen to be a big fan of classical art and impressionist period nudes, so to me, it's art. I find it silly to be offended by someones artistic expression unless it's actually that they are just trying to make a hateful statement of some kind, and they weren't really inspired, but just politcally charged up and spiteful.

 

[Thunder]

Why is art which puts women in their proper place always considered misogynist? Geez you guys are so bigoted.

a woman's proper place is at the feet of a man, as a symbol of vice?