response to elsbeth's gleaning

When looking at the images from the powerpoint my sense of discomfort arises not really from looking at sexualized and graphic images, after all it is just human bodies and nothing particularly new (I wouldn’t say that be have be exactly desensitized, since these types of images do still elicit reactions), but from how often bodies are distorted in order to be erotic and the references to violence. With fetishism and BDSM you can say that the individuals are consensual of the situations they are in, but something bothers me when I see images of women in submissive/bonded roles, inflicted with implied pain, or bound up in clothing contraptions. I can’t help but think of how it alludes to sexual violence against women and its place in our society.  It reminds me a something I read several years ago, I think by Susan Faludi, that fashions in the 80s included torn or ripped clothing for women, seen as sexy some how, but really suggesting sexual violence, such as rape. Whenever I see some girl wearing intentionally ripped clothing, I cant avoid thinking about how such signals have been normalized in our culture. So, when I see these sort of things in pornographic or erotic images, I am a bit angered that women are being subjugated and made uncomfortable that the chose to be so. Of course in images where women are the ones are in control, I don’t feel this way. Is this because of my gender? Because see this is a “role reversal” and a change from the “normal?” This further points out that women as submissive has become a normalcy in our society. Are women expected to be submissive and allow others to control them? Does this mean violence against women is, though objectionable, also seen as normal, and so made “invisible??”

Furthermore, I was struck by the distortion and constraints placed on the human body. Somehow non-real (typical) proportions, such as extremely large breasts on slender bodies, have become the erotic for our culture. Something that cannot be (usually) achieved has become the fantasy, which just says something about the limits we place on ourselves as a society. Additionally, I noticed that when used, clothing, in addition to revealing, also placed restraints and referenced bonding. Again, this alludes to sexual violence and needing to exercise physical power on someone to get what you want. Even when a woman is in the dominating role, her clothing confines her literally or figuratively (I think for example images of thongs and fishnets recall ropes, etc. and so reference enforced restraint). I suppose this is why, in the end I cannot understand practices such as these, although I’ll leave to each his own, because it so often restricts the female body whatever the role, and even if not for the pleasure of males, it cannot escape this connotation within our society. Maybe this is trying to change and reverse this imagery, but I don’t think violence references need to be continued. Even if not inflicted, it still remains. Why do we tie something down? Because we don’t want it to escape, we desired submission. We want to control it, implying that the controlled doesn’t want that situation. So even if there is consent somewhere in such a scenario, the fact remains that it refers to a controlling implied-violence situation.