Nude photography is an addiction. To be fair, there are much worse things to be addicted to in this life. That's for certain. But it doesn't change the fact that nude photography is an addiction.
Maybe you've never tried it - and it might not be for everyone - but I think that running around naked is a lot of fun. You shouldn't need any more justification than that to do it. But being a nude artist is a pretty good excuse. Among other things, it gives you plausible deniability in the case that somebody accuses you of "inappropriate conduct", since we live in a culture that can't seem to separate the beauty and pleasure of nudity from the taboo of sexuality.
Now, in the course of shooting nude photography, every so often you'll snap a picture, review it on your camera, and be blown away by how magnificent it looks. But that doesn't mean you're done. The feeling of accomplishment won't have you packing up and going home. No, the excitement of uncovering something so beautiful will have you wanting to capture another one. So you'll keep at it, and get absorbed in the thrill of the chase. Will the next picture be another sparkling diamond? And who can have too many diamonds?
In the meantime, you'll have more reason to spend even more time running around naked. Chances are, you won't stop until you're exhausted, or it's getting dark and you have to get home, so you can wash up and have dinner. But the next time you have an opportunity - on the next warm day, perhaps - you'll be itching to get out there and do it again. Even if you haven't done anything yet with the pictures you shot last time. And that's how you sink deeper and deeper into the hole...
Is there an escape to this spiraling obsession? I wouldn't know. But please tell me if you find one. ;-p
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Platonic Eroticism
Last July, I wrote about what I've termed Platonic erotica - which basically involves approaching the erotic arts as art instead of pornography (a novel concept, I know). Society draws a hard line between all aspects of life that are non-sexual - and therefore appropriate matters for public discourse and display - and those that are sexual - which it cordons off and restricts access to with extreme prejudice. I've always been interested in the grey area between the two. We bend over backwards to deny the extent to which life is infused with sexuality, or else we end up condemning perfectly ordinary behaviors (like girls showing off their dance moves to internet strangers) because somebody somewhere might interpret them in a sexual way.
I was thinking about this while reading YouTube's rules on prohibited content - which make prodigious use of the phrase "meant to be sexually gratifying". Like, who cares if somebody gets their jollies from it so long as it's not actually depicting sex? Also, the extent to which they have to contort themselves into a backbend in order to make pointless exceptions for scientific use probably has them sitting on their own heads. I say pointless because intent doesn't matter - scientific manuals are no less explicit than pornography, and watching porn (no matter how unrealistic) will teach you more about sex than you'll ever learn in a science lab.
But a good piece of erotic art can accomplish the same thing, while doing it in a much more tasteful manner. The fact that we allow certain expressions and not others, over a completely arbitrary and meaningless distinction, destroys any argument that could be made about the unsuitability of the material in question to any given audience. All it does is pay nothing more substantial than lip service to an outdated (and unconstitutional) code of subjective moralism - one that glorifies deception, via the hollow facade of dispassionate academia.
Anyway, while I was reading those rules, I brainstormed a brief snippet explaining what I would call Platonic eroticism - which is allowing society to exhibit and admit to the presence of eroticism (implicit sexuality) in everyday public life. Because we don't need to prohibit a thing just because somebody somewhere might find it sexy.
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"Platonic eroticism" is fun, flirty behavior not intended to be the precursor to sexual intimacy (i.e., foreplay), that is designed around the general appreciation of sexual themes and cues in a social atmosphere, and not so much a mutual attraction between specific people. Its purpose is to emphasize the light-hearted playfulness of human sexuality, without the emotional weight of physical intimacy, and to take this activity out of the bedroom, to be shared among larger audiences. It does not involve explicit sexual acts, and its goal is not the satisfaction of personal desires. But it does acknowledge - with celebration, not guilt or shame - that sexuality permeates much more of our lives than the private moments we share with our committed lovers behind closed doors.
---
At the end of the day, I don't necessarily want the world to be flooded with sexual media any more than most people would. It might bother me less than it would bother a lot of people, but that's still not my vision of utopia. Not least of which because we all have different tastes, and navigating to a random porn site doesn't necessarily mean you'll find something that appeals to you in the slightest.
I mean, I kind of do that on DeviantArt when I click on people's favorites pages; you never know what you're gonna find. If they're faving my pics (which is how I find them), the gallery is likely to include some kind of naughty material. Every once in a while, I'll find someone who has what I would describe as good taste, and that makes it all worthwhile. Most of the time it's just mundane smut of a more or less explicit variety (you'd be surprised what flies under the radar over there). Occasionally it'll be one of those collections guided by the compass of a rare fetish, that will make me grimace (no judgment - you do you). But even that doesn't scare me away from coming back and checking under the rock pretty much daily.
As I was saying, I don't want the world to be flooded with sexual media, I just want to be permitted to enjoy the sexy aspect of living - whether or not it's something that only exists in my head - without guilt and shame and censure. But the way we treat porn, especially on social media, means that even the slightest association with sexuality carries the world-shattering taint of eroticism. Instead of, you know, letting it be the cherry on top of life. I don't remember consenting to being bombarded with other people's sex-negative attitudes on a regular basis. Why do they always have to be out there spoiling everybody's fun?
I was thinking about this while reading YouTube's rules on prohibited content - which make prodigious use of the phrase "meant to be sexually gratifying". Like, who cares if somebody gets their jollies from it so long as it's not actually depicting sex? Also, the extent to which they have to contort themselves into a backbend in order to make pointless exceptions for scientific use probably has them sitting on their own heads. I say pointless because intent doesn't matter - scientific manuals are no less explicit than pornography, and watching porn (no matter how unrealistic) will teach you more about sex than you'll ever learn in a science lab.
But a good piece of erotic art can accomplish the same thing, while doing it in a much more tasteful manner. The fact that we allow certain expressions and not others, over a completely arbitrary and meaningless distinction, destroys any argument that could be made about the unsuitability of the material in question to any given audience. All it does is pay nothing more substantial than lip service to an outdated (and unconstitutional) code of subjective moralism - one that glorifies deception, via the hollow facade of dispassionate academia.
Anyway, while I was reading those rules, I brainstormed a brief snippet explaining what I would call Platonic eroticism - which is allowing society to exhibit and admit to the presence of eroticism (implicit sexuality) in everyday public life. Because we don't need to prohibit a thing just because somebody somewhere might find it sexy.
---
"Platonic eroticism" is fun, flirty behavior not intended to be the precursor to sexual intimacy (i.e., foreplay), that is designed around the general appreciation of sexual themes and cues in a social atmosphere, and not so much a mutual attraction between specific people. Its purpose is to emphasize the light-hearted playfulness of human sexuality, without the emotional weight of physical intimacy, and to take this activity out of the bedroom, to be shared among larger audiences. It does not involve explicit sexual acts, and its goal is not the satisfaction of personal desires. But it does acknowledge - with celebration, not guilt or shame - that sexuality permeates much more of our lives than the private moments we share with our committed lovers behind closed doors.
---
At the end of the day, I don't necessarily want the world to be flooded with sexual media any more than most people would. It might bother me less than it would bother a lot of people, but that's still not my vision of utopia. Not least of which because we all have different tastes, and navigating to a random porn site doesn't necessarily mean you'll find something that appeals to you in the slightest.
I mean, I kind of do that on DeviantArt when I click on people's favorites pages; you never know what you're gonna find. If they're faving my pics (which is how I find them), the gallery is likely to include some kind of naughty material. Every once in a while, I'll find someone who has what I would describe as good taste, and that makes it all worthwhile. Most of the time it's just mundane smut of a more or less explicit variety (you'd be surprised what flies under the radar over there). Occasionally it'll be one of those collections guided by the compass of a rare fetish, that will make me grimace (no judgment - you do you). But even that doesn't scare me away from coming back and checking under the rock pretty much daily.
As I was saying, I don't want the world to be flooded with sexual media, I just want to be permitted to enjoy the sexy aspect of living - whether or not it's something that only exists in my head - without guilt and shame and censure. But the way we treat porn, especially on social media, means that even the slightest association with sexuality carries the world-shattering taint of eroticism. Instead of, you know, letting it be the cherry on top of life. I don't remember consenting to being bombarded with other people's sex-negative attitudes on a regular basis. Why do they always have to be out there spoiling everybody's fun?
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