Who let the dog out?

Here's a nice trick to taking a great artistic nude photo. Don't just point the camera at a nude body and snap a picture. You can't neglect composition and framing. Set up a shot (whether it's indoors or outdoors, but this is especially effective for landscape nudes) that looks good even without the figure/model in it. (I guess as a self-portrait photographer, I have a leg up in this respect). Then, add the figure to the shot in a suitable location. (You will, of course, still want to make sure the lighting and the posing of the figure looks good). This way, you won't just have a nice picture of a naked body (which could describe a lot of low effort porn), but you'll have a work of art that anyone could appreciate! It's like writing out a good solid melody on an acoustic guitar before adding a lot of feedback. Sure, the feedback rocks, and takes the song to a whole other level, but you don't want to be accused of having all fluff and no substance.

Also, a large part of the appeal of this particular scene isn't just the fact that I'm naked, but the fact that I'm naked outdoors, on a nice patch of grass, in the sunshine, under a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds. Context is key.

Outfit of the Day (#ootd)

Being an internet model has taught me to see myself the way other people see me. And random offhand remarks aside, nobody is as critical about your appearance as you are yourself. Finding out that there are people out there who think I am attractive has enabled me to look past the flaws (and I have plenty), and focus more on the parts that I like about my body. Nobody's perfect. And nobody has to be. There are ways you can improve your appearance - I didn't like how I looked when I started putting on weight, so I worked to get rid of it, and I've never looked back. And I strive to find clothes that balance the sometimes conflicting influences of what I like and what looks good on my body.

As a guy who wants to look like a girl, I probably have a pretty quirky sense of style (I'd describe it as a cross between pretty princess and teenage whore). But there has to be a limit to the constant self-judgment. If you don't like something about yourself, work to change it. And if you can't or won't work to change it, then learn to accept it instead. But stop going through life always putting yourself down. There will always be somebody out there more beautiful than you are. But there will be somebody uglier, too. You're neither the best nor the worst example of humanity. So just focus on being the best possible you, and learn to be happy with that. Confidence goes a long way.

More Motel Moments

Motel Morning

My first instinct when waking up in a motel room naked and erect is to swing the curtains wide. But, of course, with the daylight comes the potential for prying eyes. Not that I care if anyone sees me, but if someone gets offended, somehow that's my responsibility...

Seems to me that windows were made for looking out, not looking in. As far as I'm concerned, if you go peeping and see something you don't like, that's on you. But we live in a culture that loves to waive personal responsibility and blame somebody else for the shit we step in. So it's safest just to not shit in the street. :-p

Anyway, my second instinct is to test out the mirrors.

Yep, lookin' good. :-3

Outfit of the Day (Motel Room Edition)

It's fun to think about how, in spite of all our desperate measures aimed at covering the fact of our nakedness, there isn't a person alive whose most intimate parts are more than a layer or two of thin fabric away from being exposed at any time, even as they walk down a public street. That there's a sexy, seedy reality lying barely hidden under the fragile surface of civilized life. Considering how ubiquitous our bodies are, and how strong the nudity taboo is, it's an impressive feat - if indicative of severe neuroticism.

Of course, part of the fun of getting naked is bucking the social programming we've been fed all our lives to deny our more natural, authentic selves. Nudists come in all stripes, but one thing you can say about a nudist is that they're willing to question at least one of the most fundamental (and arbitrary) social imperatives that we're taught from a young age - don't let anyone see what you look like under your clothes.

Pseudonymous Pornography

Or "pseudo-anonymous", if you like.

Mental Autonomy

Consent-Based Ethics and Sexual Thoughtcrime

In a recent discussion on voyeurism among nudists (who are notoriously opposed to the concept, when I feel they should be natural allies), I wrote the following:

"Consent is important. But we should also consider what it is that's being consented to, and whether it's really something that needs to be consented to. You don't have a right, for example, to police the image of you that exists inside my head."

This was in response to the mounting notion (which I kind of feel is a regrettable conservative reaction to an otherwise positive progressive social engineering strategy) that consent-based sexual ethics can be extended to people's thoughts and fantasies. That if you experience any kind of sexual stimulation (physical or psychological) at the "expense" of a non-consenting other, you are in effect committing a form of rape (the violation of another's consent for purposes of sexual gratification). Frankly, I think it's insulting to even refer to this as rape, but without using the term, that's how people are describing it (a violation of sexual consent), and I believe we should be straightforward about the ridiculousness of what these people are suggesting.

This is why I think we should balance the importance of consent with a rational analysis of the harm principle. Person A may not have consented to be featured in the sexual fantasies of Person B, but how much harm does this really do? And what about a person's mental autonomy? You can't tell me I'm not allowed to think sexual thoughts about another person. How is that any different from telling me I can't think bad thoughts about another person? That's a gross violation of my mental space. And as somebody with anxiety who constantly worries that other people are thinking bad thoughts about me, you'd think I'd want to be able to police other people's minds. But as much agony as it causes me, I know the problem is in my own head, and I can recognize that controlling other people's minds as a solution would be beyond the pale, and is something that can never be seriously considered in a free society.

So all these people saying, "I didn't consent for you to masturbate to me", need to make a distinction. In the context of exhibitionism, it's true that current public standards dictate that you can't just whip your genitals out and start masturbating in public because you saw something that turned you on. That's a crime of exposure. It has nothing to do with who or what caused that person to decide to behave indecently. But in the context of voyeurism, if you see something that you like, and want to pleasure yourself to the sight of it (right then, provided you're somewhere private) or the thought of it (later) - so long as you are not exposed in public, then you are doing nothing wrong. Nobody in this society has the right to violate another person's mental autonomy by dictating that their image, or the thought of their person in somebody else's head, cannot be used as a masturbatory aid.

This is one of those stances that doesn't sound very politically correct - hence why it is so unpopular - yet is paramount to maintaining the integrity of our sense of justice and civil liberty. A lot of people are content to campaign for whatever easy notion is popular ("ew, I don't want nasty perverts thinking about me when they jerk off" as opposed to "mental autonomy is critical, even if it may result in some minorly uncomfortable implications"). I prefer to campaign for what is right. After all, sex has always been the fulcrum around which tyrants and dictators have tried to restrict human rights. Establish a system of controlling people's sexual thoughts - which few would oppose - and it's a simple matter to tweak the system to be able to control people's other thoughts as well. Before you know it, an authoritarian dystopia has snuck in through the back door.

Just ask yourself this question to find out where you stand: do you (and should you) have the right to think about whatever you want when you stimulate yourself sexually? I bet a surprising number of people would say no. And that bothers me, because we're living in an age where mental autonomy is becoming increasingly unpopular. This is the critical importance behind discussions of censorship and free speech - they police the saying of certain things, but what they really want is to stop you from even thinking them. And language has the power to shape people's thoughts. If you've ever studied a foreign language, you've experienced this. And if you've never read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, it might be a good time to do so.

In conclusion, the doctrine of bodily autonomy is good, but it isn't enough. And it doesn't extend to other people's minds. I support full autonomy - of the body and mind. Nobody can do or make you do anything to or with your physical body without your consent. But nobody can dictate the limits of your thoughts and beliefs, either. This is a direct consequence of the fundamental strategy - that I already advocate - of separating people's thoughts from their actions. But it's worth stating explicitly. The notion of "consent" protects people's bodily autonomy, but it may not be used as an excuse to violate anyone's mental autonomy.