TV nudity is not just for sex appeal
by Ashley Adams
Nudity on television is swiftly approaching the norm thanks to subscription-based networks like HBO that are less subject to censorship laws that force basic cable couples to cuddle under the covers.
And America seemed to be on board with the change — that is, until Lena Dunham decided to bare all.
And America seemed to be on board with the change — that is, until Lena Dunham decided to bare all.
Explanations for the frequent nudity on Dunham’s show, “Girls,” have been demanded since the show premiered in 2012, but never more pointedly than when “The Wrap’s” Tim Molloy asked Dunham outright why she appears in the nude so frequently.
“I don’t get the purpose of all the nudity on the show, by you particularly, and I feel like I’m walking into a trap where you go, ‘Nobody complains about the nudity on Game of Thrones,’ but I get why they’re doing it,” Molloy said last month at a panel during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. “(Game of Thrones) is doing it to be salacious and, you know, titillate people. And your character is often naked just at random times for no reason.”
There are many insulting implications to derive from what Molloy had to say— about women in general and Dunham specifically.
First, Molloy’s comments suggest that the only acceptable reason women can be naked on television is to “titillate” people; people meaning men of course, and to do that, women who appear nude must meet certain aesthetic standards. Essentially, because Dunham isn’t a size two, she has no business being naked on a medium where someone might have to look at her.
But, as Molloy points out, his puritanical cry to cover up isn’t evenly applied to all of HBO’s programming. “Game of Thrones” is the HBO megahit that’s responsible for introducing “sexposition” – background information delivered while characters have sex – into the cultural lexicon. Naked women appear just as frequently there as they do on “Girls,” but the protest is considerably more muted.
The difference here is that the sexual purpose of the women on Game of Thrones is clearly telegraphed. We can fit their nudity into the comfortable box of male sexual desire.
It’s when female nudity serves no overt sexual purpose that we just can’t seem to wrap our minds around it, never mind the fact that real women can be naked for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with sex.
Another concept the collective social conscience fails to grasp is that a woman might choose to use her body for comedic purposes. “Girls” is a comedy. Nudity is funny — it makes us giggle.
Actors like Jason Segel and Seth Rogen regularly use their naked bodies for laughs and nobody asks why they do it. We just get it.
However, with women the link between nudity and sexuality is so inherent that when someone like Dunham is naked on television we automatically cross “sexy” off the very short list of reasons Dunham might choose to appear so and jump straight to criticizing her.
And even if Dunham’s sole purpose is to express and celebrate female sexuality, what’s wrong with that? A lot of the time — well, most of the time — that’s exactly what she’s doing, and it’s important that she keeps doing it.
We live in a culture where male sexuality is treated as a byproduct of their nature, while female sexuality is hushed and repressed. It’s this kind of culture that that teaches sexual aggression in men can’t be helped, but women are routinely shamed for even acknowledging their sexuality.
It’s time to turn around the line of questioning so frequently aimed at Dunham. It’s time to ask, “Why does Lena Dunham’s naked body bother us so much?”
Because she believes her body is worth celebrating? Because she’s expanding the definition of female sexuality? Because she doesn’t use nudity solely to gratify males?
And then we should take the next step and ask why those things should bother us at all.
“I don’t get the purpose of all the nudity on the show, by you particularly, and I feel like I’m walking into a trap where you go, ‘Nobody complains about the nudity on Game of Thrones,’ but I get why they’re doing it,” Molloy said last month at a panel during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. “(Game of Thrones) is doing it to be salacious and, you know, titillate people. And your character is often naked just at random times for no reason.”
There are many insulting implications to derive from what Molloy had to say— about women in general and Dunham specifically.
First, Molloy’s comments suggest that the only acceptable reason women can be naked on television is to “titillate” people; people meaning men of course, and to do that, women who appear nude must meet certain aesthetic standards. Essentially, because Dunham isn’t a size two, she has no business being naked on a medium where someone might have to look at her.
But, as Molloy points out, his puritanical cry to cover up isn’t evenly applied to all of HBO’s programming. “Game of Thrones” is the HBO megahit that’s responsible for introducing “sexposition” – background information delivered while characters have sex – into the cultural lexicon. Naked women appear just as frequently there as they do on “Girls,” but the protest is considerably more muted.
The difference here is that the sexual purpose of the women on Game of Thrones is clearly telegraphed. We can fit their nudity into the comfortable box of male sexual desire.
It’s when female nudity serves no overt sexual purpose that we just can’t seem to wrap our minds around it, never mind the fact that real women can be naked for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with sex.
Another concept the collective social conscience fails to grasp is that a woman might choose to use her body for comedic purposes. “Girls” is a comedy. Nudity is funny — it makes us giggle.
Actors like Jason Segel and Seth Rogen regularly use their naked bodies for laughs and nobody asks why they do it. We just get it.
However, with women the link between nudity and sexuality is so inherent that when someone like Dunham is naked on television we automatically cross “sexy” off the very short list of reasons Dunham might choose to appear so and jump straight to criticizing her.
And even if Dunham’s sole purpose is to express and celebrate female sexuality, what’s wrong with that? A lot of the time — well, most of the time — that’s exactly what she’s doing, and it’s important that she keeps doing it.
We live in a culture where male sexuality is treated as a byproduct of their nature, while female sexuality is hushed and repressed. It’s this kind of culture that that teaches sexual aggression in men can’t be helped, but women are routinely shamed for even acknowledging their sexuality.
It’s time to turn around the line of questioning so frequently aimed at Dunham. It’s time to ask, “Why does Lena Dunham’s naked body bother us so much?”
Because she believes her body is worth celebrating? Because she’s expanding the definition of female sexuality? Because she doesn’t use nudity solely to gratify males?
And then we should take the next step and ask why those things should bother us at all.
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