It’s the 21st century – large posters of naked men in public are okay, right?
Not according to the people of Vienna, Austria. Last week, Leopold Museum put up several posters of three naked soccer players throughout Vienna to advertise its “Naked Men” exhibition, but the people of Vienna wouldn’t have it. They quickly complained, saying they had to protect their children. Some people even warned that if the museum didn’t do anything about covering up the privates, they would.
Drawn by Lydia Burris/Leader
By all means, power to the people. If I had a small child, I don’t think I’d be too hyped about his seeing a large poster of a naked man in public. I just don’t want to deal with the questions – “Gross, Mommy, what is that?” Well, it’s a penis.
The museum director said, “We are not really happy about the situation. You always hope that we have made progress, that we are now in the 21st century.”
Honestly, I agree. I mean, I’m not advocating for businesses or museums to start displaying large posters of naked men. I’m okay with not seeing naked men everywhere – but it’s a naked person. Adam and Eve didn’t wear clothes.
The worst part is that people weren’t happy about the exhibition at all. I see nothing wrong with a museum showing naked people – especially if it’s for educational purposes or art. The Leopold exhibition shows how the depiction of male nudity has evolved through art history. Maybe the naked men advertisements were a little overboard, but maybe the people are too uptight.
I don’t understand, though: Why a male but not a female? I’ve never been to Vienna, so I can’t say there are posters of naked women anywhere, but I’m 90 percent positive there are.
This isn’t just a prevalent thing in Austria; it happens in the States, too. I’ve seen pictures of fully naked women in the States, but never a fully naked male. Why is that?
The Leopold Museum’s website says, “Previous exhibitions on the theme of nudity have mostly been limited to female nudes.”
Where in history did male nudes become taboo? Am I going to go blind if I see a naked man? Am I going to be scarred for life and admitted into a psych ward? Will I somehow make everything I see resemble male genitalia? Seriously, what is it?
Movies are a great example. Lately, I’ve seen several nude men in movies, but only from the back. I’ve seen a few nude women from the front. Why? I don’t have an answer.
Are women less scary? Maybe if I watched more horror films, I’d see more male genitalia – no offense, men.
There’s something wrong when pictures of nude women are okay but pictures of nude men aren’t. I hate to take an equality spin on this, but doesn’t that seem a little unequal? Let’s exploit all the women and not the men. I smell something fishy.
Women, just believe it’s because your body is beautiful. Men, I’m sorry, but the signs point to otherwise.
Great article!
The amusing part is of course the big-picture silliness of it all. I guess the thought is that now that the red stripes are in place, passersby can have the satisfaction of not knowing what an adult human male looks like below the waist. Problem solved.
This is the result of religious sensibilities trumping actual sensibility. Faith has a tendency to overrule common sense, and outright overwhelm logic. Is the thought that women don’t know that’s what men look like, and shouldn’t ever find out? Sounds like no fun at all!