There is no argument or doubt towards the fact that paintings from the renaissance time period are incredibly popular and are still studied by students, art critics, and simple citizens even though they are intensely graphic. People travel from all over to visit old art relics such as Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam and The Statue of David, both of which have blatant nudity in them yet society admires these penises and labels them as beautiful. The world admires these phallic shapes and thinks nothing about it, translating into the modern day society in a more negative light.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the male body as much as everyone else does but in the right context! The glorification of historical male genitalia seems to have induced the mindset within men that they can create the modern version of this art and get away with it. Times are very different now yet I receive unsolicited dick pics more often than I ever would want. Social media plays a huge role in this and makes the naked-picture sharing process much easier than having to create a sculpture of your private parts and bringing it over to a girl’s house.
I fully support loving your body and see the beauty in every piece of anatomy along with having a great appreciation for the graphic renaissance art but there is some strange connection between the two and the idea that it is still okay to whip out a penis, snap a picture, and send it to a girl who didn’t ask for it. This can be classified as sexual assault yet it is still so common in society today. Where do we draw the line between viewing a penis as a beautiful work of art and as a crime? It is personally hard to understand the reasoning that because penis’ from Michelangelo are godly, the pictures I receive from males randomly–without provoking them–should be treated the same way in their minds. It is obviously a problem but why do men still do it when times have changed, women want to be respected, and dicks are not on the same level of ‘godly art’ as they used to be yet some males are unable to make this important distinction between a true piece of art and a sexual crime.
Hello!
Linking the phrasing of the Greek and Roman “beauty standard” to modern social interaction is very interesting. Ancient nudity works (or Renaissance works, as you mentioned) associated media of artwork with social ideology such as strengths or beauty. A similar situation also applied to academic art, in which there were strict guidelines on how the artwork should be produced to be considered academically successful. While I am no mind reader and couldn’t understand the intention behind modern social interaction by sending dick pictures, I view such encounters more as social settings than artistic reviews.
Honestly, this is so controversial, I am here for it. I agree. I believe that the “dick pic” should not be glorified in the way that old art hasn’t been. Mostly because, I think that it has been forced upon women’s phones and has been spread with that intention, especially to minors.