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       #Post#: 123--------------------------------------------------
       Female anatomy in art...?
   DIR By: Jen
       Date: April 19, 2015, 1:35 pm
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       Though certainly not current events, this was an interesting
       article to read.  In it, the author supposes -and claims there
       is some scholarly evidence- that the patriarchal take-over (ok,
       she didn't use exactly those words) utilized art to further
       suppress women.  They did this by proudly crafting male
       anatomical parts while leaving lady-parts prominently ...
       absent.  There is a little bit of interesting discussion
       regarding art, statues in particular, as they go back in history
       - identifying prehistoric statues, such as the Venus of
       Willendorf, in which female anatomy is accurately depicted, and
       then as it progresses, it becomes less so, eventually so that
       women are portrayed with their true bodies hidden.  Of course,
       there is little to compare with the ancient statues, because
       there are no male equivalents (that I know of).
       I found the article to be an interesting opinion piece.  There
       are few facts; and a few incorrect ones (for example: that
       Easter is a holiday based on the worship of Astarte.  Not quite
       accurate on that point.  Easter, or Ostara, was actually derived
       from the worship of Oestra, a Germanic goddess.  Astarte is
       frequently associated with Ishtar and Inanna.  The confusion, I
       believe, comes from the mythology of Jesus.  He supposedly died
       and lived again, and while this story is modeled on Inanna's
       Descent, the Christian movement chose to celebrate at the time
       of the Pagan Ostara, thereby taking over the Pagan holiday).
       While reading it, I had another thought that perhaps these
       'scholars' the author alludes to have the wrong idea.  Perhaps,
       instead of stripping women's identity and power by not outlining
       every nuance of the female body, maybe - just maybe- the effort
       of hiding her form was a way to show there are mysteries known
       only to those who follow the goddess, and are initiated by
       her...  That's not an entirely complete thought, but does the
       idea make sense?
       Anyway, what are your thoughts on this article?  Do you agree?
       Disagree?  What's your take on the idea of the lack of
       anatomical representation adding to the suppression and
       glorification of the various sexes?
  HTML http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/13/absent-female-genitals-art-repeated
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