mega-Zine.

So this "Zine" scene is completely foreign to me. But hey, it's artsy, it's crafty, and its a silent way of being loud. 3 things I'm gung-ho for, so let's give it a shot. I could be subtle, I could be reserved, but that's not really me - and let's be honest, that's not what this class is either. So...Nudity. Oh hey.

These Zines we created, these teeny tiny little books chocked full of opinion, theory, rebellion, and pretty pictures, are just that - our creation. Now, bear with me (the self-proclaimed Jesus freak) those of you whose pursuit of truth has lead you elsewhere. Say we are created by God, (still bearing with me?) that means that our bodies, our organs, our faces and our flesh were made..but not just made - created. Like a song, like a story, like a poem, like a painting - all creations. What's my point? I'm getting there. What we've begun to churn and turn and chug out in these zines is a challenge to the portrayal male and female (minus the clothes). And we're back to the Nudity. Why is it that, out of the two (male and female) the female form is so ever-present? You know what I'm talking about - bare breasts, posed 'just so', maybe a cloth covering the lower half, but a good chance there isn't. Why is that so beautiful, so celebrated, so common, yet the male form is so rare? Is it shameful? I would posit not, based on the conversations with my hardly-subtle male friends. Is it because women wouldn't be able to harness their sexual drive if such art work existed? Hardly. Descretion seems to be innate in our beings. Is it for lack of models? Pardon me but - hahahaha. No. I'm sure I could walk out of my office and find a handful right here and now. So then what - AH HA! Vulnerability. It is, after all, by definition "the state of being exposed" (thanks, Google). So, what, we as women are supposed to be vulnerable, all the time? everywhere? In every museum, in every frame, wherever Art is needed? Alright, cool. But only if men are, too. Let's get some equality! We're both creations, we're both the ultimate art - the human form. So why don't we "celebrate" the male form as well? Is it less beautiful? Is it offensive to refer to anything male-related as beautiful? I don't care. The human form is a beautiful thing, a marvelous creation, if we can appreciate it in the feminine form and claim our vulnerability and transform it into a kind of liberation, why shouldn't men be celebrated in the same way?

I realize I'm breaking every stereotype of Feminism in this because for once, I'm claiming that men should be able to do, and have, and be celebrated in the same way as women, rather than vice versa. But the materials we read in class reflect and support this - they challenge the things of our surroundings (not just what's going on in our minds) that we've accepted and make us question, why? Alright, Men - Fight..*dun*dun*..For your right...*dun*dun*...to be Nude! In all seriousness - it's about time we start appreciating the human form, as a whole, no matter of gender. And maybe, one our art depicts that, our society will reflect it.