Egyptian Blogger Posts Nude Photos To Protest Oppression

[Warren DeMontague]

A 20-year-old Egyptian feminist and political activist has startled the nation by posting a nude self-portrait on her blog, calling her action a scream “against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/11/egypt-feminist-nude-photo-controversy.html


...wait! I thought Nude Photos WERE Oppression! I'm so confused.

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Burkhas, virginity tests by soldiers, oppression, sexism...it must be very freeing to pose naked!

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Damn straight.

[WildNovember]

72. She doesn't wear a burkha even in her usual life. She attends the American University in Cairo.

She's pictured here with her boyfriend, who's an activist and film producer.





Here are students at the AU in Cairo:








The usual female headcovering in Egypt is the hijab (headscarf), and not all women wear it. As you can see by looking at random pictures of women in Cairo, e.g.



Egyptian women wears surgical masks in the Cairo underground women's carriage, Egypt, Monday, June 15, 2009.

[Fire Walk With Me]

91. Yes, I was generalizing. All steps in the right direction, thanks for the info.

[Modern_Matthew]

2. What a beautiful girl. nt

[timtom]

65. Indeed!

She IS beautiful. And intelligent. And brave.

I wish her safe journey in the next few weeks.

I also appreciated the Israeli group nude photo in solidarity with her.

[MrSlayer]

3. Brave.

And for more than one reason.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Brave indeed. I hope she stays safe. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Yep

I hope she's okay.

[redqueen]

23. Well there is the obvious...

which is what the first responses to your post obviously alluded to.

Would you mind sharing some of the other ways in which this was a brave act, please?

[11 Bravo]

35. She knew she would get flamed on DU, but she posted the pics anyway!

[Warren DeMontague]

40. She risked the ire of the Smith College Womens Studies department

:hide:

[redqueen]

47. MrSlayer would you care to answer me please?

I'm curious whether you were thinking of the abuse that so many women bloggers face from male commenters.

There has been a recent campaign to raise awareness of the fact that female bloggers face so much more hostility and hatred than their male counterparts do.

This campaign has been highlighted in articles and also using a twitter feed called mencallmethings.

[MADem]

5. The shit is hitting the fan in Egypt. It's almost like a "Devil You Know" mess.

I don't know if they'll do any better in elections this time round. The last several leaders have come out of the military institutions; it will be interesting to see what happens--but probably not "interesting" in a good way. Hundreds injured, at least two dead, per the tv. Newspaper has this to say:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2011/11/19/egypts_riot_police_clash_with_protesters_in_cairo/


...The scenes of protesters fighting with black-clad police forces were reminiscent of the 18-day uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February. Hundreds of protesters fought back, hurling stones and setting an armored police vehicle ablaze.

The violence took place just nine days before Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections and as public anger rises at the slow pace of reforms and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.

Witnesses said the clashes began when riot police dismantled a small tent camp set up to commemorate the hundreds of protesters killed in the uprising and attacked around 200 peaceful demonstrators who had camped in the square overnight in an attempt to restart a long-term sit-in there....Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and beat protesters with batons, clearing the square at one point and pushing the fighting into surrounding side streets of downtown Cairo. State TV, quoting the Health Ministry, reported that 507 people were injured.

Abdel-Mohsen said a friend was wounded by a rubber bullet that struck his head and that she saw another protester wounded by a pellet in his neck.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Yeah, it's almost like a "meet the new boss" situation, it seems. nt

[Ter]

6. Hopefully, this will trigger a massive nude protest by women in all ME countries

Lesbian kisses and all, it's the only way to show them.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. I think the best way to deal with uptight, repressive and otherwise authoritarian regimes & people

is to challenge them with freedom and an unapologetic defense of the right of consenting adults to run their own lives and make up their own minds about shit.

[Electric Monk]

8. ttiuwop

[Warren DeMontague]

10. They're not that hard to find

attractive young lady. And brave.

As screwed up as our fundy nutbars are here, I can't imagine living in such an Orwellian, fucked up society so terrified of sexuality that something like this would generate this kind of outrage.

Seriously fucked up. More proof for my theory that Fundamentalist Religion is a collective mental illness/OCD psychosis type deal.

[Electric Monk]

11. Yeah, I know. I was joking around.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Oh God, Not Prince Charles.

No. Please. I'll never think about sex again. I swear.

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. Look! The lady in question is on the Queen's monitor

:rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

20. I deliberately didn't link in the OP to a story with pictures

I know how delicate some of the sensibilities are, here.

[deutsey]

14. Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski? n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

41. ***

[Earth_First]

15. In this instance, I believe it is a form of expression... n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

16. As opposed to what other instance?

Don't you think that should be up to the individual whose body it is? I do.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. We would have had better results carpet bombing the ME with porn and big screen TVs

than with the Iraq War IMHO.

[Uncle Joe]

21. I believe what most feminists have a problem with here in the U.S. isn't "oppression" so much as

"exploitation."

Those are two different approaches to keeping any segment; in these cases women, of society down, but neither are good.

Thanks for the thread, Warren DeMontague.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. I get that, but I also think that if everyone is a consenting adult

it becomes increasingly torturous, logic-wise, to define what people are doing of their own free will as 'exploitation'.

And I don't agree that 'most feminists' have a problem with porn; it's a subject of vigorous debate in the Feminist community, with increasing numbers, particularly in younger groups (Gen X & Millennials) adopting what they label themselves as a 'sex positive' orientation for their feminism.

[Uncle Joe]

33. Our society is predominately ruled by men; they hold most of the political and economic power.

Our capitalistic society is also based on sexual exploitation, "sex sells" 24/7 in one form or another, we're saturated in it.

Women as the "weaker sex" from a political, economic and to a general degree from a physical (muscular) standpoint, are the primary victims of this gender stereotyped distortion as they face more pressure to make compromises even as consenting adults to advance in this male dominated society.

Women still make less money than men for doing the same job.

As for porn; I'm of two minds on this, I would be lying to you if I told you I never watched it; that's my own weakness, I don't view this admission as a positive aspect of my higher conscious self so much as a surrender to the animal side.

Having said that, at the same time I understand their concern, alarm, point of view as to how being seen primarily as physical objects in modern society via porn has damaged their ability to be viewed as whole people and not shadows of some sexualized image in the business, domestic and political world.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. See, but that's one of those arguments that sounds good in a post-grad womens' studies class

but it really doesn't jive with reality.

In reality, increased societal freedom around things like porn has happened concurrently with advancements for women in the workforce, and a nearer approximation towards pay parity, although I would say we're not there yet. Furthermore, these arguments treat 'society' as a monolithic entity as opposed to a swarming mass of currents, counter-currents, and above all individuals.

Lastly, I think that sort of argument oversimplifies women-as-a-class (who, apparently, can only EITHER be seen in a sexual context or as, as you put it, 'whole people') but it also reduces your average (male?) member of society to an on-off switch who can either deal with women as people or watch them in a porno. The reality is, we are all more than capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, as well as appreciating the broad spectrum of each others' humanity and human experience, one aspect of which is sexual.

Witness, for instance, the gay male community. If these arguments held any water in reality, gay men (who tend to like a lot of porn and, by extension, must engage in an awful lot of 'objectification') would ONLY be able to relate to other gay men on the most basic, sexual, 'shadow' level, since their mental programming would have been hootzfardled by all the gay man smut. But even the most cursory glance at reality at life in the gay community shows this to be far from the case.

[Uncle Joe]

46. The premise in marketing that "sex sells" is monolithic with just about every product under the sun,

whether it be food, clothes, jewelry, medicine, hair color, shaving cream, deodorant, cars, alcoholic beverages, travel, the list is endless.

Logic dictates, that the marketers expect to sell their product and will do so in the most efficient manner possible whether their messages have an overall beneficial or uplifting effect on society is at best a secondary consideration, if at all.

There is power in the overriding messages from this monolithic flow of daily information which reinforces itself.

They're literally buying a piece of the American People's mind, because men and women operate on conscious, subconscious, logical and emotional levels, virtually all decisions are blended together and we can be manipulated whether it's in buying a product, voting for a candidate, waging war or making assumptions about other people based on race, gender, age, region, income level or most anything else.

Men and women do have individual freedom, and yes "we can walk and chew gum at the same time" but to deny the subconscious affect of so much marketing/brainwashing is to deny reality, advertisers haven't spent hundreds of millions to billions of dollars on human psychology, marketing and advertising for nothing.

Fish in an aquarium are individuals, but they all swim in the same aquarium.

Furthermore, I see no causal relationship between the increased freedom and availability of porn and the advancement of women in the workforce.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. I deny the idea that our sexual selves are helpless in the face of external programming.

It's that same sort of 'logic' which drives efforts to 'cure' gay people.

[Uncle Joe]

61. I never said we were helpless, but I believe the effects on society from this continuous marketing

is a reinforcing and cumulative dynamic.

I'm also not proposing that there can nor even should be a "cure" for a biological urge which is as basic and necessary as sex, nor that gay people should be "cured."

I am suggesting that 24/7 streams of information aimed at a people from childhood to past middle age that "sex sells" can magnify and distort the priority in all things considered that sex should play a role in.

People can be brainwashed to act against their own best interests and when they are brainwashed, the job of manipulating and/or dividing the people becomes all the easier for the "powers that be;" they know which strings to pull and which buttons to push in order to get the desired effect.

[Warren DeMontague]

62. I think the prevalence of sex in advertising is a reflection of it's presence in peoples' brains

and not the other way around.

[Uncle Joe]

63. I partially agree with you.

"I think the prevalence of sex in advertising is a reflection of it's presence in peoples' brains and not the other way around."

Sex is prevalent in peoples' brains, that's why the marketers and advertisers use it so much, because "sex sells" is an effective way to move product, but this method of selling builds the lion's share of its' structure on the foundation of emotion not logic.

Thus people basing their individual and societal decisions whether critical or not on emotion are magnified while those using logic and reason are ignored or even demeaned, this in turn spreads out in all sorts of policy decisions with major adverse repercussions.

[riderinthestorm]

66. I've missed this thread. I posted on the one in LBN + missed this... Anyway, I agree with Uncle Joe

and virtually all of his commentary so far on this thread.

I honestly have nothing to add - this line is particularly great in defining one of the major reasons that the objectification of women is so detrimental to ALL of us: "Thus people basing their individual and societal decisions whether critical or not on emotion are magnified while those using logic and reason are ignored or even demeaned, this in turn spreads out in all sorts of policy decisions with major adverse repercussions."

[Warren DeMontague]

73. I don't know how you get from a woman facing death threats for posting pics of herself

to the 'real problem' being 'objectification'- to my mind, a completely meaningless term that is used way too much, usually as an attempt to negatively 'critique' media that someone subjectively deems upsetting or irritating or inconvenient.

In short, do you think the pictures Aliaa posted constitute, as you put it, 'objectification' or 'degradation'?

[Uncle Joe]

75. By the final opinion sentence in your OP, it seemed to me you were conflating this woman's

protest against oppression in Egypt with the feminist stance here in the U.S. against "exploitation."

As I stated in my very first post, those are different dynamics but neither are good for society.

[Warren DeMontague]

76. I don't think the so-called feminist stance against so-called exploitation is universal among

"feminists", much less even clearly defined as per the terms and circumstances involved.

So should consenting adults be able to post pictures of themselves nude, or not? :shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

85. No where in this thread did I say it was universal, having said that

an injustice or wrong doesn't need to be seen in a universal light to be unjust or wrong, racism being just one example.

I also never said consenting adults can't or shouldn't post pictures of themselves nude if they want to.

The issue I have with your O.P. is the conflation of "oppression" and "exploitation," and the insinuation of the one size fits all mentality in regards to the people that oppose both.

If someone were dying of thirst giving them water to drink would be an act of compassion, however handing a drowning person a glass of water would be sadistic to say the least.

[Warren DeMontague]

86. Okay, well, either nude pictures by and for consenting adults constitute a form of oppression,

or they don't.

There's no "one size fits all mentality", only a simple request for some basic definition of terms and consistency. I've asked repeatedly at what point does a picture of an attractive naked woman (or man) magically turn into an act of 'objectification', 'exploitation', or 'oppression'. No one seems to want to come up with one, other than the (sadly predictable) tired argument that "if I like it- or approve of the motivation behind it- it's okay, if someone else likes it, it's porn".

[Uncle Joe]

87. By your logic, preventing or opposing someone from giving a glass of water (nudity)

among consenting adults is a form of "oppression" and context means nothing.

Thus handing a glass of water to a person dying of thirst is the same as giving water to a drowning person.

When I was speaking about the saturation of sex sells, here is one small example that logically speaking actually works against the cause for which it purports to support, that's how insane we as a society have become with the "sex sells" approach to marketing.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/28/4083460/sexy-pot-ads-provoke-debate-over.html

[Warren DeMontague]

88. The flaw with that analogy is that water and nude pictures aren't even remotely similar

As for the "sexy pot ads" "controversy"... You don't have to have a PhD in social sciences to figure out what's going on, there. You have a clash between the outlook of older, more uptight boomer-types who were groomed on tired old anti-sex dogmas that they still cling to, and who nevertheless smoke pot, and members of younger Generations (X, Millennials) who don't think "sexy ads" are any big deal. The reality is, a lot of people like the positive effect that pot has on their sex lives and experience... hell, it's probably on the top 10 list of reasons the shit was made illegal in the first place. And a few boomer holdouts notwithstanding, there's probably a great deal of overlap in the Venn diagram between the pro-pot and pro-porn people.

What this really is about is "toning it down" so that Medical Marijuana doesn't come under more scrutiny than it already is (good luck with that, given that the PTB's seem like they're going to try to shut it down, no matter what promises they make before being elected)

Once we finally do the logical, sane thing- IE, legalize, regulate, and TAX pot for consenting adult use, it won't MATTER whether "sexy ads" are used to sell it or not, or at least it won't matter to the people who aren't already wrought out of shape about "sexy ads" for everything else.

[Uncle Joe]

89. The key similarity is the need to keep "context" in mind as part of your value judgment.

We're not in the Middle East and I believe women are definitely better off here in regards to freedom but that doesn't mean we don't have our own problems in regards to sexual "exploitation," I also believe to dismiss feminists' legitimate concerns out of hand actually weakens the power of the people.

I'm all for legalizing cannabis and if it were legal and they wanted to use "sex sells" marketing that's entirely up to them, at least it would be more consistent being tied to recreational use than medicinal, unless the people voted on it as a natural form of Viagra but I don't believe that was the case.

[Warren DeMontague]

93. Then I guess I'm a people-power-weakener, then.

But in case you haven't noticed, all "feminists" don't agree with the so-called "concerns", which have not been dismissed out of hand, in fact they've been run into the ground, despite a consistent refusal on the part of said sub-group of 'feminists' to define their core terms (as well as the specific context in which the ill-defined terms allegedly operate) such as, again, "exploitation", "objectification", and "oppression", particularly in the context of having-to-live-in-a-society-with-pictures-of-consenting-adults-naked-and-fucking.

[Uncle Joe]

94. You don't have to walk in anyone else's shoes if you don't want to, that's entirely up to you.

That's the challenge about keeping "context" in mind, life becomes more complex as black and white merges into shades of gray.

I doubt you will find "all" of anybody agreeing on everything, including the 99% movement, but I do believe many if not most feminists agree that sexual "exploitation" is a problem in the U.S. and this manifests itself in various ways whether in the workplace, politics or domestic life.

Some symptoms of this manifestation may be overt whether it be abuse, rape, anorexia, bulimia, while at other times it's a more subtle death by a thousand slights in business, politics or public life, but the primary motivation; of the people behind this exploitation that being obtaining or maintaining gender/sexual power are the same.

Having said that I do believe we as a society are making progress on this front, but just as racism still exists so does sexual exploitation.

[Warren DeMontague]

95. So to use your water analogy, if this blogger had posted nude pics of herself in the US

would that, to you, constitute... what? "exploitation" (of herself?) "objectification" (of herself?) "degradation" (ditto)

If she posts it in Egypt but someone looks at it here, what then?

[Uncle Joe]

96. I don't have a problem either way, it would be "her" choice.

The giver of the water (nudity) is not her, in the case of Egypt or in general the Middle East, women are suffering from oppression by the powers that be, this is the dying of thirst analogy, in the U.S. and some western nations, they're suffering from sexual exploitation this is the drowning analogy.

Her protest of posing nude (taking water) in a more thirsty, restrictive society is a demand for more freedom, that same kind of protest would carry little power over here in the U. S. a society; drowning in sexual exploitation, what drowning person wants a glass of water?

[Warren DeMontague]

97. So adult women in the US are helpless fungus-like beings, unable to make their own decisions, then.

ll this 'exploitation' you seem to think is taking place... are the women involved not consenting?

[Uncle Joe]

98. I do hope you have a higher regard for adult women in the U.S. than that.

I and I thought we in regards to oppression or sexual exploitation were talking about society, not just individuals, do you believe all women consent to actions that further sexual exploitation, is that universal?

[JackRiddler]

64. No false dichotomies, please...

no one's saying that you can fool all the people all the time, just some of the time.

Advertisers in their own PR will usually make the same absurd claim that advertising can't affect individual behavior -- and then continue putting out $500 billion plus a year in advertising, because they know it measurably affects behavior in the aggregate.

[Warren DeMontague]

67. No False Dichotomies. Yesss.

Sort of like "objectifying image of a naked human being" versus "non-objectifying image of a naked human being", that kind of false dichotomy?

[JackRiddler]

70. You need to have that argument with whoever you're quoting. It's not me.

[seabeyond]

37. thank you. that is obviously about it. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

44. so is she 'degrading herself', or not?

:shrug:

[redqueen]

22. Nude photos != pornography.

Does that clear it up?

[Warren DeMontague]

28. No.

But I'm glad you support the right of consenting adults to take their clothes off in front of cameras.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. According to some here, this brave young lady is 'degrading herself'.

Fucking puritanism. Jesus.

[redqueen]

25. Some = one person.

Are you capable of honest discussion? At all?

[Warren DeMontague]

26. And have you called her out on that?

Aren't we supposed to challenge the people we broadly agree with, when they're clearly wrong?

[redqueen]

27. Look up the definition of "opinion."

And with that I really am done with this game or whatever the hell it is.

[Warren DeMontague]

29. I didn't think you'd want to talk about this, actually.

Talk about inconveniently fucking with the narrative. Some timing this lady's got, huh?

[redqueen]

30. Re-read my first response to this thread.

Christ, you really do just want to pick a fight.

Good luck with that.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. So nude pictures aren't "porn". ALL nude pictures? .. but pictures of people fucking ARE porn?

What if someone masturbates to the picture of the blogger? Does the non-porn magically transmogrify INTO porn if someone uses it as porn?

[Warren DeMontague]

77. Still waitin' for an answer to those...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuABhumm6fY

[gratuitous]

34. I thought everything was all freedom and liberty in Egypt now

They still have oppression, even after the fall of Mubarak? Nobody could have predicted that! What's next - Libyans finding out that killing Ghadafi didn't solve all their problems? Gedouddaheah!

[Warren DeMontague]

42. Nope.

Maybe depending on the army to liberate you from military rule isn't such a good idea.

[joshcryer]

58. The Middle East will take quite awhile to become multicultural.

Our species can only go one way, though. Multiculturalism is absolute and cultural imperialism is unavoidable.

[kwassa]

38. Getting naked won't bring down the military government.

This is hardly an efficacious strategy.

This is not even important news in the Egyptian struggle.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. I think the mass fucking freak-out it has engendered

says a lot. I think if it inspires people to challenge fucked up fundamentalist authorities, it's a wonderful thing.

People camping in city parks isn't really an efficacious strategy to challenge out of control banks and investment firms, either, is it? Yet it says something, and it shakes and wakes people up. So does this.

[redqueen]

48. What mass freak out? (nt)

[Warren DeMontague]

49. You mean aside from the people who want this woman dead?

I think that qualifies as a mass freak out, don't you?

[redqueen]

102. Not really. Feminist bloggers (the ones who are against objectification, anyway)

get death threats all the time. Just for posting on their blogs.

[The Straight Story]

43. OWS should adopt this idea

:hide:

[Warren DeMontague]

45. We had a naked bike ride here in Portland back in May, I think

I can only imagine the tantrums that would have caused, had the "cover up, young lady!!!! you're degrading yourself!!1111!!!!!!!" crowd been alerted beforehand.

[Book Lover]

51. Just in case anyone here is interested in some feminist Egyptian perspective

I know, I know, who wants to hear what an Egyptian feminist (currently living in the US) has to say when this story is so useful for shitting on local DU feminists, amirite?

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/3208/waiting-for-alia

In case anyone cares what I personally think, I think I don't know enough about the situation of the revolution, and women, and feminism in Egypt to make an intelligent comment. And frankly, you don't either.

[redqueen]

52. Wow, thank you very much for linking to that.

I knew about the virginity tests, but not about the representation of women in Egyptian media.

Excellent insight into why this picture is truly revolutionary.

[Warren DeMontague]

53. The blogger supports Alia's right to decide for herself about her own body

And I agree, which is more than I can say for the self-appointed US "feminists" who think nudity and sexual expression by consenting adults constitutes 'oppression' or 'degradation' or what-have-you.

[LadyHawkAZ]

56. I have noticed a disturbing trend around these photos

on other sites. It's an oversimplification, but the short description is "It's OK when brown women do it".

The Junior Anti-Sex League has tied itself into knots trying to make it OK for this blogger but somehow, at the same time, not OK for Western women. And it seems to have settled into: well, it's OK for this blogger because she's a Muslim in a Muslim country. The same act in the U.S. would be degrading- a Muslim woman is "challenging the patriarchy" while an American one is "degrading herself as a sex object". It makes my head spin and my vision go red. Women are women EVERYWHERE, and should have the same rights and control over their sexuality no matter where or what color they are.

Alia has more courage than the entire anti-sex league put together. JMO.

[Warren DeMontague]

59. There's also an overdrive to explain away the inconvenient elephant in the room

i.e. Fundamentalist Islam, which shouldn't have any more of a 'culturally relativist' pass to micro-manage peoples' personal lives than any OTHER whack-a-doo fundy belief System.

[joshcryer]

54. Fascinating read, thank you so much for that. The thought that the outrage was that she didn't...

..."play by the rules" of sexual commodification. Wonderful.

[Warren DeMontague]

55. Fundamentalist repressive religion is the problem, here

not advertising IMHO.

[joshcryer]

57. The problem is a duality promoted by commodification.

Be it religious commodification (women must be owned, and controlled by their husbands) or commercial commodification (women must be bought, and consumed, by the male consumer).

Alia dared to show herself and express herself in a way that met neither requirement, and therefore received outrage from both the left and the right.

There are studies about how commercialism actually targets centers in the brain that are activated by religion. "Fanboyism" and the like triggers the exact same areas in the brain, it's pretty remarkable. And the left is not immune from this kind of "new capitalist religion." (See: Apple, not trying to go OT here.)

[Warren DeMontague]

60. I definitely think the fact that she's making her own choice is part of what is so threatening

and I'm pretty consistently supportive of people making their own choices.

I will say that there have been an awful lot of claims and studies lately about how certain things allegedly 'activate the same parts of the brain' yadda yadda yadda. Like, "A study shows that The Twilight movies activate the same part of the brain that is activated when you hear the garbage truck rumble by your house at 6 AM", that sort of thing.

While I admit the surface appeal of such an assertion, there has been some pushback lately from neuroscientists who say that the brain is not nearly so precisely mapped, and we're treading into pseudo-territory with some of this stuff.


If I can find the link, I'll post it. :hi:

[animato]

68. Please do post it

I want to know more about my brain map!

[Warren DeMontague]

69. Here's an older one: "The Brain Is Not Modular: What fMRI Really Tells Us"

"Metaphors, modules and brain-scan pseudoscience"

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-new-phrenology

[animato]

78. Thanks Warren! nt

[alfredo]

101. Excellent article. I guess I was looking for political/cultural

messages in the image itself. Because she desaturated everything except for the color red, I immediately thought it had a specific meaning. To my eye, it simply means rebellion, but that might not be how she sees it, but it fits.

[WildNovember]

71. picture

[Warren DeMontague]

74. that's not her.

FYI.

[Ter]

79. Thank God

:)

[WildNovember]

80. I know. it was a joke. fyi. i put up a picture of the real person elsewhere in the thread. fyi.

with her boyfriend, the film producer and activist.

[Warren DeMontague]

81. for the record

I think that lady should be free to post nude pictures of herself, too, if she so chooses.

[WildNovember]

83. Yes, glorious freedom. Isn't it wonderful, we can all post nude pictures of ourselves for the world

to see.

Brave new world indeed.

[Warren DeMontague]

84. Yeah, actually, it is wonderful.

If people want to, with their own god-damn bodies, who the fuck is anyone else to tell them they can't?

People each have one body connected to their head and neck, they should worry about THAT one, instead of trying to control the rest of them.

We could solve a lot of the idiotic crap in this world if more folks would adhere to that sort of rational logic.

[Taverner]

82. LOL - yes, if you fight oppression in this way, you are oppression..

So sayeth the Authoritarians here...

[Fire Walk With Me]

90. Imma start using the word "Nude" in all of my #Occupy threads so they'll stay kicked for weeks.

[Blue_Tires]

92. I approve of the message

[alfredo]

99. The image is a casual portrait. There is nothing sexual

about it. They used color selection to emphasize the red shoes and ribbon. There might be some symbolism to that beyond red being the color of revolution/struggle.

[redqueen]

100. See post #51

Links to a blog with some interesting insights into the picture's symbolism.

Also clues you in about how permissive the society there is with respect to showing women's barely-clothed bodies in advertising.