"Saying look at me — I’m entitled to stand here and present myself to the world. I don’t have to be ashamed and cower in the corner,"
wrote Natalie Angier in the foreword to the photography book "The Full Body Project." (Clicking the link won't display nudity on screen, but scrolling down will.)
"It really disturbed him that women who considered themselves overweight had this terrible feeling about themselves... He wanted to show the world that there’s beauty to be found in different body types."
I noted Nimoy's photography project back in 2007, in
a post that read "So, Leonard Nimoy is into fat women. I have a
similar preference." The link on "similar preference" went to a 2005 post titled
"Drawing from the nude model":
My undergraduate degree is in Fine Arts, and I've spent many hours drawing from a live model, both in art school and in evening sessions here at UW....
It can also be tiresome to draw from the model. You may think it's always going to be interesting to look at a naked person, but many people who try to be artist's models are not very good. You need an interesting body and an ability to find a good pose and hold it. The artist can move around looking for a good angle on a pose, but with some models there are no interesting angles. Try drawing a thin man! The best models are overweight women -- like the woman in the photo at the link. One reason I stopped doing the evening drawing sessions here at UW was that nearly all the models were thin. I mean, if I want to draw landscapes, I'd go to the mountains, not the plains.
ADDED: The 2007 post linked to a NYT article titled
"Girth and Nudity, a Pictorial Mission":
Mr. Nimoy... admits that before he began ["The Full Body Project"], it had never occurred to him that beauty might be culture driven.... His enlightenment came about eight years ago, when he had been showing pictures from his Shekhina series — sensual, provocative images of naked women in religious Jewish wear — at a lecture in Nevada.
(Nimoy — according to
Wikipedia — was "the son of Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). His parents left Iziaslav separately—his father first walking over the border into Poland—and reunited in the United States.")
Afterward, a 250-pound woman approached him and asked if he wanted to take pictures of her, a different body type....
“The nudity wasn’t the problem,” he said, “but I’d never worked with that kind of a figure before. I didn’t quite know how to treat her. I didn’t want to do her some kind of injustice. I was concerned that I would present this person within the envelope of an art form.”
But soon he relaxed into it, lulled by the clicking of the camera and the woman’s comfort with her body. He placed some of the shots in various exhibitions, and they invariably garnered the most attention. “People always wanted to know: ‘Who is she? How did you come to shoot her? Why? Where? What was it all about?’ ”
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44 comments:
What is once seen can never be unseen.
Nimoy simply followed the instructions for the Starship Enterprise..."to boldly go where no man has gone before."
Using Spock's logic, it was a snap decision.
Sorry, that's just a celebration of gluttony and slothfullness. Where is the art in that? Why would one aspire to this?
Why not do a shoot about skinny heroin addict naked women or bulimia victims?
Further evidence of the decline.
Last night's episode of Star Trek TOS was "Amok Time." That was not the episode originally scheduled, however. They must have swapped it in because it's a patent Nimoy showcase.
But it's a terrible episode. It's the one where Spock goes scooters because he feels the irresistible urge to get jiggy with it.
Kirk and Spock fight to the death. McCoy ex machina with a hypo.
The entire episode would have benefited tremendously from an extended portrayal of Vulcan-style coitus. I'll bet he's got barbs on that thing.
Any woman or man with a BMI higher than 20 is wasting the world's precious food resources and damaging the planet's climate. Big people have big carbon footprints.
Were it not for these idealized ample women there would be no need to eat mealworms in Zambia to "improve malnutrition".
I once stalked a fat chick, just to help her feel better about herself.
I am Laslo.
The key with fat chicks is to find one with a good-looking female friend. This isn't hard to do, because good-looking thin chicks like to have a fat friend so that they can feel better about themselves.
Then you tell the fat chick that you'd like to have sex with her, but -- alas -- you only do threesomes, it's a thing you have.
Chances are, the fat chick will beg her good-looking friend to have the threesome, playing on the guilt of the good-looking thin chick to help her lonely, lonely friend get some: it is like all the work is already done for you.
Here is the important thing: you're gonna have to spend a little time fucking the fat chick. She'll notice that you seem to be spending all your time banging the good-looking thin chick, that you only have the fat chick blow you, and she'll get all moody and possibly leave the room, which will end things pretty much right there.
So you are going to have to toss the fat chick a few mercy strokes, it is part of the deal.
Please note that this is just theory: Laslo would never do such a thing.
I am Laslo.
Don't get me wrong: fat chicks can be sexy, too. Look at Taylor Swift: sure, she could afford to lose a few pounds, but that doesn't stop her from being hot.
I am Laslo.
I would think that evolution would have programmed males to be attracted to well-padded women. What would cause a man to go for skinny women? Some death wish? Or have you been reprogrammed by fashion ads?
Models in fashion advertising are thin for a reason: to put the focus on the clothes. How could that be enough to knock you off the path if nature?
Of nature
I mean
If nature means much
His enlightenment came about eight years ago, when he had been showing pictures from his Shekhina series — sensual, provocative images of naked women in religious Jewish wear — at a lecture in Nevada.
I'm sorry, but one doesn't have to be Orthodox Jewish to think that invoking the name of the Shekinah as a cover for nude photography is either blasphemous or comes damn close!
What, Lenny, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? Did the Benedictine nuns tell you that as a boy so that you'd never touch yourself either?
So,Althouse was beginning sentences with "so' in 2007. Maybe Jeb Bush is a big Althouse fan?
@Prof Althouse,
What would cause a man to go for skinny women?
Actually, men don't go for "skinny" women. They tend to go for "buxom" women. I present as exhibit A the bodies of any major porn starlet, who are women whose only purpose on-screen is to satisfy the objectifying male gaze. They are always heavier than standard movie starlets & especially fashion models. It's actually women who find really "skinny" women attractive. While she might be "cute", mo straight man finds Audrey Hepburn "hawt".
From the Shekinah to porn in two comments! Oh, blez me, Fodda, fur I have sinned!
"How could that be enough to knock you off the path if nature?"
Skinny women make a large penis look even larger.
I am Laslo.
"It's actually women who find really "skinny" women attractive. While she might be "cute", mo straight man finds Audrey Hepburn "hawt"."
Keira Knightly is hawt. Sure, she could stand to lose a few ounces, but...
I am Laslo.
Ann Althouse said...
I would think that evolution would have programmed males to be attracted to well-padded women. What would cause a man to go for skinny women? Some death wish? Or have you been reprogrammed by fashion ads?
How about a preference for smooth, contoured definitional lines instead of amorphous folds of hideously dimpled "orange peel" cellulite? Sheeesh.
Skinny women with OCD have the discipline to keep the house clean.
I am Laslo.
One of the problems with fat women: when they tell you that they have bleached their anus you have to take their word for it.
I am Laslo.
"...discipline to keep the house clean." But they're dreadful cooks.
PS: Laslo is awesome.
Leonard Nimoy's place in history will not depend on his photographs of fat women.
Leonard Nimoy's cultural immortality has been all but guaranteed by the invention of best dispute resolution system ever invented. LINK.
Spock's hand sign for "Live Long and Prosper" is just a Vulcan version ofthe 'Shocker'.
I am Laslo.
Natural selection makes fertile women the most attractive; this primarily means youth and health. Obese women are not especially fertile and since obesity was very rare through most of human natural history, one should not expect that it would have much instinctual attractiveness.
Nimoy was, in my view, an able photographer even if I do not care for his later subject matter. The photos (and women) from his Shekhina project are quite beautiful.
Young Hegelian: Actually, men don't go for "skinny" women.
Oh, baloney. Unless you're using "skinny" in the restricted sense of "those grey-skinned catwalk skeletons with obvious eating disorders" (or some old bag of bones past her best-by date). I've known plenty of whippet-thin girls, with A-cups and boyish hips, but pretty or beautiful faces, who never seemed to have the slightest trouble attracting men, quite the contrary. And don't give me that "but but but in porn the ideal..." Pretty skinny girls don't want for male attention. Fact.
It's actually women who find really "skinny" women attractive...While she might be "cute", mo straight man finds Audrey Hepburn "hawt".
If by "hawt" you mean a narrow specific sub-category of "sexually attractive" (instant hard-on non-niche-porn body), yeah, sure, whatever. If by "hawt" you mean "sexually attractive", nonsense. Men are sexually attracted to women as "really skinny" as Audrey Hepburn all the time - see it with my own eyes everyday.
I've known plenty of whippet-thin girls, with A-cups and boyish hips, but pretty or beautiful faces, who never seemed to have the slightest trouble attracting men, quite the contrary.
Yes, Anglelyne, a pretty face will cover for a multitude of sins, but what I was talking about was the male ideal. There is a male ideal of feminine beauty, personified in porn stars, just as much as there is a general ideal of feminine beauty personified by movie starlets, and a fashion idea of feminine beauty personified by fashion models.
Women tend to think men are much pickier than they really are about physical attributes of women. A man looks around, figures out the best he can do under the circumstances & forges ahead. Good enough is good enough, and lots of factors enter into what constitutes 'good enough".
But, if you asked a man if he wouldn't prefer those A-cups to be something other than A, most, but not all, will say yes. That's certainly not something he'd ever want to say to the whippet-thin cute A-cup lass, that is if he ever would like to see her again.
Men aren't attracted to "skinny" women. They are attracted to women with hour glass figures. Good size hips and breasts along with an appropriate size stomach = Good breeders. Its all evolution.
And I'm all for people who think fat is beautiful, but lets not fool ourselves into thinking its not a minority belief and always will be.
BTW, obesity is unhealthy, another reason why its not thought to be beautiful by most.
I wonder if coitus during during transport would heighten or diminish the pleasure of sex. I'm talking about beaming up, not beaming down. That would be pervy. It would definitely heighten the intimacy of the act so women would probably be all for it.
Rubens agrees with you, Althouse.
It's obvious that obese women are not healthy, and we are primarily attracted to health.
As noted above, women that obese are not fertile, and they are at much higher risk for prenatal and birth complications (if my memory serves from the last time I had a baby and read about that stuff, a decade ago).
A woman with some curves and some fat stores is going to in general ovulate regularly, conceive easily, breastfeed well, and be healthy enough in general to participate in her own feeding and care as well as that of her child. The obese woman is not going to outrun the saber toothed tiger or be able to forage long distances for roots and berries, in other words.
Personally: I have lost a fair amount of weight in recent months, and while I have a pretty enough face and am well groomed I am no great beauty. I'm 5'4" and 135 pounds, in a C cup with a round bottom, and I have noticed TONS more men giving me the once-over than either when I was younger and 115 pounds, or obviously when I was heavier. My significant other tells me I'm in the sweet spot, which frankly is lovely to hear. :)
Ann Althouse said...
I would think that evolution would have programmed males to be attracted to well-padded women. What would cause a man to go for skinny women? Some death wish? Or have you been reprogrammed by fashion ads?
Typical feminist attitude. Men prefer women who have breasts and ass but not too fat. Definitely not anorexic. Men want a fucktoy.
A woman with some curves...
Curves by definition come from muscle definition, not fat stores. Fat tends to come off as cottage cheese like clumps, not smooth curves. This is why women have to get into the gym and not just hit the aerobics but the dumbbells and weight machines. Get some muscle on you women and you will attract men.
YoungHegelian said...
I've known plenty of whippet-thin girls, with A-cups and boyish hips, but pretty or beautiful faces, who never seemed to have the slightest trouble attracting men, quite the contrary.
Yes, Anglelyne, a pretty face will cover for a multitude of sins, but what I was talking about was the male ideal. There is a male ideal of feminine beauty, personified in porn stars, just as much as there is a general ideal of feminine beauty personified by movie starlets, and a fashion idea of feminine beauty personified by fashion models.
Women tend to think men are much pickier than they really are about physical attributes of women. A man looks around, figures out the best he can do under the circumstances & forges ahead. Good enough is good enough, and lots of factors enter into what constitutes 'good enough".
But, if you asked a man if he wouldn't prefer those A-cups to be something other than A, most, but not all, will say yes. That's certainly not something he'd ever want to say to the whippet-thin cute A-cup lass, that is if he ever would like to see her again.
Words of wisdom, words of wisdom.
rcoocean: Men aren't attracted to "skinny" women. They are attracted to women with hour glass figures.
Somebody needs to tell Evolution to get off his arse and do something about all the decidedly non-hourglass obese ladies I see these days, with large broods in tow. And they were decidedly non-hourglass before they started breeding, so don't let him get away with that excuse. What are we paying that bastard for, anyway?
And I'm all for people who think fat is beautiful, but lets not fool ourselves into thinking its not a minority belief and always will be.
It may be a minority belief, but in more and more parts of this country obese sure as hell ain't a minority. I'd be OK with "pleasingly plump is beautiful" or "hey, let's not get all judgmental and hysterical about folks in middle age getting a little stouter than they should be" or "how 'bout we stop promoting fad/punitive diets and learn to eat like civilized human beings". But the level of extreme overweight and gross obesity one sees in public these days is disturbing and depressing, and has to be a manifestation of some deeper sociological dysfunction.
YH: Yes, Anglelyne, a pretty face will cover for a multitude of sins, but what I was talking about was the male ideal.
Well, you did come out of the gate with the flat-out (false) statement that "actually, men don't go for 'skinny' women", so I think one can be forgiven for not noticing that you were wandering in the world of ideals.
Women tend to think men are much pickier than they really are about physical attributes of women.
Yeah, I know, men always say that. Can't imagine where young women get these ideas. Must be all those gay fashion designers poisoning their minds by, say, referring to the attributes of a normal, non-obese, non-ugly young woman's body as "a multitude of sins", or sniffing at Audrey Hepburn's exiguous sex appeal. Lol.
Sorry, YH, but it always cracks me up when men start nattering on in this artless way about how wonderfully magnanimous they are in tolerating the imperfections of pretty young women's bodies.
But, if you asked a man if he wouldn't prefer those A-cups to be something other than A, most, but not all, will say yes.
Really? Learn something new every day.
That's certainly not something he'd ever want to say to the whippet-thin cute A-cup lass, that is if he ever would like to see her again.
Well, I hope for the cutie's sake he'd never say that because he's a gentleman and not a tactless boor, not because he's so dumb he thinks she doesn't know that's what he's thinking.
Good for you Pants.
@Anglelyne,
You notice that there aren't a lot of men chiming in here about how wrong I am?
Now, if you want to have a bee up your butt about how wrong we are in the understanding of our own sexuality, well, be my guest. If you'd like to take everything said about the matter & give it the most negative spin possible, well, we can't stop you.
how wonderfully magnanimous they are in tolerating the imperfections of pretty young women's bodies.
Because, of course, women, never, ever nitpick attributes of their men, amiright? Because that might be boorish.
I'm not claiming that male sexuality is especially noble or moral. Just it is what is. What I don't understand is why this topic put you on your hobby horse. Care to enlighten us?
I'm probably the wrong one to chime in, but what Anglelyne said I see no flaw with.
I was in a relationship with an A-cup who was frikkin' beautiful. Had breast augmentation that absolutely destroyed hr body, and her sense of identity.
I won't bore with the details.
I am laslo.
Anglelyne: I am sorry that Laslo agrees with you. That is a lot to overcome.
I am Laslo.
"...images of naked women in religious Jewish wear..."
Either "naked" doesn't mean what I think it does, or "religious Jewish wear" is very different than I would have imagined.
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