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Nude Model Tells All
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<blockquote data-quote="FlamRatamacues" data-source="post: 56550839" data-attributes="member: 3492"><p>I have been a figure model for three years (both community groups and at universities), and I thought another perspective might be helpful to the original poster and anyone else who might be reading. First I'll give my perspective on modeling, and then I'll address some of the issues that have been raised:</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><u><strong>PART I</strong></u></span></p><p></p><p> First of all, I believe the human body is good and wholesome. We are made in the image of God, and every human being has dignity and worth. Our culture and media give so many negative messages about the body, and it's really sad the amount of destruction that has been done to people's self-worth and their attitude toward others. We need good art to counter this message and portray the dignity of the human body. When a model stands nude in front of a group of artists, he/she is saying, "This is good. This is natural. This is real. This is worth capturing in art." Artists draw the human form for a number of reasons, but when they are doing so, the model is representing all of humanity at that moment. It doesn't matter if the person is male, female, young, old, tall, short, fat, thin, etc. It doesn't matter if the model has cellulite, stretch marks, scars, etc. All of these things are <em>real</em>, and people need to see reality. Because true beauty is rooted in reality. The fantasy of "ideal beauty" portrayed in our media is shallow, and it causes a great deal of damage. The reason I model is to help people see reality and to appreciate humanity in general.</p><p> </p><p> During longer poses in every drawing session, I pray for each person in the room, asking that God will capture them unto Christ and bring them to full maturity in Christ. I also pray that God would use the opportunity to see another human being in a completely natural state, which is created in the image of God, in such a way that it would draw them to their Creator, increase purity of heart, and counter the numerous negative messages from culture and media.</p><p> </p><p> I suspect that these prayers have positively influenced the sessions more than once. I honestly cannot relate to many of the problems that have been raised. To the original poster, it sounds like you were working in a very unprofessional environment. If I was constantly getting hit on by students (which I never have been) and the instructor didn't want to hear about it, I would probably quit working there too. Or if it became a regular problem, I would at least print up a small pamphlet and hand it out to the students before class explaining proper etiquette and why I model from a Christian perspective.</p><p> </p><p> Now, to address a few of the issues raised:</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Is drawing nudes completely asexual?</strong> Having done a fair amount of figure drawing myself, I can state that it generally is. After hours and hours of drawing, the artist is usually worn out. By the end of a semester, students frequently skip figure drawing class, and on breaks they talk about how much they are tired of drawing people. However, human beings are sexual beings, and you cannot divorce sexuality from our humanity. God made us with our sexuality intertwined with our being, and we need to learn how to glorify Him with it. If you rarely saw a human body growing up, then the first time you do, it will bring out all sorts of emotions and curiosities--perfectly normal things, but so far there has been no suitable avenue to learn about God's creation of the human body. In a much worse scenario, if you have only learned about the human body through inappropriate contentography and promiscuous activities, then your view will be completely warped, and it will take some strong doses of "good nudity" to transform your thought process. For people in either situation, they have either an incomplete or a warped view of the human body, and they both need to see what the human body really looks like in order to appreciate it in a pure, God-honoring way.</p><p> </p><p> The problem is a fundamental attitude toward the human body. The inappropriate contentography industry says, "The human body is an object that will entice sexual lust--indulge!" Unfortunately, the mainstream church in America echoes this message, saying, "The human body is an object that will entice sexual lust--suppress!" Neither attitude is Biblical. The Biblical view is that man and woman are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27; 5:1), fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14), and the human body is very good in God's eyes (Gen. 1:31). Furthermore, it is a living picture of the church as the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12ff.; Eph. 1:22-23).</p><p> </p><p>The original post mentioned a figure drawing teacher who said, "You can never get away from the lustful side. It's always there, ready to surface." That's absolutely true. But it's not only true in a figure drawing class. It's also true about the girl or guy you see walking down the street, your next door neighbor, or the person in the aisle in front of you in church. Satan will use every opportunity to tempt you. Nudity isn't the issue, because the nude human body is a good, wholesome thing created by God. The problem is the heart, which is fallen and sinful. We can be tempted to lust just as easily at a clothed or unclothed person. (Although after having been around the human body more over the past few years, I find I am tempted by a clothed body much more than a body in its natural state.) The solution to this problem is to take hold of Christ as our righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and our all (1 Cor. 1:30). We need our mind transformed from worldly views ("indulge") and religious views ("suppress"), both of which treat the body as something less than good. We need the mind of Christ who sees all people in purity the way the human body was intended to be seen by its Creator. Sheltering ourselves from the human body (which, again, is created in the image of God) will not do anything to eradicate lust. Only Christ through the Holy Spirit can purify us and keep us from temptation.</p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Is nudity immodest?</strong> The original post says that nude modeling is a very immodest act. I strongly disagree. The modern definition of the word <em>modesty</em> is a perversion of what the Bible teaches. The only Biblical passage that says to dress modestly is found in 1 Timothy 2:9-10--"in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works." Paul's definition of modesty is that of not adorning oneself with costly, showy clothing. However, in the first century, men and women often bathed in the rivers and worked nude (Peter was fishing nude in John 21; the Lord Jesus was mistaken for a gardener in John 20, presumably because He was nude). Paul's admonition to dress modestly is more about not trying to be "in fashion," not trying to flaunt wealth, and not trying to be seductive with clothing. In fact, the most desirable clothing for a godly person is "good works." In and of itself, the human body in its natural God-created state is not immodest. It is proper, good, and pure. Certainly people can do unwholesome things with their bodies, but the body in and of itself is completely modest.</p><p></p><p> I've done a bit of research on how the common views of the body have changed throughout history. When Constantine declared Christianity the state religion, a lot of Greek philosophy was brought into the church. One view was that the body is evil, but the spirit is good. Gradually, this view was accepted, and the church (and society in general) has never quite recovered. We need to reclaim the Biblical position that God created us as body, soul, and spirit. All three aspects are good, and only when we understand these three aspects can we truly understand what it means to be made in the image of God.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Is nudity necessary to learn how to draw the human body?</strong> The original post mentions that proportion can generally be learned if the model wears a swimsuit. While this is true, I find that it degrades the model. It is essentially saying, "You have certain parts that are indecent and will incite lust or disgust in others. We don't want to see all of you, just enough of you to learn proportion." I've talked with other models who have posed in figure drawing sessions where they were asked to wear a swimsuit, and they have commented that they felt more shame and immodesty in a swimsuit that when they were nude. I've also been in this situation, and I feel less pure modeling in a swimsuit than with nothing. If you want to draw a person, learn to draw a <em>whole</em> person. If you cover up certain parts, you are essentially labeling them as "dirty bits." I've heard Christians say, "No one wants to see your _______" (fill in the offending body part). This attitude does not honor God's creation, and it does not honor your fellow human beings.</p><p></p><p>Having said that, every art instructor I've spoken with on the topic has said that they provide alternatives for students who have moral or religious objections to drawing nude figures. (Usually, they draw a skeleton over and over again, or they copy photographs.) I've never known of anyone who was forced to draw nudes. And if they were, they are certainly free to select another major or go to another school that uses models in bathing suits.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FlamRatamacues, post: 56550839, member: 3492"] I have been a figure model for three years (both community groups and at universities), and I thought another perspective might be helpful to the original poster and anyone else who might be reading. First I'll give my perspective on modeling, and then I'll address some of the issues that have been raised: [SIZE=5][U][B]PART I[/B][/U][/SIZE] First of all, I believe the human body is good and wholesome. We are made in the image of God, and every human being has dignity and worth. Our culture and media give so many negative messages about the body, and it's really sad the amount of destruction that has been done to people's self-worth and their attitude toward others. We need good art to counter this message and portray the dignity of the human body. When a model stands nude in front of a group of artists, he/she is saying, "This is good. This is natural. This is real. This is worth capturing in art." Artists draw the human form for a number of reasons, but when they are doing so, the model is representing all of humanity at that moment. It doesn't matter if the person is male, female, young, old, tall, short, fat, thin, etc. It doesn't matter if the model has cellulite, stretch marks, scars, etc. All of these things are [I]real[/I], and people need to see reality. Because true beauty is rooted in reality. The fantasy of "ideal beauty" portrayed in our media is shallow, and it causes a great deal of damage. The reason I model is to help people see reality and to appreciate humanity in general. During longer poses in every drawing session, I pray for each person in the room, asking that God will capture them unto Christ and bring them to full maturity in Christ. I also pray that God would use the opportunity to see another human being in a completely natural state, which is created in the image of God, in such a way that it would draw them to their Creator, increase purity of heart, and counter the numerous negative messages from culture and media. I suspect that these prayers have positively influenced the sessions more than once. I honestly cannot relate to many of the problems that have been raised. To the original poster, it sounds like you were working in a very unprofessional environment. If I was constantly getting hit on by students (which I never have been) and the instructor didn't want to hear about it, I would probably quit working there too. Or if it became a regular problem, I would at least print up a small pamphlet and hand it out to the students before class explaining proper etiquette and why I model from a Christian perspective. Now, to address a few of the issues raised: [B]Is drawing nudes completely asexual?[/B] Having done a fair amount of figure drawing myself, I can state that it generally is. After hours and hours of drawing, the artist is usually worn out. By the end of a semester, students frequently skip figure drawing class, and on breaks they talk about how much they are tired of drawing people. However, human beings are sexual beings, and you cannot divorce sexuality from our humanity. God made us with our sexuality intertwined with our being, and we need to learn how to glorify Him with it. If you rarely saw a human body growing up, then the first time you do, it will bring out all sorts of emotions and curiosities--perfectly normal things, but so far there has been no suitable avenue to learn about God's creation of the human body. In a much worse scenario, if you have only learned about the human body through inappropriate contentography and promiscuous activities, then your view will be completely warped, and it will take some strong doses of "good nudity" to transform your thought process. For people in either situation, they have either an incomplete or a warped view of the human body, and they both need to see what the human body really looks like in order to appreciate it in a pure, God-honoring way. The problem is a fundamental attitude toward the human body. The inappropriate contentography industry says, "The human body is an object that will entice sexual lust--indulge!" Unfortunately, the mainstream church in America echoes this message, saying, "The human body is an object that will entice sexual lust--suppress!" Neither attitude is Biblical. The Biblical view is that man and woman are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27; 5:1), fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14), and the human body is very good in God's eyes (Gen. 1:31). Furthermore, it is a living picture of the church as the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12ff.; Eph. 1:22-23). The original post mentioned a figure drawing teacher who said, "You can never get away from the lustful side. It's always there, ready to surface." That's absolutely true. But it's not only true in a figure drawing class. It's also true about the girl or guy you see walking down the street, your next door neighbor, or the person in the aisle in front of you in church. Satan will use every opportunity to tempt you. Nudity isn't the issue, because the nude human body is a good, wholesome thing created by God. The problem is the heart, which is fallen and sinful. We can be tempted to lust just as easily at a clothed or unclothed person. (Although after having been around the human body more over the past few years, I find I am tempted by a clothed body much more than a body in its natural state.) The solution to this problem is to take hold of Christ as our righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and our all (1 Cor. 1:30). We need our mind transformed from worldly views ("indulge") and religious views ("suppress"), both of which treat the body as something less than good. We need the mind of Christ who sees all people in purity the way the human body was intended to be seen by its Creator. Sheltering ourselves from the human body (which, again, is created in the image of God) will not do anything to eradicate lust. Only Christ through the Holy Spirit can purify us and keep us from temptation. [B]Is nudity immodest?[/B] The original post says that nude modeling is a very immodest act. I strongly disagree. The modern definition of the word [I]modesty[/I] is a perversion of what the Bible teaches. The only Biblical passage that says to dress modestly is found in 1 Timothy 2:9-10--"in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works." Paul's definition of modesty is that of not adorning oneself with costly, showy clothing. However, in the first century, men and women often bathed in the rivers and worked nude (Peter was fishing nude in John 21; the Lord Jesus was mistaken for a gardener in John 20, presumably because He was nude). Paul's admonition to dress modestly is more about not trying to be "in fashion," not trying to flaunt wealth, and not trying to be seductive with clothing. In fact, the most desirable clothing for a godly person is "good works." In and of itself, the human body in its natural God-created state is not immodest. It is proper, good, and pure. Certainly people can do unwholesome things with their bodies, but the body in and of itself is completely modest. I've done a bit of research on how the common views of the body have changed throughout history. When Constantine declared Christianity the state religion, a lot of Greek philosophy was brought into the church. One view was that the body is evil, but the spirit is good. Gradually, this view was accepted, and the church (and society in general) has never quite recovered. We need to reclaim the Biblical position that God created us as body, soul, and spirit. All three aspects are good, and only when we understand these three aspects can we truly understand what it means to be made in the image of God. [B]Is nudity necessary to learn how to draw the human body?[/B] The original post mentions that proportion can generally be learned if the model wears a swimsuit. While this is true, I find that it degrades the model. It is essentially saying, "You have certain parts that are indecent and will incite lust or disgust in others. We don't want to see all of you, just enough of you to learn proportion." I've talked with other models who have posed in figure drawing sessions where they were asked to wear a swimsuit, and they have commented that they felt more shame and immodesty in a swimsuit that when they were nude. I've also been in this situation, and I feel less pure modeling in a swimsuit than with nothing. If you want to draw a person, learn to draw a [I]whole[/I] person. If you cover up certain parts, you are essentially labeling them as "dirty bits." I've heard Christians say, "No one wants to see your _______" (fill in the offending body part). This attitude does not honor God's creation, and it does not honor your fellow human beings. Having said that, every art instructor I've spoken with on the topic has said that they provide alternatives for students who have moral or religious objections to drawing nude figures. (Usually, they draw a skeleton over and over again, or they copy photographs.) I've never known of anyone who was forced to draw nudes. And if they were, they are certainly free to select another major or go to another school that uses models in bathing suits. [/QUOTE]
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