30 Jul Hurting sentiments
OK seriously I didn’t think I’ll write about this.. Coz honestly, truly, madly deeply I didn’t feel this was an issue to even talk about.
But plz let me say this..
All i felt when I saw Ranveer s photos was –
What a gorgeous man. 🤗
That’s all. That’s it.
I didn’t think anything more about it until the day someone made an issue of it.
But, let me pour my thoughts on it as a sex educator.
1. First of all I might not have thought too much about it or pondered over it because as you all know my job needs me to talk about butts and boobs all day so the words are normalized in my head and body parts are also normalized. So my brain probably sees a naked body as a ‘Body without clothes’. It’s just another version of the human body in my head.
2. Why is the naked human body always connected with sex and arousal.? I do agree bodies can sometimes arouse, but isn’t that something we all can have some control over? I mean the moment you see a naked body why take the brain to the arousing body mode ? Can’t we take it to the beautiful body mode, neutral body mode, strong body mode, or fit body mode? Can we try to train our brains like that for a change?
3. I’ve always thought, when we talk so much about the naked female body, have poems and stories and songs written about it to describe its beauty and vulnerability, what much literature or art do we have describing or celebrating male bodies? How much have we normalized seeing the naked male body or even enjoying it? Is it so difficult for a bunch of people to just let it pass by because they haven’t seen it as much as they have seen naked female bodies? Think think.
4. Let me make it clear that not all male bodies look like the actor’s body and it is not representing all male bodies. He is of course in a profession that needs him to take good care of his body, & make it look a certain way, so he looks like that. But still, looking at it from a fitness perspective I felt it is a great way for men to feel inspired to take care of their bodies too.. Also since there was no extra focus on 6 packs or muscles, It is also an opportunity to look at a male body from an aesthetic angle. I mean look at the shoulders, the neck, the lower back, the arms.. When we think of men’s body & sexuality, why focus only on the penis where there is a lot of other places for people to give focus to. This penis obsession is a lot of pressure when a man can look and feel sexy and confident with other parts of his body too, I feel.
5. Another reason I felt this drama was unnecessary because I could compare this issue with the hue & cry over the breastfeeding image of an actress on a Malayalam magazine cover few years back. There was nothing sexual about it. But people were ‘sexualizing’ it.
Similarly this was just a naked body & fact is, the actor has shown all of these parts in various movies of his too. 😁 And important point is, he was not performing any sexual act with the body. He was seen lying down on a carpet, sitting on it etc.. He wasn’t masturbating, wasn’t touching his crotch, the photos didn’t have an erect penis, and definitely there was no sexual partner in it to indicate the naked body’s function there was to be sexual. We see naked statues in museums, temples & art, and we don’t get heated up about it.
6. I can’t ignore the fact that we’re talking about Ranveer Singh in this image. Who we all know has a unique personality. Be it the way he dresses, talks, his body language, whatever it be. I believe these things also need to be taken in, considering the personality of some people. I have always expected something eccentric or fun from this person. Maybe that’s another reason why a naked pic didn’t shock me.
Now fact is, good or bad, when we are all talking about it, publicity is publicity. So you or me talking any angle- the bum looks good angle, or the bum is vulgar angle, whatever it may be- it is all, still making people think and talk about it.! 😅
So the photographers or even the actor, they all got what they wanted, and what did people get?
In the end, it’s just another pic of a naked man. 😁 If someone doesn’t want to give it attention the best thing they can do is not talk about it. Let it slide and in a week everyone will have something else to talk about. 😋
However the big question about why the FIR was filed against him- did it hurt the sentiments of me as an Indian woman? Nope.! I felt it was beautiful and artistic and unlike the usual depiction of a naked male body, I felt it didn’t focus on body building and flexing muscles, or on 6 packs or a bulging crotch like we see in underwear ads. 🤗 I felt neutral seeing it.
Personally I’m totally cool with anyone doing anything with their bodies, be it pose naked for a picture, act in an adult movie or go skinny dipping as long as it is not hurting me. People can choose to be naked for money, to feel confident about themselves, to push their own limits, for popularity, or whatever they want. Everyone has something called body autonomy, and as long as that’s not affecting me or the world in general, I’ll be okay with it. 😊👍
Swati Jagdish
Sexuality health educator
(Secretly Wishing I had that much body confidence as these actors posing naked)