picture this guy naked. oh-- you'd rather not? that's understandable, and it's also, well, predictable. when are you going to see a guy naked having a picnic?
well, okay, but what about these? they're courtesans, after all. nope. you might see their private bits every now and again, but lying there nude? ain't gonna happen.
until just very recently, you will only see rosy behinds and billowy taa-taas on western women. does this demean us, exalt us, show us as stronger, or weaker? i honestly don't know.
Ueda Akinari
桜さくら散って佳人の夢に入る
sakura zakura chirite kajin no yume ni iru
Cherry blossoms fall
Entering into the dreams
Of lovely women.
Tr. Blake Morgan Young 1
Issa.ひとりなは我星ならん天の川
hitori na wa waga hoshi naran ama [no] kawa
that one by itself
is my star...
Heaven's River
This haiku refers to a popular belief that each person upon birth is assigned a corresponding star in the heavens.
"Heaven's River" refers to the Milky Way.
year unknown
.蓮の香や昼寝の上を吹巡る
hasu no ka ya hirune no ue wo fuki meguru
over my midday nap
the scent of lotuses
meanders 2
Is it Degas? Monet? that has the party in the park, picnicing & playing cards? The women are naked, of course. Why do girls insist on playing strip poker when they seem so inherently bad at it? Or are they? LOL
ReplyDeleteyeah--the manet one that i always think of as 'naked lunch.' that was definately in my mind putting this post together.
ReplyDelete"Déjeuner sur l'herbe" was quite a shock to the art critics and the public when it was exhibited. When I look at it, I always think about itchy grass and ants and feeling a bit chilly.
ReplyDeleteBut the lady looks comfortable enough...
heh! i can't look at it without getting angry.
ReplyDeletesomehow, this just reminded me of an argument i once had with my mother, who loved greece. when she mentioned virgins being sacrificed, i said something about the terror they must have felt, walking to the place they would die.
she said, things were different then.
were things ever different?
As always fascinating.
ReplyDeletethank you, dear.
ReplyDeleteThe sacrifice of virgins (to the Great Goddess?)diappeared with the introduction of patriarcality (Zeus) by Indo-European Greeks. Sacred prostitution (="ierodoulos",same concept)at the entrance of the temples of Aphrodite lasted longer. A reminiscence of the sacrifice was to lend without any abuse little girls (arctes) to the temple of Artemis in Brauron, Attica, for a certain period. Ravissant statues of those arctes can be admired in Brauron today.
ReplyDelete