But how far does the history of Western art, composed for the most part by and for men, really lend itself to subversive interpretations? As she points out, all we see is the sexual trunk: head, feet and hands, the thinking and doing parts, are missing. The practice of covering up the genitalia of nudes of both sexes became widespread in 16th-century Europe. She joins conservator Eoghan Daltun, who is prising the fig leaf off the genitals of a plaster cast of a Greek male nude. Unfortunately, as she discovers, the penis was destroyed in the process of attaching the fig leaf. All that remains is a chipped pair of testicles: a metaphor, perhaps, for the effects of Christianity upon eros. To make this point, she joins a hen party at a life drawing class, where the model is a naked man. There are a few excited murmurs when the model, Julian, steps onto the platform and exposes himself to the female participants — and on national television. So far, so decorous. Hylas and the Nymphs , John William Waterhouse.
The victim, who wishes to be named only as Rhiannon, was just 13 when a friend introduced her to the predator — who later turned out to be a man. For hours she was showered with compliments and asked lots of questions about her life, lulling her into a false sense of security. By the time she realised something was wrong, Rhiannon felt like she was trapped with no way out, allowing her attacker to sexually assault her in person and take pictures of the abuse. The person Rhiannon was speaking to online claimed to have done topless modelling in the past and encouraged her to do the same. I thought that things online were getting a bit close to real life. The blackmailer already knew so much about Rhiannon and told her she would wait outside her school and hand out the topless pictures she already sent and plaster them on walls around the area so parents would see. Feeling like she had no choice, the vulnerable student revealed her address and the following morning was visited by a man who it turned out was the real person she had been speaking to online. Rhiannon was contacted by police six months after her assault when investigators found her pictures after a second victim reported the attacker. He pleaded guilty on the day he was due to stand trial and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, seven of which were for what he did to Rhiannon. Or somebody might have seen them or that somebody might recognise me from them.
Sexting or taking, sending and sharing pictures via digital technologies could expose you to risk and can be considered a criminal offence, especially if it involves harassing people of any age. Find out what you can do to protect your privacy. Sexting or sharing photos online can be considered cyber bullying—which is a criminal offence if it involves using the internet or mobile phone to make threats, stalk someone or menace, harass or seriously offend them. If you think you are being cyber bullied get legal help or talk to someone who can help. Sexting can include images from film, movies, videos, photos, and digital images sent by SMS, email, chat rooms and publishing on blogs. If you make or possess have illegal sexting images or send them to other people you may be charged with distributing child exploitation material, which is a serious crime. If you know the sender, let them know you do not want them to send you any more images. You may also want to talk to a trusted adult or the police about what happened. Get legal advice. If the person continues to send you images report it to the police.
But how far does the history of Western art, composed for the most part by and for men, really lend itself to subversive interpretations? As she points out, all we see is the sexual trunk: head, feet and hands, the thinking and doing parts, are missing. The practice of covering up the genitalia of nudes of both sexes became widespread in 16th-century Europe. She joins conservator Eoghan Daltun, who is prising the fig leaf off the genitals of a plaster cast of a Greek male nude.
Unfortunately, as she discovers, the penis was destroyed in the process of attaching the fig leaf. All that remains is a chipped pair of testicles: a metaphor, perhaps, for the effects of Christianity upon eros. To make this point, she joins a hen party at a life drawing class, where the model is a naked man.
There are a few excited murmurs when the model, Julian, steps onto the platform and exposes himself to the female participants — and on national television. So far, so decorous. Hylas and the Nymphs , John William Waterhouse. Wikimedia Commons.
In modern Britain, we are perhaps less shocked by the gender of the nude than by its age. The painting is of a handsome young man being lured to a watery grave by a bevy of topless nymphs.
The problem is that the nymphs are not adult women, but pubescent girls. Lolita springs to mind. Boyce defends her decision. But this raises the question of whether removing a painting from display is any better than covering parts of it with a fig leaf.
The argument would presumably be that the sexualisation of underage girls is in a different category from the mere display of genitals, male or female. How can we claim freedom of expression for ourselves if we deny it to the generations before us? That may be so, but it cannot be the whole story. There is clearly plenty more territory to explore — Series Two, anyone?