Exhibitionism



In psychoanalytic terms, Exhibitionism is the need and pleasure of being looked at when NAKED! It is a display of extravagance, usually partially sexually inspired behaviour to captivate the attention of others in a display of a body part, or parts, that would otherwise be left covered under clothing in nearly all other circumstances. This has become also a lifestyle for many, where rather than a rare thrill carefully selecting a target audience to make the exposure brief and inconspicuous, it it is common and normal. It can also be known to be as a Fetish or even an Art form. But for the study of its Genre, Exhibitionism is sexually charged, surprising to some, and a culture to others. It will make some people look, and some to look away; but in its nature, far from Nudism... which is exposure that is not connected with sexual expressions.

When researching for genre information on Exhibitionism, one site was found that claims it to be a sickness. ex2.gifWhere defined as: "Involves intense, recurrent and sexually arousing fantasies involving the exposure of the individual's genitals. This may, in turn, translate into putting this fantasy into action and engaging in these behaviours. However, a key feature of this need is that the individual be a stranger or unsuspecting." Claimed to be caused by stress, personal immaturity and in some cases, mental retardation or brain dementia; but if media uses it in many cases to lure in a specific audience, can it really be that sick?

Classical Hollywood movies are considered to be exhibitionist in their display of the female form to the spectator. See [|Voyeurism], Scopophilia. Usually these movies display females as the object of the male gaze. These females are potrayed as objects and find pleasure in being admired. Exhibitionism relates to the concept of nude versus naked. Nudity is the act of using the bare body as an object on display whereas, naked is being natural and oneself without clothes on. (a clip from the rear window, where exhibitionism was practiced by the lady from the other apartment)
 * [[image:ex3.gif align="left"]]Classical**
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Also, in more recent movies, exhibitionism is used to promote viewers to come see films even though the exhibitionism is not by the actor the flocks come to see. Many of today's top celebs have body doubles and stunt people to do things they don't want to do... one of them being displaying their naked bodies to millions of people... This form of sex appeal can lure many, but also get the gannies screaming about the new generation of society. For once, this form of exhibitionism was very strickly looked down upon and when not being a cause of mental retardation, very acceptable!
 * Modern**
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Because seeing someone naked is something that is bold and sticks out of the norm of everyday life, many use the exhibitionist genre to state something they believe in or to help out for a good cause! Pamela Anderson leads her fight against killing animals and travels the world getting naked while telling others to go bare then to wear a dead animal... does it work? Who knows, but it surely gets my attention! A more local event is the naked ride for Cancer here in Toronto... As great of a cause that it may be... it sure looks painful! But nonetheless, because this lack of clothing is so far from 'regular' happenings within society, it stands out as a way to get attention, prove a point and surely attract or disgust viewers.


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Sturken, M. and Cartwright, L. (2001). Practice of looking: an introduction to the visual Culture. New York & London: Oxford University Press http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibitionism http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/exhibitionism.htm
 * Sources:**

All images were altered in Photoshop by Mike Rybinski and taken from search results for "exhibitionism' in Google. http://blog.roncier.net/IMG/jpg/TORSO.jpg http://www.sensesofcinema.com/images/29/rear_window_miss_torso.jpg [|http://www.mogilevsky.com/Gallery/art/nudes/pages/Silouette%20-%20%20Portovenere%20(10-98).htm]
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