Why are women in the third world not interested in the male body to create art work? A Bangladeshi blogger raised this question a few days back and I found it quite thought provoking. 

Even in the 21st century, women of third world are not comfortable complimenting a male’s body with ease; creating artwork is something totally unimaginable. But our men feel completely free to do so without any hesitation.

Patriarchy is so deeply rooted in the third world that it controls our (women’s) thoughts, expressions, everything. 

I am quite active on social sites. I keep a long list of friends and followers. Receiving a comment on my look is a normal thing for me. As long as a comment is not disrespectful, I accept it, whether it comes from a male or a female. I can’t expect everyone to pay attention only to my intellect, right? Sometimes, some people just concentrate on my look or body. That attitude doesn’t bother me at all as long as they keep it within boundaries.

But when it comes to me, my friends and well wishers want me to act in a thoughtful manner all the time. They don’t want me to compliment a random male body.

What is wrong in praising a beautiful male body if I am not connected to that person emotionally or in any other way? It is as simple as praising a beautiful flower or a bird. When a woman finds it strange to compliment a beautiful male body, it gives an indication that that she is under the thumb of patriarchy.

Directly or indirectly, we are the third world women, who are promoting patriarchy till date by controlling our expressions as per male expectations.

Here, I would love to write a few lines about an American Feminist painter- Eunice Golden (born 1927), who is known for exploring sexuality using male nudes. For Golden, painting the male form was her own expression of liberation.

She said, “While other women artists portrayed the female genitalia as an emblem of their own power, I wanted to go beyond that, to find my own path to challenges society’s entrenched ideologies and more. My muses were male artists who posed for me and supported my work.”

I am not only an admirer of Golden’s artwork but I also try to apply her thoughts in my life. Equality among all genders is always the first priority in my life. Though I am not a talented artist or writer, I have a few works in my stock and my eagerness to establish equality.

I live a life that leads to equality. I don’t feel ashamed of gazing at a male body and I don’t feel shy when a male gives a compliment to my body. I never allow any man or woman to pull me down for kissing my lover in public. No man can make me feel ashamed because of my breasts.

And if you try to do so, I will do the same to you. My so-called friends who feel it is indecent to upload a picture that shows my cleavage; why don’t you keep your dirty thoughts to yourselves and curse your parents for your wrong upbringing?

Here, I am a woman of the third world, who is not talented enough to create artwork but wants to create an atmosphere where women artists can create wonderful artwork on male bodies, enriching the art.

I strongly believe, we don’t always need to do something extraordinary to bring equality; even a simple but proper step can make a big difference to the society. We just need to change our attitude and keep our wings firm to fly up.

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