A short short essay on Erotic photography and sexuality.

I’ve just started reading the doctoral thesis by a Norwegian philosopher named Knut Kolnar. (It’s written in 2003 at the university where I am currently studying) He writes about gender, masculinity, sexuality and violence. I want to mention him because he makes a link between masculinity, what I would call a constituded male identity, and sexuality.

Personally I have been frustrated over what I see as a feminist influence on so many concepts of sexuality, gender, emotions and, even, love. “Women are expets on emotions” is a common-sense perception. That may be true, but does it imply that “men are idiots on emotions”?

Since the sexual revolution male identity has come under pressure because women (or maybe feminism, I’m not sure) have usurped a power of definition over concepts like eroticism, sexuality and (again) love in our everyday social relations. One kind male eroticism has been severly commercialised and tagged pornography, making itself a target for feminist critics.
This pressure on masculinity, which is even more intense in Islamic cultures, is a cause for frustration to many men. Frustration is often relived through acts of violence which again causes critisism of male behaviour. In Norway about 90% of violent crimes are commited by men ( I would expect similar numbers in other western countries) which feeds into the perception that “macho-culture” is bad.

I want to contrast this to the fantastic radical photography of Michael Rosen. His erotic images move away from "macho-culture" pornography to a more honest and, in my opinion, warmer place. His images, one of which adorne this post, simply give a meaningful erotic experience.




Check out Michael Rosen's homepage: http://www.shaynew.com/