Regardless of the fact that nudity is a universal physical condition of human, the Western societies experience ambivalent feelings towards it. The meanings that are attached to nudity are various, ever-changing and ambiguous as they derive from different historical periods and social spheres. Religion, capitalism, liberalism, individualism, practices of discipline, sexual inequality as well as the pressure of the beauty standards of the West all have an important role in our perception of nudity. In my research, which is based on four semi-structured interviews, I argue that nudity in certain context can be represented as a mean of escape from body norms, especially exposed to women. Nude modelling for artists can therefore be a beautiful and liberating experience. Throughout it, woman can reconnect with herself and, with the social pressure regarding her appeal being relieved, start to feel love to her body again, free from the pressures of imposed beauty ideals. By exposing their bodies to radical objectification, women actually liberate themselves and, as a result, become an active subject capable of returning the gaze to patriarchal society.
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