Project Proposal

            For my semester project I am making a zine, titled “Nude”, that will be made up of photos and articles surrounding the subject of nudity.  There are so many contradictions in our society as to what is acceptable when it comes to female nudity.  The naked body of a woman is allowed in certain circumstances, but not all.  Our bodies are used for so many different things like advertising, fashion, art, etc. but are not accepted in even the most natural roles, like breastfeeding.  My zine will show different examples of when female nudity is accepted, and when it isn’t in order to pick apart our society and the way we handle this.  Media plays a large role in this issue and can help to push the movement forward.  Every section of the zine will feature photos and articles that discuss many different circumstances of nudity.

    

"Breasts" by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1987

        The first section of the zine will introduce the history of the battle of nudity.  I will do research on the Comstock laws and other anti-obscenity laws to give background on how we have gotten where we are today in terms of the legality of nudity in media, and in public.  So far I have a chapter on the battle of anti-obscenity laws that I will reference in this particular article.  Then I will have a section on nudity as art, and show examples of classic oil paintings, sculptures, photography, and more.  

"Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore" by Frederic Leighton, 1853

Kendall Jenner walking in the Marc Jacobs Fashion Week 2014 show

Another section will be about nudity used in fashion.  My research in this topic so far has been looking at past fashion shows that have used nudity.  In this section will also be examples of nudity in advertisements that are found in fashion magazines, where I will pull ideas from some of our class readings and other articles.  




One section will be on the difference between male nudity and female nudity in tv and film.  Research for that will include different examples of films and television shows that treat naked women differently than naked men.  Another section will be on school dress codes and what they teach kids about their bodies, with research found from many different articles about this topic.  Next there will be a section on the acceptance of nudity on social media with examples of rules that different sites have.  

A photo from Kim Kardashian's Instagram

A still from the #freethenipple campaign film

That section will also talk about how people react when celebrities have their private pictures or videos leaked.  Lastly, I will include a section on the #freethenipple campaign and the debate on public breastfeeding.  “Free the Nipple” is one of the biggest campaigns in the movement to create equality among men and women when it comes to nudity.  For research I will watch the film made for this campaign and summarize its message in my zine.  I will research all of the different opinions and sides in the debate on breastfeeding in public.

            So far I have gathered all of my articles to reference and pictures to include.  I still have to read through every article to take out main points that I will reference in each of the articles I write for the zine.  Each week until the project is due I will work on each section of the zine, gathering new and emerging information on every topic. 

            The reason I chose to make this zine is because I have always been so confused at all the different rules we have in place for the acceptance of nudity.  Although real laws are a valuable part of this issue, many of these rules are socially constructed.  This causes an inconsistency in what is okay and what isn’t.  Because this has always bothered me I decided to do research on many of the different circumstances surrounding nudity and put them all together in one zine.  By putting them all together I can compare and contrast these different circumstances.  This zine is for anyone who is interested in learning how society feels about the exposure of a woman’s naked body. 

            I will keep this zine digital in the form of a pdf and share it with the class over the projector.  This fits into my work as an aspiring publicist because my career of choice is all about ‘image’.  The different ways in which female bodies can be seen determines whether or not it is socially acceptable, proving how important ‘image’ is in this issue.  It can continue with a new issue every 6 months, or year, in updating everyone on the progress being made in the movement. 

Resources for Research 

• Make Love Not War: The Sexual Revolution, an Unfettered History by David Allyn
• Cosmopolitan Article on Naked Runway Looks
• Beauty and the Beast of Advertising by Jean Kilbourne
• Huffington Post Article on School Dress Codes
• The Atlantic Article on School Dress Codes
• Buzzfeed Article on Celebrity Leaked Naked Pictures
• Washington Post Article on Celebrity Leaked Naked Pictures
• E! Article on Kim Kardashian Empowering 'Essay'
• CNN Article on Breastfreeding in Public
• The Guardian Article on Breastfeeding in Public
• Free The Nipple Wesbite