Vintage older nude with large breasts

Three beautiful black nudes

A dream of peace - Reve de paix

Black nude in fishnet stockings on pine table

Nude clasping hands

Muscular Mature Nude Woman

A woman photographer captures the essence of female sensuality

Christa Meola - Woman photographer of women

copyright: Christa Meola

Woman as Complex System

It seems that many men look at nude images with the implication they are dominant in the seduction process. But a fairly new representation of women shows them to be complex beings whose sexual beings are mysterious and leave men frustrated: hence, the reaction of the fantasy of the seducer.

Monochrome Portrait

Women, when they represent themselves and are represented without 'direction' often demonstrate their allure that is beyond the ken of the simplistic male.

Courtesy of Model Society - What is permissible on facebook?

Interestingly, this image is considered permissible to be shown on Facebook. What are the precise rules that determine when the amount of nudity of a photograph transgresses facebook regulations? And is the policy the same for paintings?

Erotic Victorian Novels, Part II

Venus in Furs

Ritter von Leopold Sacher-Masoch, 1870

This famous erotic and somewhat autobiographical work is actually the origin of the term masochism (for those who wonder, we can thank the Marquis de Sade for “sadism”). The protagonist, Severin, is infatuated by a beautiful woman and offers himself as her slave. Obsessed with his total submission to her, he urges the woman, Wanda, to humiliate and degrade him more and more cruelly as the story goes on. The book is focused on fetish and S&M, and remains very popular.

It’s more of a literary drama than the usual explicit offering. You can read the book on-line. Roman Polanski adopted Venus in Furs for the silver screen in 2012.

The Autobiography of a Flea

Anonymous, 1887 or 1888

A work of social satire with a wafer thin plot containing many erotic scenes as witnessed by a flea (hitching a ride on a young woman) traveling from home to home and peeping at the sexual activities of the residents. What does the flea see? Quite a lot, including explicit intimacy, group encounters, lusty priests, seduction of the innocent, deflowering, incest, corporal punishment, and bukkake. Many of the characters are caricature types that would have been recognized by 19th century readers.

The Lustful Turk

Anonymous, 1828

Another slight cheat since this one’s pre-Victorian, but the popular and notorious novel remained in print even into the 20th century. Given the 19th century appetite for exotic places and cultures (and more than a touch of xenophobia), the Lustful Turk satisfied readers on several levels. An English lady writes letters to her friends back home about her capture by Turks and forcible ravishment, after which she wholeheartedly embraces a variety of explicit, erotic encounters with men and women in the Sultan’s harem. The book is so popular it was even made into a sexploitation film in 1968.