Thoughts: Pregnancy in Erotic Art

I’ve been approached by about four different couples during the past few days. I’ve been corresponding with some interesting people, and I’m optimistic about having some new shoots soon.

One of these couples informed me they were pregnant. Only about four months along, but she was starting to show--”would this be a problem?” Of course not! I told them working with a pregnant couple would be a first for me, and I was very excited about the prospect of doing something so new to me.

But I got to thinking: why aren’t more pregnant women featured in erotic art? I don’t mean traditional nude photography, where pregnant women are merely accessories in “explorations of human curvature” (gag). The whole “lets put a curvy woman against a mysterious backdrop with stark lighting to play up how curvy she is” schtick is so trite and overdone, I find it insulting to everyone involved: the photographer (big fish in a small pond, falling back on what he/she/ze knows is safe, too cowardly to really delve into something new), the model (reduced to looks, don’t get me started on THAT Feminist conundrum), and the audience, who was just robbed of the time it took to look at the photo and remind themselves that the photo isn’t anything new, and it was probably done infinitely better by Imogen Cunningham or Helmut Newton, so why bother with this imposter? Yeah, that’s right, I can be downright nasty. Like I’ve said before, I have an intense, intense hatred of traditional nude photography. But I digress.

Back to the original question at hand. Why AREN’T more pregnant women featured in erotic photography? They seem like they would be perfect candidates. First of all, they’ve obviously had sex. Second, I’ve been told the hormones drive them batty. And yet, pregnant have rarely, if ever, been featured as intense sexual beings in art history. My suspicion is that it stems from a time when the health of the general populace was fairly unstable, and when a woman became pregnant, there was (unfortunately) a significant risk that she would lose the baby. As a result, pregnant women were sheltered and protected. More graphic erotic art (such as mine) has historically been associated with a more hedonistic mentality, images of people who love sex, pleasuring themselves, and they don’t care who witnesses it. In that context, pregnancy was something that “happened” to women, a roadblock of sorts, because now her responsibilities lay with the baby. Her sexuality was denied. My boyfriend informed me last night that there are people with pregnancy fetishes (don’t ask me how he knows this), which I’m not surprised by, as that is what a fetish is, the application of sexual associations to something decidedly asexual. I find this incredibly problematic. Not only does it imply that pregnant women aren’t sexual beings, but it reinforces a myopic ideal of what IS sexual. This also applies to fat fetishes, transsexual fetishes, and senior citizen fetishes.

I’ve never made any secret of my attempts to expand the idea of “erotic art,” hoping to encourage people to reevaluate their definitions of art and porn, or at least the binary between them. Much of this stems from who I work with. I like working with non-models (I don’t really like using the phrase “real people”, as it implies models are fake people. That’s not fair.) It’s a bit of a departure from traditional erotic photography, where professional models are used (but I’m not the first to do this, let’s be honest). I personally think photos of non-models having sex is more erotic than models because a.) you don’t see it all that often, so it’s usually more alluring, and b.) it’s easier to relate to. That’s not to say that models aren’t sexy, or that I’m trying to deny them their sexuality. But if a photograph of two non-models having sex is heralded for being erotic, then it sends the message that ANYONE can be celebrated as a highly sexual being. This includes pregnant women. I hope I get an opportunity to work with this couple and show how sexy they can be. These are two people who are comfortable enough with their sexuality to show it off, and who obviously love each other very much, so much so that made a baby together. What’s wrong with that?

I know I haven’t given much opportunity for input, but I’d like to start a dialogue. Any thoughts?