Body parts...

I confess that much like the kitty, I find most kissing scenes in the movies embarrassing. I'm not quite sure why. But I admit that I share the feelings with the young boy in The Princess Bride... "Oh, no, not kissing!"

I suspect that it has to do partly with the female vs. male outlook. Most men would rather have a visual scene to look at while females tend to enjoy a written scene more. I could read about kissing all day long--or even more sensual stuff, but pictures or movies don't do a thing for me.

I was talking with a friend one day about nudity in films. Both of us admitted that mostly it just makes us want to giggle and I'm nearly positive that isn't generally the intention of the film maker or photographer.

In young people, the allure of the forbidden might provide some of the impetus for any titillation they receive from the visual, but I'm a woman heading into my sixth decade and quite frankly, it's a body, it's a body, it's a body. Male or female, we pretty much have the same parts as all the others that share our gender. And with limited variations in size and color, those parts are all alike.

For whatever reason I received an e-mail extolling the virtues of labioplasty. I admit I couldn't quite wrap my brain around any reason for having such a surgery, but as with most things, I wanted to make an informed judgement so I researched it. And... nope. My parts work just fine so I have to give this particular procedure a pass. What struck me while clicking through the before and after pictures was the overall sameness. To put it in cliché terms, once you seen one, you've seen them all.

So why the fascination? I have to revert back to the idea of the forbidden. At one time the glimpse of a feminine ankle was enough to send a young man into shock. In some cultures today, such a glimpse might be enough to result in the woman's death. Where the line is drawn in each culture determines the effect on the opposite sex.

In our culture, we've pretty much reached the limit. There's very little left to reveal short of total nudity. Perhaps there will be a huge backlash similar to that in the Victorian days when sexuality is totally repressed to the point of denial. And even the word is forbidden.

What would the movies, television, and books look like then?

anny