Between pornography and prudery, where does eroticism fit in?

Caught between pornography and prudery, eroticism seems to be fading from the forefront of the Western scene. In real life, it's hard not to come across the pornographic codes used by the music and film industries, reality TV and the sensationalist media. But also, on the other hand, things that have shocked certain souls - puritan, hygienist, woke, far-right, far-left, far-center... - because they have, directly or indirectly, to do with sex.

On Facebook and Instagram, for example, a photograph showing a nipple will be immediately deleted (experience made with the cover of this issue, which makes it difficult for us to promote). An insulting word, on the other hand, will only be removed if a user reports it - and then only if a user reports it. Another example: the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, a classic among didactic works dedicated to the Shoah, has been dismissed from a Tennessee school at the start of this year, because it contains «vulgar» words and «a naked woman». Note that the naked woman in question is the author's mother, whose body he drew in a bathtub to illustrate her suicide. We only see her once in the 296 pages, and in a very soft way (the crotch is not visible). This case invites us to think that an unhealthy relationship to sex (in this case, the organ) often conceals an unhealthy relationship to life, as well as to death.

Read also | When YouTube censors... Johnny Hallyday

There's no doubt that as prudery grows, so does pornography - and vice versa. No wonder, then, that the United States is currently the stage par excellence for both.

Eroticism at your fingertips

Yet eroticism is everywhere, within our reach. All we have to do is put our imagination to work and it appears to us. Exposure to delicate works of art - of which there is no shortage in Europe - also contributes to refining what we perceive as a sense of eroticism, as does the appreciation of a landscape. The curves of a woman's portrait, the sensuality of a musical tune, the suggestiveness of a novel - these are all potential markers of eroticism. But can we still feel the thrill, without impatience, and be satisfied? To ask this question is to answer it in part.

Something has been lost between the ease of commercial sex and camouflaged sex. A register of the in-between, of nuance, ambiguity and possibility, is sorely lacking. Whose fault is that? It's hard to say, and that's not the point here. There's no doubt that the images of the moment determine mentalities as much as mentalities determine these images. 

The fact is, eroticism needs to be rediscovered by the general public. By each and every one of us, on a daily basis, in order to escape the standardizing or moralizing phenomena from which we too often think ourselves immune. A more aesthetic approach to life would certainly not go amiss.

«Eroticism is ultimately in the place of the observer,» writes Aude Robert-Tissot in her article on the practice of shibari. Unlike pornography, which forces its way into our minds, eroticism is a quality we choose to confer on reality. An extension of sight, the most intellectual sense according to Aristotle. The human gaze is a free gaze. Let's allow ourselves to take an erotic look at the world.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

You have just read an open-access article. Debates, analyses, cultural news: subscribe to support us and get access to all our content!