The Wounded Erotic

As Audre Lorde states, “When I speak of the erotic…I speak of it as an assertion of the life-force of women: of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.” Furthermore, Lorde also states, “Recognizing the power of the erotic in our lives can give us the energy to pursue genuine change within our world.”

An article by Julia Dinardo, of SyleList, posted “Chanel Iman Talks’ Valentine’s Day Fashion Week and Her Underwear of Choice,” which speaks of model Chanel Iman and her services to L.e.i: Life, energy and intelligence. Iman is a judge for the Model Citizen contest, which is searching for young women ages 15-21, who model the Life, Energy, Intelligence style. In this article, Iman shows that models are being proactive and demonstrating to young women the positives of modeling and living a high-quality lifestyle.

I believe, from an analytical standpoint of a feminist, this article reflects a positive image of women who are empowering themselves through their physical and mental features to achieve success. As opposed to simply focusing on looks, as many success stories in modeling have followed, this article reaches and strives to select young women who are more than just looks. The article, as Audre Lorde mentioned, is searching for women who are embracing their erotic. I, like many Americans, thought of the erotic as dealing with only women’s sex attributions, but, as Lorde also indicated, “…U.S. culture takes a limited and distorted view of the erotic, reducing it to sexuality, and restricted notions of sexuality at that.”

Yet, this article depicts what the erotic truly is, and that is women who are striving for success through the use of their subtle and not so subtle features, their bodies and their minds. Searching for young ladies that are full of Life, Energy, and Intelligence are pivotal in this contest and is a great way of truly showing that women are more than what the myths of the erotic usually state. Even the image that is used of Iman, the Victoria Secret model, shows a woman who is proud, free and confident.

Jean Kilbroune states that the ads used of women’s bodies typically to sell products are also selling heterosexuality. As mentioned in the Women’s Lives text, according to Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okasawa-Rey, “As sex objects, women are commonly portrayed as child-like or doll-like playthings. These images flow from and reinforce macro-level patriarchal construction of gender and sexuality…” which is based on assumptions. This is not the case in this article where women are encouraged to show their true erotic and create a stance of true beauty through mind and soul.

In closing, I believe this article was very powerful in such as way that enticed young ladies to strive for success for all the right reasons that are not alienated by a heterosexual standpoint. I believe in what Aurora Levins Morales says about women’s inner drive, that it is “the wounded erotic.” Julia Dinardo wrote an article that stems away from typical storied articles that rarely embrace women with their bodies and mind. As Lorde already mentioned, I believe that Iman is showing that women are taking back the erotic and making a statement about what it really means. Clearing up the “bad air” of the erotic is done in a very creative manner in this article.

Citation:

Seely, Megan. FIGHT LIKE A GIRL: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York University Press, 2007. 40. Print.(citations from various researchers and other feminist can be found within the article)

URL:
http://www.stylelist.com/2010/02/07/chanel-iman-talks-valentines-day-fashion-week-and-her-underwear-of-choice/