Scott Russell Sanders's Looking At Women

Women throughout history, from the 1500's till now have been looked at as objects. In the 1500's during the time of the Renaissance woman were often portrayed in art in the nude. Curves at that time showed women as being goddess like. The more curvy and voluptuous you were the more beautiful men saw you. Artists who painted the female body were often commissioned by rich men to paint these paintings to hang in their houses. Women in this age are still portrayed in art in the nude. Mostly in nude magazines. Some people would consider these magazines to be vulgar and raw however men still look at these magazines for enjoyment making them a form of art. In "Looking at Women", by Scott Russell Sanders, he looks into his experiences with women throughout his life and asks many questions about the use of their bodies. Whether it I used as art or not and why? He starts the essay out by telling a story from when he was eleven. It was pretty much his first experience looking at girl in a sexual way. Then he tells a story about how when he was in college his roommate
had playmates plastered all over his walls. Sanders asks questions referring to his experiences like why do these women feel it necessary to pose nude for other people? And why do women buy expensive lingerie? As we look at the past and the present, the questions that Sanders asks can be answered in many different ways.
One possibility that women like to show their naked bodies to others goes way back in history and we see that they think it is beautiful and a form of art. The next question he asks about the lingerie coincides with his first question of why women show their bodies. He sort of responds to his own question by making statements like "These flimsy items cost more per ounce than truffles," "Why, I wonder then and wonder still, do so many women decorate themselves as dolls?" These statements he makes, make me think that he does not like lingerie and when women show off their bodies, or maybe he really doesn't understand why women adorn themselves so. I think that women must think that their bodies are beautiful and that they feel good about themselves when other people see them as being
beautiful. Sanders essay asks many questions about a woman's body and the way she chooses to use it and I think that history is one material that we can use to start to answer questions like the ones that he has. A woman is a beautiful work of art and if she feels comfortable showing her body people should feel comfortable at least looking at it as a form of art and expression.