Summary Of The Hellenization Of Ishtar

Bahrani Writing Assignment
In the article, “The Hellenization of Ishtar: Nudity, Fetishism, and the Production of Cultural Differentiation in Ancient Art”, Zainab Bahrani describes how different cultures have interpreted and represented the nude female body. Some cultures believe in representing the female body in its “ideal form”; however, these cultures have different ideas on what is ideal and what is not. She uses historical context and other sources of evidence to analysis the views that these cultures have. Throughout the article, she focuses on the female genitalia of these nude artworks, and demonstrates what these body parts represent. She finds these parts to be the most significant within the artworks, due to the fact that many cultures “fail to follow [the] ideal,” form of the female nude. Throughout the article, Bahrani uses multiple pieces of evidence in order to show how many cultures have used different approaches to create the ideal form of the female body and how they have different views on what is ideal.
Throughout the article Bahrani argues how the Greek and Near-eastern cultures believe in different
In Greece, the female nude is only represented in a way where beauty can be seen; however, in the Near-east there are multiple types of nudes, “the mother, the seductress, the sexual partner, and the entertainer,” (Bahrani 7). Although these types have different functions, they all have the same ideal of femininity and sexual desire rather than reproduction. This ideal can be seen in the Babylonian terracotta with the size and shape of the breasts, and the simply lines representing the pubic area. The details of this figure represent her desirability and the ability to please the male viewer sexually. This Near-eastern nude represents the differences from Greece with the way that it emphasizes the erotic aspects rather than the delicacy of the women