Sixth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Many critics focus on the fact that feminist artists often portray themselves as naked in their work. This causes critics to hail feminist art as pornographic, without recognizing these artists are using their work to reclaim their bodies. Critics also view other art forms as pornographic, which is equally problematic. In the article “Empathy, Pornography and Suffering,” Carolyn Dean discusses the problems that arise from critics arguing that depictions of the Holocaust are pornographic. There are also people who deem Hannah Wilke’s work to be pornographic since her works often depict the naked female form. Critics who consider depictions of the Holocaust, or feminist art as pornographic are able to defend their stance with many valid arguments; however, once the word pornographic is used, the conversation ends. Therefore, hailing anything as pornographic is problematic, as it prevents further conversation of the topic in question.