Seeing Smut Where There Isn't Any
I consider myself an amateur sex historian as much as I do a collector of adult items, but many folks just call me 'The Smut Lady' or 'that girl who likes nudies' and while they joke it's rather clear they think I'm so into sex that I see it everywhere -- even in places it isn't. Examples are the Mary & her Monkey card and the pie postcard -- the former proves me right and the latter still eludes an answer.
However, the fact remains that folks think I see smut where there isn't any.
And maybe I do.
Ptupper72, an author researching for his book, Beauty in Darkness: A history of BDSM, runs into this same problem.
Being more scholarly, he calls this phenom of seeing smut where there isn't any or interpreting things to fit your beliefs by its proper name, confirmation bias. And he recently discussed this possible bias in viewing Venus of Urbino by Titian.
When researching and evaluating anything there is always the potential for errors. You can be androcentric (or in my case, gynocentric) in your approach, ethnocentric, have confirmation bias or any other other cognitive bias. These are things one must watch for when trying to find answers.
Because I know my mind often looks for sex, I also watch myself for this bias and all the others which affect my interpretation of items. But that doesn't mean if I see 'sex' it's not there. We've been having sex since the beginning of our time as a species. Duh. And our art and objects are loaded with it.
As the saying goes, just because you are paranoid it doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you.
However, the fact remains that folks think I see smut where there isn't any.
And maybe I do.
Ptupper72, an author researching for his book, Beauty in Darkness: A history of BDSM, runs into this same problem.
Being more scholarly, he calls this phenom of seeing smut where there isn't any or interpreting things to fit your beliefs by its proper name, confirmation bias. And he recently discussed this possible bias in viewing Venus of Urbino by Titian.
When researching and evaluating anything there is always the potential for errors. You can be androcentric (or in my case, gynocentric) in your approach, ethnocentric, have confirmation bias or any other other cognitive bias. These are things one must watch for when trying to find answers.
Because I know my mind often looks for sex, I also watch myself for this bias and all the others which affect my interpretation of items. But that doesn't mean if I see 'sex' it's not there. We've been having sex since the beginning of our time as a species. Duh. And our art and objects are loaded with it.
As the saying goes, just because you are paranoid it doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you.
Labels: BDSM, Collecting, Essays, Links, Sex History
posted by Silent-Porn-Star at
11:47 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the link.
You're right about the "sex is everywhere... if you know where to look idea." Reminds me of the sexy trees in John Waters' "A Dirty Shame."
But for historical purposes, we have to be careful about speculating. It would be great if Titian (or his client) was a 16th century spanko, but there just isn't any evidence.
Hi Peter,
I think we should speculate all we'd like; but be wary of our conclusions. Without speculating, well, it's like not posing questions -- which is just like making assumptions ;)
BTW, your blog is very interesting (I'm adding it to the sidebar).
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