Mighty Aphrodite

I’m not married to tradition. I usually don’t believe, in what some may even describe as “cold-heartedly”, in the sacredness of many institutions and customs. For instance, I don’t see higher divorce rates today, the desire of homosexuals to marry, the decline of opera/ballet, or the decline of the US as a manufacturing/farming superpower to be worth crying over – after all, what’s wrong with re-defining marriage, the standards of art, or the basis of the American economy?

But, when I saw these pictures (taken from Daphne’s LJ), I had a reaction which I can only describe as “disgusted.” What they depict is an original classical piece of art (on the right) and the version which you can order from a catalog/museum gift store (on the left):

“Venus with Apple”

“Birth of Venus”

Notice the difference? My sense of shock left me fairly speechless, so I have to rely on Daphne’s words here:

“It’s not just the supermodels on the cover of Cosmo, it’s not just Oprah, it’s not just Kira [BEN’S COMMENT: it’s Keira] Knightly or whatever her name is, being stretched and elongated on her movie posters. Oh, no! Even Botticelli’s Venus and the Thorvaldsen Aphrodite are "too fat" and not bobble-headed enough to sell in today’s market. They’ve been Slim-fasted and Photoshopped (or had ribs removed) because in someone’s opinion, even neo-classic art lovers who would be looking to decorate their homes with reproductions of their favorite pieces would not want to look at such chubby women as artists like Botticelli chose, as models.

Can you BELIEVE this? The catalog is full of these, the "Three Graces", Rodin’s women, and a poor "Hebe, Cupbearer of the Gods" who looks like she’s been given silicon breast implants.

It’s revisionist art history, as done by the Photoshop-happy editors of Vogue.”

To me, this isn’t progress or a casual redefinition of societal standards. This says something about how society feels about women. And, call me a hypocrite for choosing one form of “progress” over another, but I am definitely not a fan of this sort of “progress".”