Boy, yes. Beautiful? Eh.
Yes, the same Germaine Greer who wrote The Female Eunuch
Greer’s point through this book is that, throughout history, adolescent boys have been used as the ideal of beauty. She sites works by several major artists, particularly Caravaggio, in support of this theory and icnludes pictures of many of their better known paintings and sculptures. She even sites works where the subject is female, but the model was clearly a boy.
Overall the thrust of this seems to be that it’s perfectly fine for older women (such as herself, I’m guessing), to lust after adolescent boys and view them through a sexual lens. I actually don’t have much of a problem with this, which again won’t surprise anyone who knows me. I do think it somewhat of an odd topic for her to be tackling, but that’s ok.
The book itself is nicely put together, with several boys inside who are, well, nicely put together. The writing is clear and conscise, and the pictures inside are really easy on the eyes. It makes for a good coffee-table book if you’re someone who doesn’t care what visitors to your house think. It’s a book for a niche audience (such as those who appreciate the works of Will McBride and Larry Clark), but if you’re part of that audience, you’ll probably enjoy it and find it worth the price. Otherwise, you’ll probably want to wash your eyes after reading the book.
October 11, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Hello.
Martha Louise, who is the only daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja, gave up the title of ‘royal highness’ upon her 2002 marriage to writer Ari, and has a reputation for not standing on ceremony.
Bye.
October 11, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Er… Noweigan royalty doesn’t really have much to do with this book, but ok.
April 10, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I recently wrote a blog on the topic of beauty, sexuality and young men called “A Semi-Scandalous Day at the Beach.”
Then someone told me about Greer’s book. It’s nice to know I’m in good company, at least!
Take a look, if you get a chance:
http://open.salon.com/blog/beth_mann/2009/04/08/a_semi-scandalous_day_at_the_beach_in_pictures_mostly
April 10, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Oh, that’s darn spiffy! I’ll go look in more detail later. Thanks!
July 16, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Looks very interesting. I would also recommend “Boys were their gods”, which is a beautiful collection of ancient art depicting boys. And I agree that Greer’s could have chosen a better boy for the cover. I don’t understand why they chose that kid as Death in Venice’s “Tadzio” either.
July 22, 2009 at 5:36 pm
If you look around on this site, you might find my article from April 1 of this year, all about my church, the Church of Ganymede.
I think you’ll find it entertaining.