CfP: The Ideological Implications of Male Nudity in Film (Edited Volume); by: 01.10.2022

W. Reginald Rampone, South Carolina State Univ. and Servanne Woodward, Western Univ. (Web)

Proposals by: 01.10.2022

Male nudity has long been a taboo in mainstream Hollywood films due to a wide array of legal and cultural prohibitions. Independent filmmakers such as Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol, and Derek Jarman are famous for embracing these ‚forbidden‘ representations of men since the 1960s.

The topic of this volume is the relationship of the cinematographer to the flesh of male actors, the thrusting camera pointed at their nudity, and more generally exposing their bodies. Paul Morrissey launched a type of cult films magnifying male nudity financed by Carlo Ponti, Jean Yanne and in association with Andy Warhol.

Queer films have evolved since then, emulating, referencing, or departing from Morrissey. At the same time this volume of essays will not eschew the male nudity of heterosexual men such as that of Ralph Fiennes in The Bigger Splash, Sean Baker in Red Rocket, or Tom Hardy in Bronson. The editors hope to measure this evolution of the depictions of male nudity, so that new tropes of male nudity in straight and queer films may emerge. This volume of essays seeks to challenge cultural and national taboos surrounding male nudity of all sexualities, races, ages, and social classes.

Suggested topics may include the following, but they are not delimited by them:

  • Male nudity in Hollywood comedies and drama
  • Male nudity above the waist
  • Male nudity in independent and mainstream British and European films
  • Differences in representations of nude straight men and non-heteronormative men
  • Male nudity and feminist criticism and theory
  • Nudity in HBO series such as Oz and reality TV shows such as Naked and Afraid
  • Nudity and racial identity and ageism
  • Female objectification of the nude male body and the power differential
  • Male nudity and the Lacanian phallus

Please submit abstracts of 500 words by 01.10.2022 to W. Reginald Rampone Jr. and Servanne Woodward: wrampone@scsu.edu and swoodwar@uwo.ca.

Source: qstudy-l-request@mailman.rice.edu