I have an image stuck in my mind.
She lets her dress fall to the floor, and smiling she walks toward me, naked.
This classic scenario is of course arousing. But what exactly does it imply?
Please note: I’m deliberately writing this from the viewpoint of the male gaze – as a straight cisgender male, living in a society where particularly the female body is sexualized.
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu developed the idea of particular traits that are assigned value (capital) in society. Bourdieu identified economic, cultural, and social capital. Catherine Hakim later expanded this idea to include sexual or erotic capital. In a society where women are sexualized, the attractive female nude represents the zenith of sexual capital.
Encountering an attractive woman, it’s a common male fantasy to imagine her naked. When a woman strips in front of man she is therefore fulfilling a fantasy.
But an important part of the scenario is the woman’s awareness of this dynamic. This is the first reason she’s smiling. She fully realizes the immense power of her sexual capital – knows she’s being desired. And so, the vdisplay of nudity is not an act of submission – but one of volition. By voluntarily undressing, she offers her sexual capital as a gift to the male spectator.
A naked body is vulnerable. by undressing, the woman demonstrates her confidence – the confidence that her sexual capital alone is enough to protect her.
And the desire is mutual. She acknowledges the attention of the man by smiling – she wouldn’t be smiling unless she was smiling at somone. In the scenario, she knows she’s being desired and receives the desire as a gift from the man. As an un-sexualized body, all the man has to offer is his appreciation. To him, her sexual capital is a gift he is happy to recieve. She is herself the gift, fully realizing she is wanted. This is the second reason she’s smiling.
She lets her dress fall to the floor, and smiling she walks toward me, naked. This scene tells an entire story of human sexuality.