ETHICAL WAYS OF SEEING THE FEMALE NUDE IN SPANISH CINEMA

Abstract

This study analyses three scenes of female nudes in three Spanish films made in the first decade of the 2000s: The Naked Years by Dunia Ayaso and Félix Sabroso, Take My Eyes by Icíar Bollaín and Elegy by Isabel Coixet. It elucidates the ethical rules of engagement with the spectators the directors propose, particularly in regard to the commodification of the female body. The theoretical framework draws mainly from the work of the Spanish philosopher Fernando Savater and approaches the subject matter from a feminist perspective.

Keywords:

• ethics
• nude
• film
• feminism

disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The scene referred to here can be seen at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWGpYmctEq4> (accessed 2 Oct. 2015).

2 Constantine P. Cavafy: “Body, remember not only how much you were loved, / not only the beds on which you lay, / but also those desires for you / that glowed plainly in the eyes, / and trembled in the voice – and some / chance obstacle made futile. / Now that all of them belong to the past, / it almost seems as if you had yielded / to those desires – how they glowed, / remember, in the eyes gazing at you; / how they trembled in the voice, for you, remember, body.” Trans. Aliki Barnstone, available <http://bodyremember.com/cavafy-who-said-it-better/> (accessed 28 Sept. 2015).