Narcissism or Negativity – Drawing upon the Bodily Image

Life drawing classes - how nudity affects self confidence

I recently went to a life drawing class, yes - drawing naked people. Not having picked up a pencil and paper in a while, I thought the experience would be an interesting one. Having heard of my friend’s experiences, ranging from laughter to shock, I didn’t know what to expect when the robe was dropped. Life drawing holds a mysterious quality, rarely spoken of in more than a whisper, for fear of confused reactions. I was even branded a perve for engaging in this supposedly sordid activity.

Naked people always come with connotations of sex. The life drawing scene in Titanic has a lot to answer for. Well, I can tell you now, there is absolutely nothing sexy about the life drawing environment. If anything it creates a clinical and very serious atmosphere, full of tension, that’s nervous tension, not sexual tension. Spending a whole two hours looking closely at another person’s birthday suit made me realise that: a) I’m looking more closely at this person’s anatomy than I ever have my own b) these models must be so comfortable with their own appearance, and c) how unusual it is for someone to be that comfortable with their own body image.

The models I have drawn seem neither to have been narcissistic nor insecure. You would think being in a room filled with critical art students, and being the only one who’s completely naked, would inspire some form of insecurity or on the flip side create an arrogant monster model. Most of the people I know fall into one of two categories concerning their body image- extremely confident or very insecure. Yes, I know there are the rare few who enjoy the privilege of body security, without crossing the line into vanity. Though it has to be said, it is a very thin line! Faced with the life drawing models that fell into neither category, made me feel like we are all too obsessed with the way we look, and are overly critical in regard to our bodies.

Recently I read an article which stated one in five people have never had sex sober because they have such low opinions of their naked bodies. We all have our insecurities, but this statistic seems particularly shocking. We live in a media dominated society which hurls images of airbrushed models and perfectly polished actors/actresses at us on a daily basis. Plastic surgery is on the up, even in these penny pinching times, its clear body image remains a high priority. It seems impossible to escape at least a little neurosis in the society we live in. Think of all the people you know, how many of them would you say are completely happy with their body image? I’m guessing not many.

Body perfection seems to be a cultural obsession which we have accepted as the norm. I can tell you now, some of the life drawing models I’ve encountered have been far from ideal beauty, but it’s difficult not to admire their acceptance of themselves. In the end, I gained something more than just embarrassment from the experience. The life drawing models show that it’s possible to be comfortable in your own skin, even when you’re not ‘perfect’. I’m not saying I’d be the first to strip off for life drawing, but a little more body acceptance wouldn’t be such a bad thing, right?

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