Sense and Sensuality

Would this kind of picture be possible in a Taiwanese magazine?

I don't think so, because the authorities in most Asian countries confuse naked women with sex. In Asia, the beauty of the human form is still too readily confused with sex and pornography. Unfortunately, that is also the case with advertising. Here in Taiwan, you often find scantily clad ladies in full ads for motels, suggesting sex, lust and extramarital affairs.

Not so in Europe, where this picture is from. It was published in the May edition of the Belgian women's magazine Feeling, which includes reports on predictable topics like cuisine, fashion and design. The picture on the right is one in a series on how to change the size of a woman's breasts, belly and legs without relying on surgery.

All in all, a healthy topic. Nothing to do with sex. That is the practice in Europe. If you're talking about the human body, about cosmetics, baths and spas, then there's nothing wrong with showing off the body. The same magazine also featured an ad for that well-known brand of cosmetics, Dove, showing off a middle-aged - some would say elderly - woman in the nude. Again, nothing wrong in Europe, but highly unlikely in Asia and Taiwan.

I wish we would grow up and stop treating the human body as something dirty that has to be hidden, but let it be and see it as one of the world's greatest creations. More sense and sensuality please.

By Shadrilla Kems for S2S