Anatomy of Nakedness - 1982

"Of all the things we possess the only one we can really claim as our own is our body. Yet nothing else gives rise to such complex attitudes. We hide it, reveal it, flaunt it, are ashamed of it, even scorn it, in an ever-changing array of feelings about it. *Anatomy of Nakedness* is a provoking and entertaining study of why this is so. Paul Ableman traces our attitudes to our dearest possession in societies as diverse societies... He probes conflicting Christian views of the body as a symbol of corruption and of innocence, shows how Western art distorts the naked body while seeming to glorify it, and casts a critical eye on how people view the bodies of others while concealing, deforming or displaying their own. The pornography, phallic symbols and ambiguous ideals of the Western world are shown to be the direct result of the banishment of the body from the social scene." Illustrated with photographs of people dressed and undressed, *Anatomy of Nakedness* is a refreshing book that gives us a new understanding of the one person we can never escape. Anatomy of Nakedness - Paul Ableman. Front cover photograph by Sam Haskins Published 1982, Orbis Publishing, London Hardcover. Approx. 6.5x9.5in. 112pp. In good condition.