Beyond the Erotic – Your Body is your Biography

There is an irrational fear of the bare female body in culture today. From stringent dress codes for high school girls to censorship of female nipples in public and on Facebook, there is a message that the body’s capacity to arouse must be hidden and squelched at all costs. Meanwhile, mainstream images of the female body are usually airbrushed and hyper-sexualized, devoid of vulnerability or truth. These glossy, unreal images tell women that the process of aging is something to fear.

I was early into my career as a nude model when I participated in the Dynamic Nude Workshop and experienced a healing paradigm shift.

Creating beautiful works of art with fellow models and photographers amongst one of nature’s most stunning landscapes, a key realization slowly sunk in:

We have become blind to one of the universe’s most divine creations. While a woman’s form can be powerfully erotic, classically beautiful and easily exploited, most of society is failing to notice everything else that is fascinating and sacred about a woman’s body.

We’ve neglected to see that our bodies are our biography. The elder woman’s figure is rife with beautiful “flaws”; every scar has a story, every wrinkle a testament to a life lived. The body’s landscape tells stories of children born and nourished, of sun-soaked days and heavy loads carried. This epic story of vulnerability and strength can be both elegant and intensely beautiful. Sagging breasts, with their pendulous beauty, the rugged complexity of crinkles and folds — these glorious characteristics remind us what what it means to be human — to struggle, give life, grow, change, survive and overcome.

My body is changing. I used to be a child. Now I’m a mature woman. One day if I’m lucky I’ll grow old. As I reveal myself, naked in my art, can you see my body as my biography?

I’m forever grateful to everyone I met during that miraculous adventure. The Dynamic Nude Workshop helped me see myself and the female form in a new light. Realizing the beauty and history revealed in the ever-changing details of women’s bodies has brought me joy and refinement in my art and my life.

Devi is a prolific model at Model Society who has worked with renowned photographers from around the world. She is an avid yoga practitioner, professional bodyworker, and Kung Fu black belt. As a model she prides herself on bringing openness and humor to photo shoots. To browse prints from Devi’s modeling portfolio visit her at Model Society: http://modelsociety.com/Model/Devi