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.. I'm reluctant to say I want to capture the sensation of sex, but in a way, I want to transcribe the feeling of heat inside your body, inside your mouth, the feeling of skin on skin, and flesh and graspings. The subject is perfect for painting; painting is a metaphor for sex. So I want it caressing; I want it brutal and tender and everything at once. Cecily Brown    ... [contemporaryfinearts.de profile]  /  painting: "Days of Heaven" book: Cecily Brown by Danilo Eccher

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What I think the film ["The Guru"] says about our culture is that we have some unhealthy attitudes about sex and that we need some sexual healing. People don't feel good in their sexuality because they're brought up with mixed messages.  To be sexy as a woman.. you feel like you have to be this woman in a magazine.. perfect model. ... The funny thing is, I look at these magazines that make me so insecure and neurotic, but I'm in them!...Heather Graham...[CNN 1/31/03] .. [in a Bollywood dance scene from "The Guru" at left]

...related pages:.....identity.........body image

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Heather Graham admits she often comes across as sex-obsessed in interviews, but insists that's just the way journalists spin her words. The stunning Boogie Nights babe is sure she makes no more comments about nookie than any other actress when talking to the press.  She says, "It's not really my fault. You do an interview with someone for two hours and you have a provocative conversation about it. The magazine wants to sell copies and sex sells magazines.  "So you can be talking for two hours about something else and they stick in the three quotes about sex. In every article they talk about sex. That's all they wanna know. It is really frustrating sometimes." ... [imdb.com celeb news 5 June 2002]

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Mary Wesley, who published her first novel when she was 70 and went on to produce a string of slightly racy bestsellers, has died. She was 90. ... The author of "The Camomile Lawn" and "A Sensible Life" was most famous for her late start in a literary career and for the enthusiastic sexuality of her characters. "I've been told that I give the blue-rinse brigade quite a shock," she once said. "People are startled by my books, because they think, 'How can an old woman write about sex?' As though one could forget it. ... The idea that people go on being sexy all their lives is little explored in fiction."  ... [LA Times, Jan 6 2003] ...The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley

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**Tipping the Velvet - by Sarah Waters This delightfully saucy debut novel recounts the unconventional life and times of Nan King, a Victorian-era lesbian bold enough to embrace and to eventually celebrate her unorthodox sexual orientation.  When she falls in love with an artful male impersonator, Nan follows her secret paramour to London and becomes part of a popular cross-dressing music hall act. ... Barely surviving a series of sexual missteps and misadventures, a wary and jaded Nan stumbles into a relationship that eventually blossoms into true love.  A humorous and remarkably honest period piece that pays homage to women who courageously crossed the boundaries of conventional Victorian behavior and sexuality. ....< bbcamerica.com review   photo: Keeley Hawes and Rachael Stirling in the BBC production

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Sarah Waters acknowledges that she was intent on depicting something more unusual than gay sex: "You hardly ever see dramas about women falling in love, losing lovers, finding new ones, in a very unapologetic way." She writes from experience.  When she left Neyland in Pembrokeshire to read English at the University of Kent, she shared a flat with another girl at Whitstable, the location of the opening scene from Tipping the Velvet - a euphemism for oral sex which is now certain to gain wider currency. Both young women found themselves falling in love, a romance which lasted for six years.

.. .. Lesbians' biggest problems don't come from "negotiating heterosexual society," says Waters, "but from having your heart broken." [bbc.co.uk 11 October, 2002 interview] ....Fingersmith  - her third novel, set in 1860s London,  is short-listed for the Booker Prize

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.. .. We live in these times where women can do and have done some of the things that were more of a fantasy [for women] in the late '50s and early '60s.  But there's still a relevance to bad-girl behavior -- even now, when we're supposed to be more able to step out there and be "bad," whatever that means.  One of the thing I'm bringing to ["Chicks"] is the innocent quality of bad-girl behavior that was in those movies. We've lost something now, with having everything being ok. There's a joy in "Chicks" because there's an innocence in "Chicks." We've lost some basic innocence about sexuality and female aggression and things like that.... sex is everywhere now, but real sex is nowhere to be found.  Sexual images are completely bastardized images. Like Britney Spears -- there's nothing true in her sexual image. There's no real discussion of sexuality; it's all pornographic images, which are only appealing on this one flat level.

.. .. Instead of anybody actually knowing how to go about having good sex in their life, instead of anybody knowing what sexual energy is, it's all this "grind" -- thoughtless, joyless, ugly sex.  That's what people are looking at, and that's one of the reasons I keep wanting to discuss sexuality, because it's been so violated in our culture. Why does exploring women's sexuality have to be a weak thing? "Chicks" addresses [sexuality] in a fun way... sexual images in a more joyful way. There's more heart in this show than there is cleavage. But it is a celebration of cleavage! ~ ~ playwright/director Trista Baldwin....[backstage.com April 04, 2003] - about her play: Chicks With Dicks -  "bad girls on bikes doing bad things" [at The Kraine Theater, New York, April 11th - May 3rd 2003 -  info at barkingdove productions barkingdove.org]

...related page:......the shadow self

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The girl I'm playing [in Mona Lisa Smile] is an intellectual and she's sexy and has to find a way to balance those two things.  And those are contemporary issues that myself and a lot of my friends struggle with. How do I feel about being sexy? Where does it come from? What's put on and what's real? Maggie Gyllenhaal... [villagevoice.com Sept 4 - 10, 2002]

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Emily Mortimer.. who boasts a degree from Oxford University, is playing a neurotic Los Angeles actress in Lovely & Amazing. But she admits Hollywood has a way of making actresses sex up their image for auditions.  Mortimer says, "I've definitely been in some absurd outfit with a thousand people staring at you, feeling totally miserable like you want someone to come and collect you and take you home. The whole thing about auditioning and feeling like you've got the job because someone flirted outrageously with you and then you haven't. There are many instances where you kind of feel like a whore." ... [imdb.com June 24 2002]

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With their tousled hair, bare legs, colorful stilettos, sexy leather pants... [the artists] looked as if they had stepped out of the fashion pages. Some of them had. ... The other day, as [Tracey Emin] worked in her studio on a tapestry emblazoned with the words "Psycho Slut," she was dressed in a low-cut lingerie top beneath an open red cardigan. "If I was in denial about my sexuality, I'd be in denial about aspects of my work, which deals with personal revelations," she said. from article: The Artist Is a Glamour Puss   by Elizabeth Hayt [NY Times] more material on Tracey Emin, including artwork, on page: visual arts

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Watching the final scene of the 1996 hit My Best Friend's Wedding, viewers are at first a bit dismayed that Jules (Julia Roberts) did not win her man. ... But sitting alone at her table, a dejected eye on the dance floor, Jules's phone rings. "Hello, gorgeous," says the male voice on the other end... With a flourish, George [Rupert Everett] hangs up his phone and sweeps Jules onto the dance floor.. George is no love interest; he is Jules's charming--and gay--friend. Why does a film that is seemingly about heterosexual love end not with sex, not with marriage (for the protagonist, anyway) but with an ecstatic (and extended) dance routine involving our heroine and her gay friend? ... The gay male/straight female relationship has become a mainstream film and television phenomenon.... the vibrant dance act that concludes My Best Friend's Wedding becomes a kind of metaphor for something that is privileged throughout these films, something I will call "safe eroticism." from article: The Queen in Shining Armor: Safe Eroticism and the Gay Friend.  by Baz Dreisinger [J of Popular Film and Television] **My Best Friends Wedding: A souvenir folio with photos and 12 songs from the movie

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I was never attracted to a woman before Ellen, and when I fell in love with her, I got it from both sides. I have a right to love who I want to love. I understand many homosexuals believe it's not a choice, but I made a choice out of joy. And yes, I have now fallen in love and married a man. "She's a gay girl, she's a straight girl, gay girl, straight girl." Labels don't affect my beliefs in love and truth. ....Anne Heche....[Toronto Sun, Sept 18, 2001] Here was a person who was proud of herself and her sexuality. A person who didn't care what other people thought. A person who lived her truth and was telling it to the world. A person who was trying to help the world accept herself and her truth.    Anne Heche....[E! Revealed March 12 2003]....- about Ellen DeGeneres --  *from Heche's memoir:..Call Me Crazy

*related pages:**identity.......self-esteem / self concept

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Ann [Andie MacDowell, left]: .....Well, what did he ask exactly? Cynthia [Laura San Giacomo]: .....Well, I don't want to tell you exactly. Ann: .....You let a total stranger record your sexual life on videotape, but you won't tell your own sister? Cynthia: .....Apparently. from Sex, Lies, and Videotape

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A lot of the parts that I've played -- always, even when I was in ballet -- have had sexuality as a large part of their character. I've just always been cast that way and I've always felt comfortable playing that.  Bebe Neuwirth****[NY Times, July 19, 2002]

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For me, [a no-nudity clause] is a choice that I've made so far, and that's not to say that that won't change, but for me it's about the characters and I didn't really feel that it was necessary for this character [Suzie in Wild Things].  I've played another character where she was a real nature child in a film that I did for Europe, and it was a film about her skinny-dipping with an animal in the middle of the forest -- and it wasn't about graphic sex and about box-office draw so I was comfortable with that. But when it comes to box-office draw, I don't feel as comfortable with that.  Neve Campbell*****[Entertainment Tonight interview March 1998] / bio:*Neve Campbell by Kathleen Tracy

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Halle Berry is prepared for her new role as a Bond villain - because she's all for women using their sex appeal as a weapon. The stunning actress bared her breasts for cyberthriller Swordfish, and now she's crossed that hurdle Halle admits she has no problem with abusing her power over men.  She says, "Not only do I think it's OK to do that, I think the smartest women know how to use sex appeal. They know how to use it and when to stop, how far to go. It's most empowering to a woman to know she's sexy and be able to use that to get what she wants. And to win - that's our secret weapon.  When a character is sexy, smart, beautiful and also very strong, to me that's a very positive image of a woman."  [imdb.com Celeb News 15 January 2002]

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We're living in a world where celebrity men all look like they just escaped from Folsom prison, and the women are all so underdressed that they could be posing for customers in the windows of Amsterdam.  Female fashion is now a joke, since it's only wisps of cloth uncovering acres of enhanced bosoms, navels, hips and everything else just scraping along above the bikini fault line. I know, this is Old Fogeydom at its worst. But, really... where will it all end? Male stars wallowing in the mud? Total nudity? But that would be so boring and tiresome. There has to be another way to look like a real human being who is also a star!     from Liz Smith column, LA Times June 5, 2002

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"Exotica" is a movie labyrinth, winding seductively into the darkest secrets of a group of people who should have no connection with one another, but do. ... Christina (Mia Kirshner) works in a "gentleman's club," although few gentlemen go there. ... No touching is allowed... Mia Kirshner.. combines sexual allure with a kindness that makes her all the more appealing.  Indeed, the intriguing thing about [director Atom] Egoyan's work here is the way he sets the story in a hothouse of sex, and then works around the sex, getting to the feelings, revealing how most of the characters are much nicer than they at first seem. ... The movie is a series of interlocking surprises and delights.. from Roger Ebert review, Chicago Sun-Times, 03/03/1995

.. .. Don McKellar and Mia Kirshner in Exotica[dvd] "She felt shooting Exotica was difficult...  she has nothing against nudity,  but at 17, she wasn't ready for it." from bio on mia-kirshner.com

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Even the hetairae, the famed high-class courtesans of Ancient Greece, assisted in public ceremonies devoted to the gods. At the conclusion of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Phryne would appear at the gateway of the temple and perform a slow striptease. She was also the piece de resistance at the festival of Poseidon and Aphrodite. According to historian William Sanger, Phryne "slowly disrobed herself in the presence of the crowd. She next advanced to the water-side, plunged into the waves, and offered sacrifice to [Poseidon]. Returning like a sea-nymph, drying her hair from which the water dripped over her exquisite limbs, she paused for a moment before the crowd, which shouted in a phrensy of enthusiasm as the fair priestess vanished into a cell in the temple."  This performance, representing the myth of Aphrodite's birth from the sea, inspired a series of depictions by painters beginning with Phryne's own lover Appeles and culminating with Botticelli two millennia later.  [from site: Hooker Heroes wondersmith.com] related book: Sandro Botticelli: Life and Work by Ronald Lightbown

"The Birth of Venus" (1485-6)  by Sandro Botticelli

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[Do the roles become any more complex as you get older?]  No. I feel a certain resignation about it. I'm going to be playing mothers, wives, and sisters in film. But I've always had to set up my own challenges. Right now, my challenge is to explore the sexuality of a 44-year-old woman. So, regardless of what the role calls for [laughs], that's what they're going to get.  Elaine Miller, the mother I played in Almost Famous, was a step in the right direction. I felt really sexy in that part, even though I was on the top end of a 10- to 15-pound thing that I go back and forth with.

I felt like this '70s woman, kind of jiggly and barefoot. I really want to do nudity now. I wasn't interested in doing nudity when I was in my 20s, because I never lived up to anybody's ideal of movie femininity.  Frances McDormand  ... [Premiere, Oct 2001] / [photo by Brigitte Lacombe]

*related page:**body image

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"Nothing is more toxic to creativity and general happiness than being closeted.
Being out is a crucial part of my ability to operate successfully as a producer."

Liz Friedman  [Co-executive producer of Xena: Warrior Princess, etc]  [from advocate.com article]
 
 

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**	Being called sexy wasn't nice at the age of twenty, and it's not particularly nice at the age of fifty. It doesn't change. It's neither nice nor nasty. It's just something you have to sit there and deal with.  Like traffic jams. Helen Mirren      [Premiere, July.99]

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Juliette Lewis.. insists the Pamela Anderson look is not what being sexy is all about. She says, "What you exude, your sexuality, is just a part of yourself. So a manufactured sex appeal, which includes an open mouth and lip gloss and bright colours, this is the American porn sex appeal which has nothing to do with sex...  "It's like blow-up dolls. I could do that. Very easily. ... It's just never been my objective." [imdb.com celeb news Sep. 28 2000]

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.. .. It's always great to play those kinds of characters [on "Hercules" and "Xena"]. You get away with murder. It's significant, I think, too, because it's lovely to be able to express more than one facet of a woman.  Good, bad, or indifferent, just by virtue of the costumes you wear on these shows, you can sometimes be relegated to the status of a T&A show, certainly for women.  But Lucy Lawless [of "Xena.."] made such wonderful strides, as has Renee [O'Connor] in depicting a very strong woman.

.. .. Yes, you can have a sex life, you can be a sensual being, and not acquiesce to a male-dominated society. You have your own power and your power doesn't lie strictly within your ability to flirt.  Gina Torres .. [Whoosh interview May 1998]  / photo above: as Nebula in Hercules ...related articles: Warrior Women On Screen.......Women and Violence On Screen

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There's a sadomasochistic undertone to Camilla [her character in Mulholland Drive], and that's a valid type of sexual excitement. ... As an actor I want to explore all depths of human feelings and experiences. We're complex beings. As actors it's incredible to be able to expand our experiences. I would never go around shooting somebody, but sometimes in a film you have to, and your body reacts how you would feel, that is if you're truly present and honest at the moment. I was nervous [about doing the love scene with Naomi Watts] because it's very vulnerable to be naked in front of an audience and to have a new experience with somebody and something so intimate. ... It was so dark, then I remembered, "This is David Lynch, this is art." The movie's not a movie without the love scene. You have to have it, it's not gratuitous. If you don't have the love scene you don't have the obsession. It's erotic, but it's innocent. The first time I saw it I thought, "Oh, that wasn't bad at all." But when we shot it, it felt like it went on forever. Between takes we giggled.  Laura Elena Harring - about acting in Mulholland Drive******photo: Harring (far right) with Naomi Watts

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I'm really just starting to understand what I'm made of. I got married, I did the whole conventional thing, and it didn't work out for many different reasons. There's another side of me in which I feel a lot of freedom as a performer and a person, whether I want to get a tattoo or play a gay character.  What throws me is people who are so insecure that they have to constantly affirm what they're doing. When I project overt, in-your-face sexuality -- homosexuality or any kind of sexuality -- somewhere in there I'm saying I'm uncomfortable.   Brooke Shields     [from Both Sides of Brooke by Guinevere Turner,  Advocate, April 25, 2000]    photo from lifetimetv.com

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I get so exhausted with people's perception of what I must be like to be 40 when it's actually wonderful. It's incredibly fabulous. I've never felt sexier in my whole life.  I can wear sexy clothes because I've got an incredible body and I happen to be 43 but it's really not that hard, all you have to do is work out a little bit and it's not like everything is falling apart.  I don't know why, what it is that, you know, this magical number, everything's supposed to go downhill. I actually feel better about myself. I know who I am. I feel strong. I feel like I have integrity and intelligence more so than I ever did in my whole life. Who is it that came up with this idea that you were going to fall apart? Andie MacDowell****[DarkHorizons.com March 13 2002]

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She seduced he-men onscreen and married milquetoasts off it, with predictably dire results. ... Her screen characters threw objects and tantrums; "I'm handicapped," she once confessed, "by a very even disposition."  So even, in fact, that six decades later she is still mourned as the most beloved star in M-G-M history, a team player who called coworkers "my gang" and whose only sworn enemy was jealous Joan Crawford. "I could be a better hooker than Harlow any day of the year," Crawford would snarl, and no one denied it. Harlow was no harlot. She just knew how to play one. from prologue: Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn Jean Harlow photo by George Hurrell  --   related book: Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits

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During her rise to fame in the mid to late 1920's, many people closely associated the real Clara Bow to the roles she played on screen. True, she did have many flings, lovers, and wild times. What young, beautiful, talented, successful, and available 20-year-old girl wouldn't behave like this?  But imagine this:  "She had been a child of poverty and neglect and had suddenly come into money, fame, and if not business or political power, at least an understanding of her own sexual power. She became known for her very colorful off-screen life, and was eventually brought low by scandal.." (Silent Stars by Jeanine Basinger, pg 445). from biography by William Cramer  on The Clara Bow Page clarabow.net

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