Posts tagged J. Aiden Simon
genderqueer
beyond the binaries
J. Aiden Simon’s project “Member,” encourages a rethinking of masculinity and and the limited standard of maleness. His artist statement:
“This body of work comments on our society’s obsession with penis size, and the idea that you must have a penis (or a penis of a certain length) in order to be male. It seems ironic that having a penis is the most important factor in maleness in a society where we are almost exclusively clothed…
Member is not only about transsexual men, but men’s bodies in general. I want to portray the diversity of male bodies in a way that dignifies the models…
The act of having my models cover their genitals removes the idea that one has to have a penis, or a penis of a certain size, in order to be male. I want to stress the similarities between men- transsexual and non-transsexual, instead of simply illustrating the differences between them, by showing varying genitals. I want to increase viewers’ awareness of transsexual people and illustrate that it is not always- or even often- evident that they do not exist, and that they may have known someone who was transsexual and simply weren’t aware of it. I often feel that having a penis is often the biggest factor in considering someone a man, when in reality, there are many more physical and psychological attributes that people consider when determining gender.”
The Naked Truth: J. Aiden Simon’s transgender journey to manhood and happiness
Click the image above to go to the interview. By the way, J. Aiden Simon is really cute:
J. Aiden Simon - So Incredible!
Hey everyone,
Posting bright and early this morning from the airport. I discovered an awesome artist and thought I’d share! His name is J. Aiden Simon, he’s a senior at the Maryland Institute College of Art. This past summer, he had an incredible series up at the DC Center called “Member.” According to an interview with Metro Weekly, Simon’s series is based on the idea that:
“Being a man doesn’t mean you have to have a penis, or a penis of a certain size. There are a lot of [existing] photographs of trans people and they are all saying the same thing: Trans people are human. I feel like we should be so much further than we are with art and photography of trans people. I want people to be able to have a space to start a dialogue about being a man, having a body, identifying your body as being a man’s body, and the whole issue of equating having a penis with being a man and how pervasive that is in our culture — and how damaging it is for everybody.”
Fuck Yes.
