During March Break I took a great trip mainly to Paris, Athens, and the Greek Islands. We got to see many great ruins, sights, and even a few ‘wonders of the modern world’.
One thing that surprised me just a bit was the museums(especially the Louvre)…and the works in them. I, myself, are not, and never will be offended by nudity or the naked form and it’s…gatherings (it’s a mystery, ugly and beautiful of itself), but hearing some comments from other goers (from our school, and other tourists, young and old) was quite funny, and the number of unclothed statues and paintings was staggering, *especially* in comparison to here in Canada, let alone our little ole sandbar we call home. What a culture shock.
It kind of goes to show how moving a little furthur on the globe can be such a change. Here in Pei, we have few to no (and I’m betting on low) nude pieces on display, and in Canada itself it isn’t nearly as common.
And it wasn’t just the museums…. the advertising showed a decent amount of skin as well. (I cannot find any examples of the ads I’ve seen, unfortunately. I shall check my own photos and get back to you on that^^;) This is an advert that was simply more ‘personal’ that I saw.
…and I won’t even touch on vast number of the more ‘intimate’ shops that were there.
But, in short, the culture shock wasn’t a great shock to me, but to some things I’ve heard (‘Oh my gosh!’ or ‘Why is it right in your face?! They should cover up!’) from some people, it’s apparent that, with a simple change in culture, there is a great variety in the standards of what can or cannot be shown in public areas, art or not.
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