Olympia(o)

Olympia, the beautiful painting by Manet, was very controversial. What made this painting so controversial was, in fact, her confrontational gaze and a number of details that show that she is a prostitute. These details include the orchid in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings, the black ribbon around her neck, and the oriental shawl in which she lies. Olympia's hand firmly protects her vulva, as if to emphasize her independence and sexual domination over men. The is also a black cat at the foot of Olympia's bed which is, in fact, a symbol for prostitution. Comparing Olympia to the beautifully drawn (totally kidding) Olympio, I feel as if Olympio would have had caused much more of an uproar. Men were portrayed in the nude quite frequently in art, but they would never be seen in this reclining nude form. They wouldn't have these details that hinted at them to be a prostitute. Men weren't considered to be prostitutes. I believe that Olympio's confrontational stare would not be as much of a problem as it was with Olympia. In my opinion, when trying to analysis this Olympio image, I feel myself jumping to stereotypical observations. Today, some would assume what to be going on was a homosexual, transgender, and even a drag queen being portrayed. This is because of the reclining position, the different accessories being worn, and also the presence of a man in the background. Back in the day, a sexual relationship between two men was not looked down on. It was a very acceptable action. But, I feel like an image like this would still be very controversial. It was such a strange experience to make Manet's Olympia into Olympio. But, it was such a hysterical outcome. I would like to try to do this with other art work to see what the outcome would be.