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"Lustworthy" is a photo series brought to you by the creative team behind the Attractive and Fat campaign that took the world by storm. Jes Baker and Liora K (J+L) have teamed up once again to produce a series of "advertisements" that challenge what body types are permissibly desirable in media. By borrowing the theme of sensuality found in preexisting advertisements and using unconventional pairings of bodies, J+L have created a visually jarring and beautifully inclusive look into what we may not deem "Lustworthy", but, in reality, is."
Never in our culture do we see sexy photo shoots that pair nontraditional bodies with traditionally attractive models. It's socially acceptable for same to be paired with same, but never are the different types of bodies positively mixed in the world of advertisement. In projects like "Attractive and Fat", the juxtaposition of uncommonly paired bodies caused viewers to feel uncomfortable, and so it must be addressed again. This negative reaction is largely attributed to companies that capitalize on the thought that atypical bodies are not attractive, desirable or lust worthy. This is inaccurate, and the only way to shift the way we view ourselves is to repeatedly counter exclusionary imagery with positive inclusive imagery.
It is Jes and Liora's hope that the combination of these types of contrasting bodies will someday be as ubiquitous as the socially accepted ideal. The "Lustworthy" series is their contribution to this transformation.
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I wholeheartedly believed for 26 years that it was impossible for a short and fat (or socially shunned) woman to date a not short, not fat (or socially worshiped) man.
This. Is. A. Total. Lie.
In Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls So I Will I mention my dating escapades and the revolutionary realization that my options are not limited because of my size. I was under the assumption that I was not welcome to approach just any man; I had learned that I was to only engage with those who we're as socially "undesirable" as I. And yes, I may find them attractive as well, but the body based exclusion became a glaring hurdle as I found myself newly single and presented with the dating world once again. Once I started to meet men, however, I quickly learned: all those rules about sexual attraction that I internalized my entire life? Yeah, those were made up. Totally and completely.
It turns out that no body is inferior (and consequently no body is superior), and so all bodies have the opportunity to be paired will all bodies. This isn't an opinion. This is a fact. I see it in my life. I see it in other people's lives. I see it everywhere.
Everywhere except for advertising.
So Liora and I changed that.
The visible fat woman, who is unafraid of her obvious beauty and magnetic sexuality is a woman I want to see around. And after we expose these aforementioned body biases and unlock the oppressive lies we have learned, she can be everywhere.
Lustworthy is for her.
There will be four other installments addressing unconventional body pairings to come!
So tell me: what types of bodies do you not see represented together in sexy media? What bodies would you like to see coupled? Who needs their own advertisement?
Photography: Liora K Photography / Model: Rambo Reza / Skirt and corset: Hips and Curves / Yes, it's faux fur.
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