I still have not stopped thinking about the feminist sex scene since our discussion in class. Its been plaguing me really. What’s really been bugging me is the idea of the gaze being male especially the audience. I think it is not possible because of this. The thought that kept coming back to me was about banned books. When I was younger one of my favorite books was Olive’s Ocean. In high school I learned that it is one of the most banned books in this country. It baffled me. The books was banned for “sexually explicit content”. The most sexually explicit moment that occurred is the main character receives her first kiss and an awkward flirtation. Yet this does not stop the book from being challenged by numerous libraries and schools. I was 8 or 9 when I first read the book and had no issue with it. But others found the book horribly offensive. This is similar to the issue with the feminist sex scene. Someone will always be offended. A director can work as hard as they possibly can to avoid any instances of sexism but someone may still take issue with how the scene is filmed.
When we first started this discussion a clip from the movie Across the Universe came to mind. This scene is not exactly a sex scene. However it is clear that the two and possibly others do have sex. I think what is so great about this scene is the body positions. They are in water so there is no “on top”. They just float around equally. Additionally although they are naked, there is no showing of any genitalia on either Jude or Lucy. It is simple and clean and to me both characters seem equal in their positioning, how much of their body is revealed and who is in control. To me this is as close to a sex scene as I could imagine where it is neither sexist and does not try to use equal exploitation as a solution to sexism either.