Art model activism

Advocating for equal treatment in art modeling and promoting non-sexual nudity

I recently had a bad art modeling experience at a start-up art academy in my area. It was my first time there, and when I left after that session, I figured that I would never be going back. I had booked the session with the owner/instructor at this academy via text message. For the purposes of this article, I’ll call him Josh. Josh needed someone on short notice as his previously scheduled model for that week’s session had had a family emergency. I agreed to the date and time and told him I would be there. It was then that he said it would be a “semi-nude session.”

“Blah,” I thought, but I had already accepted the gig.

I arrived at the art academy early. I’m always early to my modeling jobs, especially when it’s in a place I’ve never been. In the time before the students arrived, Josh explained that some of the girls in the class were as young as fourteen, so he had the male models pose semi-nude. I could see drawings of female models on the wall, so I asked Josh about them. He said that females posed nude. My immediate thought was, “That doesn’t seem fair.”

When all the students arrived and assembled, they did look about high school age: nine girls and two boys. I wondered what they thought about the different rules imposed on the models. I wore a pair of gym shorts for the session. After almost forty years of doing gesture poses nude, it felt unnatural to be doing them while wearing anything.

After the session, Josh seemed eager to book me again, but I was not so eager to come back. When I left, I had already decided that I was not going to accept another booking from him under those same conditions. The only conundrum I had was whether to tell him why I wasn’t going to return or just ghost him when he contacted me again. I decided that full honesty was the best policy, so I sent him the following email:

Josh:

Thank you for hiring me to model for the figure drawing session today. I left there with some negative emotions, mainly sadness with a bit of anger. When you’re in a pose, all you can do is sit and think, which leads to stewing on things. Rather than remain silent, I wanted to discuss my feelings with you. The issue I thought about was the discrimination between female and male models. You told me females got to pose nude while males had to wear something. That doesn’t sit well with me.

I’ve modeled for a long time, forty years this November, and I get a lot of joy out of it even after all this time. The session today was joyless. I didn’t even feel like myself. Everything that makes this job unique and special and wonderful was missing. 20 years ago, I had issues with modeling "semi-nude" for a few sessions, feeling sexualized (like a stripper). That didn’t happen today since I wore some normal gym shorts that, sadly, hid a lot of anatomy. Maybe those bad experiences have pre-disposed me to hating "semi-nude" sessions. I normally don’t even take them, but I had already committed to this one when you told me it was semi-nude (and I never cancel a booking if I can help it). I’ll happily do clothed portrait sitting or costume modeling, but my experience with semi-nude means "the session would be nude if we were really serious about what we’re doing."

I modeled nude for high school students from the arts magnet program at Booker T. Washington High School for many years (ages 14 to 18), and I’ve done other sessions for high school groups. The students in these sessions have always been serious about their art. Heck, most of them were more studious and better behaved than many college classes I’ve modeled for. Your students today seemed very dedicated to what they were doing, and I couldn’t help but feel that they were being insulted by not being allowed to draw from the figure in its pure state as has been done for hundreds of years. Letting the female models pose in that pure state while forcing us males to cover ourselves seems to send the message that the male body is threatening and predatory, and I think that is a wrong message to send.

My feelings of being second-class or feeling less than the females was just accentuated by the drawings of female nudes on the wall in the room. There was just a feeling of wrongness. I spoke to some other male models online about it, and they agreed with me that it’s a form of sex discrimination. So I’m not inclined to take another booking unless something changes. I think my dedication and professionalism were obvious during today’s session, in my gestures and my long poses and keeping all my breaks to five minutes or less. And like I told you, I’m always early at all my modeling gigs. I hope you will reconsider your figure drawing policies.

Dan

Less than an hour later, I received the following message in return:

Hi Dan,

Thank you for coming and posing for our session today. First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for your bad experience. I want to assure you there was no intention to offend or discriminate against you. I strive to treat all models with the utmost respect.

Initially, my intention was to conduct nude model sessions. However, some parents with young daughters expressed concerns, so I agreed to adjust the format. Perhaps I approached this the wrong way, and for that, I am truly sorry. As I am new to this, I appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

I will change my policy to include nude sessions for both male and female models and notify the parents to they can make an informed decision about sending their children. Your honesty has been invaluable, and I will implement this change immediately.

I will be out of town next week, but I will ensure these changes are made as soon as possible. Additionally, please feel free to suggest any adjustments regarding the length of poses or break times. I hope to work with you again in the future.

Thank you once again for sharing your concerns.

Best regards,

Josh

I was very pleasantly shocked by the response. I’ve advocated for non-sexual nudity for many years, but this was the first time I felt that I had prompted a positive change. Honesty really is best. I have another session booked for early next month, and this time, I’ll be modeling in my pure state. I’m not even going to bring the gym shorts with me. 🪐