Afflict The Comfortable Analysis

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It is typically thought that there are major differences between childhood and adulthood: emotional and physical maturity, responsibility, independence, etcetera; however when one compares these different phases of life in terms of sexuality and cuteness, these distinguished divisions begin to vanish- eerily manipulating a remembrance of childhood for an attempt at “adult” sexuality. In the correspondence book Afflict the Comfortable, Laurie Simmons’ piece of visual art “Lying Objects (House)” and an excerpt from writer Daniel Harris; compare the surprisingly close relationships of cuteness and sexuality, childhood and adulthood. Simmons’ visual statement depicts at first what looks like a weirdly characteristic suburban house: two steps…show more content…
The strongly opinionated paragraph goes on to articulate the selectivity of cuteness in adult sexuality. While an unattached adult may observe the frivolousness of lovers with disgust, the companions consider this wide-eyed artificial adorability practically erotic. Lovers adore any opportunity to show off their capability to take care of another, to protect and tend to already fulfilled needs. Hence why Harris explains that the “aesthetic of the cute is an esthetic of the small, the young, the adorable, the defenseless, the inarticulate” (56). This reversion into youth only to prove maturity renders a laughable irony, insisting that the seemingly vast distance between childhood and adulthood is conceivably the length of an ant to its…show more content…
There are evident sexual undertones in the photograph that are reinforced by the writing. At the same time, the writing adds its own thoughts to the visual piece, provoking parallels between sexuality and cuteness. However, it is the comparison of the two together that forces the audience to find similarities and symbols. The artwork, although rather easy to describe, has much to say, coercing its writing counterpart to relate. While Harris’s writing adheres perfectly to certain interpretations, like the juxtaposition of childish whims against adult impulses, it at first does not seem to provide justice entirely to the photo. Simmons’ “Lying Objects (House)” could easily be talking about feminine ideals, this sense that women are trapped, locked into this idea that they must provide only for others. The positioning and showing of only the legs could be a commentary on what is recognized as the most valuable part of a feminine body, that where which reproduction happens. By withholding aspects of the human body like a face or hands, there is little sign of any humanity, yet much suggestion of powerlessness within the feminine figure. Even more so, the baby pink satin slippers on the feet imply daintiness and defenselessness in femininity. In this way, the slippers intertwine the idea of a cute femininity with a cute sexuality, as both aspects talk about the

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