Analysis Of Nan Goldin's The Ballad Of Sexual Dependency

Women are regularly held to certain beauty standards that are often inaccessible. Even when they are young, girls are indirectly taught to be conservative. Whether it is how they should carry themselves when interacting with boys/men, how they are supposed to act in general or how they are supposed to dress, girls are taught to be overly private and submissive. There is nothing wrong with women who are naturally so, but for all other women, this can lead to a suppression of their true nature. In Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, a story of love and sex, we are shown an enormously private part of her life. This exhibit evoked a question – Why is a woman’s sexuality so taboo to modern day society?
We should consider that women were taught to be somebody’s daughter or sister, then …show more content…
This brings up the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” quote. Women who have sex with multiple partners are often shamed and compared to a lock that opens with various keys, making it a shitty lock. The fact that men and women are held to different standards can be detrimental to a woman’s sexuality and her overall confidence. This fear can lead to ignorance that keeps women from the knowledge of safe sex and can lead to unwanted situations such as, pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. This fear can also lead women to abstain from sex because they are scared of what people will assume about them. This fear can be crippling and lead them to being sexually taken advantage of by choosing the wrong partners. On another note, when a woman is sexually liberated people become threatened by her confidence. She is automatically labelled a whore for having acting on her sexual desires with whomever she deems acceptable. Men are allowed to have as many sexual partners as desired and are often applauded for it while women, are supposed to have at least partners as possible to remain