The claim is made in the analysis that "the vagina...needs to be seen up-close and "open" to be considered obscene". I assume by "vagina" they mean "vulva" as you aren't going to see the vagina unless the vulva is "open". I personally do find "closed" presentations of the vulva to be less obscene than a penis as there simply isn't as much going on visually if nothing can be seen beyond the labia, but if we're going with wider cultural trends I find this claim hard to support based on what artifacts I've seen. Penises are much more likely to be depicted in classical artwork than labia, which is largely due to inheriting Greek aesthetic values. One could claim we've moved past the Greek aesthetics in society at large, but classical artwork is the main area outside of pornography where genitalia gets the pass to be depicted. So I'm wondering if someone could actually provide some examples of artistic works that depict labia, but do not depict penises in order to support this claim.
The claim is made in the analysis that "the vagina...needs to be seen up-close and "open" to be considered obscene". I assume by "vagina" they mean "vulva" as you aren't going to see the vagina unless the vulva is "open". I personally do find "closed" presentations of the vulva to be less obscene than a penis as there simply isn't as much going on visually if nothing can be seen beyond the labia, but if we're going with wider cultural trends I find this claim hard to support based on what artifacts I've seen. Penises are much more likely to be depicted in classical artwork than labia, which is largely due to inheriting Greek aesthetic values. One could claim we've moved past the Greek aesthetics in society at large, but classical artwork is the main area outside of pornography where genitalia gets the pass to be depicted. So I'm wondering if someone could actually provide some examples of artistic works that depict labia, but do not depict penises in order to support this claim.