We don’t need no female bodies to make ‘em sexy.
I became hooked to a tumblr hashtag, “bookporn”. It remains one of my favorites on account of all the library and book pictures in it, Some of the best pictures in that hashtag have piles of books, or a single one, propped open. Old books. Spines. New books. Tables with a mess. More books. I love so many of those pictures, and I like the idea that this is a bunch of bookporn.
But it is not porn-with-books.
I appreciate the aesthetics of these nude book-related images. But in them, books are either the props, the human beings are. I am not comfortable with either. They remain beautiful.
Before all else, however, I want for books to be appreciated for being books. Science is awesome because science is awesome, complex, compelling, challenging. Rebranding it as sexy just to improve its “coolness” score… devalues what it is. Nerd and proud, right? Similarly, books are amazing, sexy, fun, what-have-you all by themselves. Lets not forget that.
