Brooklyn artist Alexandra Rubenstein has created a series of paintings entitled "A Dream Come True (Celebrity Cunnilingus)," which unflinchingly portrays male celebrities performing cunnilingus on women from a woman's point of view. So far, there are eight paintings in this series, and they include Justin Beiber, Jon Hamm, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Franco, Ryan Gosling, David Beckham and Drake (below).
on the lack of heterosexual female perspective in representation of
sexuality in mainstream media and pornography, which reflect as well
as shape the way we interact in real life." She goes on to say that cunnilingus is "censored
in mainstream media, rated NC-17 in film, and is under-represented in
pornography (compared to the slew of other 'categories'), which
reiterates to the viewer that sex is about men and their pleasure."
She definitely has a point.
I'm sure there are other examples, but when I first learned about this series and read Rubenstein's explanation, the 2010 film Blue Valentine came to mind. In it, there is a scene where Ryan Gosling's character performs oral sex on his wife, played by Michelle Williams. Because of that scene, the MPAA originally gave Blue Valentine an NC-17 rating. Both Gosling and Williams called them out for this decision, Williams saying that "the MPAA's decision on Blue Valentine unmasks a taboo in our culture, that an honest portrayal of a relationship is more threatening than a sensationalized one."
Gosling added the following statement:
“You have to question a cinematic culture which preaches artistic expression, and yet would support a decision that is clearly a product of a patriarchy-dominant society, which tries to control how women are depicted on screen. The MPAA is okay supporting scenes that portray women in scenarios of sexual torture and violence for entertainment purposes, but they are trying to force us to look away from a scene that shows a woman in a sexual scenario, which is both complicit and complex. It's misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman's sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than this film.”
The emphasis is mine, and it brings us back to the original point. Cunnilingus and especially the female gaze are underrepresented compared to the heterosexual male gaze and portrayals of male pleasure. "A Dream Come True" flips that dynamic and makes men the object of desire and women the sole recipient of sexual pleasure. Rubenstein's paintings and the reaction to them highlight a glaring gap in media portrayals of women and sexuality.
The biggest problem with the series is its lack of diversity. Drake is the only man of color. The rest of the celebrities are white. There aren't any women of color in the series.
However, despite the lack of representation, there is definitely a place for this series inside and outside the artistic sphere. In a world where the media is disturbingly comfortable with depicting women in situations of sexual violence and exploitation, it's uplifting to see something as simple as images of women experiencing pleasure and desire.
