The Horrible Realities of Inhumane Desires

One of Susan Bordo’s main themes is that there is power when an anorexic person feels power over the ones around her when they are troubled by the unhealthy appearance of ribs and bones. This ties in to the power that the female receives from controlling both her own body and her seemingly uncontrollable life. She also receives power and confidence by the support of the media and advertisements, which are “objectifying” women in to a look that is unattainable by normal means. To the person with anorexia, something that is normally unhealthy and damaging (an eating disorder) is turned in to something powerful, enabling, and positive. In An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, this very same theme occurs, but in a very different sense. In the painting (shown above) the horrible, unhealthy thing is what is happening between Cupid and Venus, siblings. In Leppert’s account of the painting, Cupid is a developed adolescent in a child’s body, who aims to sexual pleasure Venus, who is visibly being pleasured sexually (her erect nipples) and robbing Cupid of his male sexual dominance (she is disarming him, she is larger than him, Cupid is feminized). In this painting themes of incest, switching of gender roles, and a kinky sexual nature are shown, which are paired with anorexia’s unhealthy and unnatural dynamics. The characters in the painting are visibly happy with what sinful and ludicrous acts are going on, much like the pleasure that happens when anorexic women feel the pleasure and power they have over people and their bodies, thus Leppert’s and Bordo’s ideas are seemingly one in this painting; something that is rationally incorrect is supported by cultural fact. Yet, Leppert goes on to state that the painting is a distortion of reality, something that is impossible and unattainable; the cold, inhuman light, Cupid’s invisible neck, and Venus’ contortions all suggest that the scene is only a desire, not a reality, very much unlike the realities of anorexic women, who desire to be beautiful and thin. But this is where Leppert’s and Bordo’s ideas support each other; Bordo’s women’s illusion on control of their bodies and eating disorders reflect the seemingly perfect, yet fantastic scene of Venus and Cupid.