Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Video that rocked the yoga blogosphere

Earlier today, I finally caved in to popular blogosphere pressure, and violated my blogging drishti... I went and watched that Equinox Yoga Video! You probably know what I'm talking about: Most of you have probably already seen it, so there's no point pretending it doesn't exist. Here it is. Enjoy.


I guess I may as well say a couple of things about it, while I'm at it. When I was watching it, the very first thought that struck me (I swear!) was: Hmm, she has a very impressive practice. My handstand isn't half as effortless as hers, and I'm nowhere close to getting Urdhva Kukkutasana.

But I really don't get those close-up shots of her... crotch and butt. Nor do I get the rear shots. I wonder if this might be an Iyengar influence? I went to an Iyengar workshop several years ago, and the teacher kept telling us to "feel the skin peeling away from your buttocks, and moving towards your heels." Or at least that's what I think he said. So maybe the close up butt shots are a nod to the Iyengar people out there who are watching this video? But then again, what do I know about Iyengar? Iyengar people out there, please forgive me if what I just said blasphemes your lineage and guru. I will perform a couple of extra Surya Namaskars tomorrow morning by way of apology.

But of course, you must have noticed that I have said nothing so far about the alleged sexual objectification/leeriness of this video (which, I take it, is what has been getting so many cyber-yogis up in arms lately), or the fact that said yogini is practicing while her significant other/lover/roommate (?) remains sound asleep. I guess he must not be all that into yoga, no? :-)

Anyway, a lot has been said about the alleged sexual objectification/leeriness in this video, so it probably won't serve any purpose for me to add my voice to the fray here. Instead, I'll just leave you with a question:  Assuming that the video indeed sexually objectifies (at least one) women, can it still be a good yoga video? In other words, should the sexual objectification/leeriness content of the video (assuming that it has such content) take away from the quality of the asana practice depicted in the video?

8 comments:

  1. ohhh, I've been trying so hard not to watch it and now you have to go and post it here. Is there no sanctuary?

    This is of course, a bit tongue in cheek.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try so hard to maintain my blogging drishti and to not be distracted by the chitta vrtti of the blogosphere. But alas, I am only human...

      Delete
  2. When I first saw this video, my thoughts were the same as your's: whoa, she's got an amazing practice! Very graceful and strong. But, I'm also with you on the close-up shots and some of the angles. I think those things take away from how good the video is. It's ironic that you posted about this one today because there's an article by Kathryn Budig of an interview with the woman from this video. It's a good article and I agree with everything she said, but I still think that some of the shots/angles of this video were unnecessary.

    Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathryn-budig/yoga-briohny-kate-smyth_b_1202653.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tara. I'll go check out the article. And yes, I do agree that the close-up shots were unnecessary. Unless, of course, they were meant as some kind of weird tribute to people with Iyengar sensibilities...

      Delete
  3. Definitely the butt cheeks are an Iyengar thing. 108 sun salutations time two for both of us!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The video is very well-done, I like it and I think it's a work of art (the actual clip, not the Equinox inserts before and after it). Focusing on the close-ups of her butt, etc, and the perceived sexual objectification of her in this clip is kinda missing the forest for the trees.

    You want to talk about sexual objectification in ads? I can list many more offensive ones than this, the majority of which would be way more crass and hardly as thoughtfully executed.

    Don't mean to sound aggressive, just sharing my two cents'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem, D, you don't come across as aggressive at all (at least not to me). I agree with you about the part about missing the forest for the trees; after all, being an ad for a gym, it almost has to sell the physical body. And these days, sex sells, whether we like it or not...

      Delete