The boobs : balls ratio

There are several tests to quantify how well 

a narrative treats characters who are women. 
The most famous is probably the Bechdel test 
for women’s representation — two women must 
have a conversation about a topic other than 
a man in the film for it to pass. When Alison 
Bechdel first created the test in 1985, most films 
were not able to pass, but, in recent years, over 
50% do. 

Obviously, the Bechdel test only scratches 

the surface when it comes to a woman’s role in 
a story. Other tests have since been created. The 
sexy lamp test, for example, tries to determine 
how important a woman is in the story — if 
you can replace her character with a sexy lamp 
without the story falling apart, then it isn’t good 
representation. 

These tests are flawed in many ways, but 

they are designed to get us thinking about what 
we’re seeing on screen when it comes to repre-
sentation. In high school, as I started to watch 
more TV from around the world, I started to 
think about the discrepancies between the 
ways women and men are portrayed onscreen, 
especially when it comes to nudity. 

Seeing naked women on screen is fairly stan-

dard in film and television, but male nudity isn’t 
as common. One 2018 analysis of over 1,000 
popular films found that around 25% of women 
in these films had nude scenes, compared to 9% 
of men. I started noticing this disparity after 
watching the first season of “Babylon Berlin,” 
which featured the first televised male nude 
scene that I had ever seen. Male bodies were 
presented in sex scenes and in nonsexual set-
tings, like skinny dipping and nude body search-
es. It made me realize that the only bodies I had 
ever seen naked onscreen were of cis women, 
whose bodies are almost always displayed gra-
tuitously.

After finishing “Babylon Berlin,” I started to 

become aware of the boobs-to-balls ratio in the 
shows and movies that I watched. My experi-
ence as a viewer aligns with the analysis’s find-
ings: Most media that features nudity skews 
towards showing naked women. Few shows 
have one-to-one ratios and none that I’ve seen 
solely show men naked. 

One reason for this might be because of who 

is behind the camera. Women are subjected to 
being viewed through a patriarchal lens that 
focuses extensively on how attractive they are 
to heterosexual men, a phenomenon known as 
the male gaze. Their characters don’t inherently 
need to be nude to be interesting, well-rounded 
people, but society’s obsession with women’s 
sexuality devalues them if they are not catering 
to a patriarchal sex fantasy. 

A recent analysis by the Geena Davis Insti-

tute on Gender and Media found that women 
movie leads were four times more likely to be 
shown naked than their male counterparts. 
Powerful women in film and television are 
often characterized by their naked bodies in 
ways that men are not. And the sexy, powerful 
woman trope can be seen everywhere — from 
TV to video games and even to the way women 
leaders in history, like Cleopatra, are seen as sex 
symbols. 

Topless women are featured in a few of Netf-

lix’s episodes of “The Witcher,” and lead actress 
Anya Chalhotra, who plays Yennefer, appears 
naked twice. Her nakedness is tied to her access 
to power — she undresses in these scenes to 
perform rituals that would make her a more 
powerful sorceress; there is also a disturbing 
and misogynistic undertone to these scenes. It 
seems that a woman’s power is directly tied to 
her body and her sex appeal. 

Henry Cavill, the male lead who plays the 

titular character, does not appear naked in the 
same capacity that Chalhotra does. Cavill is 
shown naked in a bathtub, but only his torso 
is visible. It makes sense that he doesn’t wear 
clothes while bathing, but Chalhotra doesn’t 
necessarily need to be shown naked to perform 
a spell and establish that she is powerful.

The expectation for women to appear nude 

onscreen can also have detrimental effects on 
actors. Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys on 
“Game of Thrones,” revealed that the early nude 
scenes “terrified” her. As a new actress, she did 
not have the knowledge or power to argue with 
showrunners who asked her to appear com-
pletely naked in front of the cast and crew. In 
later seasons, when Clarke refused to be naked 
on screen, showrunners guilted her for disap-
pointing “Game of Thrones” fans, as if they 
were only watching her for her naked body — a 
dismissive view of both Clarke’s boundaries and 
her performance.

Strikingly, there are few depictions of full-

frontal male nudity on “Game of Thrones,” com-
pared to the many instances of women’s nudity. 
When male nudity is presented, it is rarely pre-
sented sexually. Instead, they are presented in 
regular contexts, such as pulling out a penis to 
pee. 

Thankfully, in the years since Clarke’s first 

nude scene in “Game of Thrones,” there have 
been movements in the film and television 
industry to change the exploitative nature of 
intimate scenes. Many shows now hire intima-
cy coordinators, who work to make sex scenes 
more comfortable for actors while making sure 
that everything occurring on screen is con-
sented to by everyone involved. The necessity to 
hire intimacy coordinators is especially evident 
after the #MeToo movement, but it can’t repair 
the implicit attitudes of sexualization that exist 
in the media’s presentation of women’s bodies. 

Even movies that center around sex shy 

away from depicting full-frontal male nudity. 
“Fifty Shades of Grey” has plenty of nude scenes 
of Dakota Johnson, who plays the female lead, 
but does not have a single comparable shot of 

Jamie Dornan’s penis. It’s strange that a movie 
targeted towards heterosexual women chooses 
to solely display the heroine naked. Similarly, 
“Call Me By Your Name,” another popular film 
with plenty of sex scenes, doesn’t feature any 
male full-frontal but does curiously include 
boob shots — a confounding decision in a movie 
about gay men’s intimacy. 

Women’s bodies are often shown in both 

sexual and casual settings, like when they’re 
lounging at home, but when men are put in 
similar positions, the camera shies away. Film-
makers are only comfortable placing women 
in these vulnerable positions. Women are typi-
cally represented as more delicate and therefore 
more defenseless than men, and nudity may 
be a literal way to characterize femininity. It is 
unfortunate, though, that femininity is defined 
by men in film through a naked and conven-
tionally attractive cis-gendered body as if that 
is all women have to offer to the screen. There 
is an inherent sense of dehumanization because 
women’s bodies are represented as the most 
important part of their being. 

Recently, there have been efforts to close the 

gap and make the boobs-to-balls ratio more 
even. HBO’s “Euphoria” shows 71 penises in 
its eight episodes, with one scene alone having 
almost 30. Although there are still scenes of 
naked women on the show, the sheer amount of 
male nudity is shocking because viewers aren’t 
accustomed to seeing it. In “Euphoria,” male 
nudity is presented in a way that’s similar to the 
historical ways naked women are shown on 
screen. While the nude reversal of gender that 
“Euphoria” employs is interesting, it does call 
into question how necessary these scenes are, 
especially given that the characters depicted in 
them are mostly minors. 

Movies are also selective in the type of bod-

ies that are shown on screen. The naked women 
we usually see on screen are conventionally 
attractive (skinny and white), as most of the 
women in the film industry are. Transgender 
characters are rarely seen in films from major 
studios. Bodies that exist outside of the gender 
binary also deserve to be well-represented but 
are unfortunately dismissed from most main-
stream media. 

Actors have also recognized the boobs-to-

balls disparity and have called on each other to 
close it. In 2015, Kevin Bacon noted the gender 
disparities of nudity and started #Freethe-
Bacon, wherein he encourages male actors to 
free “your weiner, your balls and your butt.” 
Mark Duplass, who appeared nude on HBO’s 
“Togetherness,” said that he believes in what he 
calls balls equality, and the need to show naked 
men on TV not as sex symbols but just as regular 
people. 

“If boobs or a vagina come out, a penis or a set 

of testicles should go along with it,” Duplass said 
in a 2016 interview. “It should be 50/50 in this 
country.”

While Duplass championing for balls equal-

ity is commendable in closing the gap, it won’t 
change the gratuitous and harmful always in 
which nude women are represented. It might 
be impossible to divorce the framing of these 
nude scenes from patriarchal gazes — “Fifty 
Shades of Grey,” the mainstream erotica that 
doesn’t have a single penis in it, was directed 
by a woman. Even a female director portrays 
women characters as objects of desire and sexu-
ality for men, further complicating ideas about 
representation. These issues of objectification 
are deeply entrenched in social norms and the 
film industry in general, and more conversa-
tions must be held for progress to be made. 

Nudity in film and television is a complicated 

topic that needs to be understood from multiple 
angles — from how gratuitous it is to how much 
power an actor has in the scene. And persisting 
media trends — who is shown naked, how much 
and when — often point towards objectification 
of women’s characters. Evening the ratio isn’t 
just about showing men naked, it’s about reduc-
ing the gratuitous depictions of nude women, 
too. 

Women, though, are more than just their 

bodies. When filmmakers decide to highlight 
only women in vulnerable or sexual positions, 
they reinforce gendered stereotypes of what 
women can be. And even if the boobs-to-balls 
ratio approaches a perfect one-to-one, we must 
still contend with how women are written and 
how much agency they have in the stories we’re 
watching.

The only piece of media that I have seen 

with a one-to-one boobs-to-balls ratio is the 
third season of Netflix’s “Castlevania,” which 
also features well-written women. In the show, 
nudity is presented sexually and non-sexually 
but fits well within the narrative. In one scene, 
a prisoner is shown naked and the camera 
shows his entire shivering body, including his 
genitals. And while seeing a flaccid penis in a 
cartoon is a little unsettling, it adds dimension 
to his condition and highlights how depress-
ing his imprisonment is. What “Castlevania” 
doesn’t include is gratuitous depictions of 
naked women. Boob shots only appear in sex 
scenes alongside bodies of naked men. 

What makes season three of “Castlevania” 

so compelling isn’t just its even ratio, it is also 
the depth of the women characters, includ-
ing lesbians and women of color, who all have 
distinct personalities and aren’t relegated to 
simply being sexy. There are plenty of shows 
with amazing women characters, including 
“The Witcher” and “Game of Thrones,” but the 
misogynistic ways in which these shows por-
tray women by hyper-focusing on their bodies 
prevent them from being truly great examples 
of representation. “Castlevania’s” director 
even refused to show one of the most powerful 
women in the show topless, moving away from 
the ever-present sexy powerful lady trope. 

SAFURA SYED

MiC Columnist

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

“Ujima,” meaning collective work and 

responsibility in Kiswahili, is a concept that 
defines the importance of unified action to 
create change. The term often materializes 
by way of strikes, sit-ins and other forms of 
protest. Integral to Black activism at the 
University of Michigan, Ujima has inspired 
visible change, including the formation 
of alliances between student groups, the 
establishment of an academic department 
for Black students and uplifting spaces for 
minority students on campus. To capture 
the practice and impact of the concept, the 
Department of Afroamerican and Afri-
can Studies‘ Program Manager Elizabeth 
James, LSA senior Solomon Lucy and U-M 
alums Kai Dotson and Justin Williams from 
the Black Student Union curated an exhibit 
using its name — “UJIMA: Collective activ-
ism at the University of Michigan.”

Located at the south end of Haven Hall, 

the exhibit includes descriptions, posters 
and photographs from as early as 1853 and 
as recent as 2017. It presents multiple cam-
paigns and activist groups that aimed to 
address discrimination against Black stu-
dents through community organization and 
coalition-building. 

Those unable to visit UJIMA in person 

can still engage with the exhibit by visiting 
the virtual gallery, which provides just as 
illuminating of an experience. Administra-
tive Coordinator at DAAS Arielle Chen, who 
managed the creation of the virtual gallery, 
noted that she and her colleagues aimed to 
make the gallery accessible to a wide array 
of people, including neurodivergent indi-
viduals and people with visual and audi-
tory impairments. When speaking about 
her motives behind creating the virtual 

gallery, Chen stated that “art tends to be for 
the elite,” but by making the exhibit public 
and accessible, students and other members 
of the Ann Arbor community could actu-
ally benefit from it. With access, viewers can 
learn about the several Black student-led 
movements that have shaped the University 
for the better.

Among these student-led movements 

was a sit-in following the assassination of 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., held on the day 
of his burial, April 9, 1968. On the same day, 
members of the then-newly established BSU 
locked themselves inside the Administra-
tion Building and demanded an increase in 
funding and Black representation amongst 
faculty. The sit-in pressured the University 
to establish the Center for Afroamerican 
and African Studies — now called DAAS — 
which serves as an academic department 
devoted to Black studies. However, the num-
ber of Black faculty had barely increased by 
1970, sparking a wave of protests known as 
the first Black Action Movement. This time 
around, not only did the BSU play a critical 
role, but other Black student organizations 
— such as the Black Law Student Alliance, 
Black Medical Students, Association of 
Black Social Work Students, Black Psycholo-
gist Organization and Black Educational 
Caucus — did as well. And, in 1970, after 
administrators 
disregarded 
demonstra-

tions for months, then-University President 
Robben Fleming agreed to meet with the 
aforementioned groups. Collectively, the 
organizations issued a list of demands to the 
University:

1. 10% Black enrollment by fall 1973.
2. 900 new Black students by fall 1971 – 

450 freshmen, 150 transfers, 300 graduate 
students.

3. An adequate supportive services pro-

gram, including financial aid to finance 
Black students’ education.

4. Graduate and undergraduate recruit-

ers (9) to recruit Black students.

5. A referendum to the March Student 

Government Council ballot to have students 
vote on assessing themselves $3.00 for one 
year for the Martin Luther King Scholarship 
Fund.

6. Tuition waivers for minority group 

students who are also residents of the state 
of Michigan.

7. The establishment of a community-

located Black Student Center.

8. All work of a permanent nature on the 

Black studies program is to be halted until 
an effective input is fully developed by a 
community-university forum.

9. The creation of a university-wide 

appeal board to rule on the adequacy of 
financial aid grants to students.

10. A revamping of the Parent’s Confiden-

tial Statement.

11. There should be one recruit for Chica-

no students to ensure 50 Chicano students 
are admitted by fall 1970.

12. Black students are to be referred to as 

Black, not Negro or anything else.

More than half a century since the pro-

tests erupted, the University has not satis-
fied these demands. Despite the University’s 
inaction, BAM demonstrated the strength 
of collective action, successfully advocat-
ing for the establishment of the first minor-
ity institutions on campus. Black students 
demanded the establishment of a commu-
nity-located Black Student Center, which 
led to the foundation of the Trotter House 
and Ambatana Lounge — the first spaces 
dedicated to minority students on campus. 
Today, a newly-renovated Trotter Multicul-
tural Center exists in these buildings’ places 
after Black students campaigned for a more 
accessible institution in early 2014. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2021 — 7
Michigan in Color
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UJIMA: Collective work and responsibility 

at the University of Michigan

NEIL NAKKASH

MiC Columnist

While in quarantine during the sum-

mer of 2020, I turned to binge-watching 
as my central form of escapism. Many 
mornings began with laying on my couch 
and watching at least a few hours of tele-
vision. I indulged in all of my favorite sit-
coms, from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” 
to “Everybody Hates Chris.” The humor of 
these shows was a perfect distraction from 
the uncertain realities of a peak-pandemic 
world. 

My absolute favorite sitcom to watch is 

“Living Single,” which depicts the lives of 
six friends exploring their 20s in Brooklyn, 
N.Y. What I really love about this show is 
how multi-faceted each character is. While 
they’re all pursuing their own careers in the 
professional world, none of the characters 
fall into the “token Black character” trope 
as they still have their own faults and areas 
for growth and there are no central white 
characters in the show that their narratives 

revolve around, making them very fleshed-
out characters. For a 30-minute sitcom, each 
of the central characters had a fully round-
ed-out story arc and the show had plenty of 
drama, making it the perfect series to binge 
all through my summer. While watching 
these shows, I couldn’t help but wonder as to 
why current Black TV lacked the same sort 
of effortless authenticity as some of my favor-
ite shows from the late 90s and early 2000s. 
There seems to be a disconnect between 
older and more recent depictions of the 
Black American lifestyle; Many of the more 
recently produced Black TV shows, specifi-
cally ones created in the past several years, 
seem to be more directed towards white 
audiences.

In considering contemporary Black TV 

shows with questionable levels of authen-
ticity, shows like “BlackAF” or “Black-ish” 
come to mind. While I do enjoy shows like 
“Black-ish” to an extent, many of these 
shows seem to be greatly catered towards 
white audiences, as they take time to explain 
aspects of the Black American experience 
that would otherwise be implied in a show 

that was simply just for Black people in 
America. Most episodes of “Black-ish” begin 
with the main character and patriarch of the 
Johnson family, Andre Johnson (Anthony 
Anderson), explaining some aspect of the 
“typical” Black American lifestyle. The audi-
ence for these monologues is seemingly non-
Black, and more specifically white, viewers. 
This speaks to the larger commercial suc-
cess that is seen when Black narratives are 
watered down to be made palatable to white 
audiences. However, this comes at the cost 
of sacrificing more elaborate depictions of 
Blackness. Wider audiences outside of the 
Black community may not understand the 
implied facets of Black American lifestyle 
and its niche cultural references, so these 
typically have to be spelled out for the sake 
of more widespread comprehension. While 
these may seem like insignificant sacrifices 
to make, this ultimately diminishes a piece 
of the tasteful charm of Black TV and some-
what reduces the standards to which Black 
stories can be told on television.

The Catch-22 of Black TV

UDOKA NWANSI

MiC Columnist

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

With Mars moving into Sagit-

tarius and your seventh house of part-
nerships, now is a great time to socialize, 

which is one of your favorite activities 

anyway. The seventh house rules over all 
kinds of relationships, not just romantic 

ones. Even if you’re not searching for 
love, you can still gain a lot from a new 
platonic or work relationship, and you 
may develop a bond with someone you 

hadn’t expected to get along with.

When Mercury enters fiery 

Sagittarius and your eighth house 

of rebirth, your passions may become 
reignited. If you’ve been wanting to 
start a new project, now is a great 
time. Be realistic with your expecta-

tions; otherwise, you may be too 

discouraged to continue if 
your plans don’t blossom 

into fruition.

This week’s celestial 

events perfectly align to favor 
academic success for your sign 

with the end of the semester 
quickly approaching. Now is 
a great time to dedicate your 
relentless drive to your studies 

so you can learn all that 

you can.

With Mercury in Cap-

ricorn and your seventh house 
of partnerships, you may feel 
more willing to form new con-
nections, especially in regard 
to work relationships. Now is a 
great time to get to know your 
coworkers on a deeper level.

Mars shifts into fel-

low fire sign Sagittarius and 
your ruling house, the house of 
creativity. Now is the time to 

pursue your wildest ideas. Don’t 
be afraid to let your imagination 

sway you into new directions 
with your artistic process; you 
may unexpectedly create some-

thing extraordinary.

Mars enters Sagittarius 

and your fourth house of home 
and family, spurring you to turn 

your attention to your home. 
Now is a good time to initiate a 
renovation plan or reach out to 
a family member. Now is also 
a great opportunity to start 

working on projects you’ve been 

planning for a long time.

This week, Mars enters 

your sign and your first house 
of the self. At this time, you may 
feel more invigorated to pursue 

anything you’re passionate 
about. Especially with a new 

semester starting soon, if you’ve 
been wanting to take a class out-
side of your major or join a new 

organization, this is a great 

opportunity to do so.

When Mars enters 

Sagittarius and your second 

house of love and finances, you 
may develop more confidence in 
speaking candidly to others about 

both romantic and monetary 
matters. Scorpios can often be 
very guarded, but now is the 

time to let down your walls and 
express your honest thoughts.

Since Mercury rules over 

intellectual pursuits, this is a good 
opportunity to ask your instructors 
any final questions and form a study 
group before finals. When Mercury 
enters Capricorn and your fourth 

house of home and family, you 
should talk with your family and 
reach out to childhood friends.

When Mars enters Sagittarius 
and your twelfth house of the 

subconscious, you may enter a state 
of great optimism. This is a wonderful 
time to work on creative projects. And 
not to bring down your mood, but you 

should also be sure to manage your 
expectations since it is easy to be too 

optimistic and somewhat careless 
at this time. This is a great time to 
connect with new people or deepen 

your existing bonds.

Mars enters Sagittarius 
and your ruling house, the 
eleventh house of group 

dynamics. This could bring a 
sudden surge of energy in your 
social life, as well as ease any 

possible anxieties you may have 

when talking to people. Now 
is a great time to confidently 

introduce yourself to 

new people.

When Mars enters 

Sagittarius and your tenth 

house of career ambitions, you’re 
potentially taking a new course 
of action to achieve your career 
goals. Pursuing a field of study 
or extracurricular activity un-
related to your career goals may 
provide you with an important 
transferable skill you may other-

wise not have developed.

