Ženin / Woman’s

The pornographic magazine for women by Lenka Klodová was part of the artist’s degree portfolio for the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. It takes the form of a fictional photo-reportage that documents the entirety of an act of love from the woman’s perspective. In the photos the main role is taken by the man, who faces the reader, while the women’s body is only hinted at by glimpses of her knee, hands, underwear, etc.

“I wanted to depict the sexual act through the eyes of a woman, and so I photographed everything that I saw in reality. The personal experience was important.” (LK)

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Ženin is a pornographic magazine for women that was the outcome of several years of research by the artist as part of her doctoral thesis. She drew on her knowledge of the visual language of pornographic magazines and an analysis of female sexuality and desire, and underpinned her project with a survey of women that dealt with topics such as: self-interest, a woman in the centre of attention, woman perceived as more than merely gender, strategies to provoke excitement and desire, touching, emotions or memories. One of the main benefits of this survey was the finding that most of the women interviewed expected a story from a pornographic magazine. Klodová created the entire narrative of her magazine on this premise and used the concept of time as one of the important tools with which she aimed to place control in the hands of the reader, for instance, by turning the pages and setting the rhythm of the unfolding story. Another innovation of the magazine Ženin was the way it expanded the story over several weeks, which meant it was not restricted merely to the repetitive sexual act like traditional pornography. Klodová depicts sexuality within a broader context. She also focuses on intimacy and everyday life in the home. Her concept shifts from sex and eroticism to the study and depiction of interpersonal relationships in which sex is merely one of the many components in a mutual relationship with other aspects of a partnership. Klodová intensifies this approach visually, as the photograph is supplemented  by motifs of lace and other folk attributes, or by other soothing and homely images. The sexual act is then depicted in a way that fundamentally deviates from common standards. It is portrayed as if it was taking place right in front of the reader’s eyes, who now identifies with the actress herself. This again opens up themes of the gaze and the attempt to bridge distance rather than alienate via pornographic material. However, this bridging of distances obscures the depiction of sex. We see only hints, a glimpse of hand or knee, since the woman being made love to is also the photographer, and the reader is thus an active part of authentically depicted intercourse. The final output of Klodová’s doctoral research, the pornographic magazine for women Ženin, was exhibited at the Gallery of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague along with the text Zásadami pro vytvoření pornografického časopisu pro ženy / Principles for the Creation of a Pornographic Magazine for Women, which contained the basic rules for publishers of pornographic magazines wishing to meet the demands of a female public.