"sexualized" images in art class?

Question

i came across this debate in an art teacher group i'm in on facebook and i thought it was an interesting topic.
basically, this male middle school teacher created a watercolor project based on doing a master study of georgia o'keeffe's work. the teacher example he created to show the kids was a copy of the o'keeffe work below.

he mentioned that he was giving the kids lots of o'keeffe works to choose from.
everyone in the comments of his post immediately pointed out the strong resemblance to a female vulva and said it was not an appropriate example to share with middle schoolers (11-13 year olds). they claimed that o'keeffe has hundreds of paintings to choose from, and he shouldn't have chosen one that so strongly resembles genitalia.
o'keeffe herself has rebuked others' claims that her artwork looks sexual. 
what do you think? should we let art be art, and use this as an opportunity for students to grow in maturity? or should anything remotely sexual be completely avoided? how would you feel as a parent if your student came home having made this in art class?

Accepted Answer

I just don’t think vaginas have to be viewed as inherently sexual. Vaginas are a body part, and in art can symbolize fertility, feminine energy, power, etc. I do not view Georgia Okeeffes work as vulgar at all.

Answer

I'm honestly so sick of prudes equating art to pornography when it comes to children 🙄
This is something that hits home for me right now because my city is currently hosting a traveling art exhibit and a minority of people in my town (in the Bible belt) are FREAKING out. Thematically the installation is supposed to represent the migration of people all over the world and features several nude sculptures. I took my 8 year old and we discussed how the form of the sculptures, the lines in their muscles, make them look as if they are in movement and constant migration. My son didn't give a second thought to their nudity and neither did I. Genitals aren't even included, they aren't meant to be particularly realistic. 
The installation is outside in a very public, highly trafficked park and apparently some locals are upset because they don't want their children seeing these sculptures. Which is insane to me. 
When my son was 6 I took him to New York to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and we saw nudity and sexualized themes in all types of different art. Some classical, some modern and quite lurid. Again, no big deal. 
I think middle schoolers are old enough to handle Georgia O'Keefe. It's not like the teacher is doing some deep exploration into the sexual themes of her work 🙄

Answer

people need to stop equating the human body to being purely sexual... the human body has been depicted in art since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve for example are written and depicted as nude for the most part
Equally some of the most famous sculptures and artwork depict the human body... 
Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles -  4th century BC

Venus de Milo by Alexandros of Antioch - between 150 and 125 BC

David by Michelangelo - between 1501 and 1504 AD

Even Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci - 1490 AD depicts the naked form of a man

Nudity doesn't mean the art in question should or needs to be sexualised. Art is about appreciating beauty in all forms not just pretty canvasses of flowers and nature scenes.
I don't think this needs to be made a big deal of it's just one form and one interpretation of art and in all honesty this is the least 'offensive' depiction of a vagina that there is

Answer

If those 11-13 year old boys can look at this painting and see that it resembles a vagina then there are bigger and far more damaging issues going on here.

Answer

I think people should just stop making everything sexual. The painting to me doesn’t look like a vagina. I googled some of her artwork and they look amazing.

Answer

I’m not restricting art to my child with the exception of Mapplethorpe-level nudity/kink until older. 
I cannot be bothered by O’Keefe. I saw plenty of penises and vulvas in Greco-Roman art at a young age. Nudity does not equate to porn, and really I’m not even bothered by ancient art porn (Greco-Roman vases). 
We plan on going to many museums and will not censor the content. Including a pretty awesome exhibit on Priapus we saw in Vienna. I’m still wondering what one does with a penis bigger than oneself.

Answer

How is that sexual???
Even if it was referencing a vulva, they are not inherently sexual. 
And this piece of art is zero sexual.

Answer

I thought it was two women connecting their bum cheeks together 😂😂

Answer

I mean... do we really think a middle school child will look at this and automatically think “vagina!”? 
Because I remember barely even knowing what my own vulva looked like so I cannot imagine seeing watercolor styles like this and thinking anything other than “cool color blending.”
Also vaginas are not sexual by nature. People sexualize that part of the body. Where’s the outrage for paintings that look like belly buttons?

Answer

The body itself isn't inherently sexual. I mean, children do also have bodies.
And, I think at a certain age, it is completely fine to have more sexualized images in art class. Nothin crazy.
But bodies in art is kind of a big thing, I don't think it needs to be made into something "weird".

"sexualized" images in art class?

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