Question about nudity and arousal

[Jose]

This is a personal question that I’ve been debating inside myself for almost a year or so. I know that nudity by itself is not sinful, since artist and doctors often need to look naked human bodies, but please, I would be very greateful if you take your time to read my thoughts.

I’m an art student, and yesterday I was looking for women figures references online, and after a while looking at those bodies I notice that my own body was starting to respond at those images. Right after I noticed, I closed my eyes and prayed, asking God to give me the grace to look at those bodies in a healthy way. After I calmed down, I tried again and felt the same way, so I gave up on the search.

This was not the first time this happened to me, I gave you this example so you know the type of problem that I’m passing through.

Are these “involuntary” arousals sinful in anyway(Mortal or Venial)? If it’s not what kind of would be sinful? What is the precise meaning of “covet” on the ninth comandment? It is necessarily to actively desire a sexual relationship with other women, or these “involuntary” sexual movments of your body can also be in this category?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

 

[Vico]

…
Are these “involuntary” arousals sinful in anyway( Mortal or Venial)?
…

What is the precise meaning of “covet” on the ninth comandment? …

Sin is voluntary.

It is a physical stimulus (through the eyes) and is causing arousal, therefore it should be avoided when sought for the purpose of sexual pleasure. Modern Catholic Dictionary (Father Hardon) has this to day about masturbation:

Direct stimulation of the sex organs outside of sexual intercourse. The self-stimulation can be physical, by means of some external object, or psychic, by means of thoughts and the imagination. It is a grave misuse of the procreative faculty and when done with full consent and deliberation is a serious sin. The sinfulness consists in setting in motion the generative powers while preventing them from achieving their natural, divinely intended purpose.

The Catechism states deliberate stimulation to derive sexual pleasure.

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure.

Baltimore Catechism

Q. 1317. What is forbidden by the ninth Commandment?
A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another’s wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires.

Q. 1318. Are impure thoughts and desires always sins?
A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we try to banish them.

Q. 1320. What does covet mean?
A. Covet means to wish to get wrongfully what another possesses or to begrudge his own to him.

Q. 1324. In what does the sixth commandment differ from the ninth, and the seventh differ from the tenth?
A. The sixth commandment differs from the ninth in this, that the sixth refers chiefly to external acts of impurity, while the ninth refers more to sins of thought against purity. The seventh commandment refers chiefly to external acts of dishonesty, while the tenth refers more to thoughts against honesty.

 

[Jose]

So you’re saying that the arousal was not sinful, because I did not intend to look for sexual stimulation? Did I understand it right? Also, do you think that I had the right approach when dealing with this problem?

 

[F_Marturana]

Hi Jose.

I would suggest you ask a priest.

Often here you will get many different responses.

If it’s not voluntary, in my opinion it isn’t a sin.

But it’s better to speak with a priest personally about this.

 

[sealabeag]

The problem is, you may not be looking at those images for the purpose of arousal, but just for images for your art, however as human beings, images of nude people, especially those of the opposite sex, often elicit arousal - it’s just our nature! And models are often particularly attractive, thus exacerbating the potential for arousal. Temptation to sexual sin then becomes much more likely as a result, once those feelings are aroused. As such, it is definitely an occasion of sin, in my opinion, to intentionally and knowingly place yourself in a situation where sexual temptation may or will occur.
I used to be a photographer, and used to research a lot of photography online. However I realised that a lot of photography sites contain nude images, and while generally tastefully done, they were still images of naked people - more often than not beautiful young women. And as a man, that was too much of an occasion for temptation for me to put myself in. So I had to stop using those sites. My soul is more important than my art!

 

[Jose]

I understand your point, but wouldnt this mean that doctors are often putting themselves up on an occasion of sin as well? Studying anatomy is not that different betwen these two areas, of course, in a medical college they will have way more in depth sight of the human body than artists, but they’ll both have to see nude bodies either way.

 

[sealabeag]

I would be inclined to distinguish between looking for reference images online of the nude form for art and images of naked people say, in a biology textbook, or on a medical website. My reasoning is the way in which the two are often portrayed - in artistic images, especially online, oftentimes the line between artistic and erotic/pornographic are blurred, and one can often, whilst searching for images, stumble across pornographic images. With medical imagery, there is absolutely no artistic, erotic, or pornographic portrayal or intent. I understand that as an artist one must study the human form, and I’ve done that myself. I think it is in many ways a subjective question - how do you respond to these images, or life-models, etc. For me, they are an occasion of sin as they tend towards sexual temptation. For you, maybe not. But I’d definitely advise erring on the side of caution, particularly online.
The human form is not sinful, nor is the objective act of looking at the human form - naked or otherwise. The problem is human concupiscence. So we have to use prudence.
Like you mentioned - a doctor who must examine a patient’s body of course doesn’t sin, even if their patient is naked, and even if they experience some unintentional arousal, which I’d say they generally don’t, as they are so accustomed to seeing it! I think your situation is a little less clear, and you’ll need to use your own judgement of what is necessary and what isn’t in terms of your artistic pursuits, and where you need to draw lines.

 

[sealabeag]

Also - no, involuntary arousal is not a sin, neither mortal or venial. The question is really one of occasion of sin - could you have avoided that situation and thus avoided temptation, did you need to be there, is it part of your job, and so forth. And those are really questions for you to examine, maybe with the help of a good priest.

 

[Jose]

Thank you very much for taking your time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it =D

 

[Vico]

So you’re saying that the arousal was not sinful, because I did not intend to look for sexual stimulation? Did I understand it right? Also, do you think that I had the right approach when dealing with this problem?

Yes, but there is a discovery aspect. If you find that this involuntary act leads to voluntary sin, then it may be a near and voluntary occasion of sin which needs to be avoided.

Baltimore Catechism

Q. 774. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?
A. There are four kinds of occasions of sin:
1. Near occasions, through which we always fall;
2. Remote occasions, through which we sometimes fall;
3. Voluntary occasions or those we can avoid; and
4. Involuntary occasions or those we cannot avoid. A person who lives in a near and voluntary occasion of sin need not expect forgiveness while he continues in that state.

Q. 771. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?
A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places and things that may easily lead us into sin.

Q. 772. Why are we bound to avoid occasions of sin?
A. We are bound to avoid occasions of sin because Our Lord has said: “He who loves the danger will perish in it”; and as we are bound to avoid the loss of our souls, so we are bound to avoid the danger of their loss. The occasion is the cause of sin, and you cannot take away the evil without removing its cause.

Q. 775. What persons, places and things are usually occasions of sin?
A.
1. The persons who are occasions of sin are all those in whose company we sin, whether they be bad of themselves or bad only while in our company, in which case we also become occasions of sin for them;
2. The places are usually liquor saloons, low theaters, indecent dances, entertainments, amusements, exhibitions, and all immoral resorts of any kind, whether we sin in them or not;
3. The things are all bad books, indecent pictures, songs, jokes and the like, even when they are tolerated by public opinion and found in public places.