Do you enjoy tasteful nude photographs of beautiful women? Then surf on over to Domai and see what you’re missing.
Domai is Eolake Stobblehouse’s celebration of the female nude. If you do not believe that the photography of the nude female can be art, or if you believe that nude photographs are inherently pornographic, or even if you are just looking for pornography, then this site may be one you will want to surf past. If, however, you believe that the nude, female form can be appreciated for art, or you are interested in tackling the philosophical qualms of the contemporary female nude and its place in society, you may wish to beach your mouse here for a moment.
The home page is hardly a sensual assault characteristic of pornographic sites. It is in fact as clinical and non-erotic as you might find fronting the website of a gynecologist. Of the major sections available to surf (Essentials, Art, Articles, Stories, Photos, Members), only Art and Photos reveal nude women. The handful of photographs that are available to the casual site visitor tend to be artfully composed and artfully framed. Nary a hint of sexual exploitation there.
And yet, there is the issue of the name. “DOMAI” is the acronym for Dirty Old Men’s Association International. Stobblehouse contends that the site name is a mere joke; that when he first founded the Association, way back in nineteen hundred and aught ninety-six, no self-respecting person would ever refer to themselves as a “dirty old man” except as a joke. He goes on to posit that with the rise of spam, email and the growth of the Internet, there is even more need for domai.com. He argues that his is an oasis of beauty in an otherwise seedy, pornographic web. He laces Domai with quotes like William Blake’s observation that “the nakedness of woman is the work of God.” Doth Eolake protest too much?
Probably not. I am more than a little embarrassed to admit, especially in this current era of American modern Puritanism, that aspects of Domai are very pleasing. I especially enjoyed the Arts section. Stobblehouse uses his forum to expose to the world, 14 artists in 14 galleries who specialize in depicting the female nude. The works are very good. The artists styles range from anime to Vargas-like pinup to the abstract. But the surreptitious, super-secret, spy code way in which a site visitor has to enter the Arts section begs the question of would the Venus de Milo be considered pornography, and not art, if she had both her arms?
A stated goal of Stobblehouse is to make people more people [admire beauty], unhindered by old-fashioned ideas. Which “old-fashioned” ideas? That to eye a young, lithe nude woman is to incite a riot of rapacious desire? Or that young, lithe, nude women are as objectively artistic as, say a landscape? Or that only a particular height and weight and age range of young, lithe, nude women can be viewed as art? That may be where Stobblehouse stumbles. As one regular surfer to the site testified, “I just want to say that I never fail to be amazed by the undeniable and breathtaking beauty of a woman! Pivotal to this is the fact that DOMAI is the crystal-clear glass through which the unspeakable beauty of a woman is made known.”
Right. If by “beauty” you mean “young, firm, and naked.” No one would mistake the women portrayed on Domai for a Rubens or a Gauguin. Despite the stated goal of Domai to “make more people [admire beauty] unhindered by old-fashioned ideas, Stobblehouse hinders us just so. I mean, what if your idea of art is Stacey’s Mom?
So, on the .com Dish! site surfin’ scale, Domai rates an “M”, content appropriate for adults only. No matter how you slice it, Domai is website of nude, females. And it is a commercial venture, plugging memberships, and a book of photographs from the website.
