Without Lusting?

Can you look at a woman's body without lusting? Is it possible to admire it like a fascinating piece of art or a beautiful scenery?

 

Well. For me it´s a mans body... but No, I can´t admire it without lusting. But I can turn this into positive emotional power and keep the distance (physically, psychologically).

 

Ive tried to fool myself that that could be done, but it cant. At least not for me. The reason a womans body is like art is because of what it does to our brain, which is lustful. That being said, i think there are levels of lust and you can transform your appreciation of a womans body into a more subtle and higher form of sexual admiration rather than the primitive "me man, me want f**k", which is generally how we see things. So in a way im saying i have learned to see it as an art form, and there is beauty in that view, but it is an art form still fueled by lust.

 

I think it's possible. Most of the time it leads it lust, but I do think it's possible for it not to. Especially in art. I enjoy the beauty of nude art, like in a gallery at a museum or something, and I rarely ever feel any kind of lust about it. But that might be more due to the talent of the artist than the beauty of the body itself. I'm not sure.

 

I dont see it that way, personally. You aren't objectifying the person as a whole, you're just admiring something beautiful.

I believe in God, so I believe that He made all of us. So to me, admiring someone's beauty is admiring a work of art, created by Him. That's not objectifying, in my opinion, as long as it's done respectfully and within your own mind. (i.e., you don't need to go tell the girl you're looking at that you admire her body, because she might not enjoy that) I think we are all beautiful creations, both on the inside and on the outside, so I don't see anything wrong with recognizing and admiring that. It's completely natural.

I do agree, though, with what you said about admiring without lust maybe being impossible, or at least very difficult, for us now. I never used to have a hard time with that at all, honestly. For some reason lust just has never been a tough issue for me. But now it obviously is, big time, so I'm not sure if that will ever go back to how it was before. Probably not, as is the consequence of poor choices.

 

I´d so much like to answer . But I prefer to read some different opinions.

 

Well, im just throwing this out there, but if there is no lust in the equation and we are just admiring form or gods creation as others have said, then why is it just women (or men if the situation is reversed)? Shouldnt i also enjoy a well formed man or kid that matter. Im not saying youre wrong exactly, just foor for thought.

 

Thanks lol

 

You can. I admire Arnold Schwarzenegger’s physique and the work he’s done through bodybuilding. My coach is 40 yrs old and looks 20 yrs old with how fit he is. There’s another member in the weigh lifting group I admire who’s 65 yrs old and also has the physique and stamina of someone who’s 20 yrs old; shit, he’s doing ninja warrior obstacle courses like a boss.

 

I think you can. But sexual orientation does play a factor as well, which doesn't necessarily equal lust. Sexual attraction and lust aren't the same. They often go hand in hand, but I don't think they're the same. I can recognize when I find someone objectively attractive, versus when I am sexually attracted to someone (i.e., they give me butterflies). But I don't think the latter necessarily means I'm lusting after them.

Even with my own husband, there's a difference between the three. Some moments I can look at him and know he is an attractive man, but not necessarily feel it. Then some moments I can look at him and feel all twitterpated because he's so handsome. And then some other moments, I can look at him and feel aroused and desire sex, because he's attractive. Those are three different moments. Sometimes they can happen together, but it's possible for them to happen separately as well, if that makes sense.

 

Oh of course you can admire a womans body without lust and vise versa. You can admire the sheer beauty and nature of said woman. If you can't then I suppose you have zero control of yourself

 

I stand corrected, very well put. I guess i was thinking of lust and attraction as the thing, but you are absolutley right. Attraction is a normal human thing and that is quite natural and different from lust. So on that note im changing my opinion to yes.

 

From a point of view I can agree to that, but I think it´s the other way round. Lust or Un-lust is the basic feeling, it comes out of the body, thats not influenceable by you. Normal healthy persons do supress that basal feeling more or less, so that the spectrum of feelings that @Castielle and @EthanW. described so well, is left to the consciousness.
For some reasons one can loose this control and lusting overweights the other feelings. I think this is what others here ment by "lust". In my mother tongue we use the same word "Lust" for all things we want to have or to do. Maybe this explains a little bit, how I´m thinking.