El cuerpo desnudo en los escenarios de la Segunda República: liberación o cosificación de la mujer. Una aproximación a través de la obra La pipa de oro

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, in a context of growing eroticization of culture, theatrical performances featured the first female nudes. This article aims to analyze how the female body was presented in these performances and the diversity of meanings derived from its exhibition. In order to do this, I will take as a reference one of the most successful literary works of the Spanish Second Republic, La pipa de oro, whose importance within the period lies in being the first performance to show a naked female breast on stage. From the intersection between social history, the history of sexuality and feminist theory, I will address the double reading that this issue raises: the perpetuation of the traditional role of the “woman as object” or her own liberation. The discursive examination of the script and the hemerographic analysis of its social impact will serve as complementary tools when it comes to addressing the duality of the problem. A comparative analysis of the two positions reveals that only in the light of their convergence, considering one as the consequence of the other, can we attempt to enact a global understanding of such complex phenomenon.