In April, approximately 10 percent of the Bowdoin female population (about 100 women) agreed to pose nude for a photo exhibit meant to ’empower’ them. How exactly does having your naked body on display for anyone to see make anyone more ’empowered’? You got me on that one.

Here’s more from Nathan Harden at The College Fix:

College Exhibits Nude Photos of Female Students, for ‘Empowerment’

“Photographs of women laughing, gazing dreamily into the distance, hugging friends or teammates, holding up soccer balls, or, in one photo, biting into a greasy piece of pizza…”

The above description pertains to a recent exhibition at Bowdoin College’s Lamarche Gallery. The newly curated exhibit of photographs, entitled, “Celebrating Women, Celebrating Bodies,” was on display for several weeks in April.

A previous version of “Celebrating Bodies” was exhibited on the campus in 2012.

According to the Bowdoin Orient, a student publication, the “Celebrating Bodies” display featured “an exhibition of nude photos designed to celebrate the diversity of women on campus and their bodies.”

A source with knowledge of the exhibit told The College Fix that the images showed breasts and vaginas, although done “more artfully” than porno style.

Speaking of 2012’s exhibit, project director Laura Armstrong said the nude photographs were supposed to help women counter “self-critical internal and external dialogues.”