The body has a value and is measured compared to other bodies.  In society we value thinness as a good strength in the female body.  In the male body we value size and strength. We receive all of these values through the media. Studies even show that tinnier females on television are more likely to be in a romantic relationship in comparison to their larger costars. “The body is a sign in a language of social meaning.”  Thinness does not always function as sexual but also as a sign of bulimia, anorexia or fitness obsession.   The theme in Collier Schrorr’s art  is the fluidity of gender and sexual identity.  In the specific photograph: a body is depicted as a sexual/erotic object and the gender is ambiguous.   Using the body symbolically like Schorr did is not unusual, the ancient Egyptians made sculptress, paintings etc that showed the pharaoh as stronger and bigger than ordinary mortals.  Art that deals with the body uses a “metonym, a part that symbolizes the whole.” http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/schorr/index.html 

The Body Is a Sign