Unfit for public display: female sexuality and the censorship of fin-de-siecle publicity posters.

In April 1891, the Parisian and French authorities censored a poster created by designer Alfred Choubrac advertising a performance by the dancer Ilka de Mynn for outraging public morals. This essay analyzes Choubrac's case in relation to the law that defined obscenity violations and, more importantly, the commentary published in the press, which discussed whether the poster was explicitly appealing to base instincts and/or simply representing the female body in a manner considered beyond the boundaries of good taste. According to the press, the reasons for the poster's immorality were its clumsy form, its public accessibility and its manipulation of female sexuality, which, it was feared, would disseminate a contagion of desire to young females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]