The main part of the human body, not including the head, arms, or legs.
It comes from Italian 'torso', originally meaning the trunk of a body or a statue without limbs. This goes back to Latin 'thyrsus' and related words referring to stems or stalks.
Artists often practice by sculpting or drawing just the torso, because it carries so much of the body’s movement and strength. The word hints at how we see the torso as the 'trunk' from which everything else grows.
Discussion of torsos in art, media, and fashion has often objectified women’s bodies, reducing them to midsections and erasing personhood. Male torsos have been idealized differently, often as symbols of strength rather than objects of passive display.
Use anatomically neutral language and avoid reducing people, especially women, to body parts (e.g., “a torso shot of a model”). Emphasize the person rather than isolated body regions when possible.
["upper body","trunk (anatomical)"]
Women artists, athletes, and medical professionals have challenged objectifying depictions of the torso and advanced more accurate, respectful representations of bodies.
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