Diary of a Nudist - Blog: May 2009

Friday, May 29, 2009

The Weekend Newds 5/29/09

According to Canadian journalist Sharlene Asam, the Internet has "sped up teens' sexual willingness and behavior."
7 out of 10 Spanish men say they have no problems getting naked.
Facebook has reinstated graphic photos of a woman's mastectomy scars after initially calling the images "sexual and abusive."
'I put these pictures out on Facebook to put a message out to women - check your breasts regularly and do not ever be ashamed of a mastectomy,' said Miss (Sharon) Adams, 45, yesterday. 'For Facebook to claim they were sexual and abusive was absurd. Facebook has online groups about sexual positions and some groups which are bordering on racist - but they ban this.'
Schools across the country are imposing bans or restrictions on hugs due to fear of lawsuits over sexual harassment or improper touching.
The rampant retouching of photographs in magazines which turns ordinary humans into something unknown in the natural world is causing a backlash.
It now seems fresh, even exclamation-worthy, when a magazine presents an unvarnished image. Last month, for example, an issue of Life & Style took the unusual step of declaring that a cover photograph of Kim Kardashian was “100 percent unretouched,” as if it had done a great service to the cause of pseudo-celebrity journalism. And People, in its “100 Most Beautiful” issue this month, included images of 11 celebrities “wearing nothing but moisturizer.”
A UK cable station is producing a "documentary" which "follows a Newcastle-based business building up to 'Naked Friday', a day when all of its workers will come to work nude."
Noting that "there's never a bad reason for celebrating the human body", Las Vegas City Life explores all the opportunities for non-sexual clothes-free activities in the Nevada/Arizona area.
Unbelievably, prison officials, prosecutors, judges and attorneys in Texas are gearing up for a big investigation over a photograph of a woman exposing her breast which was sent to convicted killer Robert Fratta.
“It’s a class C misdemeanor to distribute obscene material to someone in a correctional facility,” District Attorney spokeswoman Donna Hawkins said. “Any violation of the law will be investigated, although no charges are likely to be filed before the conclusion of the trial.”
A Malaysian editorial calls for a heavy penalty for "unhealthy activities" after a Danish production company taped a reality series on one of the islands off Johor where some participants were nude. Apparently an apology and the firing of the director were insufficient.
Some Australian men streaked through Sydney wearing special "nude suits" to promote a cell phone company.
Public interest law professor John Banzhaf has weighed in on the teen sexting issue.
Anti-child-pornography laws were designed to protect children, including teens, from coercion and other forms of exploitations by adults, and adults involved in or encouraging sexting by teens may reasonable be punished, just as they would be if they participated or encouraged teens to play strip poker, says Banzhaf. But when a teen voluntarily sends racy pictures of herself to an equally-willing teen of about the same age, the basis for prosecution - coercion, exploitation, or other wrongful conduct by an adult - is no longer present, so punishing participating teens for exhibiting themselves to others in emails may be no more justified that punishing them for exhibiting themselves to each other when skinny dipping or playing strip poker in private among only other consenting teens.
More news here on the "naturist walk" in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. Details are still sketchy, apparently FCN had nothing to do with it.
Topless coffee shop owner Donald Crabtree says that the female employee accused of being outside the establishment with no top on actually had her breasts covered with her hands and arms. Charges are unlikely to be filed, but the Vassalboro town meeting on June 8 should be interesting, since a nudity ordinance will be considered.
The Vassalboro coffee shop is cited as a reason for another town in Maine to enact preventative ordinances against adult businesses. Waterville planning board member Erik Thomas said "To me, it's better to be proactive about these things."
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has approved the image of a bare-breasted woman in a brochure, saying, "we concluded the images were not so provocative as to present a risk to teenagers or be unsuitable for the target audience."
Officials in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, are planning to auction off the site of the former Sunshine Park nudist resort because revenues are down. Residents would rather see the land cleaned up and left au naturel.
You've heard of "Banned in Boston", but how about "Censored in Chicago"?

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

NAC UPDATE American River, Auburn State Recreation Area, California

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/26/09

Has Illinois gone too far in an attempt to clamp down on sexting?
The ACLU and other organizations are going to have a field day with this legislation. The application to all is heavy on fail, but the biggest fail is this continued push to criminalize children. If we concede that sexting is a problem (and many would argue that it’s a media beet up and not a serious problem) how is turning teenagers into criminals and sending them to jail going to solve the problem? Vermont understands that the big stick approach shouldn’t be applied, it’s just a shame that most other US States don’t yet.
Actress Moon Bloodgood doesn't understand why her brief topless scene was cut from "Terminator Salvation."
"I just didn't feel as a woman that I should be apologetic about my sexuality," she said in an interview. "I thought the scene was appropriate. I thought it was beautiful. I have a very European feel about nudity. I just don't, as a woman, feel that I ever have to confine myself and be a certain way when sexuality is a part of me ... Why do we make such a big deal about it?"
Noted nudist Cheri Alexander is waging a public relations war against Carolina Foothills Resort. She has posted here and here that she is no longer recommending the venue, but will explain why only to people she knows who contact her through email.
Anne Hart reports that clothing-optional restaurants are booming.
A North Carolina school psychologist is alleged to have taken inappropriate photos of a nude male teenager, but in his defense claims to be a practicing nudist.
But that didn't explain away the photographs, which investigators found were inappropriate and crossed a line that gave them probable cause for criminal charges, Abell said. "The photographs the officers saw initiated the charges and, in their opinion and the opinion of the assistant district attorney here in Carteret County, they felt there is something more to it than just a photograph of a nude child."
84% of respondents to this poll feel that the new strip-search technology at airports is not worth the civil right infringements it creates.
The simple solution of adding signs has cooled off the "nude bathing war" between Germans and Poles in the Baltic Sea resort of Usedom.
Once again, public nudity is acceptable when done in the name of charity.
Once again, with the start of swimming season, textiles are stressed out over the horrors of putting on a bathing suit.
It's no wonder that so many of us dread putting on a bikini; they reveal every imaginable flaw, leave nothing to the imagination and expose all of the insecurities that we have about our bodies. Every year around this time, the tabloid magazines run a "best and worst" beach body story, with pictures of emaciated actresses with ribs poking out labeled the "best," and women with patches of cellulite or fleshy hips the "worst." To add insult to injury, they take a petite and perfectly toned woman that most of us would kill to look like and add some commentary about how brave she is to bare her "curves."
A private health clinic in Prague is offering free silicone-enhanced breasts to female employees who renew their contracts.
“I would rather have plastic surgery than a free car,” said Ms. Kalivodova, who opted for cosmetic breast surgery that would normally cost €2,600, or about $3,500, as well as liposuction on her thighs and stomach. These were physical enhancements, she said, that she could not afford on her €1,000 a month salary. “I feel better when I look in the mirror,” she added. “We were always taught that if a nurse is nice, intelligent, loves her work and looks attractive, then patients will recover faster.
An Ohio judge has ordered David Weber out of the nudist resort Paradise Gardens near Cincinnati.
"He just decided one day he liked it and didn't want to leave, so he took the wheels off his RV and built a little porch around it," Paradise Gardens' attorney, Joseph Krause, said. "The problem with that is that is not how these campgrounds work. No one's allowed to live there year-round. That's Ohio law." In a hearing last week, Common Pleas Judge William Mallory ordered Weber to get out - and take his trailer with him - no later than the end of June.
Wingnut commentator Debra J. Saunders calls the one million dollar wrongful death settlement in the case of Berkeley's Naked Guy a "jackpot for mom."
"Naked Words - The Body Love Project" is verbal nudism, a series of 15 monologues by women who attempt to come to terms with their own physical appearances.
"Dressed to Kill" is a book by doctors Sydney Singer and Soma Grismaijer, claiming that women who wear bras 24 hours per day have a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer.
A man found nude in a woman's bathroom claims to be a "closet nudist."

Dr. Peter Cumming, associate professor at York University and coordinator of the Children's Studies Program there, says that the Internet and cell phone cameras are "the big bad wolf" in society. that the uproar over sexting is today's version of the public outrage expressed over Elvis Presley shaking his pelvis on stage in the 1950s, and that making criminals out of teens for expressing natural curiosity over their own sexuality defies common sense.

"It would be very unlikely to see dozens of news stories announcing that some children we caught playing spin-the-bottle, or doctor, or strip poker," he says. "Yet many of the cases brought forward have been on the same level of innocence and experience as those activities. "In other words, kids are playing spin-the-bottle online."

Cumming goes on to argue that a distinction has to be made between nudity and child porn, a challenge which also faces nudism and naturism today if the lifestyle is to continue to exist as being family-friendly.

Sotomayor Once Blocked Tunick Nude Photo Shoot

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor once blocked Spencer Tunick from doing a nude photo shoot in New York. Story here.

Maybe it Wasn't the Nude Photo That Killed Jessie Logan

In a stunning news story, it has been revealed that the parents of Ohio teen Jessie Logan, who committed suicide last summer, never even brought up the subject of a nude photo during an investigation of their daughter's death.

Logan's parents have been waging war against lawmakers, educators and students, alleging that harassment and inaction over a nude photo Jessie took of herself led directly to the suicide, and have subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking damages from just about everybody involved. They even appeared alongside Ohio lawmakers who want to enact laws criminalizing teen sexting so that future suicides can be prevented.

It turns out that the family told investigators that Jessie was distraught over the suicide of a classmate, had recently broken up with her boyfriend, and, according to one uncle, might have been pregnant. Reportedly, the parents fought for months against releasing a blood sample for a pregnancy test, which they said was negative. But in the days following the girl's death, nobody in the family even mentioned the nude photo to investigators.

The whole affair is tragic -the loss of a young life, the pain felt by family and friends, and the unsolved questions which always remain after such a senseless death will continue to haunt all those close to Jessie for as long as they live.

It's human nature for people to seek answers for events which shatter their lives, but it is the responsibility of police, lawmakers, counselors, media types and other professionals to remain calm and rational in the face of runaway emotion. In the case of Jessie Logan, it appears that everyone took the nude photo story and ran with it, without even examining all the other factors which likely drove the teen to her sad decision. The nude photo made for sexier television, more sensational political fodder, and contained the degree of tawdriness necessary to make this an international story.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24. It's clear that more preventative measures are needed, that parents, teachers and students need to be made more aware of the warning signs and how to deal with them before it's too late. With Jessie Logan, we may never know if she was giving off any warnings, and if those warnings were ignored or unrecognized, because the nude photo took center stage and captured all the attention.

Jessie's parents claim that it was "shock" which blocked out the nude photo in their minds when initially speaking to investigators, yet this "shock" didn't prevent them from coming up with several other reasons for the suicide.

Let's hope that this lawsuit is thrown out, that the Ohio law fails to pass, and all these people get back to trying to live their lives as best they can. I know what it's like to live with unspeakable tragedy, the loss and pain never completely leave, but life always goes on somehow, and time helps to smooth the road.

Society's tug-of-war over nudity, with Puritanical revulsion on one side and endless fascination on the other, is the root cause of making this story so sensational. Until we come to grips with the fact that we all have bodies, that we are essentially all the same underneath our clothes, we will continue to see this sort of irrational, unfounded and dangerous gut reaction to expressions of teen sexuality from the keepers of a repressed society.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

New Challenges to Public Nudity Laws

The topless doughnut shop in Vassalboro, Maine, is the center of a topfreedom equality issue when it was reported to police that one of the waitresses was outside the shop without a top on. No charges were filed in the incident, but the matter has been referred to the district attorney for possible review.

My guess is that there will be no charges for a couple of reasons. First, the woman reported to be topless is described as being "probably involved", so there could be some question of eyewitness accuracy. Second, there is some doubt as to whether the town's allowance of the topless establishment prohibits nudity outside the cafe.

The absence of charges in this case will likely result in further revision of a proposed nudity ordinance by the town's Board of Selectmen, which is scheduled to make a final vote at a town meeting on June 8.

The article on the incident notes that there were also males outside the cafe, but does not say if they were topless or not. The report also does not give a reason why the employees were outside. These are important facts to uncover, because if the men were outside on break just to get a little sun, perhaps the woman decided to join them in a display of topfree equality, merely enjoying the freedom given by society to all men.

By insisting that the "probably involved" woman be questioned while fully clothed, and not demanding the same of the male employees, trooper Shawn Porter likely engaged in sexual discrimination. We really need to get a grip on this female breast phobia and stop treating women like criminals when they exercise their topfree equality. This case in Maine could potentially be important in the fight for topfreedom.

In the town of Bracebridge, Canada, a group of naturists paraded nude in front of an Ontario Provincial Police department to protest public nudity laws. There is no word if the Federation of Canadian Naturists had a hand in the incident, but a recent blog post by Malcolm Scott, calling himself a "Proud Naturist", declared his right to be naked anywhere, anytime. Scott is apparently affiliated with FCN as the Coordinator of Public Awareness and Education, but there is nothing at this point to link him directly with the protest.

There were no arrests in Bracebridge, but due to several complaints the matter has been handed over to the district attorney, similar to the case in Maine. If anyone has further details on this incident. please forward them to me at nudiarist@gmail.com. I'd like know who's behind the protest, and if the naturists had a permit for their public assembly.

Perhaps it's time for naturists in the US and Canada to stand up for their rights to be nude. With public events such as Bare to Breakers and The World Naked Bike Ride gaining public acceptance, society seems to be ready for more clothing optional areas on public beaches and lands. Naturist and nudist organizations need to move from reactive into proactive mode if these challenges are to be met.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Weekend Newds 5/23/09

89 year-old Jo Wallace remembers when fundraising was done in formal wear, but now she has posed nude for a calendar to raise money for a local women's shelter.
Members of the Dunscar Golf Club in the UK raised £10,000 for breast cancer by selling a nude calendar.
The nude body of a man has been found floating in the waters east of Wreck Beach in British Columbia, Canada.
James Martin explores places to get naked in Europe.
Nick Sortal of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel got naked for a yoga class. Instructor Ray Whetstone said, "If you can stand in front of a mirror naked 15 minutes a day and deal with the issues, you're going to be a very healthy person."
Illinois has become the latest state to make "sexting" a crime.
I'm not so sure I understand this story. A size 12 Cambridge student is in the finals of a modeling competition because "Studies have shown that 63 per cent of girls would rather be a topless model or lap dancer than a doctor, lawyer or teacher...I want to use this opportunity to show young girls that education is important, as someone that has prioritised my own education and worked really hard to get into Cambridge and get my degree." So...she's trying to put a stop to female objectification by posing in her bikini?
Tom Lubbock critiques the great painting "Reclining Nude" by Jean-Francois Millet.
A 12-year old boy in Dallas could face obscenity charges for having a nude photo on his cell phone.
"It makes me uncomfortable to think about that," said Scott Mauro, a school counselor. "I mean, these are just little kids. I think it's just a cry for attention, just looking to give them attention."
Time Out New York promotes the World Naked Bike Ride event through Central Park on June 20.
I'm not so sure that this letter to Annie's Mailbox is legit.
I looked around and saw a man in a hot tub. I assumed this was the guy, so I kept watching. Five minutes later, he got out of the hot tub and really was naked. I instantly got a headache and my eyes burned. I want to do something to prevent children from seeing him. I know he was in his own backyard, but you could see him clearly from the field. Would that count as public nudity? Do you think I should report him? — Scarred for Life
You want to run around naked in public? Apparently all you have to do first is declare you are doing it for charity. 21 year-old Roy McGuinness was cheered on by family, friends and spectators has he rode "The Naked Bus" in Ireland to raise money for the MS Society.
Model Amy Houlton, wearing only the paint of an artist's design, walked through downtown Toronto to promote the Canadian Bodypainting Championships.
Amy poses next to the main doors, below huge images of CBC’s best-known presenters. Peter Mansbridge’s stern, 20-foot tall face seems to disapprove. Inside, an encounter with a school group elicits a mixed reaction. One girl dismisses it as “disgusting,” but some of the teenage boys can’t believe their luck: “Oh my God, was she naked?!”
A poster of a toddler pretending to breastfeed her doll is eliciting both scorn and praise at a hospital in Manchester, England.
25 actors had to take off their clothes for 25 days during the filming of "The Girl Who Lived", the story of a young woman who survived the Auschwitz death camp during World War II.
The volunteer cast and crew worked from 4pm to 4am to avoid work and study commitments and spent months taking part in trust exercises and workshops so the nude scenes could be filmed with ease.
Former Albion mayor Michael Hadick, when asked about nude photos of him posted on a website, declared, "I am naked every day. It isn't a big deal."
Guy Adams, commentator for The Independent, cannot understand America's strange morality laws.
A Munich art exhibit celebrates 150 years of body images in photography.
A Denver prosecutor says that a woman flashing her breasts in public is not free speech as protected by the First Amendment.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/23/09

The above photo by Globe and Mail photographer John Lehmann was a finalist in the Canadian National Newspaper Awards. It shows members of Skinnydipper Club bowling in the nude at Lucky Strike Lanes, New Westminster, B.C. April 27, 2008.

Friday, May 22, 2009

N Magazine Summer 2009 Issue

The current issue of N Magazine has been published by The Naturist Society and is available for purchase here. The editors were kind enough to put the table of contents and an article on Haulover Beach online for all to read. Also, kudos to The Academic Naturist for his article "Freehiking Wisconsin", but you will need to purchase a copy to read that one, as well as "Naked in Santa Barbara", "Lake Como Love Story", "Getting Back to the Naturist Future", and much more.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

NAC Action Alert - Auburn, California

************************************************** ********************
NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE
ACTION ALERT
************************************************** ********************
http://www.naturistaction.org
************************************************** ********************
Copyright 2009 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is responsible
for its content. Permission is granted for the posting, forwarding or
redistribution of this message, provided that it is reproduced in its
entirety and without alteration.

DATE : May 21, 2009
SUBJECT: California: American River
TO : Naturists and other concerned citizens

Dear Naturist,

This is an Action Alert from the Naturist Action Committee concerning an important situation in the state of California.

The city council of the town of Auburn, California, recently passed a resolution asking for increased enforcement and citations for nudity at the nearby Auburn State Recreational Area (SRA). The area includes traditional clothing-optional sites along a portion of the American River.

The resolution was introduced by Councilman Kevin Handley as a response to recent media attention given to online advertising that touted some stretches of the river as sites for illicit sexual behavior. That advertising has been removed. The local resolution has no real teeth, and California Park managers responsible for the Auburn SRA have indicated that they do not feel obligated to change their existing enforcement policies concerning simple nudity at traditional areas within the State Park unit.

Naturists have an opportunity to say, "Thank You." NAC is asking for your immediate action in the form of your letters and e-mails of encouragement and appreciation to key California Parks personnel.

BRIEF HISTORY AND DISCUSSION

Skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing are a decades-old tradition on the American River. The clothing-optional sites that would be most directly affected by the resolution are those located northeast of the town of Auburn, below the confluence of the North and Middle branches of the River and above the site of the abandoned Auburn Dam project on the American River.

THE LAW Section 314.1 of State Penal Code is the portion of general state law used to charge indecent exposure, but California courts have said that absent any lewd content, benign nudity like skinny-dipping is not prohibited under 314.1. Title 14, Section 4322 of the California Administrative Code bans nudity in State Park units. However, well established State Parks policy and court decisions have limited restrictions on nudity in traditional areas of clothing-optional use, and Section 4322 itself allows for the creation of areas within state parks to be set aside officially for clothing-optional use. Historically, California Parks personnel have not hassled people for mere nudity along the American River, unless a specific complaint has forced them to respond.

WHAT IS NAC DOING?

Since 2006, the Naturist Action Committee has been closely, directly and continuously involved with officials of the Auburn SRA. Following the recent resolution by the Auburn City Council, NAC board member Allen Baylis spoke with District Superintendent Scott Nakaji, who understands the issues of naturists. Superintendent Nakaji assures NAC that Auburn State Recreation Area intends to continue under established California Parks policy (the Cahill Policy).

NAC has also sent a letter expressing its concern to the Auburn City Council. Various local news stories on the matter have quoted NAC board member Baylis, as well as a spokesperson for the River Dippers, a Sacramento-area affiliate of the Naturist Society.

WHAT IS NAC ASKING YOU TO DO?

The Naturist Action Committee is asking you to do just ONE thing:

1) Write immediately to the California Parks officials
responsible for the Auburn State Recreation Area.
Thank them for their consistent and reasonable response
in the face of the local resolution.

NAC is not asking at this time for letters to be sent to the City of Auburn.

WHO SHOULD WRITE A "THANK YOU" NOTE?

NAC is asking ALL NATURISTS and other concerned individuals to write, regardless of your residence. The area at issue is U.S. public land being administered as a California public park. This is a matter that affects us all.

WHOM TO CONTACT

You may send letters of appreciation that are written on paper or e-mailed. We want tangible evidence of our participation, so NAC is not asking for phone calls in this instance. Please write to both of the following key individuals.

Scott Nakaji
Gold Fields District Superintendent
California State Parks
7806 Folsom Auburn Road
Folsom, CA 95630
snakaji@parks.ca.gov

Mike Lynch
Auburn Acting Sector Superintendent
California State Parks
501 El Dorado
Auburn, CA 95604
mlynch@parks.ca.gov

Please send a copy of your correspondence to:

Ruth Coleman
Director
Dept. of Parks and Recreation
1416 Ninth Street,
Sacramento, CA 95816
director@parks.ca.gov

NAC would enjoy the opportunity to read your thank you notes. Please send a copy to:

NAC
P.O. Box 132
Oshkosh, WI 54903
auburn@naturistaction.org

Key points to remember when writing:

1. This is intended to be a THANK YOU note to State Park
managers who already understand our message. Please
resist the temptation to convince them of the benefits of naturism.

2. Identify yourself. Anonymous correspondence is generally
disregarded. If you are a California resident, please say
so prominently.

3. Be brief and polite.

4. Say clearly and sincerely that you SUPPORT and APPRECIATE
the continuing position of officials at the Auburn SRA in
their management FOR nude recreation. Skinny-dipping and
nude sunbathing are benign activities that are a
traditional part of the diverse use of the Auburn SRA.

5. Gently remind the officials that mere nudity is not lewd.
Naturists do not condone lewd conduct in public.

6. Say briefly and specifically that you OPPOSE any move to
ban skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing on the
American River.

WHAT ELSE TO SAY?

Keep your correspondence focused and uncluttered. This is intended to be a "thank you" for specific State Park officials. At this point, they don't need to be converted, they need to be appreciated.

MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Additional information and links are available, along with this NAC Action Alert on the Web site of the Naturist Action Committee.

http://www.naturistaction.org

Select "Alerts" and find this NAC Action Alert under Current Alerts.

There you will find the complete text of the Auburn City Council's resolution, as well as NAC's response to the City.

PLEASE HELP NAC TO CONTINUE HELPING NATURISTS!

The Naturist Action Committee is a volunteer nonprofit organization that exists to advance and protect the rights of naturists throughout North America. Fighting for the clothing-optional recreational use of public land is expensive. To do its job, NAC relies entirely on the voluntary generosity of supporters like you. To donate to NAC, use the address below

NAC
PO Box 132
Oshkosh, WI 54903

Or call toll free (800) 886-7230 to donate by phone using your MasterCard, Visa or Discover Card. Or use your credit card to make a convenient online donation: www.naturistaction.org/donate/

Thank you for choosing to make a difference.

Naturally,

R. Allen Baylis
Board Members
Naturist Action Committee

---------------------------------------------------------------
Naturist Action Committee (NAC) - PO Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Executive Dir. Bob Morton - execdir@naturistaction.org
Board Member Allen Baylis - rab@baylislaw.com
Online Rep. Dennis Kirkpatrick - naturist@sunclad.com
---------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/20/09

Porn stars are getting more parts in mainstream films.
A Colorado Springs attorney is asking a judge to declare the city's ban on nudity in licensed liquor establishments unconstitutional.
The saggy pants proposal in Tennessee is likely dead.
Red Moser, PA, PhD, chronicles his life in nudity.
One of my strangest experiences in 1975 was a nude graduate school interview! I applied for a master's program at UC Davis. In order to save me the travel time, three of the faculty members offered to interview me at their home in Sonoma County. I arrived promptly, clad in my interview suit and tie. There was no answer at the door, but I heard them call me from the back yard. As I entered through the gate, I couldn't help but notice that I was a bit over-dressed for the occasion. I don't really know, but I think I am the only person ever to be interviewed for graduate school by three nude faculty members.
"The Sex Education Show" in Britain tackles the issue of pornography and how it is affecting young people today. Episodes can be viewed online here.
The lawsuit over the death of Luis Andrew Martinez, aka Berkeley's Naked Guy, has been settled.
The media is finally waking up to the fact that people are being virtually strip-searched at airports, due to the fact that privacy advocates are calling for a suspension in the use of the imaging machines.
John Zammit, candidate for the European Parliament, is running on a platform which includes the creation of nudist beaches.
A costly legal battle looms in the UK over the protection of a nudist beach from an apartment complex which threatens to look out directly onto the sunbathers.
A columnist takes on the naked vs. nude debate.
In the context of his argument, it seems better to be naked than nude; the former implies a choice, whereas the latter implies that a female is being unwittingly, unfairly dominated by a male gaze. Other critics would argue almost the opposite, however. Kenneth Clark, a critic who is often credited as the source of the debate, believed that nude forms are the admirable equivalent of Titian’s Venus; they are ideal forms of art, while naked bodies are just their embarrassing, real-life counterparts.
The owner of a BBQ restaurant in Reading, Ohio, has been ordered to "cover up a bit" a female mannequin standing outside the establishment. The mannequin has been wearing a bikini top and shorts, and some people complained that it was "too sexy". The owner plans to appeal.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Bad for Nudism

Last night VH1 ran an episode of "New York Goes to Work" where the personality visited The Terra Cotta Inn clothing-optional resort in Palm Springs, California. You can watch it online here.

From the minute owner Tom Mulhall walked out and New York (aka Tiffany Pollard) exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, his wiener is hanging out", it was clear that this was going to be a public relations disaster for nudism.

Tom, I love ya, you run a great resort and your wife Mary Clare is a gem, but what were you thinking? Sure, you might get some extra bookings from the show, but allowing you and your guests to be "censored" on national TV with animated smiley faces and fig leaves was a bad move

"I always thought that good hygiene required pants" was one of New York's "observations", thus perpetuating one of many common myths about the lifestyle. "Your dick is out, I'm sorry, I'm just noticing it" she said as she covered her eyes and looked away. About her job, she exclaimed, "It's just hard to do it with all these old nekkid people around". Holding her head, she cried "Help me help me help me" as if asking God to deliver her from Hell. And she also referred to one rude guest as a "mother****er" when he got irritating. Was this guy a plant from the network, Tom? I hope so, because if he was an actual guest it's speaks poorly for your clientele.

"Your thing is out, like, you're hanging out" New York said as she served breakfast to a guest, as if she's never seen a penis before. There were also several shots of an older gentleman, who was greeted with comical sound effects and rude comments.

The one moment of truth was when New York, an African-American, said that seeing all these nude people was all a huge culture shock for her, thus illustrating all too painfully the lack of racial diversity in the clothes-free lifestyle.

Tom, you were used by VH1, who put an over-the-top comic personality into your midst merely to exploit your resort for cheap laughs. The show did nothing, NOTHING, to put the nudist or naturist lifestyle in a positive light.

(SPOILER ALERT)

And to top it all off, Tom had to fire the woman because she was a ditz and drank on the job, and tore up the $10,000 check in her face, causing New York to storm off in anger , making Tom not only look like a weird California dude, but an asshole as well.

Every dealing I've ever had with Tom and Mary Clare has been terrific. The work hard, run a great resort, and are perhaps the friendliest online nudists you will ever meet. I hope that they can come up with an antidote to the poison pill they were forced to swallow last night.

Debunking Myths About Child Nudity

Must reading from Dr. Paul Rapoport.

The prime myth is that all photographs of child nudity are illegal. This is no longer in the background but considered a specific "fact." In early April, Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post left no doubt: "Nude photos of minors -- even if the minor is you --are child pornography." Not only is there no basis for that absurdity in jurisprudence in North America, it maligns family snapshots as well as photos in the arts, medicine or naturism; and it declares the sole purpose of a lack of clothes to be immoral, harmful sexuality.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/18/09

British model Katie Price faces possible arrest for nude sunbathing in the Maldives.
Foreign Office travel advice warns: "Nudism and topless sunbathing are prohibited throughout the Maldives including on resort islands. "The Maldives is a Muslim country and serious violations of law may lead to a prison sentence."
No disciplinary action will be taken against six students who streaked across the stage at the Green Mountain College commencement in Vermont.
It's sort of become a new tradition at the school, one that is not encouraged but not "stamped out, either," (communications director Kevin) Coburn said. "It happened at last year's commencement," Coburn said, hours after Saturday's streaking.
Married for 43 years, Ian and Nancy Watters love the nude lifestyle.
"We do everything in the nude; mowing, mulching, gardening. We always seem to have a lot of laughs and that’s good for your health."
A sex theme park slated to open in October has been torn down by Chinese authorities because it was "vulgar, ill-minded and misleading."
A South Texas town is debating whether or not to ban "nude sketch classes" in the Arts District, due to its proximity to schools and day care centers.
Laurie Penny says that burlesque today is nothing more than a "misogynist scam."
I began to realise that what really differentiated my act from that of your average stripper wasn't the performance, or the costumes, but simply class. Like the majority of women who choose to get involved with burlesque, our troupe was made up of middle-class girls, with the act offering us an opportunity to indulge in raunchy exhibitionism without feeling "cheap" (at least initially). Burlesque serves up misogyny in a tasteful package of feathers, while the explicit nature of the shows increases each year. When I was performing, complete nudity was frowned on, but burlesque acts such as Satan's Striptease and Empress Stah have since started offering full-frontal flashing.
Why are law enforcement officials targeting Craigslist for censorship? It's "good politics."
A teen has been suspended by his fundamentalist Baptist educators for attending a prom at another high school because there was "dancing, rock music and hand-holding."
A group of Belgian actors rode nude on bicycles at the Cannes Film Festival to promote their movie.
The Christian Action Network in Cape Town, South Africa, want to criminalize pornography and other forms of adult entertainment after a recent Sexpo event. Miss Nude South Africa says that Sexpo was not exploitative.
80% of Key West tourism-based businesses support a clothing-optional beach.
A Lutheran pastor has denounced Miss California USA Carrie Prejean as a hypocrite.
"(In) America, according to this girl ... it is totally immoral for two people of the same gender who are in love to enter into a lifelong, faithful, monogamous union, (and) apparently not a problem at all for a 17-year-old girl to be photographed half-naked for the expressed purpose of sexually arousing millions of heterosexual men to whom she is not married and who are not married to her."
Dita Von Teese was ordered to show "less cleavage" during the Eurovision Song Contest.
A nude sketch of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is up for auction in Paris. Imagine if a similar image of Michelle Obama went on sale in New York City, and you can clearly see the cultural divide.
Does a teacher have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" for files stored on a school computer?
The producer of a Danish TV reality show has apologized for shooting a nude scene on a Malaysian island.
If you think nudity has caused some trouble through the years, consider these instances where articles of clothing caused riots.
Kenyans want the statue of a nude boy in front of a court house to be demolished claiming it "encourages pedophilia."
One woman ignores the "naked baby police" and lets her kids frolic nude in a wading pool.
Striking a balance between "nudists and prudists" has been difficult at North Lido Park in Sarasota, Florida.
The Calgary Music Festival features bands, nature, and a "nude slip-n-slide."
Helena writes, "stop being so prude and get your kit off" after witnessing women showering in their bathing suits at the local gym.
Being a Swede, where nudity is something natural, this is incredibly strange to me. When I'm in the communal showers I notice that these women are still wearing their swimmers but had they been naked I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. Why is it that some women, depending on their upbringing, culture or religion, cannot get undressed in front of other women. We all look the same. And when I'm in the shower I don't look at what your bodies look like. I'm busy trying to squeeze out of my wet, too tight bathing suit and just wash myself. I have no interest in looking at other women. So please, just get your kit off and feel that it's ok to wash yourselves properly. Because you can't really reach all your bits when wearing a Speedo!
A new naked tribe has been found in Nigeria.
William Cook, who founded the Eastwoodhill Arboretum in Gisborne, New Zealand, was an avid nudist.
...he often did his gardening unimpeded by clothes, apart from the boot he wore to help with digging holes, and visitors soon learned that it was a good idea to phone for an appointment.
Attorney Scott H. Greenfield calls the criminalization of teen sexting as "the stupidest thing ever."

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/14/09

In the fallout the Carrie Prejean Miss California fiasco, a photographer contradicts her story that her breasts were exposed because the wind blew open her top.
(Domnic) Petruzzi says he shot the photos on a "normal day" and it's ridiculous to blame it on a breeze. As for Prejean's claim the pics were taken between shots for the modeling session (she was posing for Bliss Magazine), Petruzzi says -- "she was totally posing and looking into the camera."
The co-executive director of the Miss California Pageant resigned yesterday saying she no longer believes in the organization because Prejean was allowed to keep her crown, despite apparent violations of her agreement.
Yet more Prejean news. The Baptist Standard reports that conservatives are split over the beauty queen and if she is the appropriate role model for Christian women.
Writer Dave Welch added comments on the conservative website World Net Daily in his article, "Is Carrie Prejean Really a Hero?" "I respect Miss Prejean for her stand and her willingness to testify of her faith," Welch wrote. "However, I much more highly admire, respect and esteem my wife, my daughters and all the girls and women who have chosen the higher road. They are determined to show that their worth is not in how they look in a bathing suit but that they are wonderful creations of a loving God who designed them with meticulous detail as they are."
Is Gok Wan "genuinely interested in changing the perception of beauty", or is he just exploiting ordinary people with his contest "Miss Naked Beauty"?
A clear sign that mass media and cultural pressures are destroying the body images of yet another generation, British swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, age 19, thinks of herself as "unfeminine".
"I think there is a problem in that girls don't think it's cool to be sporty. I had that feeling when I used to trudge into school after training with my hair wet, smelling of chlorine, with no make-up on and thinking, 'Oh God, all the other girls look fantastic.' We need to change the view that you can't be a sportswoman and be feminine. I am certainly feminine outside the pool.'"
Radio talk show Michael Smerconish puts his ass on the line. Literally.
A Nevada assemblyman was reprimanded for viewing pictures of "scantily clad women" on his own personal computer.
Legal challenges continue in Virginia over the constitutionality of regulations defining nudity in adult establishments.
The ABC board revised its own regulations, which prohibit the display of "genitals, pubic hair or anus by an entertainer, or any portion of the areola of the breast of a female entertainer."
In the face of mounting legal pressures, Craigslist will no longer offer an "Erotic Services" category, and will create a new one titled "Adult Services". That should do the trick.
Julie Hilden, writing on FindLaw, says that prosecutors should not charge sexting teens with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor".
It would be absurd, for instance, for two sixteen-year-olds who are dating to be deemed criminals because each sent a nude photo of him- or herself to the other, while meaning for the photo to be kept entirely private. Teenagers do have First Amendment rights – and, with the exception of obscene (and in this context, obscene-as-to-minors) speech, sexual speech is protected.
Auburn, California, seeks to crack down on nudity and "lewd acts" on a remote stretch of the American River.
Council members say the beach has long been a destination for nude sunbathers without a problem. But it's recently become known for sex encounters after it became more accessible to boaters with the opening of a new section of river last year.
A 35,000 year old figure of a voluptuous nude woman is perhaps the world's oldest sculpture.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/13/09

Alanis Morisette will reportedly do a nude scene during the next season of "Weeds". Morisette once said, "I'm a leave-the-bathroom-door-open nudist, which is sometimes disconcerting for my friends."
A 73 year-old sex offender was found hiding under an assumed name at an Arizona nudist venue. He was using an RV with tags registered to the previous owners.
With all the worry about "stranger danger", it's illuminating to discover that approx. 8000 children were injured by falling televisions in 2007.
A new book argues makes the case that running in bare feet "may be the kindest thing you every do for your body."
I really feel terrible for the family of the Ohio girl who committed suicide because she was bullied by her peers over a nude photo she took of herself, but suing the school, the town and some of the students is compounding the tragedy unnecessarily.
The Texas Senate voted to repeal a $5 per person "admission fee" to strip clubs, which was declared to be unconstitutional, and agreed to replace it with a "new tax" on sexually oriented businesses. And the difference is...?
Are curvy young women rejecting the "half-starved look" which has been the body ideal for a generation?
... the impossibly bouncy paradigm of birdlike frame supporting implausibly big breasts that originated with porn stars — and Barbie — may be on the way out, at least among teenagers. Mind you, what women tell market researchers doesn’t always reflect what they really think. Do women, especially young women, even always understand the fraught cross-currents of reaction that their own — and other women’s — bodies elicit?
The first streaker has struck Citi Field.
An ad for Air New Zealand shows pilots and flight attendants wearing nothing but body paint.
A sexting case in Palm Beach County has resulted in search warrants to the homes of five teens, as well as seizures of cell phones and computers. No charges have yet been filed.
Vanessa Hudgens, who took a nude photo of herself a couple of years back, is open to doing nude scenes in movies.
Sexploitation hits a new low in a Latin American show called "Without Breasts There is no Paradise."
All nudists and naturists laugh at the annual "How to Get in Bikini Shape" article.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Monkeying Around

Sue Redfearn, writing in The Huffington Post, says, "You might want to sit and think a minute before taking your kid to see gorillas and the like."

Her reason? Gorillas poop and eat it, they play with their genitals, and have copious sex with each other.

Sounds like a typical American teenager. The only difference is that teens don't eat their own poop, but eating at Sonic qualifies as an equivalent.

Poor Sue got all flustered because the poop eating was witnessed by her 3 year-old who then needed an explanation, and it got even worse when a teenage boy jockeyed for a better position in order to take a photo of the hungry ape.

This incident took place at the Washington Zoo, and coincidentally the same thing happened in the same place some years ago when I took my daughter to the zoo. A young gorilla pooped, grabbed it from his anus, and proceeded to eat it like a twinkie.

To this day we still laugh about it.

Another time two elephants were going at it at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. I still have that photo.

Both times I didn't have to explain because my daughter already understood how bodies function.

Sue admits, "maybe I don't get out much." That's an understatement. Sue apparently does not watch NatGeo, Animal Planet or Discovery on television, where animals do all sorts of interesting things, like eating each other, and feeding other dead creatures to their young. Or maybe Sue does watch these shows with her daughter and finds it easier to explain cannibalism and murder in the animal kingdom than it is to talk about sex and excrement.

Anyone out there that has or had children knows that kids love a good poop or fart joke. There's really nothing funnier than just saying the words, they will roll around laughing for hours.

Not at Sue's house, though. At Sue's house, such things are "virtual car wrecks", with animals behaving like "drunk rugby players".

To her credit, Sue took this as a learning moment and asked the Ape House curator why the gorillas eat their own poo. It turns out that they do it for perfectly natural reasons, like being too lazy to seek out fresh food, or to recycle all the vegetable matter that did not digest completely the first time through. The curator also said, "It's rather amusing to me to watch visitors react. There are parents who use it as an educational opportunity, and then parents who move their child quickly away."

As with the bodily functions of apes, the way human bodies work can be easily explained without getting all red in the face. It's really sad that people cannot handle the sight of natural animal activity, and imagine how difficult it is for them to talk to their own children about the way their own bodies work.

Children are curious about everything, and if parents are too uptight to answer questions in a matter-of-fact and honest manner, kids are going to seek out their own answers, which can lead to disinformation.

In our textile society, kids become teens become adults, and throughout the entire growing process they constantly wonder what other people look like under their clothes. Be honest now, it's a natural thing. In nudism and naturism, that barrier is broken immediately, the curiosity is fulfilled, and body parts become very unimportant.

The reason kids laugh at gorillas eating poo or having sex is because they are encountering something completely foreign to them. Kids will also laugh if they see someone else naked because it's something they rarely or never encounter. I grew up attending nude swims at the YMCA, and seeing my friends without clothing was completely ordinary. No laughing, no pointing, no joking, no big deal.

By making nudity taboo, we have made monkeys out of ourselves. Try explaining that to your kids.

Is Nudity Now a Family Value?

Here's one of the photos TMZ posted today of a topless Carrie Prejean, complete with obscured nipple. Prejean claimed in a press conference today that it was the wind which must have blown open her top. Does her hair look windblown in this photo?

Again, I don't care that she posed nude, or made a sex tape. And I don't care that she believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. As she points out, our President shares the same view.

What irks me to no end is that she is turning this personal belief into a political cause in a attempt to deny civil rights to American citizens seeking merely to marry the person of his or her choice. You can believe what you want, but stay out of my face and the faces of other citizens.

Prejean turned into such a spectacular train wreck that Donald Trump and the sexist pageant industry decided to keep her on as Miss California, undoubtedly due to all the publicity which has piqued new interest in the manufacturing and selling of American beauty.

There is a strange upside to this all, since the Christianist right is embracing this girl as some sort of second coming of Christ. Appearing on Dr. James Dobson's radio show, Prejean said that she was being tempted by Satan, and that she believes herself to be a witness for God in her crusade against gay marriage.

Carrie Prejean looks and struts like a porn star, yet talks like Billy Graham. She's more than willing to expose her body to sell lingerie or to tempt men, but she calls herself a moral Christian.

None of this really makes any sense at all. It's like someone declaring that the human body is dirty and shameful, and then getting naked at a nudist resort. It's wacko talk.

Wait, I said there was an upside. The fact that Prejean posed nude, the fact that she had breast implants, and the fact that she is a beauty queen who struts near naked to be judged on her attractiveness to men, has not prevented her from becoming a role model for Christian women. The sexual side of this whole affair has been rendered moot, immaterial, inconsequential.

In an era where all type of nudity is taboo, when kids are being prosecuted for taking nude photos of themselves, along comes Carrie Prejean and her sexed-up image to make nudity a Christian value.

Now Prejean's nude photos are far from being nudist or naturist, but in comparison the family-friendly clothes-free experience seems pretty tame compared to what the right wing is willing to accept from the beauty queen. It's as if the Christianists decided that there was no way to win the culture wars, so they took on someone who looks like a porn star to help get the funds rolling back in.

The political battle over abortion is all but dead with Obama getting ready to make the first of what should be several appointments to The Supreme Court. Gay marriage is now the big demon, but the tide of states approving same-sex unions is likely too big to stop. The only hope for the Christianists is to maintain it as a political football throughout the south, the last bastion for dying conservative philosophies, and prevent a 50 state sweep. And what better person to lead that effort than the Anita Bryant of the 21st Century, Carrie Prejean.

This is the time for nudism and naturism. The economy is in shambles, the Moral Majority is tied to the hull of the Pequod and sinking, and the new spokesperson for the Christianists is a bimbo. It's a perfect storm for lobbying for more public land to be set aside for clothes-free use, not only as a benefit to naturists, but for local communities looking to fill their coffers with new found revenue.

If the moralists think that the sight of Carrie Prejean looks pretty good, then they have little to oppose when it comes to a few nude beaches here and there.

Bye, Bye Carrie

TMZ has obtained new topless photos of Carrie Prejean, so in addition to hypocrite, phony, bigot and ignoramus, she can now add liar to her title.

UPDATE: The Trumpster has decided to keep this train wreck as Miss California. There is no such thing as bad publicity. The media is eating this up.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/12/09

Click here.

The Daily Newds 5/12/09

In the UK, the town of Huddersfield is going all out to encourage breastfeeding.
Paula Cooey, a professor of religion at Macalester College, wonders if embattled beauty queen Carrie Prejean is God's prophet or a porn star.
We as a nation promote biologically reductionistic, soft-porn views of human bodies and human sexuality, views that do real violence to real people. Don’t get me wrong; my objection is not to naked bodies and eroticism, but to shrouding sexual titillation and drooling voyeurism with the patina of beauty and virtue, a phenomenon hardly restricted to the religious right alone. We don’t have to be right-wing evangelicals to be confused about our own flesh; bought, marketed, and consumed through various print and electronic media. Indeed, the Carrie Prejeans and Jerry Falwells Jr. of the world are just more transparent.
Two Ohio teens were sentenced yesterday over nude photos on their cell phones.
Prior to sentencing, defense attorney Charlie Rittgers told Powell the boy was never in trouble before and was “remorseful” for his actions. “He is scared to death at being here,” Rittgers told the judge. “He did not realize that what seemed to be an innocent act on his part could have ramifications.”
Some people expect Facebook to cave in to protesters who want all groups devoted to Holocaust denial to be banned. The powers-that-be at Facebook put themselves in this predicament when they banned photos of mothers breastfeeding their children. Free speech is messy. You can't only demand the free speech you want without accepting the free speech of others. Banning the breast, now banning certain political speech, and what will be the next topic to be deemed offensive? Nudism? As abhorrent as the Holocaust deniers are, they cannot be denied their First Amendment rights.
The rash of recent nude photos of celebrities is likely part of a larger trend.
"The commonsense response is that anyone who thinks popular culture is not helping to shape the social script for teens just isn't paying attention," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "It's not the only thing, of course, but what's happening in celebrity culture and what's happening amongst their peers has a great influence on teens."
The media need to stop sexing up all body parts - now "love handles" are seen to have a "damaging effect" on a person's love life.
AANR's publicity campaign for a world record skinny-dip has reached at least one news outlet.
Go for it! Shirley Jones's husband thinks it would be "sensational" if the 75 year-old beauty would pose nude for Playboy.
If you are unemployed, Central Casting in New York is looking for nude models.
Lily Allen, forced to change lyrics to one of her songs by the BBC, told her audience that she "might just go naked. In fact, I think everyone coming to watch should go naked. I want to see the whole crowd naked." I think she really means it.

La Fonte des Neiges

La Fonte des Neiges (Thawing Out) is a short film by French director Jean-Julien Chervier, and was shown at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

When twelve-year-old Léo arrives at the naturist camp that his mother's dragged him to, he thinks he's going to pass out. Until he meets Antoinette and her magic mushrooms…

This 27 minute film can be downloaded in its entirety here, in French language with no subtitles.

Monday, May 11, 2009

The Daily Newds 5/11/09

The original Calendar Girls are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their fame by stripping down again.
The Boston Herald has an article today on the closing of Eastover Resort and the reaction of Nicky Hoffman Lee, the managing director of The Naturist Society.
Lee said the event will likely have to leave New England to find a host that can meet its needs. The group might have to go back to a campground-style get-together.
The top ten sporting streakers are admired for their naked ambition.
A painting of three topless women bathers was banned from a New Zealand art show for being "not appropriate for family viewing."
One of the things you definitely don't want at a nudist beach is a crocodile.
Another columnist reacts to the virtual strip-searching of airline passengers.
Industry sources tell us the naked truth is bare butts save bucks, and it won't be long before the government bean-counters are using the strip scanners to replace thousands of security guards.
What do you say to a naked lady who knocks on your door in the middle of the night to bum a cigarette?
When Peaches Geldof was photographed while enjoying topfreedom at a beach, the photos helped her land a six-figure deal as a lingerie model for Miss Ultimo. "I'd rather young girls were looking at a normal body like mine rather than an anorexic model," she stated.
Is it theologically correct to equate Hugh Hefner with Pope John Paul II for views on nudity and shame?
The Timberline clothing-optional resort is reopening in Tennessee.
If your bar hosts an event where women wrestle in a pool of Jell-o, is anyone really surprised if nudity ensues?
Katharine Mieszkowski writing in Salon says to stop worrying about your children.
We don't tolerate sex crimes. There's just much less tolerance of any kind of abuse of kids. Those people are prosecuted very aggressively, to the point where a lot of them are behind bars now. But if other parents aren't letting their kids walk to school, or wait at the bus stop by themselves, if you buck the trend, doesn't that make your kid more vulnerable, because other kids aren't doing it, too? If everyone was doing it, wouldn't there be safety in numbers?
The European reality television show which had contestants run nude on Johor Island is under investigation my Malaysian officials for possibly violating cultural sensitivities.
An editorial in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin calls for the end of the FCC.
...the FCC isn't needed to serve as vulgarity police. The audience has complete control. If people are outraged by certain behavior they won't watch the show or, even more powerful, they will let the advertisers know about their displeasure. The FCC has become an unnecessary government agency that's wasting time and money filing lawsuits over situations viewers can control with an "off" button.
Business owners are upset with Myrtle Beach officials who want to turn away hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders who come there each May. The issues are noise, violence, obscenities and nudity.
"At a time like this, you can't pick and choose the tourists you want. You take the ones who are going to come," said Robert Kelley, who owns three hotels and a restaurant.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/11/09

Click here.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/10/09

Click here.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Nudist Blogosphere

On a public forum, Debbie Jungwirth, the Network Coordinator for The Naturist Society, had this to say about me: "I find the lack of naturist credentials and/or background information about the administrator of this blog a little disturbing."

Now "disturbing" is a word freely thrown around by the talking heads of the 24 hour news cycle in order to catch people's attention, and I want to assume that Debbie didn't mean that I'm causing her stress, worry or anxiety. Perhaps what she meant is that by remaining anonymous, my words here carry little or no credibility as far as she's concerned.

Either way, this is problematic. To so offhandedly dismiss the words of someone who has been blogging since 2005 in support of The Naturist Society and naturist principles shows a certain lack of understanding of the power of the blogosphere, and the sincerity of my efforts.

What are "naturist credentials"? In order to be taken seriously by the naturist elite, what sort of background does one need? I am a member of TNS, a donor to the NAC, I also belong to AANR, was a member of a local naturist club, and attend naturist resorts with my wife, all of which have been written about here over the past few years.

Remaining publicly anonymous is a personal choice by me on this blog, but I have published several nude photos of myself. I can tell you that a couple of NAC board members know my identity, as do several other bloggers, and naturally the people I encounter at social events.

In her dismissal of me, Debbie Jungwirth also dismisses all other anonymous nudist and naturist bloggers. This is tragic, because it's the nudist bloggers who are writing the most erudite, timely, interesting and important articles on naturism today. Take for example The Academic Naturist, whose "Future Resort" series is unsurpassed for research and content. It should be must reading for all naturists.

The Emerging Nudist is the new kid on the block, but so far has put out some of the most impressive content I've read. His "Shock and Awe" series is ongoing and encourages activism as the means to achieve more successes in the naturist movement, specifically recommending following NAC alerts and actions.

I also like to think that this blog is an important link in the Internet chain of naturist and nudists.

The Naturist Society and the NAC do great work, and N Magazine is a first-class publication, but the organizations are behind the times when it comes to getting the word out on the Internet. The NAC blog is updated only when an alert is issued, and often too late. When I made a donation to the NAC, I never received an acknowledgement, or a promised newsletter subscription. TNS does not maintain any email newsletter or mailing list for members to keep them informed about upcoming events. The TNS MySpace blog was last updated on November 28, 2008, when Lee Baxandall passed away. Their Facebook page is better, but with only 319 members as of today, it's ineffective as a means to attract new people.

So, for what it's worth, I encourage The Naturist Society and the Naturist Action Committee to embrace, not dismiss, the blogosphere. We are your best friends, we work for free, and we are at it every day. Our only reward is from the thousands of people who read our posts and appreciate what we write. My blog has over 1700 pages, more content than the web sites for NAC, TNS and AANR combined.

Just yesterday I received the following email from a reader:

Seeing your personal nude photos over the years is amazing. We are close to the same age and like you, I often wonder where that boyish body I once had went! I remember as a teenager, all 150 pounds of me, going out into my backyard at night and removing my clothes just so I could feel free. I have had a naturist's heart ever since, and I can now be nude 24/7 at my home and in my yard, jacuzzi, and pool. I love it. Thanks for having such a wonderful blog! You are a very courageous man!

To say the least, this made my day, and gave me enough fuel for several weeks of blogging. To call bloggers disturbing, irrelevant or worse is not only myopic, it's unwise.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/9/09

Click here.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Video of Topfree Protesters in France

Here's a link with video of the topfree protesters at a Paris swimming pool. Article and video all in French.

Naturist Action Committee Update - Lake Willoughby, Westmore, Vermont

**********************************************************************
NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE UPDATE
**********************************************************************
http://www.naturistaction.org
**********************************************************************
Copyright 2009 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is responsible for its content. Permission is granted for the posting, forwarding or redistribution of this message, provided that it is reproduced in its entirety and without alteration.

DATE: May 8, 2009
SUBJECT: Vermont: Lake Willoughby, Westmore
TO: All Naturists

Dear Naturist,

This is an Update from the Naturist Action Committee concerning Lake Willoughby, which is located in the town of Westmore, Vermont, and lies within the Willoughby State Forest.

Recently, NAC proactively approached the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation with a proposal that will allow naturists to work more closely and effectively with the State for the proper stewardship of Lake Willoughby. Both the Agency and the Department have responded favorably.

BRIEF HISTORY AND DISCUSSION

During 2008, a traditional clothing-optional site on the southwest cove of Lake Willoughby was threatened by a petition to ban nudity in the tiny town of Westmore. The Naturist Action Committee issued a NAC Advisory on this matter on April 28, 2008. A proposed anti-nudity ordinance for the town (including the lake) subsequently failed.

Since the earliest word of a threat to skinny-dipping at Lake Willoughby, NAC has been working continuously with a local naturist group, helping it organize more formally and assisting it in its opposition to the anti-nudity ordinance. The group, which calls itself Friends of Willoughby - Southwest Cove (FOW-SWC), is affiliated with The Naturist Society.

UPDATE ON THE PROPOSED ANTI-NUDITY ORDINANCE

The effort to pass an anti-nudity ordinance in Westmore was revived briefly in early 2009 by the same handful of individuals who had proposed the ban originally. A fiscal appropriation considered necessary for enacting such an ordinance failed to receive the necessary votes at a Westmore town meeting in March 2009. Although the adoption of an anti-nudity ordinance in Westmore seems unlikely this year, NAC continues its close monitoring of the situation there on behalf of naturists.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS RAISED BY NUDITY OPPONENTS

As the unit of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that manages and maintains many state-owned properties, the Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation (FPR) is responsible for Lake Willoughby. At the end of August 2008, FPR sent letters to the president of Friends of Willoughby SWC and another member, demanding their presence at a meeting to discuss alleged environmental damage at the southwest cove.

Although the meeting was not characterized as a direct threat to clothing-optional use of the beach, NAC learned that the complaint behind the investigation had come from among the familiar handful of nudity opponents in Westmore. Those individuals had somehow learned of the meeting and had arranged to be present. NAC suspected that the meeting could easily be retribution, targeting those who had helped defeat Westmore's anti-nudity ordinance. NAC quickly and carefully selected, interviewed and retained a highly qualified local attorney to represent the two naturists. See the NAC Advisory dated November 12, 2008.

NAC's hiring of legal counsel changed the dynamic of the situation. Upon hearing that the targets would be represented by a lawyer at the meeting, FPR postponed the meeting. Eventually, no such meeting was ever conducted.

PROACTIVE OPPORTUNITY

After several months, the questionable environmental charges had not been proved and were no longer being pursued. Nevertheless, NAC moved to resolve the matter more directly with ANR and FPR, so that the lingering attention to the issue might be redirected in a positive manner for the State and for naturists.

In a teleconference that included NAC board member Virginia Schnee, NAC Executive Director Bob Morton, the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources and the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation. NAC offered to be a resource to the State and to advocate for the proper usage of the Lake Willoughby southwest cove. That proposal was received graciously and enthusiastically.

NAC requested a memorandum that could be used to guide FOW members, as well as to educate the general public about the proper stewardship of Lake Willoughby and its shoreline. In early spring of 2009, NAC received those guidelines from the Vermont ANR. It is this memorandum that has become the basis for recent news reports concerning Lake Willoughby and Friends of Willoughby SWC.

A RELATED VERMONT ISSUE

Meanwhile, an individual who has been a vocal proponent of the Westmore anti-nudity ordinance approached a Vermont state representative with a request for special interest legislation. As a result, Rep John Rodgers (D-Glover) introduced a bill entitled "Prohibiting Public Nudity on Public Lands" in the current session of the Vermont legislature.

NAC has worked behind the scenes to oppose the bill. In a NAC Action Alert distributed March 27, 2009, the Naturist Action Committee asked naturists to take action by writing to members of the Vermont legislative committee considering the anti-nudity bill. Your response was tremendous and effective. NAC thanks you!

Having failed to make it out of the legislative committee to which it was assigned, H.154 will not be considered further this year.

Of significance is the comment of Rep. Helen Head, Chair of the Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs. Rep. Head wrote:

H.154 has not been considered by the committee. This year’s deadline for bill passage out of Vermont House committees was March 20. While the bill could be considered next year, it should be noted that there appears to be little time or interest in passing this bill.

I was recently reminded of an opinion issued to police departments in 1971 by Vermont's distinguished senior U.S. Senator, Patrick Leahy, when he served as Chittenden County State’s Attorney. In that opinion, he commented on the time-honored practice of unclothed swimming known as skinny-dipping. He concluded that nude bathing in secluded areas sometimes publicly used should be permitted when no one present is offended and no disorderly conduct has taken place.
I agree. A great many Vermonters have engaged in this practice and are tolerant of discreet skinny-dipping.

Regards,

Rep. Helen Head, Chair
Committee on General, Housing & Military Affairs
Vermont House of Representatives

WHAT IS NAC DOING?

The Naturist Action Committee is taking an active role in the Lake Willoughby / Westmore situation, both through the local naturist group and through direct interface with Vermont state agencies.

NAC board member Virginia Schnee has been the primary NAC contact for Friends of Willoughby SWC. Virginia has provided guidance at FOW-SWC's monthly meetings. She has taken part in their meetings with the legal counsel NAC retained, and she has attended public meetings in Westmore.

NAC continues working closely with Friends of Willoughby SWC, which is spearheading the local effort to oppose any future anti-nudity ordinance in the town of Westmore. With NAC's encouragement, FOW-SWC is making itself an even more valuable part of the local community. An example is scheduled for this coming weekend, when FOW-SWC conducts a cleanup of Westmore's town beach on the north end of Lake Willoughby. It's not a traditional clothing-optional area, but it's an excellent place for naturists to demonstrate their local involvement.

WHAT IS NAC ASKING YOU TO DO?

This is an update. NAC is not requesting your specific action at this time.

MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Additional information and links are available, along with this NAC Update on the web site of the Naturist Action Committee. Go to: http://www.naturistaction.org and then select "Alerts, Advisories & Updates" to find this NAC Update under Current Updates.

PLEASE HELP NAC TO CONTINUE HELPING NATURISTS!

The Naturist Action Committee is a volunteer nonprofit organization that exists to advance and protect the rights and interests of naturists throughout North America. NAC’s legislative monitoring and action are important and continuing operations. When legal representation becomes necessary, NAC acts swiftly and effectively. Both of those essential functions are reflected in this NAC Update, and both are expensive.

NAC needs your help. To do its job, NAC relies entirely on the voluntary help of supporters like you. Please support NAC by sending your generous donation to:

NAC
PO Box 132
Oshkosh, WI 54903

Or call toll free (800) 886-7230 to donate by phone using your MasterCard, Visa or Discover Card. Or use your credit card to make a convenient online donation: http://www.naturistaction.org/donate/

Thank you for choosing to make a difference.

Naturally,

Virginia Schnee
Board Member
Naturist Action Committee

---------------------------------------------------------------
Naturist Action Committee (NAC) - PO Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Executive Director Bob Morton - execdir@naturistaction.org
Board Member Virginia Schnee - virginia@schnee.com
Online Rep Dennis Kirkpatrick - naturist@sunclad.com
--------------------------------------------------------------

The Weekend Newds 5/8/09

Since Spencer Tunick's Irish installation will not be exhibited in that country, the work will be put on a web site beginning on June 8 and lasting four months.
A secluded clothes-free beach in California is being threatened by illicit sexual activity solicited on Craigslist.
"When Breastfeeders Attack" is must reading.
A California music teacher will not be charged for allegedly possessing child porn on his work computer. Although police have provided no details, my hunch is that the images were of a naturist variety.
A former prosecutor called the felony conviction of an Ohio man "a misuse of the computer hacking law." Richard Wolf was fired from his position at a wastewater treatment plant after a nude self-portrait was discovered on his computer, leading to an investigation which found he uploaded the images to the Adult Friend Finder in order to connect with women. Had he been buying crap on eBay, he would have probably received a slap on the wrist, but once human sexuality enters the mix, it becomes a felony. Sure the guy was wrong and stupid to use a work computer, but if being a lonely guy looking for sex is a crime, then they had better start rounding up half the country.
An Australian woman is entering a painting of a nude man in a local art show in order to challenge a new "sensitive art policy."
“Let’s see what they do with it,” she said of her nude entry.“If they knock that back they don’t even know what art is.”
Tennessee State Attorney General Bob Cooper warned that a proposed "saggy pants" bill could be unconstitutional.
13000 people signed an online protest, forcing a British department store to stop charging customers more for oversized bras.
The campaign on Facebook was started by Beckie Williams, 26, who wears a 30G bra, after Marks and Spencer failed to respond to her complaints about the STG2 ($A4) extra charge on bras bigger than a DD cup. The group, Busts 4 Justice, condemned the policy as "criminally unfair" and urged "busty ladies" to "join forces to end this blatant discrimination".
New Hampshire has become the latest state calling for censorship on Craigslist.
The Washington Post covers the teen sexting issue.
Sexters are often "the good kids," police said, with strong grades, involved parents and no criminal history. Many send photos without grasping that they could be widely circulated or posted on the Internet in view of strangers, predators and potential colleges and employers.
The discovery of a cache of nude photos in a Texas city hall will likely not lead to any charges against the former employee. When contacted about the self portraits the man reportedly took the news in "good humor."
Time Out New York has a nice little article about nude artists' models, with both clothed and unclothed photographs.
Vietnamese "nudist" body painters are pursuing their art with passion, but still face great prejudice in a country where the line between art and photography is very thin.
A German coastal town is fighting swinger sex on a secluded nude beach.
The AANR Word Record Skinny-Dip on July 11 is very poorly organized. Just go to this link and try getting any meaningful information. UPDATE: If you have a Facebook account, there is a group set up here.
An article on modesty touches upon the issue of nudity in the home.
An unemployed English woman says her ideal job would be as a "topless motivational speaker."
Apple is rejecting a newspaper app for the iPhone due to the fact that topless "Page Three" women are included.
The nominees for the 1st Annual Naked News Awards have been announced.
A nude calendar with strategically placed fruit over some body parts is being planned to boost tourism in Australia.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/8/09

Click here.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

No Bikini

Watch this short film about a little girl who refuses to wear her bikini top to summer swimming lessons. People actually put bikini tops on female babies and toddlers as a conditioned response, never questioning why anyone would do such a silly thing, and this girl's mother does the same to her, assuming she will be half naked without the top. The film makes a wonderfully simple argument for normal, non-sexualized nudity, and effectively debunks the notion that a topfree child is somehow pornographic

Cassie Venture Defiant After Nude Photo Leak

OK, it's not nudism, and it's probably just a publicity stunt, but when nude photos of relatively unknown R&B singer Cassie Venture were "leaked" onto the Internet, her Twitter response was "IT SEEMS THAT SOMEONE HAS HACKED INTO MY COMPUTER...THAT'S REAL FOUL AND EVIL. NOW STOP ACTING LIKE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN A TITTY BEFORE."

I like her attitude. People need to stop getting all in a dither over the sight of a nipple, derriere, or penis. We all have body parts, we all see and touch them when bathing and putting on our clothes, so what's the big deal?

There should be a national nude day where clothing is banned and everyone goes about their daily work and activities completely naked. That way we could get past this body parts obsession in one swell foop.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/7/09

Click here.

The Daily Newds 5/7/09

10 French women staged a topfree protest at a Paris swimming pool because women's bodies are considered more sexual than men's and that they are under greater pressure to live up to standards of beauty.
Nudity is now legal on the beaches of the Kapiti District of New Zealand, as long as it causes no offense.
An Everglades park ranger is being reassigned to Cape Cod for the summer and intends to enforce the law against nude sunbathing as part of his duties.
A Dayton Ohio woman posted a nude photo of herself on Craiglist and was arrested for soliciting. In South Carolina, state Attorney General Henry McMaster has given Craiglist 10 days to "remove illegal content" or face prosecution. Personal ads have been around as long as I can remember, but these new government attacks on Craiglist are something new, showing an increased level of intervention into the private lives of citizens.
This news video about the Running Bare 5k race manages to touch upon just about every cliche and misconception about nudism.
Actor Shia LaBeouf says his mother and her friends "would be naked around the house" when he was a kid for "goddess-group time, where it’s literally a bunch of naked women tracing auras around one another’s bodies with incense and then sitting together and humming for prolonged periods of time".
Georgia PTA leaders will ask state lawmakers and school boards to add a class about crime and punishment to the curriculum of middle and high schools because many "things that a kid may have been dealt with harshly by his coach or principal for engaging in, now [school officials] are just picking up the phone and calling the police and the kid is getting arrested." More and more parents and teachers are abdicating their responsibilities to the government. "1984" and Big Brotherism is just coming a little later than predicted by Orwell.
Steven's Point Brewery's Nude Beach Summer Wheat ale will not be sold in Michigan because the implied nudity on the label has been deemed "detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public" by the Liquor Control Commission. Who are these people?
At the age of 70, artist Brian Dunlop has painted his first nude. His muse is classical pianist Janine Carstein.
"It's a secret wish. I've always wanted to paint the naked female form. I told her I'd really like to see her body." Her reply? "She didn't flinch."
Burlesque dancer Tanya Cheex picked up her penchant for undressing from classic Hollywood films and 50s pin-up magazines.
Cheex pinpoints the resurgence of burlesque in the '90s as a kind of backlash against the overload of explicit pornography available online. "As the World Wide Web phenomena really took off and the Internet was more accessible to everybody, porn was more accessible," Cheex says. "Everywhere you looked, anything you wanted to see, or you didn't want to see, was available. The burlesque revival was almost like a return to innocence."
An Alaska man was celebrating turning 21 by taking a hike in his birthday suit. Police say the man was unable to give a good reason for being nude. I was unaware that "having a good reason" was a requirement for being nude.
When Japanese megastar Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was arrested for running nude in a Tokyo park, the initial backlash was severe, but the tide of public opinion seems to be turning.
His misfortunes have generated brisk sales of a T shirt with his most famous recent words emblazoned on them, "What's wrong with being naked?" In further good news, the police have decided not to press charges against him.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

I'm a Twit

Follow me here.

Danish TV Nude Challenge

Apparently a Danish version of "Survivor" challenged participants to compete in the nude. Photo gallery here. [Hat tip to the ClothesFree.com forums

Eastover Resort, Site of Naturist Society Gathering, to Close

The Eastover Resort and Conference Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, has announced that it will be closing permanently on November 1.

Eastover has hosted countless high school proms, company get-togethers, school field trips, holiday parties, weddings and family reunions. It also served as the site of the Massachusetts Special Olympic Winter Games for more than 20 years.

Not to mention that Eastover is the site of the annual Eastern Gathering of The Naturist Society.

Disney Parks Stop Looking for Topless Riders

Disney has announced that it will no longer be employing someone to edit photos of bare-breasted guests who flash for the cameras on some rides.

When that position is cut on May 3rd, the Cast Members at Owl Photo will have no way of seeing or deleting an obscene picture until they call it up on their monitor at the cash register. And the Cast Members from Attractions who operate the ride have absolutely no ability to do anything there in the unload area, as Disney's Legal department forbids them from detaining or holding a guest for any reason.

Disney says that it will still not sell an image it deems "lewd or obscene or unsafe" if the flashing guest tries to purchase the image.

Nanny State Alert

Indiana lawmakers find it "disturbing" that a 15 year-old girl would strip naked in order to receive a spray-on tan. Republican State Rep. Bruce Borders has jumped on this like flies on manure.

"I definitely would be interested in taking a look at that. I think it is one of those things that you can remedy a problem without doing away with the (spray) process. Obviously those spray-on tans from what we know are not an unsafe thing," he said. "That's one of those laws that would be ready-made for some good testimony. It's one of those that is almost fitting to have a good law written. Some things are kind of messy and I don't think that one would be that hard to tweak and make it work and make a good law to protect minors."

Stop, stop, stop writing laws for every single incident where parenting is the best choice. Nothing happened to this girl, and the vast majority of males out there are not child predators. We have to stop punishing innocent people for the transgressions of the few.

Democratic State Rep. Sandy Blanton has also flown onto the pile.

"I am just shocked that the girl would get nude and that the fellow (the salon owner) would ask her to. I'm just shocked about the whole situation. This is something that definitely needs looked into. My teenage daughter is 39 years old now, but I don't think I'd like it very much for her to have to go through something like that even at 39."

Even at age 39? Is this person nuts? Is this pol seriously considering requiring people of all ages to be clothed in tanning salons?

These are dangerous people, looking to control every aspect of your life. Just wait until they find out that people are actually naked at nudist resorts. Please make politicians like this go away. Are you registered to vote?

Note: The Mayo Clinic confirms that spray-tanning is safe.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/6/09

Click here.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

"A Stubborn, Defiant and Nasty Optimism"

The video is blurry and shaky, but Bruce Springsteen's tribute to Pete Seeger is must viewing.

Prejudging Prejean

I have so many mixed emotions about these semi-nude photos of Miss California Carrie Prejean, exposed on TheDirty.com.

When asked about gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant, Prejean said that it was great that Americans had a choice. The fact is that they don't have a choice except in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa (it will be legal in Vermont on 9/1), so Prejean is ignorant at best.

I also think that anyone who denies basic civil rights to any citizen is a bigot. All the arguments against gay marriage mirror the comments made during the civil rights struggle, when African-Americans were denied their equal rights under the law.

Then came word that the California state pageant paid for Prejean to get breast implants in order to put her "in the best possible light on a national stage" , thus making her a first class phony.

I applaud any woman who gets breast surgery to correct deformities, reduce excessive size, or for reconstruction after a mastectomy, but when an obviously attractive and healthy woman gets breast augmentation merely to win a contest, it puts her in the porn star category as someone just selling his or her body for money. It's objectifying the already objectified.

So when a bible-thumping ignorant bigoted phony is shown posing in sexy lingerie with a come-hither look on her face, she adds hypocrite to her rapidly expanding list of labels.

I really don't care if she posed totally nude, or topfree, or even made a sex tape - the problem here is that she has taken hypocrisy to a new stratospheric level by wearing her religion on the sleeve of one arm, while wearing her sexed-up phoniness on the other.

I don't know Carrie Prejean, she might well be a fine person and all of this is merely a public-relations disaster, or she might be a victim of the whole pageant industry which has gone from celebrating female beauty to manufacturing it.

Beauty pageants have disappeared from nudist resorts, and the Miss America Pageant, once the queen of them all, has trouble finding a basic cable channel to carry their event. Perhaps this Carrie Prejean fiasco will spell the end of this outdated, sexist and objectifying practice, or the old adage of "all publicity is good publicity" will actually generate more interest by a public hungry for tawdriness.

NAC and Vermont Reach Agreement on Lake Willoughby

The Associated Press is reporting that The Naturist Action Committee and the state of Vermont have reached an agreement on preserving the ecosystem of Lake Willoughby so it can remain a nude beach. Clothes-free sunbathers agree not to move plants, cut trees, alter streams or build structures of fires.

The Daily Newds 5/5/09

The Martin Schreiber nude photographs of Madonna are taking England by storm.
Once again, a nude calendar has raised thousands of dollars for charity.
Here's more on British Naturism's Nudefest event.
Dr Elletson, a direct descendant of Geoffrey the Crossbowman – the original Lord of the Manor of Preesall-with-Hackensall – is said to be very enthusiastic about the area's first naturist weekend and is keen to include the local community in the provision of services and entertainment.
A couple of Congressional Democrats have jumped on the prude bandwagon and are sponsoring a bill to ban "indecent" advertising on television during prime time viewing hours. Erectile dysfunction ads are specifically targeted. It's somewhat ironic that one of the chief spokespersons for ED drugs was former Senator Bob Dole.
The "Models as Muse" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates beautiful women and how ideals have evolved. The topless bathing suit is included.
Here's a more detailed local story on the grandmother busted for taking a nude photo of her granddaughter.
Outside Magazine explores places to get naked in the great outdoors.
A columnist declares that sexting is this generation's streaking or skinny-dipping. I don't think that's quite accurate because streaking and skinny-dipping are still happening, and sexting is not quite as innocent. As I've stated before, sexting is an electronic extension of teen sexuality. Kids are out there having real physical sex - oral, anal, and vaginal - and sexting is merely evidence that this activity is occurring. The issue is whether or not teens trading nude photos of themselves constitutes child pornography. My stand is that is is not child pornography, that it is freedom of expression, and adults need to come to terms with the fact that criminalizing the sexuality of children is an abomination.
A city councilman attempted to pass an ordinance prohibiting nudity in the Lake Edun Foundation's four nights of one-act plays.
While there is a city ordinance and state law prohibiting publicly exposing a sex organ with “intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the offender or another,” local prosecutors said the plays didn’t violate those laws.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/5/09

Click here.

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/5/09

Click here.

Monday, May 4, 2009

SCOTUS Boomerangs Nipplegate

The Supreme Court of the United States has thrown the Janet Jackson Super Bowl nipple exposure back to a federal appeals court, urging them to consider reinstating the FCC fine against CBS due to a recent SCOTUS ruling upholding fines against fleeting uses of profanity on television.

CBS is expressing confidence that the appeals court will uphold the original decision, but there's no question that this reopens the case which has been sucking up millions of dollars in legal fees over the past five years.

With all the truly serious problems being faced by people every day, it's completely insane to get all this worked up over a 9/16 of a second glimpse of a female nipple. It's mind-numbingly stupid.

If You Have a Nude Photo of Your Baby, the Government Might Consider You a Child Pornographer

This unsettling story from Reason Magazine tells the sad tale of a grandmother who was roughly arrested after taking a photo of her granddaughter with "bare butt showing".

...if you don't want to get arrested and charged for taking nude photos of your infant or toddler, make sure you know what criteria your local prosecutor uses when navigating that "gray area" between a cute butt and a criminally alluring one (note: you probably don't want to actually pose this question to him). Also, if you find yourself under investigation after dropping off a roll of film at the CVS, you might want to bake the prosecutor some cookies, since it appears that his "gut" will be the final arbiter of whether you're a doting parent or an accused child pornographer.

The Daily Newds 5/4/09

(photo courtesy of Gary and Brenda from Bucks County, Pennsylvania)

Full frontal nudity and expressions of sexuality have become the norm on Europe's opera stages.
I wish society would be as understanding of sexting teens as it is with this 17 year-old Australian girl who has won the right in court to have her breasts removed so she can be more like a boy. Another story is here.
90% of Australian women are reported to have "fat days", and most are miserable about their bodies.
Idiot columnist Tony Gabriele perpetuates nudist myths with smug humor and general cluelessness.
Danish researchers have found that European girls are reaching puberty at an average age of 9.86 years, further proving that society is doing teens a great disservice by treating teens like toddlers when it comes to matters of sexuality. With the age of consent set at 18, that ensures that kids will experience a full eight years of angst and frustration.
Singer Kimberley Walsh, in a recent interview, says that she does not have to be naked to be sexy. "If you've got a silhouette, that can be sexier than having your actual boobs or legs out." Further evidence that clothing is actually more titillating than the nude body.
When it's tough getting naked in the Keys, that's a headline.

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/4/09

Click here.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/4/09

Click here.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/3/09

Click here.

The Sunday Newds 5/3/09

Adelaide is hosting its first body painting championship.
The photographs of 1200 nude people that Spencer Tunick took in Ireland last year will not be exhibited in that country.
Historic Wyre Hall will be the site for British Naturism's annual Nudefest.
A man who purchased a family nudist video claims he was tricked by the Feds into purchasing real child pornography. The site from which he purchased the nudist video was under investigation at that time. Previously I warned about web sites selling photos and videos of nude children because it's obvious that the intent of these "merchants" is to appeal to pedophiles. I think anyone selling or purchasing child pornography needs to be stopped, but the idea of our own government peddling smut seems equally reprehensible.
Mike Redding of Carolina Traveler profiles some local nudists and is one of the few journalists able to clearly understand the philosophy.
Think about it, businesses use sex to sell everything from deodorant to cars to beer to razors to shampoo. I don't know what the percentage is but sexuality is prominent in what Americans consume in advertising. So maybe it's weird the nudists are one of the few groups NOT using it. They seem hell-bent on getting you past seeing the body as just something sexual. Who knew that standing around naked would make their point? Or in this case, running around naked.
The Ocean Angels, rowing across the Indian Ocean in the nude, are also in the lead.
An art exhibit in Columbus, Ohio, focuses on the work of three women artists and their depictions of the human body.
A restaurant in Duluth, Georgia, is set inside Jeju Sauna, so patrons can get naked before they order.
An editorial wonders if SCOTUS is going to give automobiles more constitutional rights than it will grant to teens.
The BBC covers the Swiss nude hiking controversy, and it turns out that the ban on naked hiking in Appenzell could be illegal.
"I estimate there are only around 20 to 25 naked hikers in the whole of Switzerland," says lawyer Daniel Kettiger. "So really arresting them and fining them is a bit silly. And our courts do have better things to do." What's more, Mr Kettiger points out, Appenzell may have over-reached itself legally in deciding to introduce a prohibition. "The Swiss parliament voted to remove public nudity from the penal code in 1991," he explains. "So at a federal level, naked hiking is not punishable, and Appenzell's laws are not higher than the federal ones."
The BAC's BURST Festival features Nic Green's Trilogy, "an uplifting celebration of the female body which ends in a big naked dance, including volunteers and willing audience members."
The governing body for Ultimate Frisbee supports the decision of the University of Oregon for ending the season of its highly-ranked club sport team because five players went without pants and underwear during sectional play.

Florida County Debates Nude Beaches

Florida may soon see another nude beach, but naturists fear that the ultimate location will be undesirable.

Boca Chica Beach abutting Naval Air Station Key West has become the de facto nude beach in the Lower Keys, as it is secluded and rarely patrolled by sheriff's deputies. However, naturists consider it seedy. Key West naturist Tracy Leigh chooses not to go Boca Chica, as the beach has no bathrooms or facilities and is not well maintained. The beach has gained a reputation as a cruising area for gay men looking to have casual sex. Leigh is lobbying for a safe beach she can go to with her children and grandchildren."Most of the places do not provide for a family and there is no benefit to the community," said Leigh, who added that South Florida Free Beaches raises money for local charities such as AIDS Help, and that clothing-optional beaches provide revenue to municipalities through parking fees.

Florida naturists have proven to be good citizens and deserve a little respect from the people who collect their taxes. On a positive note, the majority of the Monroe County commissioners agree that a nude public beach would be good for tourism, but there are concerns over locating it at Higgs Beach because it would be "difficult to shield naked sunbathers and swimmers from children at the neighboring Astro City Park and pedestrians on the White Street Pier."

This is nonsensical thinking for two obvious reasons. First of all, there is no evidence that the sight of people sunbathing nude on a beach is harmful to any person of any age, and if a person is offended by the sight of nude people, he or she doesn't have to look, and nudists are not going to care if anyone can see them. Secondly, what better way to keep out the undesirables than to make the beach out in the open, thereby ensuring that people are on their best behavior.

I would expect that at first there might be an influx of voyeurs, but once the curious and the kooky begin to realize that there's nothing titillating about a bunch of average nude bodies soaking in the sun, they will crawl back into their lairs.

Keep it out in the open, Florida, it's the only way to keep nude beaches safe for people of all ages.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/3/09

Click here.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Rise in Eating Disorders Among Scottish Men

When I was in my twenties I had problems with my own body image, which was ridiculous, especially with the hindsight provided by the nude photos I took of myself during that era. While I never developed an eating disorder, I did avoid taking off my shirt, wearing shorts, or going to the beach.

When I was elementary school age, I swam nude at the YMCA, freely changed clothes in front of friends, and used to love the beach. And now in my fifties I'm posting nude photos of myself on the Internet and getting naked socially whenever possible.

So what happened in between to make me body phobic? The only explanation is cultural, based upon unrealistic body images in the media. Yes, even in the sixties and seventies magazines were airbrushing out skin imperfections, and Barbie and Ken were seen as the epitome of the human form. But today it's far more extreme, with digital imaging allowing photographers and retouchers to morph people into idealized forms which are physically impossible for real people to emulate.

Body image problems have always been an issue for both men and women, but it's always been more severe for females, who have to contend with far more images of supermodels and scantily-clad girls selling everything from cars to cosmetics. Experts in Scotland are now saying that body image issues are leveling out between the sexes, with more and more young men finding themselves physically challenged when presented with unrealistic images of male models and athletes in magazines.

An estimated 700,000 men in the UK have eating disorders - one in four of all cases.The number of victims consulting GPs and nurses has doubled over the last five years...We are giving out mixed messages - don't become overweight but don't become anorexic. We need to be careful, particularly with young children.

I think the problem is twofold - caused in part by all the idealized imagery in the media, and also by the fact that our society has made all types of nudity taboo, except when bathing or having sex. If people never see normal human bodies with all their wonderful variations, then only the media created perfect bodies remain in the mind's eye.

We have gradually become so wrapped up in our own textile coverings that we've forgotten what we all really look like. It's so severe that states must pass laws which protect breastfeeding mothers from indecent exposure charges. A society which even thinks for a brief second that the sight of a breastfeeding mother is offensive in any way has lost all perspective of reality. Frankly, the most comical invention of modern man is the bathing suit, which serves no purpose except to cover up genitals and female nipples. It certainly doesn't keep the wearer dry, and most definitely does not cover up any physical imperfections.

Any cure for this increasing body image problem needs to begin with young children, who need to be taught that their bodies are nothing to be ashamed of. We are so fearful of "predators" that we cover up even the littlest babies at beaches, and are close to defining any image of childhood nudity as being pornographic. Is it any wonder that these cocoon children are growing up with body phobias?

Bring back nude swimming at the YMCA before the generation which grew up with it as a normal part of childhood begins to die off. Let kids run naked through the sprinkler, or frolic in freedom at the beach. Reinstate mandatory nude gang showers after all gym classes for public school children of all ages, and make the study of normal human body images part of any sex education curriculum. Kids need to see each other and learn that there is no such thing as physical perfection, only physical variation.

There's nothing wrong with recognizing and admiring beauty, and there's nothing wrong with trying to improve one's own health and physical appearance. It's all a matter of degree. The more detached we become from reality when it comes to the human form, the more we yearn for a body which exists only in the fiction of modern media. The idea is to strike a balance where we are equally dissatisfied and satisfied with our own bodies. In other words, it's healthy to want to improve ourselves, and to admire beauty and health, but at the same time we need to accept our physical shells, realizing that there are limitations placed upon us by nature, and that true beauty comes from within.

Positive Family Nudity in VW Commercial

NAC Advisories

I just learned that the NAC issued a short-notice advisory on April 28. If anyone knows how I can be put on their alert list, please let me know. I have contacted both the NAC and TNS about getting my email, nudiarist@gmail.com, on their list, but it hasn't happened.

The Monthly Newds 5/2/09

Catching up after a couple of weeks of moving...

Today is World Naked Gardening Day

Official site here.

Nike Naked Running Camp

Between Nudist Morality and Freudian Realism

Andrew Grossman takes on "Christian moralism's filthy legacy."

The ingrained fear of the body — the fear of self-knowledge — has long necessitated safeguarding, mystifying textiles, from primitive skins and furs to the synthetics of capitalistic industries fueled by a mélange of fashion and shame. Our knowledge phobias blind us to the fact that textiles, not nudities, are what eroticize. The full-time nudist does not, and cannot, tease; such rituals are the domain of the textilist, or part-time exhibitionist, intent on mating or evanescent pleasures.

Vassalboro Allows Sexually-Oriented Businesses

Instead of banning nudity in the wake of a topless coffee shop opening within its town limits. Vassalboro Maine will instead seek to regulate "sexually-oriented businesses" by limiting location and manner of operations.

The new ordinance proposal says its aim is not to prohibit free speech or target sexually oriented businesses, but rather to address the "negative secondary effects" of such businesses. Those effects are described as "perceived decreases in value in both residential and commercial properties" and the way in which the businesses "can adversely affect the character and quality of life of a town and can be incompatible with surrounding uses."

The news article does not indicate if town officials have any proof of these alleged "secondary effects". Is it legal to pass ordinances based upon mere perceptions?

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/2/09

Click here.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Nudist in a Corner

If I look a little old and tired, it's because I am.

Two weeks of heavy moving have taken a toll, and closing in on age 55 doesn't help, either.

Going up and down stairs hundreds of times with 50 pound boxes made me a little delirious at times. Lots of random thoughts kept running through my head, mostly about my own life and family, but also about the state of nudism.

One month ago I issued a call for readers to send me their home nudist photos. Only one brave soul responded. Just one person out of the thousands who stop by here every day, just one nudist willing to step forward to say "here I am".

Americans just love idealized nudity and sex. They can't get enough of nipple slips, nude scenes in movies, hardcore pornography, and nudity in magazines and advertising, but the sight of an average nude body, something everybody has under their clothes, is still something most people are unwilling to accept. Nudity as a marketing commodity is fine, but normal, natural, and imperfect bodies are still taboo.

A local nudist group here in central Ohio doesn't have a formal club name, doesn't maintain a web presence outside of an email list, and never refers to nudism or naturism, only once in a while making reference to the "n" word. While I personally have no problem with anyone trying to maintain privacy, it saddens me that nudists and naturists feel the need to practice the lifestyle in the shadows.

In a sense, we are only backing ourselves further into a corner by denying to others our desires and rights to be nude.

I'm in a corner, too. It's been a long, grey winter here in Ohio, the move has worn me out, it's been a tough year health wise for people I love, friends have let me down, the economy sucks, business is slow, and swine flu is threatening to become a pandemic.

So I have every right to be depressed, but I'm actually quite optimistic.

There's something about being in a corner which increases clarity. There's only one direction in which to go, and that's forward.

All of you nudists and naturists out there need to step out of the corner with me and do something, anything. to help legitimize and de-stigmatize the lifestyle. Joining AANR, TNS, Skinbook or True Nudists is fine but it's not nearly enough, you actually have to do something.

Invite a friend or a family member to a nudist event or venue. Tell someone who has no idea that you're a nudist. Go skinny-dipping with some friends. Support the Naturist Action Committee by making a donation and actually doing what they request in their periodic action alerts. Support your local nudist clubs by paying dues and attending events, and volunteer to help. If there is no group or club in your area, start one. Just get involved.

Every year I've tried to take another step forward in the nudist lifestyle. I started this blog joined clubs, attended events and venues, told some family and friends, and finally overcame the fear of posting nude photos of myself online. I still feel that I have a long way to go. I'm not sure what 2009 will bring, but I intend to keep moving forward and out of this damned corner I've found myself in.

What are you going to do?

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/1/09

Today's home nudist photo comes from Stephen May of Christchurch, New Zealand. His website is here.

Please feel free to publish this picture of me on your terrific blog - as a gesture of appreciation from one who visits and enjoys your blog regularly. I make no secret of my nudism and my nudist lifestyle - I am who I am regardless of what I wear. I consider myself to be permanently naked even when wearing clothing!!

Thanks Stephen!

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/1/09

Click here.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Friday, May 22, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Monday, May 18, 2009

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Friday, May 8, 2009

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Monday, May 4, 2009

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Friday, May 1, 2009

Important Message

About Me

Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

What I'm Reading Today...

Followers

Subscribe To

Blog Archive

Links