My Nudist Philosophy... [Submitted Article]

BY NAKED ANDY

To be human is to have a human body. To be ashamed of one’s body is to be ashamed of being human.

Photo copyright Nor-Cal Photography 2010.

For longer than I can remember, I have preferred to be naked. There are photos of my siblings and me as children, in which they wear pajamas and I am naked. There is an old home movie of us splashing in a wading pool; they wear swimsuits and I am naked. Evidently, a sense of freedom and joy at feeling uninterrupted air or water all over my skin has always been a part of who I am.

As a young man, I sought out situations where nudity was readily accepted (nude beaches) or — even better — required (modeling for art classes, performing nude scenes in plays). I had a few close friends with whom I could be socially naked, but, for the most part, I needed permission or an excuse to get out of my clothes; “Hey, they’re paying me.”

My body has grown less pretty as I have aged. Well, so has my face. So has my hair. Does this mean I should cover my face, and wear a hat at all times? If anything, the changes in my body have deepened my understanding that nudity is not the exclusive domain of the young and beautiful. Nudity is the default setting for all of us. It’s wrong to let ourselves be bullied or shamed into taking the action of hiding behind clothing. A society in which individuals are free to be as dressed or undressed as they wish would be my ideal.

Having learned to be more honest and unabashed about my desire to be nude in daily life, I seize or create opportunities to be clothes-free regardless of what the expected “norm” might be. Because I think nakedness should be okay, I tend to push the envelope in the spirit of Be the Change. Most of my public nudity takes place where it is neither illegal nor unheard of…. but, yes, there’s some envelope-pushing going on there, too.

Whether among friends…

…or in a crowd of strangers…

… I believe that being non-sexually naked among clothed folk has the potential to nudge them toward body acceptance.

Many onlookers, in person and online seem to respond to nudity with strictly prurient interest or as if it were a freak show… and I can’t control that. I hope that eventually, through osmosis, SOME of them may come to think that a human body is a perfectly natural thing which doesn’t ALWAYS mean sex, and which need not be hidden from view.

I'm proud to be a guest blogger on iNAKED. My own blog is @ http://ihavenoprivateparts.tumblr.com/

~ Naked Andy

Advertising Standards Bureau To Review Puppetry Of The Penis Billboard After Complaint

THERE'S no nudity or swearing but a poster advertising Puppetry of the Penis 3D will face a review by the Advertising Standards Board (Australia).

The billboard at the Twelfth Night Theatre at Bowen Hills has prompted one complaint with a letter stating: "We teach our children to behave civilly and use words appropriately. This billboard offends against this dignity by thrusting the male genital part into the public arena for entertainment and laughs."

The concerned community member said the shape of the font used on the billboard to promote the new 3D show could be perceived as suggestive and could negatively impact the community.

The complaint also included a request the advertisement be removed.

Puppetry of the Penis founder Simon Morley was notified about the complaint today and said they would fully cooperate with the Advertising Standards Board.

Puppetry of the Penis founder Simon Morley was notified about the complaint today and said they would fully cooperate with the Advertising Standards Board.
``I just think people see the word penis and get very defensive,'' Mr Morley said.
``We just did a five month tour in the UK and there wasn't one complaint.''
He said he designed the current billboard, which was more subdued compared to those used previously.

``It was a take on those old-style shock horror films, which is what we're trying to achieve with it, a bit of humour mixed with something scary.''

As the complaint raised issues under a section of the code of ethics which relates to children, it will be referred to the board of the Advertising Standards Bureau.

They will meet at a later date to make their decision.

SOUCRE: The Courier-Mail

~ PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS ~
Puppetry of the Penis - Wikipedia

The Colour Of Nude [Naturism & Race]

This article is from outlookindia.com, written by Arpita Basu:



“Kam se kam chaddhi to pehen lo (at least put on your underpants).” It is a reprimand Pradip Chanda* gets to hear often, and one that raises his hackles each time. Because Pradip is no impish schoolboy scooting off with bare essentials missing from his uniform. A thirtysomething father of two, he is a doctor in north Bengal. He is also a practising naturist.

In the naturist way of life, clothing is an impediment to being in harmony with nature; to feeling air, rain and sunlight on the naked skin; to realising that underneath designer labels, everyone is the same. It’s a growing tribe in India—all regular folks like doctors, insurance professionals, bankers, teachers, abiding by the radical impulse to go nude. At this tentative stage of their fraternising, though, they can’t escape the irony of having to live this al-fresco philosophy mostly behind closed doors.

To be sure, Pradip’s lifestyle choice of going without clothes whenever possible has taken him beyond the privacy of his home into forests and remote beaches, often alone, sometimes with fellow naturists. “Once, a few of us were on a little-known beach in Karnataka taking photographs. Suddenly, a group materialised out of nowhere and demanded to know if we were shooting a blue film!” says Pradip. Explanations don’t work, as he has found out first-hand, and his wisest option in these situations is to yank on his pants and make himself scarce. “I tried a couple of times to make them understand we were doing nothing kinky or erotic, but they wouldn’t listen. The problem is, in India, nudity is considered obscene.” In fact, anyone who goes au naturel in public could find a case slapped against him under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, for committing an “obscene act in any public place”. Deepak, a 68-year-old businessman from Mumbai, who warmed up to living in the buff 15 years ago, while in California, adds, “Public or social nudity is equated with lunacy or perversion here.”



It is no wonder that India’s experiment with being at one with nature is mostly conducted indoors. The lab, though, is expanding fast—from Delhi to Pondicherry, from Mumbai and Pune to Calcutta. Mamman Shaktimangalam was surprised to discover this when he formed the Indian Naturist Meetup Group a year-and-a-half ago. In the process, the Delhi-based insurance professional assigned to himself an unofficial headcount of fellow naturists. “I wanted to see how many of us were there in India,” he says. “People are hesitant to move out of the shadows because of fear of social stigma, but an online platform would draw them out without revealing identities.” He can never be sure if the authentic-sounding names and tell-tale photos are genuine, but he’s not complaining—the number of members stands at 246 and counting. “Some promptly signed out when they realised naturism isn’t about sex and orgies,” he says, adding he screens each new application to keep the fakes out.

The Bengalee Nudist Group, started by Pradip, has attracted 60-odd members in seven months. Inhibitions, though, are harder to shed than clothes—few members actually turn up for nudist meetings, despite their garrulous exchanges in the virtual world. Fewer still are game for a nude getaway. Mamman recalls how plans for a naturist weekend at a resort in Haryana this summer fizzled out as all but two backed out. “The thought of being seen without a stitch on can be intimidating,” concedes marketing professional Rajan*, who as a teenager, would shy away from being seen even in a vest. Stumbling upon an article on naturism in the West got him thinking. “We are born this way, why should we feel embarrassed? Look at the Digambar Jains and Naga sadhus,” he says, a confident convert at 29. “Naturism has liberated me.”



At naturist meets, that seems to be the rallying cry. “No one is conscious of their nakedness,” says Vinu*, a 30-year-old graphics designer from Mumbai, who, having attended four closed-door naturist meets in his own city and Pune, is something of a veteran. He says, naturism—sagging tummy, love handles and all—challenges the blitz of unreal, sculpted bodies in the media, and helps people accept each other, and others, as they are. “Together, we eat, talk, sing, swim—do everything one would do at a regular social meet. The only difference is we do it without clothes,” says Mamman.

There is just one non-negotiable rule: no sexual relations between members. One would think this would reassure women to do more than nod approval from the sidelines. It hasn’t, really. The moderator of the group Indian Naturist, a 40-plus engineer from Bangalore, lets us know that there are only 30 female members out of a total of 441. Many women members, reveals one nudist, are married, but hide their interest in naturism from their husbands for fear of being branded perverts or unsuitable as wives and mothers. It is this negligible participation from women, says Pradip, that had kept his wife, Mala*, away from naturist meets. “It is only recently that she agreed to be a part of a naturist get-together.” It was at a meeting held clandestinely at a friend’s empty flat in Calcutta last September, and Mala was the only woman. “I had stripped down only to my inners. Maybe over time I can overcome my hesitation, but until I see more women actively participating, I can’t get comfortable in my skin alone,” she says. Deepak’s wife too joins him on naturist meets—he admits he is “extraordinarily lucky”—but only abroad. “No Indian lady who has grown up with the inhibited lifestyle of her generation would’ve found it possible to go nude in public. It couldn’t have been easy for her, but she’s done it, at least for my sake.” He has never brought up the subject with his children, but he believes they do know.

Families are naturally the first to know, unless it’s consciously kept under wraps. Pradip, for one, discussing his naturist experiences on the phone, hangs up abruptly when his teenage son walks in. His daughter is 12. “They’re too young to understand, and might take it the wrong way,” he explains. “Had I been with them from the time they were born, I would have moulded them into naturists (the children are from his wife’s previous marriage).” For Mamman, a friendly daughter-in-law insistent on making him a Facebook friend, had to be brought into the loop. “My Facebook profile reveals I am a naturist and I didn’t want her to be shocked. So I told her myself. After all, it’s my choice, and I’m not compelling anyone to do it,” he says, sitting in his office cabin in a three-piece suit, hardly a naturist’s coat of arms. For Rajan too, this “corporate attire” that he must don for official meetings is “stifling”, though there’s nothing he can do about it. “There’s no telling how a client or boss might react if they come to know about our private lives,” says Pradip. With the challenges that come their way, it is not surprising Rajan has plans to set up a naturist colony of sorts someday. For one, that would take care of unwitting spectators, like a jeweller who got a chance eyeful of a bare-bodied Deepak as he waited in his drawing room. For another, putting on that chaddhi—or not—would be nobody else’s business but their own.

(*Some names have been changed.)

SOUCRE: outlookindia.com

Why Do We Give Children Such Confusing Messages About Their Bodies? [Family]]

This article is from the Mail Online by Liz Fraser, publish on 28 April 2011:

Last week, during one of the hottest Easter holidays on record in the UK, my three children and I went to the local park.

It was sweltering, and after an hour or so of running about with a football, my daughter, Phoebe, who has just turned 11, had turned into a sweaty, par-boiled lobster and desperately wanted to take her T-shirt off to cool down. But she didn’t.

When I asked her why on earth not, she said in an exasperated voice, as if I didn’t understand anything, ‘Mum, I can’t take my top off in a park. People will stare and point!’

Once I’d picked my jaw up off the grass and tried to make sense of what she’d just said, I realised to my utter dismay that her fears were probably completely justified.

Where boys often take their tops off in the hot summer months, many girls, even as young and totally undeveloped as my younger daughter, already feel that they ‘shouldn’t’ expose their top halves in public. Because their nakedness is somehow . . . wrong.

To realise that my own daughter already feels this way came as a real shock to me. I was raised by parents who never shied away from stripping off and jumping in a mountain lake or sunbathing topless on the beach, and I was never even aware of my own nakedness as a pre-pubescent girl. Naked or not — it made no difference to me. I felt totally free, and happy.

Now a parent myself, I’m trying to raise my children similarly: we are very comfortable with our own nakedness at home, and I still often share a bath with my younger children, both Phoebe and Charlie, who’s 7, and quite happily get undressed in front of them.



Liz Fraser believes that millions of children in Britain, have been indoctrinated with the idea that nakedness is rude, naughty or shameful

They see nothing strange about it at all, and the little ones aren’t shy about dancing around naked. They’re kids, after all!

But despite all this ease around nudity within the family environment, they have picked up on the message from outside our home that showing naked flesh in public is something unthinkable, even for children.

They, like millions of children in Britain, have been indoctrinated with the idea that nakedness is rude, naughty or shameful — and that it’s always, always connected with sex.

Though the children are thankfully too young to know about such a gruesome thing, the public’s media-fuelled terror of paedophilia is now so strong that many parents don’t want their children to be seen naked by strangers ‘just in case’ they are photographed and put onto the internet, or peered at by sexual predators.

A naked child has become, for many, a potential sex abuse incident, rather than the beautiful, pure thing it is, despite the reality, which is that — mercifully — abuse by paedophiles is far less prevalent than the furore that surrounds them would imply.

Turning the clock back to the Seventies when I was a pre-schooler, hot summers were all about wearing almost nothing, and our photo albums are bursting with pictures of us as children, naked and happy.

There we’d all be in the local paddling pool or swimming pool, splashing and shrieking happily in nothing but our pants, and often not even that. And nobody minded at all.

Then when I was ten we moved to the South of France for a while, and I remember everyone sunbathing topless, completely relaxed about it. Nobody thought about ‘covering up’ to hide their bodies.

In the local swimming pool, showers were communal and we’d all strip and get washed and changed side by side in the middle of the changing room, chatting away as we did so. Nobody stared. Nobody found it embarrassing or weird. It was considered as normal as brushing one’s teeth.

But when I came back to Britain the following year, the rules for girls my age seemed completely different to the ones abroad. I found that in the changing rooms everyone locked themselves away in separate cubicles, to change in private, ashamed to let their nakedness be seen. If they had to change on the beach they’d perform a bizarre hopping dance ritual under a towel, attempting to remove pants, while putting on bikini bottoms simultaneously, without showing an inch of Forbidden Flesh. Not even for a millisecond.

None of my friends swam or sunbathed topless. Instead, they hid themselves away, squeezing their pubescent breasts into bikinis whose purpose was, paradoxically, to make the wearer look sexier than if they had nothing on at all. It seemed that wearing sexy swimwear was OK, but to be naked and natural wasn’t. Which I found very confusing.

And to be honest, I still do. Beaches this summer will be full of toddlers wearing bikini tops. One mum I know impressed upon her daughter: ‘It’s to keep your boobies covered up.’ Her what?! She’s three years old!

I always bought one-piece swimsuits or just bikini bottoms for my girls when they were little. Why would I want them to wear a bikini top that’s designed to cover breasts, which they quite clearly haven’t got?

Most damaging in all of this is the bizarre paradox that this whispering, blushing shunning of nakedness comes hand in hand with our culture’s obsession with sex and sexuality.

As a scientist friend of mine, and father of one, put it: ‘Public nudity is a crime here, and yet pornography and hypersexual advertising is everywhere in the UK and North America.




Songs of innocence: 'Compare this [Britain] to other countries, where nudity is seen as part of life, and where children are raised without ever thinking to question it'

‘The ever-present appearance of sex and sexual messages in our culture and media goes along with fear and horror at actual nudity — and causes all kinds of problems for people’s sexual activity and self-confidence.’

When nudity is considered unacceptable, but highly-charged sexual messages in advertising and pop videos are not, is it any surprise that so many children are growing up with a confused attitude to their bodies, or feeling ashamed to take their tops off in a park when they’re hot?

What’s even more extraordinary is that violence and bad language are tolerated far more liberally than nudity on television and in films, especially in the U.S. and UK.

Millions of children every day are sitting down to watch programmes that show grim acts of violence or aggression, yet when it comes to showing a naked breast in a shower the censors come down like a ton of bricks and insist it’s covered up, or blurred.

The message our children pick up is that blasting each other to pieces and using foul, aggressive, threatening language is fine and dandy, but showing a nipple? Perish the thought!

Compare this to other countries, where nudity is seen as part of life, and where children are raised without ever thinking to question it. One former classmate, who is Spanish and has a two-year-old daughter, commented: ‘Kids run around naked in Spain on beaches and in parks in the good weather and it’s totally normal.’

Another friend, who is Swedish, but now lives in Canada, told me: ‘Canada is on a par with the U.S. in terms of excessive prudishness. When we go to the beach, it’s the Swedish mums who let their toddlers run around naked — and they get lots of dirty looks from their Canadian counterparts!’

And so despite the fact that I appear to be in the distinct minority, I continue to fight hard against our very British culture of bizarre, unhelpful prudishness.I still change in the middle of the changing room at my local pool, without adopting body-shielding tactics. I know my children find this a little bit odd, and probably wish I didn’t. When nobody else is naked, why is Mummy?

Well, because Mummy happens to think that there’s nothing wrong with it and she’d rather teach her children that their bodies are beautiful and natural just as they are, and don’t need dressing up in sexy clothes or to be hidden from view to be acceptable.

SOUCRE: Mail Online

How Nudism Can Save You Money

By Nathan Powers

Nudists (or “naturists” as some prefer to be referred to), have been the brunt of many a joke for many years. However, the truth of the matter is that living a nudist lifestyle may actually be far better for you, physically, ecologically and economically.

That dirty word – “Laundry”: Let’s start with the obvious. Nudists tend to wear as little clothing as possible, usually nothing at all, as often as possible or whenever conditions allow. Most live in climates that are tropical enough to maximize this opportunity. Wearing less clothing means washing less clothing and washing the clothing that they own less frequently, requiring the repair and replacement of clothing less often. They also tend to have less of a wardrobe, requiring less storage space. So here, we are seeing a saving in money spent on laundry detergents, gas and electricity to operate a washer and dryer, replacement clothing and repair costs, home closet or storage space. We also see less chlorine, phosphates, ozone and carbon dioxide pumped into the environment as well as a reduction in health issues related to exposure to the chemicals needed for properly washing clothing. (Chlorine bleach is one of the deadliest chemicals we can expose ourselves to).

Cooling Down: Since for practicality reasons, most nudists live in either tropical or subtropical regions, many homes and businesses in those regions have some form of air conditioning. Nudists can save money and as in the case of laundry, the environment, by being able to turn up the thermostat a few degrees and allowing the natural cooling system provided in our bodies to do it’s job. Also, if things get a little too hot, it is very easy to simply jump in a cool shower or hose off for a second or two with having to take the time to get undress and redressed. Besides, who wants to throw those sweaty clothing back on right after a shower.

Health Costs: There are other bonuses as well. It has recently been found that exposure to natural sunlight is far healthier to the human body than attempting to hide from the sun altogether. Regulated exposure to natural sunlight lets the body naturally produce all of the Vitamin “D” it needs to ward off a host of deadly and debilitating diseases, cancers and conditions, including MS, ALS, osteoporosis, breast, ovarian, prostate and brain cancers. (source) Even more recent reports indicate that almost all sunscreens are completely ineffective in reducing the deadliest forms of cancer, melanoma (source). Several reports indicate that the ingredients used to manufacture sunscreens are actually more harmful that the cancers they purport to prevent. However, by balancing the ratio of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, combined with an adequate amount of Vitamin “D”, incidence of melanoma has shown to be reduced by around 40% (source). It is therefore better to gradually expose the body to the sun, slowly building up our body’s own natural sunscreen, melanin, being careful not to get sunburned in the process.

The bottom line is that nudists can save a ton of money by not buying sunscreen, simply exposing themselves to natural sunlight in appropriate amounts; there by creating Vitamin “D” for free and by simply eating a diet that balances omega 3 acids. This can be done through supplement or through adding fish, flax or kiwi fruit to their diets. The real savings come from not having to pay medical bills for treatments for all of the conditions.

Stuff: Nudism is often referred to as the “Great Equalizer”. When people are naked around other people, it is difficult to tell if a person is the president of a bank, or a school janitor. Consequently, nudists tend to be far less “class-conscious”. Nudists are typically less likely to want to keep up with the Joneses, realizing that not only do clothes not really make the man, but neither do homes, cars, boats etc.

More Health – Less Stress – More Money: Studies have also found that children raised in nudist homes tend to be more socially developed (and often more intelligent) than those raised in “textile” families. Nudists generally feel that they have nothing to hide. That attitude permeates the rest of their psyche as well, so they tend to be less stressed out and more sure of themselves. We have probably all heard about the health problems produced by living under stress. Nudists save money by not having to treat as many stress related disorders. (source – pdf format) Also, by being more self confident, and supposedly better educated, they are more likely to get better jobs, making more money.

Society: Those same group of studies indicated that children raised in nudist homes are less inclined to become burdens to society. They are less likely to become involved in early sexual or drug experimentation or to commit crimes against society. This is partially because they are not as materially oriented and because they are already familiar with the looks and workings of the opposite sex. In general, nudity allows them to be more open and honest in their family life, which is expressed in how they relate to others in general. Nudists save money by not having to bail their children out of jail, take them to the doctors to treat sexually transmitted diseases or help them raise unwanted grandchildren (as frequently). If all families raised their children with the same attitudes as nudists, we would all be able to save money by having to pay less in taxes to support fewer children of unwanted pregnancies, drug addicts, juvenile delinquents, vandalism, etc.

SOUCRE: Saving Advice

'Most Runway Models Meet The BMI Criteria For Anorexia', Claims Plus-Size Magazine In Powerful Comment On Body Image In The Fashion Industry [Body Image]

This article is from the Mail Online:

A magazine dedicated to plus-size fashion and models has sparked controversy with a feature claiming that most runway models meet the Body Mass Index criteria for anorexia.

Accompanied by a bold shoot that sees a nude plus-size model posing alongside a skinny 'straight-size' model, PLUS Model Magazine says it aims to encourage plus-size consumers to pressure retailers to better cater to them, and stop promoting a skinny ideal.

Size 12 (U.S.) model Katya Zharkova, 28, stars in the shoot, which has a powerful statistic accompanying each image.

One, printed alongside a photo of the Russian beauty holding a tape measure across her rear, reads: 'Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less.'

Another states: 'Ten years ago plus-size models averaged between size 12 and 18. Today the need for size diversity within the plus-size modeling industry continues to be questioned.

'The majority of plus-size models on agency boards are between a size 6 and 14, while the customers continue to express their dissatisfaction.'

And finally, further highlighting how poorly the fashion world caters to plus-size women, the magazine tells us: '50% of women wear a size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.'

In an accompanying editorial, the magazine's editor-in-chief, Madeline Figueroa-Jones, explains that the feature is a response to a fashion and beauty industry which continues to endorse a skinny ideal that is not always healthy and alienates a huge percentage of the market.

She writes: 'We are bombarded with weight-loss ads every single day, multiple times a day because it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that preys on the fear of being fat.

'Not everyone is meant to be skinny, our bodies are beautiful and we are not talking about health here because not every skinny person is healthy.'

Size matters: PLUS Model Magazine has shot size 12 Katya Zharkova pose with a 'straight-size' model to demonstrate the difference between them 

Body image: The model proudly bares her U.S. size 12 curves in the magazine shoot

Big deal: The magazine wants to encourage women to embrace their bodies as they are, and not strive to emulate an unrealistic ideal

Body image: The Russian beauty poses with a tape measure around her rear alongside a statistic that shows how different models are from real women

Ms Figueroa-Jones says consumers can no longer identify with models; the disparity between real woman and those that grace ad campaigns and the covers of magazines is to wide now.

'Small women cannot be marketed to with pictures of plus-size women, why are we expected to respond to pictures of small size 6 and 8 women?' she asks.

The PLUS Model Magazine feature has generated a mixed response from its readers though.

While some have praised the statements the shoot makes, others believe that positively endorsing a fuller figure is as dangerous as advocating a skinny one.

One reader on the magazine's website comments: 'If this article is saying you should feel pretty at any size, fine. but don’t tell me you’re obese and healthy. We have a twisted sense of what healthy is in this country and an even more twisted sense of what people are allowed to say about it.'

Another adds: 'I don’t think the fashion world should support obesity, just as I don’t think it should support anorexia.'

The article has also generated an equal share of agreement, though. Reader Danae writes: 'We all women are brainwashed to believe that we are ugly and men will never look at us if we are not starving... We need more variety of healthy female body images.'

The January issue of PLUS Model Magazine is on sale now; plus-model-mag.com

SOUCRE: Mail Online

Open publication - Free publishing - More 16

Plus Size Bodies, What Is Wrong With Them Anyway? | PLUS Model Magazine [The Pulse of Plus Size Fashion, Beauty, Arts and Plus Size Models]

Picture Of The Day

Killing Us Softly 4 (2010) [Body Image, Women]

In this update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, Jean Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity. Killing Us Softly 4 stands to challenge a new generation of students to take advertising seriously, and to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating disorders, and gender violence.

Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognised for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. Kilbourne is the creator of the renowned Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women film series and the author of the award-winning book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.

Killing Us Softly 3 (1999) [Body Image, Women]

Jean Kilbourne's pioneering work helped develop and popularise the study of gender representation in advertising. Her award-winning Killing us Softly films have influenced millions of college and high school students across two generations and on an international scale. In this important new film, Kilbourne reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With wit and warmth, Kilbourne uses over 160 ads and TV commercials to critique advertising's image of women. By fostering creative and productive dialogue, she invites viewers to look at familiar images in a new way, that moves and empowers them to take action.

Jean Kilbourne - Her Official Website

The Politics Of Porn And Pubes: From The Public To The Personal [Women]

This article is from The F-Word by Joanna Whitehead:

Around six years ago, I had unfortunate sex with an unfortunate fellow. It was unexpected and we ended up fumbling around in his bedroom. When we paused for him to put on a condom (one saving grace), he looked between my legs, looked back at me and tugged my pubic hair, pronouncing, “This has got to go…” I was young - and absolutely mortified. Rather than turfing him out of his own room and branding his behind with “this boy is bad for women’s self esteem”, I squirmed and giggled nervously, before getting back down to business. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t much fun after that, and I sure as hell didn’t feel very sexy.

Last Thursday, I went to a talk at the Women’s Library in London entitled 'The Politics of Appearance'. As is often the case at such events, the audience question and answer session at the end proved to be the most telling and thought-provoking discussion of the evening. One woman put up her hand to say that she had a 20-year-old daughter who refused to go for a cervical smear unless she’d had a Brazilian. A smear test is a standard medical procedure, not Girls Gone Wild. Why should the poor woman feel such shame? Why was it so important for her to be trimmed and “tidy”? And, why was I embarrassed, rather than incensed?

For the uninitiated, a “Brazilian” is when all your pubic hair is removed except a neat “landing strip” of hair on your pubic bone. They have become de rigour amongst many women, some of whom apparently consider anything resembling natural pubic hair as “grim” or “gross”. Why is this?

One response to this question argues that the increased availability and (some could argue) prolificacy of pornography in society has seeped through from the public to the personal domain. Virtually all females in pornography are shaved and plucked within an inch of their life, and many people view this online and then request it or expect it from their real-life sexual partners.

Read The Whole Article @  The F-Word

2naked [Cool Art Project]

2naked have been founded in 2008 by Bianka Langnickel and Thomas as a photo project in the framework of the international art-project "Synapses" in Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova.

Back in this time 2naked went on travels through Republic of Moldova and Romania where they photographed themselves naked in the same pose again and again. This scenic photo series, has been shown in such places as the former State Circus Chisinau (Moldova) and the Neues Museum in Weimar (Germany). The viewer receives a closer look at private homes of various families in the Balkan, where the two artists lived and worked during their travels. Country-specific peculiarities, as well as personal characteristics of the inhabitants themselves, can be observed in each of the photographs.

The intention of the work - to address the space surround the two naked people, has been in main focus of artistic conception from the beginning. So 2naked wishes to raise their approach to a higher level, in new places. The town itself, now becomes the medium of association and offers scope for the viewer. This is achieved by a complete 2naked delimitation of the subject from the outer trappings. The only motifs that are displayed now are the two naked bodies, within real places, in a constantly changing context.

Nevertheless, the passer is not left alone with the artwork. As a project 2naked utilises networking, the opportunity is there for the viewer to visit the site (www.2naked.org) connecting with other places, creating a new way of identifying the outlook. The viewer can even participate, personally, through 2Naked's online platform.

The Wall is the Message | 2naked - Die nackte Wand
2naked | Facebook

2naked

John Lennon [Heroes Of iNAKED]

John Winston Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Along with fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.

This article is from Absolute Elsewhere: The Spirit of John Lennon:

John Lennon was clearly a supporter of a human being’s right to nudity, be it in private or in public. At a time when it was unheard of for a mainstream celebrity to appear naked, John shocked the world with the controversial cover of Two Virgins. But that wasn’t his first foray into exhibitionism...and it wouldn’t be his last.

The main hang up in the world today is hypocrisy and insecurity. If people can't face up to the fact of other people being naked or smoking pot, or whatever they want to do, then we're never going to get anywhere. People have got to become aware that it's none of their business and that being nude is not obscene. Being ourselves is what's important. If everyone practiced being themselves instead of pretending to be what they aren't, there would be peace.

Read The Whole Article @ Absolute Elsewhere: The Spirit of John Lennon

John Lennon - Wikipedia
John Lennon: Official Website

Cesária Évora - Live @ Ligereza-FranceInter [Music]

Cesaria Evora - Live @ Ligereza-FranceInter Concert recorded October 30, 2009.

Cesária Évora [Heroes Of iNAKED]

Cesária Évora (27 August 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed The Barefoot Diva for performing without shoes, she was also The Queen of Morna.

Life And Career

Cise (as her friends used to call her) was born on 27 August 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde. When she was seven years old her father died, and at age ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother could not raise all six children. Aged 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.

In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo as well as on the local radio. It was only in 1985 when at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana she went to perform in Portugal. In Lisbon she was discovered by the musician José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus recorded in France. Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

Her 1995 album Cesária brought her broader international success and the first Grammy Award nomination. In 1997, she won KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: Best Artist of West Africa, Best Album and Merit of the Jury.In 2004, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World music category.

In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on 8 May. Two days later, after a heart attack, she was operated on at a hospital in Paris. On the morning of 11 May she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on 16 May she was discharged from the intensive care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced she was ending her career due to poor health.

On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from respiratory failure and hypertension. A Spanish newspaper reported that 48 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.

Discography

Studio Albums

La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (1988)
Distino di Belita (1990)
Mar Azul (1991)
Miss Perfumado (1992)
Cesária (1995)
Cabo Verde (1997)
Café Atlantico (1999)
São Vicente di Longe (2001)
Voz d'Amor (2003)
Rogamar (2006)
Nha Sentimento (2009)

Compilations & Live Albums

Sodade - Les Plus Belles Mornas de Cesária (Best of compilation, 1994)
Club Sodade (Remix album, 1996)
Live à l'Olympia (Live album, recorded at the Paris Olympia, 1996)
Colors of the World (Allegro Music, 1997)
Live Lugano July 1997 (Live album, recorded at Lugano, 1997)
Best Of' (Best of compilation, 1998) CAN: Gold[9]
Anthology (Best of compilation, 2002)
Anthologie - Mornas & Coladeras (Double CD edition of Anthology, 2004)
Live d'Amor (Live DVD, recorded in 2004 at Le Grand Rex, Paris, 2004)
Un Geste Pour Haiti"

Singles

Nutridinha (2001)

Official Website
Extensive Bio By Radio France Internationale

SOUCRE: Cesária Évora - Wikipedia

Cesária Évora

Together We Stand [Body Image]

"Together we stand, totally nude. The way we are born. When totally nude we are finally true individuals, even though we all have similar parts, no two person is ever the same, even twins are different. Also when totally nude we no longer have class distinction either, as we all share the same loves, likes, fears and dreams. Job titles are also meaningless. Can you tell the marketing expert from the photographer, or the scientist from the office clerk? When nude we are equal to each other yet we maintain our individuality."

SOURCE: nude muse

Is Pubic Hair Coming Back Into Fashion? [Fashion]

This article is from Jezebel:

New pictures of Dutch model Saskia De Brauw in vintage Versace jewelry, stilettos, and nothing else, shot for the magazine Industrie are notable for one thing: they actually show her pubic hair. While toplessness is practically a staple of fashion photography, a frank depiction of pubic hair — or even just the acknowledgement of pubic hair's existence — had become a sort of oughts-age taboo.

This year's Pirelli Calendar, which Mario Sorrenti turned into a 24-oversized-page celebration of the male gaze, was obviously rife with full-frontal nudity. But at the key moment, a funny kind of modesty prevails: here a wrist obscures Lara Stone's crotch, there a shadow falls over Kate Moss's, and there the soaking wet white garment that fully reveals the shape of Isabeli Fontana's areolas pulls discreetly, and opaquely, away. Everything gets slightly blurry at the crucial cleft. From the waist down, these women are all shown to be about as featureless as Barbie. De Brauw, coincidentally, also posed for Sorrenti's calendar: her shots betray no hint of the hair Industrie was apparently comfortable enough to let her rock.

Read The Whole Article @ Jezebel

Tea 4/3 [Dance]

A flim by sbb/glg

Directed and Edited by Guillaume Le Grontec
Choreography Stefanie Batten Bland
birdlegs.net

Dancers
SBB, Verena Tremel, Raphael Kaney Duverger

Music: Matthieu Werchowski

World's Lost Tribes [Tribal Peoples and Cultures]

Join extreme travellers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds as they embark on unique expeditions into some of the most remote places on Earth.

Explorer, Mark and journalist Olly have spent months with two remarkable indigenous tribes in West Papua - the Kombai and the Mek - trekking high into uncharted highlands, seeking total immersion in isolated cultures with histories of tribal war, sorcery and witchcraft.

In this hugely different world, Brits Mark and Olly attempt to live off the land, exactly like their hosts. It's a hardcore challenge because not only do they have to learn how to survive on a largely unusual (and often unpalatable) diet, they must also work alongside the tribes, learn new languages and understand each tribe's rituals.

Join Mark and Olly in their incredible adventures as they make friends, and enemies, and learn the secrets of these primal societies.



US Discovery Travel Series following explorers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds living with the Kombai Tribe. They are some of the worlds last hunter gatherers. They throw a huge sago grub festival - all is well until a feudal enemy turns up.



US Travel Channel Series following explorers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds living with the Mek tribe in West Papua. The Mek are the some of the worlds oldest farmers but still dig with sticks. Much of their lives is very recognizable though, this is a clip of a young couple and their shotgun wedding.

Adventures of Mark and Olly - World's Lost Tribes - Discovery Channel
More Worlds Lost Tribes Videos at YourDiscovery.com
Amazon.co.uk: World's Lost Tribes [DVD]: Film & TV

Dawn Get's Naked (2007) [Documentary]

Dawn Porter bares all in order to reveal how our idea of perfection has been perverted to fit the demands of the beauty industry. In a bid to get to grips with her naked self, Dawn is propelled into all manner of uncompromising situations - from hanging out with naturists to learning a valuable lesson in morality from a stripper. Spurred on to try and change attitudes and expectations of the female form, Dawn sets about organising what she hopes will become the ultimate female Flashmob.

Last broadcasted on UK TV on the 17 September 2008.

Dawn Gets Naked

BORN IN 68 [Film]

This is a clip from a film called Born in '68. Conceived as a two-part TV series, this sprawling melodrama from French filmmakers Oliver Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (Cockles And Muscles) follows a group of Parisian student radicals from 1968 over the next four decades, as History with a capital H intrudes on their lives and those of their children.