We think the following thought process is pretty common for nudists/naturists, particularly those new to the sport – perhaps you’ve asked yourselves some of these questions in the past:

• Why am I like this?
• Why do I think this way? and
• Why does everyone else around me think I’m mad? (assuming they know you are a nudist/naturist!)

Not unreasonable questions it would seem, and everyone has different answers – following up our previous post “Nudity and plinths… eh?”, it would appear LadyGod1va is contemplating some very familiar rationalisations. In particular, we like the way her thought process is quite well considered and aware of the bigger picture issues – getting nudity accepted as a “norm” is a very different problem to getting people to accept that it exists and is “acceptable” (is it our “right”? Hmmm, another topic for another day – keeping in mind that, like smoking or religion, a person might have the right to participate but that does not mean they can force it on the person next to them at the bus stop…)

Anyway, take a look at the blog post and ponder a different perspective – Click here. Also take a walk through the reader comments, they’re just as interesting!!

And to LadyGod1va, keep up the great work – regardless of opinions and flame wars, open dialogue is a positive and should be encouraged!

We think this is one of those articles that leads to a lot of eye-rolling – how did we get this way as a society? According to the article:

[Eric] Williamson was making coffee in the buff at 5.30am when a woman and her seven-year-old son walked past his kitchen window in Springfield [Virginia]. The woman then called the police.

Of course she did, this is America – shouldn’t the woman have been a bit more “parent-like”?? The son is seven years old, he’s probably across the whole “we have skin and stuff under these clothes”, so why couldn’t she simply have said said nothing and the kid is none the wiser? Even better, if the boy did say something, a simple laugh off and say “he’ll catch cold if he doesn’t get dressed soon…” would have sufficed.

Makes you wonder if Eric should have the woman charged with looking into his window, surely that’s a breach of his privacy and personal space – in the land of the long expensive litigation, it only seems fair to throw more silliness back over the fence, return volley!!

If you’ve not heard about the “Fourth Plinth” in Trafalgar Square in London, it’s an empty statue plinth that has been used on and off as a place to host temporary art works and exhibitions, usually involving “live” acts. The most recent project titled “One & Other” put 2400 individuals on the plinth, 24×7, for an hour per person over 100 days. The participants could do pretty much whatever they wanted (within reason, and legality, we assume), and the whole project has had its share of fame and controversy.

So, why are we talking about an art project in London on an Australian nudist website? Because there were a number of participants that incorporated nudity as part of their contribution to the project. In a few cases it was purely part of the artistic presentation, but there were 3 clear participants who had nudity as their primary message. The first to go completely nude in the project was Suzanne Kane, who used the opportunity to take calls over Skype and talk to people about naturism. You can read an article she wrote in UK’s “Naturist Life” magazine – Click here. Suzanne was nude and seated for the entire hour we believe, and made the news as the first to go completely nude.

The second person generated a lot of interest – a participant named Simon, who managed to generate some controversy when a member of the public lodged a complaint against a naked male on the plinth – interesting how a naked male results in a complaint!! It would seem we are not alone in that observation, there’s quite a discussion going on regarding the legality of public nudity and complaints in the UK – Click here to read more. Simon was the first to be completely nude and be fully visible on the plinth (we believe), and there has been some commentary that if he was seated nude like Suzanne then perhaps the complaint would not have been made… we’ll never know!

The third participant was one we found particularly interesting – a young IT business owner going by the name of Lady God1va. LadyG decided to use her hour on the plinth to present a positive view of nudism, and how it is normal and natural. She alternated between riding a wooden rocking horse (the “Lady Godiva” aspect of here message – Google it if you are not familiar with the story of Lady Godiva, you young’uns!), walking around the plinth holding up placards with various “nudity is natural” messages, and chatting with the crowd in Trafalgar Square and answering their questions.

We were particularly impressed with LadyG because she presented her message well, handled the “questions” from the crowd with decorum and grace, and overall was a fantastic ambassador for nudists in general!! We want to say well done, and send a high-five your way – the world needs more people with your pragmatic and relaxed approach to nudity as being “completely normal”!

As a side note, we do not believe any complaints were made about Suzanne or LadyG.

If you want to see the hour of LadyG’s footage, here’s the link – Click Here (be aware that 60 mins of footage can take some time to load, it appears like it has hung your browser but just go and make a cup of tea and it should be running by the time you return!!)

Other links you might want to look at:
LadyG’s project blog – http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/Lady-Godiva/blog
LadyG’s personal blog – http://ladygod1va.wordpress.com/
Fourth Plinth – http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/
One & Other – http://www.oneandother.co.uk/

Interesting article on whether nudity is a “right” – tricky topic it would seem, particularly since the concept of “rights” is so different between different countries and cultures!

The article is here and we suggest you check it out – Click here

From the article:

Some of the fuzziness in our defense of naturism as a “right” is that we never quite get a handle on what kind of “right” it is. Is it a “self-evident” individual right? a civil liberty? a civil right? a constitutional right? a cultural right? a human right?

All very interesting questions, and certainly enough to get you pondering where nudity fits in when it comes to rights!!

It’s been alleged a Florida radio station owner was involved in sexual activity with minors. Up to 3 stories published in the media suggested or indicated that the man was a nudist!! Nudists obviously face a branding and image issue globally, if the media believes it is reasonable tar our community with this particularly unpleasant brush!!

From the article:

The mere act of not wearing clothes does not make one a nudist, or a naturist, no more than putting on a costume at Halloween makes one Dracula, but the media doesn’t care because labelilng this creep as a “nudist” makes good headlines…

Exactly!! If you want to read the articles, click here