Topless Day in Central Park

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Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

Let the Sunshine In

"Hair" is coming to Central Park this summer in a shortened form for a new audience, but including original nude scene.

"It's like a supernatural vortex," says (actor/writer James) Rado. "Being naked in front of an audience, you're bearing your soul. Not only the soul but the whole body was being exposed. It was very apt, very honest and almost necessary."

Singer Donna Summer appeared in a German production of the show, and got up the courage to be nude only once.

"Looking back, it was not offensive and I am a professed Christian," says Summer, 59. "It was not meant to be sexual in any way. We stood naked to comment on the fact that society makes more of nudity than killing. We worry more about someone walking around half dressed than somebody who's walking around shooting people."

Well, that's an overstatement, but violence is far more acceptable as entertainment in American society than anything sexual. Although violence on television has been shown to be a significant factor in shaping young minds in negative ways, the FCC is more concerned about nude derrieres and exposed nipples as potential threats to civilization.

It just seems odd that even after 40 years, the nudity in "Hair" is still controversial, perhaps even more so than in 1968 when it made its debut. Decades of Moral Majority political influence have filled people with irrational fears of their own bodies, and natural sexuality. There is still much to learn from "Hair".

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked