Citizen Janes Observes the 90th Anniversary of Nudism in Canada

Report from Toronto's World Naked Bike Ride Event

Paul Rapoport writes:

The stated aim of the ride is to protest "indecent exposure to cars" and oil dependency. For this event, the naked body seemed not a provocation but simply an antithesis au naturel to concrete and cars. Although naked may also imply vulnerable, we felt strong and determined in our large, merry horde...My strongest memory of the ride is a naked young woman cycling to the front of our group to hold the traffic at a busy intersection. She revealed complete calm and confidence. I saw no fainting spells or car accidents.

The Weekend Newds 11/15/08

• In addition to dropping the anti-nudity proposal, the Seattle parks commissioners asked parks officials to explore the possibility of creating a clothing-optional beach in the city.
• An Australian writer observes that people seem to be baring more skin these days.

  L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival director Karen Webster says fashion trends move in cycles rather than straight lines. The recent flourishing of flesh is not necessarily leading to maximum exposure — or, heavens forbid, rip-roaring nudity. To the contrary, a counter trend is emerging that could again see people dressing up rather than down, she says.

• A Polish priest has been convicted of wilful exposure for sunbathing nude or nearly nude in a Melbourne public park.

  Magistrate Janet Wahlquist found that Father Pawlowski was indeed naked in the park and that most people would find it obscene that a grown man was sunbaking naked in a park where children might play.
  
  She fined him $400 and recorded a conviction.

• A provocative dance theatre show in Toronto has "16 performers putting on and taking off their clothes like going through a continually revolving door".
• Australia has passed a new set of protocols for artists who work with nude children.

  Council CEO Kathy Keele says the protocols are designed to strike a balance between protecting children and upholding the right to freedom of expression.
  
  "If you're working with anyone under the age of 15 and they're to be fully or partly naked, you would have to send us the permission of the parents or guardian, stating that you have explained the context of the work to the parents and the child, and that they understand the nature and the intended outcome of the work," she said.
  
  "They [must] commit to direct supervision of the child while the child is naked."

  Artists are claiming that the new guidelines are unworkable.

  Tamara Winikoff, executive director of the National Association for the Visual Arts, said that requiring artists working with all children under 15 years to get parental permission was restrictive.
  
  "That's problematic, particularly for people like documentary photographers who work in the street," Ms Winikoff said. "At the moment there are no restrictions on taking crowd photographs or photographs of people in the street without their permission … This would impose a very, very unreasonable restriction."

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

Topfree Woman at Baseball Game

At the Rogers Centre in Toronto, a woman appeared in the window of the Renaissance Hotel wearing only a thong during a Blue Jays baseball game. Police and hotel security are not talking about exactly how the incident was dealt with, but one politician has expressed his opinion.

John Nunziata is a former Liberal and Independent MP who once championed the cause of Toronto's "Keep Tops On," a group that was against allowing women to be topless in public.

He told the Sun yesterday he is older and perhaps a little wiser now.

"I'm getting on in years, and I say live and let live. God bless her," he said, noting that 1996 when he lobbied the government for cover-up legislation was a long time ago.

"The times, they are a changing and I'm not worked up about it."

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

Public Breastfeeding Encouraged in Toronto

Cafes in Toronto, Canada, will begin displaying decals in their windows to show that breastfeeding mothers are welcome.

For Leila Monib, a nursing mother, she said this a "good beginning" to eradicate negative views about women's breasts. "I want breastfeeding in public to be normalized, made more acceptable. Women's breasts are so sexualized. We're used to seeing them up on billboards and not seeing them in use," the 33-year-old said. "But when the baby cries, duty calls. I always say: 'Have breasts. Will use.'"

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

The Weekend Newds 1/19/08

• Lady Godiva rides again, this time to promote a new film. [Manchester Evening News]
• A visit to a nude photo exhibit leaves a South African woman feeling uneasy.

  I decide to move past my initial awkwardness and view the anonymous breasts and buttocks as the art pieces they are intended to be. Or more for the interesting issues they might highlight about the ‘lookist’ era we’re all living in — where the female form is a highly politicised subject, and the right body measurements could make one seem like a better person. [thetimes.co.za]

• A local bar hired two topless dancers, which prompted the City Council of Grafton, North Dakota, to begin regulating strippers.

  "My problem isn't the idea of strippers, it's the negative collateral effects that come with stripping that I want to keep out of town," he (Mayor Todd Burianek) said. "It's the increased drug trafficking and immoral violations of law that have shown to coincide with strippers.
  
  "I'm not some prude who hasn't seen these things," he said. "It just feels creepy in my town." [The Jamestown Sun]

• A New Zealand photographer has had his artwork selected for a New York gallery showing.

  "In my images I challenge the view that the contemporary queer nude male is a specimen of physical perfection," he explains. [gaynz.com]

• A flasher who claimed that his penchant for exposing himself in public is the result of an obsessive compulsive disorder has escaped a prison sentence. [dailypost.co.uk]
• Dadaism meets burlesque at a new Toronto show.

  "In a traditional show, where there's a big reveal, you go to nude. With this, we start the whole thing off naked. There's still some traditional burlesque. But we've moved on." [thestar.com]

• What's more exciting than nude swimming? Doing it with a shark. [ocregister.com]
• A Massachusetts man who used faces of 14 year old campers and pasted them on images of adults engaging in sexual activity had his child pornography conviction overturned by the State Supreme Court.

  "This case really is about thought control and not about child pornography," said assistant appellate defender Theodore Lothstein, who argued the appeal before the Supreme Court last summer. "It doesn't give license to do much of anything but look at things in your own home. . . . The behavior it protects is by its nature behavior that nobody knows is happening." [nashuatelegraph.com]

• Bette Midler is beginning a two year run in Vegas.

  “I’d like to have nudes,” she says about her show, with a mischievous grin. “Not nude nudes, but a new kind of Vegas nude. A showgirl who can do a lot of things. A little bit naughty, but pretty nice all around.” [parade.com]

• The world's most famous male nude statue could be getting a new home. [chron.com]
• A Nigerian student condemns the use of nudity in worship.

  ...the nude person is treating God with contempt and abusing his mercy and grace. This is especially because the Bible reminds us that our bodies are temples of the holy spirit and that God lives in them. On the other hand, a person who goes nude is not only treating his/her self with disrespect but he/she is denying him/herself the desired dignity of the human person. [thetidenews.com]

• If you are in New York City and have an extra forty bucks, you can partake in the "Naked at the Met Scavenger Hunt" which involves searching for artwork containing nudes throughout the museum. [nytimes.com]
• A substitute teacher in Connecticut was fired for showing "The Simpsons Movie" to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. The movie has a brief glimpse of Bart's cartoon penis, as well as a scene where two male police officers share a kiss. The teacher is suing the New Haven school board. [foxnews.com]

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