The Daily Newds

• Royal Opera House singer Suzanne McNaughton (above) performed topless and was greeted with enthusiastic applause.
• A student in Maine "gets it" when it comes to non-sexual nudity.

  Whether or not bodies are useful or attractive in the bedroom seems to be the only criteria we have, even for ourselves. As a result, everyone is suspicious and resentful of the perfect bodies we presume are lurking beneath other people's layers of clothing. Taking sex out of the picture, a person can take an objective look at his or her body, finally seeing it for him or herself instead of through the eyes of sexual rejection or acceptance. What would happen if we looked at our naked bodies in a nonsexual way?

• A University of Virginia student also "gets it", comparing the competition in the gym to the non-judgemental atmosphere of an "underwear party".

  In an extreme contrast to the gym environment, two weeks ago I witnessed a large group of people socializing comfortably in their underwear without a single mention of being in or out of shape. I'm now convinced everyone should at some point attend an underwear party (It's pretty much how it sounds). For the most part, you don't see people hanging out in their underwear except in ads, but I think a lot of people would benefit from putting down "Shape" and "Men's Health" and seeing how real people actually look. No one at the party had the perfect body, but they had fun nonetheless.

• Christina Ricci has become a nudist because of her mostly-naked experience filming "Black Snake Moan".

  Ricci says, "I'm a prude and I do not like walking around naked and I was in my bathroom about two months after the movie finished and I was brushing my teeth and I was in my underwear and I looked down and was like, 'Oh, God, put something on.'"Then I just stopped and thought, 'Oh my god, I was half naked for two months and my ass was on camera.' "I called my sister and I was like, 'Is it OK to wear nothing around the house? I'm freaking out.'"

• Opposition is growing in New Zealand against the "Boobs on Bikes" event scheduled for this Friday.

  Over 100,000 people lined Auckland's Queen Street for the Boobs on Bikes ride last year after Mayor Dick Hubbard declared such a display "morally repugnant" and councillors attempted to ban the parade. Anglican Dean of Christchurch Peter Beck said he agreed with Moore. "This sort of thing debases the human body, which is a beautiful thing..."

• Kudos to the UK Military Police who did not dismiss a female soldier who posed for a nude photo, issuing just a warning.
• A Florida naturist resort is hosting a political candidates debate.

  "There's nothing weird about it," said seat 2 candidate Bill Louda. "It may be cooler, so we can expect clothes, and if you see some people around the pool, whatever, let them do their thing."

• Worldwide interest in nude fitness has been sparked by the Netherlands gym that is offering naked workouts.

  Gym owner Patrick de Man says he has been approached from people from the US, UK, Germany and Belgium since he announced his plans at the beginning of this month..."The thousands of responses on my gym's website show that naturists have been waiting for something like this for a long time," he said.

• An exhibit of nude photographs has opened in conservative India where many believe nudity to be taboo.

  Q: Normally in India such exhibitions are a hush-hush affair?
  
  A: "What hush-hush affair? This is a country of Kama Sutra and 12th century masterpieces of erotic sculptures. They are open on the temples. So what is this? This is very little expression. These are just beauty and aesthetics of a woman's body."

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