Is there a difference between being naked or nude, in private or in public? John Berger makes the case: “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others… nudity is placed on display.” This highlights the perspective that the protesters are naked for their own cause, using … Read more
The photographic images presented here tell the tale of the ride itself, as well as a few of its related stories, and each “picture is worth a thousand words”. Indeed, many images from the WNBR are truly excellent and belong in the photo-documentary slot of any comprehensive photographic library purporting to be representative of modern … Read more
No freedom has ever been freely given, freedoms have always been taken, and the only question is whether we stand and fight, or run and hide. The people who pioneer the new, (because not “normal”), views are inevitably regarded as extremists. Today, we bow to lesbian/gay rights, women voters, etc.Only because some people made a … Read more
The World Naked Bike Ride book by Richard Foley Available from Amazon and all good book distributors via ISBN: 978-0-9572432-0-0 The World Naked Bike Ride is a global protest against oil dependency and urban pollution, promoting greater cycling safety on our roads, and encouraging body freedom for everyone. Extract: There is surely a sensible and sustainable … Read more
Simon Oosterman has the dubious honour of being the first person to be arrested and charged by a police officer for the apparently heinous crime of being naked while painted blue when he was organizer of the 2005 WNBR in Auckland, New Zealand. He also appeared on the street outside the court fully naked while … Read more
The very phrase: ‘the war on [insert favourite topic here]’ is almost always about reducing personal freedom and increasing repression and intolerance in one form or another. Intolerance breeds hostility and leads only to war and terrorism, whether via Prohibition or Al-Qaida or Communism or Witchcraft. This is why true tolerance is so important for modern civilization to learn. … Read more
It is clear that our lives are defined by the space between the two camps of; firstly, our thoughts on our own actions; and secondly, by our fear of what other people might think. Never mind Shakespeare the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius pointed this out some two thousand years ago: “All is as thinking makes … Read more
As an extreme example of the prudery in the USA, there is the Janet Jackson incident. At the Super Bowl halftime show on 1st February 2004, her right breast was briefly seen on TV. The US public and press went to town and gave an excellent demonstration of their dreadful prudery. Jackson had an invitation … Read more
Western religions do not generally have direct prohibition of social nudity as a core belief, such prohibition as there is has come about from custom and practice and from misunderstood interpretations of early teachings. Protestations against nudity have been made by a few of the religious hierarchy and sadly followed by the many. There is … Read more
I’m repeatedly amazed at the quizzical responses I get when I tell people that I, or my wife and I, just got back from a nude hike up a river trail to a distant peak. “Don’t the bugs get to you?” “Don’t your ‘privates’ get scratched by the brush?” “You must have one nasty sunburn!” … Read more
