Is that what I
call this, an installment? I hope so. I’ve never done this before.
Recently a
friend suggested a book to me. This book is called The Volunteer and it’s
by an author named D.H. Jonathan. I don’t even know if that’s a male or female
and I guess it doesn’t matter. I like to think the author is female, since she
wrote about a female in this book and did such a bang-up job as far as I’m concerned
that I’d like to think only another woman could have written so clearly the
details I read about in this book about the developments in the life of a college
sophomore who went through what this girl did.
Only this isn’t
a book review - far from it. This is a piece about the subject matter concerned
in this book and that is human nudity. Especially human nudity as it pertains
to a human being walking around in public totally naked, ie, without a stitch of
clothing, in bare skin, okay? That’s what happens in this book where this
student has to clear her academic record that she has tarnished all on her own,
and the way in which she gets to clear her record is by agreeing to go nude for
the next sixty days, all on campus at a college in California, where she can’t
tell anyone the reason why she’s walking around completely naked or the deal is
off and she once more is under academic suspension and is as screwed as she was
before the sixty days started.
As you might
expect this girl who is not a nudist and was brought up in a typically
Christian household from a family in Texas goes through quite a bit of angst
when she faces her very first time of going out the doors of a building out
onto the wide open campus where she will be seen by every student she
encounters who will have no idea why she is naked and what is going on. What’s
more, if they ask her why she is naked she can’t tell them. She can make something
up, but she can’t tell them the truth, which is that it’s all a sociology experiment
to see how people react to seeing someone unexpectedly walking around naked.
How many of us
would feel the same way if we suddenly had all of our clothes taken away from
us and were expected to go about our daily lives completely naked? Would we
feel that same angst as did this girl? Would fear overcome us and keep us from
going out those doors to face the world? Would we give up before we even began
the experiment? Would we try it out for a short period and perhaps cry uncle
if we thought it was just too much embarrassment to endure? Could we possibly
do our grocery shopping, our daily work routine, go to the bank, the cleaners,
the gas station, take our kids to school or the dentist or doctors, or perhaps
their dance classes or football games, whatever it is we have on our plates, if
we had to do it all without our clothes?
Now, let me ask
you this – why do we even need clothes to do all those things?
Have you ever stopped
to consider why it is you put clothes on your body every day before you leave
your house to go to work or school or wherever it is that you go when you leave
your homes? You were born without clothes and your body was perfect as it was,
so why do you bother to cover it now? Oh sure, if it’s freezing cold weather
you want to stay warm, or if it’s raining out you want to stay dry, but if the
weather is sunny and warm or even hot as it is where I live as I am writing the
words to this blog, then why do you bother to put cloths over a perfectly good
body when all you really need is to walk out the door of your home, get in your
car and drive to wherever it is you need to go, do whatever it is you need to
do, then drive back home again?
What’s that?
You’d get arrested if you walked into the grocery store naked? If the laws in
your area tell you that it’s illegal to appear in public nude, then work to get
those laws changed. That’s right, you heard me. Laws are not set in stone. If
laws such as those concerning public indecency or lewdness are what are keeping
you from being nude in public, then go to your city council. Tell them those laws
discriminate against you illegally and that they need to be changed. Do whatever
you need to change those laws so that they no longer keep you from being nude
in public, then go ahead and live your lives openly nude the way we all were
meant to be.
Have you ever
heard someone say, “If God had intended men to live nude he would have created
us naked”? Yeah, it’s something nudists say to show how utterly stupid it is
for us as human beings to wear clothing and have laws that prevent us from
being nude in public. It makes perfect sense. If we weren’t to be publicly nude
we wouldn’t have been born that way.
I know my
argument here isn’t going to change everybody’s mind, but I can assure you that
if tomorrow it was announced that we could live nude everywhere we wanted, I
would be the very first person in my area to run out the door of my home naked
and go everywhere I possibly could just so I could say I was the first in my community
to do so. I long for the opportunity to live completely nude on a constant
basis like the girl in this book. If I had the chance today I would gladly
accept it. Why don’t you?
Change the
laws. Don’t allow the government to tell you how to live. You tell the government
how it is you are going to live. Don’t allow laws to change you. YOU change the
laws to suit you.
This has been Bare
Body Dialogues with Brooke. Be sure to subscribe to my blog in order to get
each one of my installments sent to your email address so you don’t miss out on
any of them. And remember to write a comment below to show what you think or
give an opinion of my blog topic. Anything at all, but please, keep it clean,
okay? Thanks.
You and me both, Brooke. I'm working to get the lewd conduct laws in my city changed, since the way they are stated have nothing to do with lewd conduct and only pertain to simple nudity. I'm with you 100% that bare skin does not equal indecency or criminal action and no city, county, or state should ever make a crime out of someone being nude in public without actually doing something that is an actionable offense along with being nude. I will fight to make nudity legal until the day I day. Thanks for standing with us and being one more voice of reason in an insane world.
ReplyDeleteTotal body freedom is a common idea on FB and I agree with it. However, my thought is that it is too big a leap. Society must take smaller steps:
ReplyDelete1. Universal (all states) gender equality regarding topfreedom
2. Clothing optional zones in large cities as they have in Germany.
Once we have those steps, society will be begin to accept the idea of total body freedom.
You are probably right. I'm willing to take those steps but I'd rather be able to just be nude everywhere now. lol I know I'm impatient, but I want it all NOW!
DeleteYou couldn't be more right if you tried, Brooke! Decades ago, a once-reknowned Italian writer, a modern-day prince, no less, named Guiseppe Di Lampedusa, wrote a novel called, "Il Gattopardo" ("The Leopard)", later made into a film by Lucchino Visconti Di Modena, featuring Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon, in which the writer said, through one of his characters, "There's nothing wrong with bared bodies, I promise you...! Bared bodies are quite innocent! It's bared souls that show us the real obscenity!" That's always been my gut understanding all along, though in my 64 years on this Earth in this Universe, I've seen all-too-scant acknowledgement of this truth! Keep on publishing, Brooke, and never give up! The world (and the universe) need people like you to keep basic humanity (as opposed to inhumanity!) alive!
DeleteThank you for your encouragement, Michael. I'll have to research that book and film, but most likely that's the most appropriate quote for me, right?
DeleteI agree as well. That was well put
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. Laws against human beings being seen have no valid basis. The government must have a "Compelling public interest" to arrest and punish citizens. To be "compelling" they must be saving someone else from getting physically or economically hurt. Since nobody of any age has ever been hurt by seeing another member of his or her own species, there is no compelling public interest to justify arrest and punishment of people for being seen. Someone's "offense" or butthurt because they "don't want to see" other human beings is not a legally actionable harm.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking a stand. We need to be public and active, be seen and be heard.
Thanks for your input, Bob. Now we need to get lots of nudists and topfree proponents actively involved protesting so wee CAN make changes now.
DeleteJoin us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/LegalityofNudity!!
DeleteThanks Glen I will. Jake Drake told me about you and your skydiving venture. I love it.
DeleteLike your comments and enjoy reading them! Please continue!
ReplyDeleteI plan on it. Thanks, Jim. I hope you are also getting active and involved.
DeleteVery well put
ReplyDeleteI agree John. I want total freedom but think we have to take small steps to get there. Like the clothing optional zones in parks, and being able to be naked anywhere on our own property, etc.
ReplyDeleteYes, but we can't allow the government to dictate our zones. We have to fight to expand constantly until we have the total body freedom we deserve.
DeleteThat was a well written blog article. A lot of us understand the concept here but now we have to figure out how to change the publics attitude. I think it starts with education and by changing laws a small step at a time. But how do we best educate the public is the biggest question.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I think we need a lot of money to pursue various Publicity efforts. That and getting many more Nudist involved and coming out of the closet and educating the people They know.
If millions of nudists all came out and worked at that, we could make a huge change. But as long as they remain fearful it will never happen.
That is the main problem, getting nudists to stop being fearful. As long as most nudists continue to hide inside their homes and clubs we will never get anywhere. But I disagree with needing millions of dollars. IF we can activate the nudists we can stage protests and that will give us publicity without money. Once we can make our stance known we can push forward and take back our cities.
DeleteGreat blog, Brooke... :)
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult aspect in my humble opinion is changing the public's view that nudity automatically equals sex.... unfortunately it's shoved down their throats everyday by the people who reap in millions of dollars with beauty ads, TV commercials, porn.... the list goes on and on.
You got it right there. That's one of our biggest hurdles, convincing the public, which also means the people who make the laws, that simple nudity does not equate with sex.
DeleteHi Brooke:
ReplyDeleteAs the author of The "Volunteer", thanks for posting this. I have been a nude model for art classes for over 30 years, and I've always wondered why I can freely be nude on the model stand but nowhere else (outside of nudist resorts). When you're in a pose, you start to think about all kinds of things, and I began to imagine what it would be like to be nude all the time. That was the genesis of the book. I've often had to put something on at home just to do simple things like checking the mail or taking the garbage to the curb. I wish society would allow us to just be ourselves.
I do think that that change has to start at our state and local governments. As stated in the book, due to state court cases, non-sexual nudity is sort of legal in the state of California, but a lot of cities in that state have passed prohibitions on being nude in public. A ban on public nudity was passed in San Francisco in late 2012 that went into effect on February 1, 2013 (after years of legal public nudity). A small group of urban nudists has been fighting that ordinance, both in court and in social media. They deserve our support. If we can get that San Francisco law overturned, we can begin to knock out similar laws elsewhere.
In the meantime, books, movies, and television shows that depict nudity as a natural state need to be encouraged. ESPN's Body issue is hitting newsstands now, if it hasn't already, and the Discovery show Naked And Afraid remains fairly popular. I think public opinion on nudity is slowly changing, and that's a good thing. I hope my book contributes to that change.
Thanks for posting your encouragement, Dan. I know your book is going to be a motivating force to help get nudism legalized. What it is doing already is polarizing (is that the right word?) nudists into realizing there is a possibility of living their dream by reading about Dani doing it, and now that you are writing a sequel that will only add to the motivation. Once enough nudists see their dream flitting away before them if they don't do something, I believe we will see a movement begin, but we need the right men and women to spearhead that movement and I'm positive you are one of them. So finish that sequel and make some waves, because I want to live nude and free before I'm too old to enjoy it.
DeleteHi Brooke,
ReplyDeleteAs with all things, it isn't about being nude it's about the money. Municipalities depend on their citizens to commit crimes to keep them in business. So the more things that are illegal the better in their eyes.
More people need to get involved in organizing grass roots efforts. Maybe some people with the organizing and people skills necessary.
Best regards,
Kevin McCauley
You have a noble cause and I hope you have great success in being able to live and be naked in public places as well as at home. In England it's not illegal to be naked in public but it is illegal if you are naked with the intention of causing alarm or distress or doing sexual activity so there are grey areas and it would be better if there was some clarity that everyone understands.
ReplyDeleteGreat post,
Mark
Hi Mark. I would settle for the laws you have in England since I would easily be able to prove why I was nude all the time. Just give me the chance and I will never put on clothing unless it's freezing out.
DeleteGreat post! We should all have the right to wear what we want whether that's clothes or just our skin and nothing else. We are the only mammals on this planet who take offence at our natural naked state. I've been a nudist for 50+ years and laugh at those poor ppl who can't seperate nudity from sex.
ReplyDeleteSee that's just it, nudists/naturists understand and a few others, but not textilers. There has to be a way to convince them, but what? How do we get them to see that their laws are based on discrimination against us? That's the whole key as far as I can tell.
DeleteRight now I am just holding my breath waiting for one more state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution. If that goes through then no state, city, or burg can have a law restricting top freedom for women. That is step 1 that John Burkett replied. Pray for the ERA and falling dominoes.
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