The Naked Truth Is, We're Used To Public Nudity

I was laughing over the clever and quirky new ads for Zappos.com -- the ones that feature seemingly nude models jogging, hailing a cab and riding a motor bike -- when I realized something:

Nudity isn't shocking or surprising or passion-provoking anymore.

It's no big deal.

Or, as Michael Bernacchi, a University of Detroit Mercy professor and marketing expert, said: "Nudity is tired."

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SOURCE: freep.com

Nudist club hosts screening of major Movie

Stockholm — On Saturday, July 16 Rock Lodge Club will be screening a major movie currently touring the country. “Act Naturally” is the story of two sisters who suddenly find they’ve inherited a nudist resort (http://www.ActNaturallyMovie.com/media.html).

There will be two showings, at 5 and 8 p.m. A Q&A with the director and a cast member will follow each showing...


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SOURCE: strausnews.com

Women Not Exercising Their Topless Rights

TORONTO - More women are interested in being topless on the street – but actually going through with it is another story, according to the Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA).

Since Gwen Jacob’s appeal to overturn a conviction of being bare-breasted in public, TERA has been receiving more questions about the legalities of going topless. Some people may not know that, in Ontario and most likely across Canada, because of the ruling, it is legal to publicly expose breasts...


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SOURCE: Toronto Sun

**A BLAST FROM THE PAST** Playboy's Naked Yoga Video Puts Hindus In Difficult Position (October 26, 2010)

THE attempts of "Playboy" publisher Hugh Hefner to cash in on the benefits of naked yoga outraged Hindu leaders, who say that the porn king had exposed the practice for "mercantile greed."

For centuries, India’s Hindu sects espoused the benefits of nudity, with holy men trekking for miles across the subcontinent wearing little more than a smile as they strive to uncover their true divine nature.

A video from Playboy featuring Sara Jean Underwood, a former Playmate of the Year, performing yoga poses, has angered Hindu elders, in what they see as the latest in a string of attempts to commercialise an ancient and spiritual practice.

“Hindus are upset over what is the misuse of the age-old and revered system of yoga by Playboy for mercantile greed, and we are urging the organisation to withdraw all its yoga-related products,” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism.

“Yoga is one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and it is highly revered in Hinduism. It is a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human soul can unite with the universal soul.”


The criticism is the latest salvo to be fired in what some dubbed the yoga wars, a series of disputes over the alleged hijacking of yoga for profit.

The yoga industry is estimated to be worth $6 billion a year in the US alone, where recently-invented variations include yoga for pets and hot nude yoga.

Money-making yogis scandalised yoga’s purists who believe that the true goal should be the attainment of moksha, a blissful release from the endless cycle of rebirth and death.

India, the birthplace of the art, is striking back at what it calls yoga theft by those who claim techniques that may date back thousands of years as their own inventions.

“Yoga deals with spirituality,” said V. K. Gupta, the head of India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, a government-funded database that is in the process of recording hundreds of yoga poses to ensure that foreign gurus cannot patent them.

“Attempts to trademark the ancient property of humanity are offensive - they hurt,” he added.

SOURCE: news.com.au

NOTE: i-Naked.info has found the videos in question online and after watching them, doesn't consider them to be exploitive. However, that's maybe because I'm looking at them thought the eyes of a naturist and choosing not to take any notice of Playboy's involvement. Have a look for yourself and please tell me what you think in the comments below.

André LW
Editor/Founder of i-Naked.info

PS" Please also take note that i-Naked.info does NOT in any way endorse or is sponsored by Playboy.

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Femen On The Belgian TV

The public Belgian TV Channel VRT made a great documentary on the activities of the Ukrainian women's organisation FEMEN. It was broadcasted in the weekly 'Terzake' news show on July 11, 2011.

Topless Austrian tourist saved after floating in the Adriatic for hours

An Austrian partygoer has been saved after hours of floating in the Adriatic.

Croatian maritime police have saved the 30-year-old Austrian woman J.F. noticing her floating in the sea close to the western town of Pula on Sunday.

The exhausted woman was topless, dressed only in bikini bottoms, tabloid 24 Sata has reported.

The policemen have found out from her she attended a party in Stinjan close to Pula on Saturday. At the end of the party she wanted to refresh herself a bit by jumping into the sea. She said she had been very tired and could not swim against the strong currents so she was floating for hours, not having enough strength to swim towards the coast.

The police patrol boat crew noticed her at around 9.30 in the morning.

Police are still checking the circumstances of this event as it could have ended in a tragic way.

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SOURCE: Croatian Times

Asu Files Trademark Claim Against Nudist Website

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800 Nude Pillow Fighters Play at Gaasbeek Castle in Belgium

800 men and women in Belgium shed their clothes to fight with pillows at Gaasbeek Castle, 6 miles south of the capital Brussels.  The volunteers posed for the latest nude photo installation by daring U.S. artist Spencer Tunick.  The piece, entitled "Sleeping Beauties" was shot entirely on the grounds of the castle and is the latest in Tunick's expansive portfolio.

Here's a look at "Sleeping Beauties"

Tunick, who specializes in nude outdoor photography, is known for gathering large crowds of naked models in public spaces.  His largest project had 18,000 people posing in Mexico City's main square, Zocalo.

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Baring It All In Support Of Nudism

BRACEBRIDGE, ONT. A man who is challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s nudity laws received a boost Tuesday from a handful of naturists who descended on the small town in Ontario’s cottage country where his lawyers were making arguments.

Lawyers for Brian Coldin spent the day trying to convince an Ontario court judge that it should no longer be a criminal offence to be naked in public. About six self-described naturists were in the courtroom to support him.

“I don’t really have a nudist area that I go to so I pick areas around where I live that I can go naked,” said Tom Balint, who travelled three hours from Ontario’s Niagara region to attend the court proceedings.

“There’s always that possibility that I could get caught one day and have to face the same kind of thing.”

Balint said he risks having a criminal record if he’s found guilty, which can make it difficult to travel or find a job.

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SOURCE: http://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/article/558692--baring-it-all-in-support-of-nudism

Topless Femen Activists Protest Pension Reform In Kyiv

Three activists of the movement FEMEN organized a protest against the adoption of the pension reform by the Ukrainian parliament near the parliament building on Tuesday.

The topless girls, who had wreaths on their heads, ran in front of the central entrance to the parliament building, shouting "Down with Bull Reform!" They were holding red placards saying "Rada Is Bullpen."

After being detained by the police, the activists continued chanting their slogans and demanded their release.

Some time later, the girls were put in a police car and taken away. The police said the women had been detained for violating public order.

FEMEN leader Oleksandra Shevchenko told reporters the protest targeted the pension reform, which discriminates against Ukrainian women, "many of which will simply not live to their pension."

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SOURCE: http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/73100/

Ewan McGregor Admits On-Screen Nudity Can Be Distracting For Fans

Ewan McGregor has admitted that his on-screen nudity has become such a frequent occurrence over the years that his fans are now likely to lose track of storylines once they spot the re-emergence of his own personal entourage.

“I have to be careful now,” the Scottish star told Harper’s Bazaar. “If people think ‘there’s McGregor taking his clothes off again, it can actually distract them from the movie.”...

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SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/05/ewan-mcgregor-screen-nudity_n_890256.html

Katrina: Shooting On A Nude Beach Was Funny!

It is raining outside and Katrina Kaif says that on rainy days she feels like "cuddling up in bed and watching movies, or playing in the rain -- what I don't feel like doing is working!" Or worrying about a leaking flat. Like most Mumbaikars at this time of year, Katrina says, "My house is leaking very badly. It is a seven-floor building and I live on the top floor. My living room has been leaking and I had to move all the furniture to one side and it makes me angry."

Come rain or leaking roofs, the show must go on, so she settles down to telling Patcy N about her forthcoming film Zindagi Na Milege Dobara, her opinion of her three male co-stars, and shooting on a nude beach in Spain....

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SOURCE: http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-katrina-kaif-on-zindagi-na-milegi-dobara/20110705.htm

Man Accused Of Making Nude Trips Challenges Nudity Laws

Lawyers for an Ontario man fighting public-nudity charges -including one for allegedly going through a burger joint drive-thru in the buff -are expected to argue today in court that Canada's nudity laws are unconstitutional.

Brian Coldin, the owner of a clothingoptional resort in Bracebridge, Ont., is on trial for incidents that included driving through an A&W and Tim Hortons without any clothes and walking in a park and on a road wearing only sandals.

Nader Hasan, one of Coldin's lawyers, said Monday that existing laws punish people for "innocent" acts of nudity, such as sunbathing in a backyard or changing clothes at a swimming pool.

"These criminal laws are far too broad. They criminalize all kinds of harmless conduct, all kinds of innocent nudity."

There is no evidence that nudity causes any enduring, psychiatric harm, Hasan said...

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SOURCE: http://www.theprovince.com/accused+making+nude+trips+challenges+nudity+laws/5050286/story.html

Naked jogger's fitness naturism lifestyle

He caused a stir when he went for a naked jog at McLaren Falls Park and now the man known as the naked jogger wants designated areas where naturists can run and cycle in the buff.

Andrew Pointon was served a trespass notice from McLaren Falls Park and given a police warning after he went for a 7km "intrepid nude run" around the park last week.

The 46-year-old, who has been a naturist for 16 years, was surprised to see three police cars and two park rangers turn up after his run... Read More.

TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/have-your-say/news/naked-joggers-fitness-naturism-lifestyle/3956339/

Nudists shed clothes and dollars

QUEENSLAND’S lack of legal nude beaches may be bad news for northern nudists, but it’s proving a boon for Byron Bay business, one of Australia’s leading nudist advocates says.

Kingscliff-based publisher of Australian Naturist Magazine, Dr Les Rootsey, says because Byron has the closest legal beach to the Gold Coast, the lucrative nude tourist dollar is travelling south... Read More.

TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2011/06/18/nudists-shed-clothes-dollars-byron-bay-beaches/

Nudity in religious art: fig leaf Vs full frontal

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) The Rev. France Davis doesn't want any nude Adam-and-Eve figures at his Calvary Baptist Church -- even if they were painted by the famed Michelangelo himself.

Davis is unequivocal in his view that there is nothing inspiring or redeeming about naked figures in religious art.

"Since we sinned, as it said in the book of Genesis, the human body has certain parts that are private," the outspoken pastor said. "We should keep them for more intimate settings like people's bedrooms."

Davis is hardly alone in that view.

From the prudish impulses of the Counter-Reformation, to the Vatican's use of the fig leaf as a genital cover-up a century later, to modern Christians objecting to a nude Christ sculpted out of chocolate, there have always been those who wanted to see everything clothed.

Scores of believers oppose any nakedness in art as blasphemous -- even a glimpse of the Virgin Mary's breast as she nurses her baby son -- or akin to pornography.

For other Christians, though, the line between celebrating and eschewing artistic nudity is neither easy nor clear-cut... Read More.


TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/religious-art-nudity_n_872765.html

Swimming naked with whales -- just another day in the life of Russia's freediving champ

Braving sub-zero temperatures, she has thrown caution — and her clothes — to the wind to tame two beluga whales in a unique and controversial experiment.

Natalia Avseenko, 36, was persuaded to strip naked as marine experts believe belugas do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits.

The skilled Russian diver took the plunge as the water temperature hit minus 1.5 degrees Centigrade... Read More.

TEXT SOURCE URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004042/Naked-female-scientist-tries-tame-beluga-whales-arctic.html

Princess of whales: How a naked female scientist tries to tame belugas in the freezing Arctic

Braving sub-zero temperatures, she has thrown caution — and her clothes — to the wind to tame two beluga whales in a unique and controversial experiment.

Natalia Avseenko, 36, was persuaded to strip naked as marine experts believe belugas do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits.

The skilled Russian diver took the plunge as the water temperature hit minus 1.5 degrees Centigrade... Read More.

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Nude Hiking in Washington's Cascade Mountains

Nudist resorts and nude beaches are terrific, but up a notch in adventure is when you are likely to meet clothed hikers — and rangers, on private land, or county, state and federal rangeland, forests and parks. We had hiked naked for years, but always alone, until a couple of us connected on a beautiful fall day in 1999, hiking to Lake Lillian in the Cascade Mountains.

Even then, we didn't get naked until we were really remote in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness east of Seattle. But the sheer sense of freedom and naturalness was so great that this was the beginning of years of great nude hiking ever since.

We're now up to a dozen guys who hike almost every week in the summer. We're also affiliated with a larger naturist group, Sun Lovers Under Gray Skies (SLUGS), with gals joining in on a few hikes.

We're all in the Seattle area, so we mainly hike in the Cascades mountains or foothills to the east, either off I-90 or US2. One of our favorite hikes was to Scenic Hot Springs, off US2 near Stevens Pass... Read More.

Car Wars At Echo Park's World Naked Bike Rid

Police are looking for two suspects in a car who attacked bikers Saturday in what is being investigated as a hate crime

Riders gathered near Echo Park Lake Saturday afternoon for a local edition of the World Naked Bike Ride. The event was meant to celebrate cycling and underscore the vulnerablity of bikers in a car culture.  A video uploaded late Saturday afternoon makes the latter point handily... Read More.