Stephen Gough likes to be naked; so much so, it has cost him his freedom. He has spent a combined total of 10 years in prison for showing too much skin in public, having been arrested multiple times.
At some point early humans needed to cover up Entressan/SPL
Gough, also known as the "naked rambler", prefers to get naked when temperatures warm up. He is not a danger to the public, but when he walked naked from John o'Groats to Lands' End in the UK in 2003, he caused outcries around the country.
When he attempted the journey again he was quickly arrested. In prison he was often put into solitary confinement for his refusal to wear clothes.
So many people, so many cultures, philosophies, religions and ways of life. And we all are part of it.
There is a problem though. Most of the world isn’t like us. Most of the world prefers to cover up, even when it’s hot, and does the smart thing by buying machines to cool down.
We are the strange ones in this mental picture. Acknowledge it. We don’t do mainstream coverups well when it’s hot. We play along because we have to. We’re being forced into this.
What makes me say this?
You may have noticed a parallel with the Salem Witch Trials in the title of this blog post. This is on purpose and kudos for those who noticed that.
Scene from Salem Witch Trial
The Salem Witch Trials happened in the world of Puritans, who wanted to build their ‘City on the Hill’, according to their own pure insights and laws. (Problem was there were no real laws after a while, when England handed over jurisdiction to the locals.)
Naturists and nudists face more and more Puritanism in the modern world. People are become more prude. The mainstream media make people ashamed of their less than paintbrushed and photoshopped body which increases the ‘need’ to cover up. And, take it as you will, religion has its foot in the door as well. Muslims are spreading all over the world, and they are – as far as I know – very inclined to cover the body as well. Continued…Read full original article…
Milwaukeeans needed distraction during the Great Depression. Urbanism, it seemed, was failing them. The great brick and mortar works that had once powered the city were quieting and people were growing desperate and questioning things they had never before questioned.
So, in the spring of 1934, when Dr. Alois Knapp arrived in Milwaukee promising to build a state-wide movement back to nature – and out of clothing – people paid attention.
Mirror Lake in Sauk County, where Wisconsin’s first-ever nudist camp was established in 1934. wikicommons
Knapp was an Austrian. He had trained as a priest, but found the law more intriguing. He and his brother left their homeland between the World Wars and settled on a huge plot of Indiana farmland. Finding Americans to be a people in desperate need of a relaxing and affordable means of escape from the speed of modern life, he transformed 180 acres of the land into a nature resort. At Knapp’s resort, dubbed “Zorro Nature Camp,” clothing was forbidden, bringing to the US the long-established European practice of nudism.
Knapp found a following in both Indiana and across the Midwest. In Milwaukee, a local man named Max Hilbig became such a devotee of Knapp that he pledged 100 acres of land in Sauk County to establish Wisconsin’s first-ever nudist camp. Knapp came to Milwaukee in April 1934 to dedicate the camp and drum up support for his cause. Continued…Read full original article…
Better Living Through Nudity In England in the 1920s and ‘30s, nudism was ideological and utopian. Then the Nazis coopted the concept for their eugenicist Nacktkultur movement.
Today, nudism tends to show up in popular culture as a quirky lifestyle or an easy punchline. But in England in the 1920s and ‘30s, art and design historian Annebella Pollen writes, it was a utopian movement that some hoped might perfect society.
Gymnosophists, a label nudists adopted combining the Greek words for nakedness and wisdom, described their movement in utopian terms. One writer noted that some people experienced “the vague sense of something lacking, of complete happiness never quite achieved… Our experience leads us to suggest that nudity will supply the need.”
Another encouraged readers to “dispense with clothes and with all attributes that are mean, vainglorious and untruthful, and by doing so usher in the Golden Age.”
The nudists’ rhetoric was an extreme version of dress reform arguments that had already helped render corsets and long skirts obsolete. A common nudist complaint was that men’s fashion lagged behind women’s. One writer described waistcoats as a “mongrel born of a tailor’s nightmare. With no arms, half a front and an apology for a back, it is good for nothing beyond collecting junk in the pockets.” Continued…Read full original article…
The Loss of Innocence and the Joy of Skinny Dipping Fall and winter will soon be upon us and already I am thinking of summer and the warmth of the sun on my bare skin. We certainly should never wish our lives away as time goes by much faster than when we were younger.
Fond memories of my younger days come to mind when my family lived in the country and I would spend the hot summer days with my neighbor that was my age and also my best friend. He was much more fit than I as he lived on the farm across from our house and all the boys had to help with chores once they got back from school. This was before high school and he was the first boy I saw naked and he convinced me to join him when he had some free time.
Even though I had five older brothers and five older sisters, I had never seen any of them naked. Being from a large catholic family, being nude was a definite no no.
The first time my friend and I were nude together was when we went on a bicycle ride and stopped by a river to have the sandwiches we had packed for lunch. I remember it was a hot and humid day in July and my friend had taken off his shirt. At 11 years of age he was quite toned and tanned compared to my scrawny white skinned body. Continued…Read full original article…
Having lived in Vineland all my life, I would like to take a walk down memory lane and relate the many experiences, places and people who I knew as a young man in this great city.
Remember, back in the day, there were no electronic devices such as we have today, so we had to communicate by talking to one another, face to face.
A view of 600 block of Landis Avenue as it looked in 1958.
I grew up on Third and Wood streets, among neighbors such as the Tuckers, Snyders, Lovecchios, Goldsteins, Reillys and the Goodmans, to name a few.
Some of the things we would do as young kids would play box ball in the street, football on the vacant lot on West and Wood streets, and other kids’ games to keep us out of trouble.
Come 4 o’clock, the New System Laundry whistle would blow and we would all scatter for home.
While in today’s society the naked body is often seen as something to be ashamed of, in the ancient world nudity was seen simply as a part of everyday life. For the Ancient Greeks, the human body was a sacred thing that was meant to be celebrated in both art and everyday life.
An artist’s idea of how a Minoan priestess queen might have lived
Nude bull leaping
In Minoan culture, while complete nudity was not as prevalent as in other parts of Greece, the Minoan believed in equality for both genders in regards to being bare-chested. A popular sporting event at the time involved young adults, both men and women, who displayed their gymnastic skills by leaping through the horns of a charging bull. For practical purposes, the competitors would wear only a small, thin loincloth to ensure that they had freedom of movement and to avoid any hindrance due to clothing (getting caught up with a bra strap while facing a charging bull is one wardrobe malfunction you definitely don’t want to have). Continued…Read full original article…
Nudism and monarchy It happens that on traditionally nudist beaches, where their presence was always allowed, textiles now seem to be overwhelmingly major, as in heroic times.
On August 16, 1984, 34 years ago, a parish priest led a group of residents of Cangas de Morrazo who, with sticks and stakes, threatened some nudists camped near the beach of Barra , while the municipal police dismantled their tents and the Civil Guard was there. In Orwellian 1984, nudism had been practiced for 15 years on the beach of Barra and had recently been authorized by the competent Civil Government, that of Pontevedra.
The story of the affair made by El País named a priest from another town, not the one who actually participated. The newspaper publicly rectified that error as soon as it had news (in the Sunday edition, circulation much higher than the other days of the week), but the priest mentioned in the first information sued the journalist María José Porteiro and the publishing company of El País by intrusion in his honor. Continued…Read full original article…
Despite being one of the East Yorkshire coast’s most popular picturesque beaches telling someone you are heading to Fraisthorpe will still produces a wry smile.
Today the beach is full of families and you can even enjoy a drink in the new Cow Shed Café.
A naked man sitting alone on the beach Getty Images
But for 30 years it was officially a naturist beach where you could go and strip bare without a care in the world.
Facebook deleted a post this week that included an image of starving children in Auschwitz because of its policy against nudity.
The post was shared by the US-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect last week. It linked to an article on the DailyKos about the need for Holocaust education in the United States.
But on Wednesday, the Anne Frank Center complained on Twitter that Facebook had deleted the post.
The Facebook application is seen on a phone screen August 3, 2017. THOMAS WHITE / REUTERS
“Hi Facebook, you removed our post promoting the need for Holocaust Education for apparently violating community standards,” the organization wrote. “You haven’t given us a reason, yet allow Holocaust Denial pages to still exist. Seems a little hypocritical?”
Around six hours later, Facebook responded to the Twitter post.
“We put your post back up and sent you a message on FB,” the official Facebook account tweeted. “We don’t allow nude images of children on FB, but we know this is an important image of historical significance and we’ve restored it. We’re sorry and thank you for bringing it to our attention.” Continued…Read full original article…
Historian and broadcaster Mary Beard is hoping to challenge attitudes with a new factual series about nudity.
BBC Two have commissioned the University of Cambridge classics professor to present a two-part series that’s been described as a “singular exploration of the role of nakedness” in society.
Mary Beard
In The Nude Uncovered, Beard will follow the history of naked human bodies in art and their impact on society’s idea of beauty and gender politics.
The 2019 show was announced during the Edinburgh television festival, where executives from BBC Two explained that “Mary will take in a huge range of images; reinterpreting star artworks like Manet’s Olympia and Michelangelo’s David while shining a light on the hidden corners of image making.” The channel further promised that the programme would challenge attitudes to nudity and nakedness. Continued…Read full original article…
In this article will explore both nudism and nudity throughout history. While organized nudism, as a movement, is considerably young, social nudity is as old as Adam and Eve.
Nudism and Nudists History Part One – Nudity in the Bible
Nudity In The Bible – When the word nude or naked is mentioned, the first thought is of Adam and Eve. The Biblical Book of Genesis states at the end of Chapter 2 in verse 25 that the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. In Chapter 3, after Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the tree, they become aware of their nakedness and cover themselves in shame. Because nudism exists today in a cultural, social and political context, Adam and Eve would not be considered true social nudists Continued…Read full original article…
Bodmin Moor is now a sparsely populated wilderness, but it was once a hub of civilisation. The moors are peppered with the remains of Bronze Age life, from stone circles, to burial mounds.
But while some of the signs of a successful Bronze Age population are obvious, many of the most important clues can only be recovered through careful, archaeological excavation.
Where did people live? What did they eat? What was life really like for them? And most importantly, how do archaeologists find the answers?
A Bronze Age village has been recently discovered at West Northwood Farm, on the southern slopes of Bodmin Moor, near St Neot.
With distant views to the sea, the settlement contains at least 7 roundhouses. This year, DigVentures is leading an excavation along with St Neot Local Historians. Together, our aim is to recover traces of life from two of the round houses.
Never done archaeology before? Great! Tried it before and want to do it again? Brilliant!
Register to join the dig, and you’ll get to learn hands-on about archaeology, and help unearth the secrets of Bronze Age life, while taking part in a real excavation…
You can join the dig for a day, a weekend, the full two weeks, or any number of days in between
Everyone who takes part in the excavation will get to:
Dig alongside our friendly team of archaeologists
Learn hands-on how archaeological discoveries are made
Record any discoveries you make using our online app
Learn how to do archaeological drawings
Make a real contribution to our understanding of Bronze Age life in Cornwall!
Always wanted to try archaeology? This is your chance!
There are countless quirks about humans, but one of the real doozies is that most are confused, divided and downright ditsy when it comes to their own physical nature. To millions, the human body in its natural state is embarrassing, shameful, indecent or undignified. Its exposure provokes hostility, fear, nervous laughter or mockery. It threatens social standing, challenges order, infringes laws and is often punished with a severity bizarrely incommensurate with the offence.
The Golden Age by Lucas Cranach the Elder circa 1530
The really odd thing about this is that it’s not generally considered odd at all. The necessity of concealing bits of the human body is taken for granted in precisely the same way that the need to provide animals with trousers isn’t. And they call Pagans irrational and superstitious.
Witches, Druids, and Pagans of many other species tend to be among the minority who don’t buy into humanity’s alienation from its unembellished form, recognizing this to be both symbolic and symptomatic of a desperately unhealthy estrangement from nature. Partly for that reason, as you’re reading this, several thousand Witches and Pagans around the world will be casting their Circles, wearing no more than they wore in the womb. Continued…Read full original article…
Las vacaciones de verano se han esfumado casi sin que nos demos cuenta. Parece que fue ayer cuando llegábamos a una ciudad costera, abandonábamos las bolsas y maletas en la puerta de un apartamento y corríamos a la playa más cercana. El único requisito para colocar el primer pie fuera del marco de la puerta era haberse puesto antes el bañador.
Hay algunos sitios donde esto último ni siquiera hace falta. Los que prefieren pasearse en cueros por la arena ganan un tiempo precioso: no tienen que preocuparse del traje de baño. Ni del principal, ni de ese secundario que algunas personas llevan para evitar humedades incómodas. Continued…Read full original article…
Like to walk around in your birthday suit? Worry about getting enough Vitamin D? The 1930s had a great option for you: nudist colonies. In 1933 a group of more than fifty prominent Forth Worth young people formed their own nudist colony in the woods on the edge of town. Why?
The headline and subhead of an October 27, 1933 article
Simple: They wanted to “engage in their hobbies of psychology, astrology and nature, and a general pursuit of health.” Far from a salacious affair, the colony genuinely just wanted to hang out, exercise together, and take a lot of “sun baths.” The people who originally formed the colony included married and unmarried couples, their children, some “stags” and “single maidens.” To keep it all on the up and up they even hired a “physical instructor” who was educated about the “pitfalls” and “assets” of nudism. Continued…Read full original article…
In 1929 the flow of German immigrants and tourists began bringing the roots and ideas of the nudist lifestyle to America. It was Kurt Barthel, a German immigrant, who got the ball rolling by informing people that nudism was very common in Germany and France and spreading to other countries. On Labor Day of that same year, Kurt and 3 other couples in Peekskill, New York began American Social Nudism. Just a few months later the American League for Physical Culture ( ALPC ) was founded and within a couple of months they had over 50 members. In 1931 the Reverend Ilsley Boone came on board. He was elected vice president of the ALPC. Now things were really moving. Social nudism received national attention in North America with the forming of the National Nudist Conference, then several years later it became the American Sunbathing Association and just a short time ago it became (and is still known as) the American Association for Nude Recreation.
It was not as easy as it sounds. Many of the above clubs were raided by police. In 1956, in the state of Michigan, a Christian radio evangelist took it into his liberty to close down the Sunshine Gardens Nudist Resort, although to our satisfaction, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled naturists have the right to practice nudism within private resorts. Continued…Read full original article…
Historia del Naturismo en Alemania Historia del Naturismo en Alemania, por TravelBook, 29 de septiembre de 2017 (cedido a Focus y publicado en el número de dicembre 2017, Focus es la revista trimestral en PDF de la FNI-INF)
Los Inicios del Naturismo en Alemania
A veces el Naturismo todavía se le sitúa en el rincón de lo sucio, pero quienes se ocupan con seriedad del tema, rápidamente se dan cuenta de que hay mucho más detrás del Naturismo que simplemente estar desnudo. TravelBook nos cuenta cómo se originó el nudismo en Alemania.
El Naturismo, como su nombre indica, siempre ha buscado una conexión especial de la desnudez con la naturaleza.
Naturismo en la Edad Media. Grabado de Virgil Solis (1514-1562) que muestra escenas de una casa de baños
“Había una vez…” un tiempo en el que era normal bañarse y nadar desnudo. En la Edad Media, por ejemplo, la gente se lanzaba desnuda a ríos y lagos, o disfrutaba en casas de baños por motivos de salud relacionados con modelos de la antigüedad o provenientes de culturas orientales. En torno al año 1300 había alrededor de 15 casas de baño públicas en la ciudad de Lübeck. Las prohibiciones de la desnudez en lugares públicos sólo aparecen al principio de historia moderna. Al principio sólo las clases altas eran puritanas. La gente corriente continuó chapoteando en desnudez hasta el siglo XIX. Continued…Read full original article…
Murders and missing person enquiries are always disturbing, even more so when the police are unable to get to the bottom of them and there remain more questions than answers.
There are a number of high-profile cases in Cornwall involving unsolved murders of missing people
Some of the killings were brutal, almost unimaginable in their depravity and the crimes horrified communities and stumped police — leaving questions that lingered for decades afterward, as years passed without a police arrest or even a credible suspect.
We’ve taken a look back at some of the most high-profile Cornish mysteries that remain unsolved to this day. Cont…Read full original article…
