Richard Foley (richinud)

Ah, (says the police man), so the man who stole your purse was naked, was he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who stole your car, he was naked then? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who threatened you with a knife in the dark alley, he was naked wasn't he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who broke into the bank last week, he was naked was he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who conned you out of your life savings last week, he was naked was he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who kidnapped your child from the shopping centre, he was naked then? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who tried to touch you up in the pub last night, he was naked was he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who beat you up when he came home drunk from the pub, was naked was he? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who raped you at the bus stop, was naked then? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the man who broke the speed limit at the roundabout was naked? Woman: No, don't be silly.

Ah, so the naked man you met while out hiking the other day, who said "Good morning" to you with a smile and a friendly wave before continuing peacefully on his walk, he was dangerous though? Woman: I was terrified!

…

Beauty and nudity go together like hand and glove, but it's not necessary to conform to any one society's concept of beauty to be naked or to be beautiful. Twiggy and Rueben's models, Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger might all disagree on the perfect form for the naked human body.

So what! Just get your kit off, it's not a fashion show, everyone looks just fine naked!

There may be many reasons for each individual but, at least for me, I think the main reason is that being naked feels good.

When I am naked I can feel liberated and more in touch with my surroundings, with nature perhaps. I remember some years ago walking along a remote Karakorum Himalaya valley, the rock-strewn glacier snaked along the valley, hugging both sides, while enormous mountains soared on either side of me towards the clouds. The people in my group were either way in front or way behind, out of sight. I was completely alone in this vast amphitheatre. At that moment, I felt singularly humble. I was on a foreign continent, attempting to climb a remote 8,000 metre high himalayan mountain, and I was at once completely insignificant and instantly connected to all of it. For me, hiking naked sometimes reminds me of that feeling, of being in some small way related to the vastness that is all around us. I do not mean to say that to experience nature you have to take your clothes off, that would be daft, (though arguably arguable ;-). I am only trying to say here that it can mean that for some people.

At the end of the day though, when all is said and done, when the multiple deep and meaningful reasons have been passed around, argued, examined and evaluated, none of them are really that important. Being naked simply feels good – what more reason do you need ?-)

An interesting article on censorship of online nudity by "Young Naturists of America".

Is the human body truly pornographic? Why is violence okay while nudity is evil? Why are nudism and sex lumped together?

You can read the original article here:

http://nudistnaturistamerica.org/nudity-and-censorship-online

Always remember this highly relevant paragraph from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance."

Note that this legal all-encompassing statement includes the phrase "freedom of thought…, in public or in private, to manifest… practice and observance." I feel that about covers: "I think being naked is a harmless activity and anyone can choose to be naked, in any context, without fear of censure."

Regardless of whether being clothed at any particular time is sensible (fire-fighting, etc.), or necessary (climbing 8,000 meter peaks, etc.), or useful (active military operation behind enemy lines, etc.), or chosen (I feel like being dressed today, etc.) The important point is the activation of choice.

The police once contacted me with regard to 2 women who had encountered me walking naked through a wood near their homes. The police said the women were frightened and that I should always wear clothes, at least shorts, when walking in public places. Well, firstly, the wood in which I was walking was a private wood which did not belong to those women, so I was not certain they had the right to dictate what I wore on someone else's property. It so happens that the wood did not belong to me either, and that in Bavaria all forests and woodlands are explictly open to the public to walk through unhindered, so we both had an equal right to be there, apparently, and presumably both had an equivalent right (or not) to dictate to the other what to wear. However, I'm sure both women would have been mortified if I had rung the police to tell them what to wear when they go for a walk in this wood. Neither do the police have any remit to intervene on private ground (for example these woods) unless there has been some form of illegal or dangerous activity.

The fact that the women were frightened in the first place is an interesting point. Would they, for example, have felt the same way had they encountered a naked woman? I doubt it. Perhaps it was the fact that I was alone? I also doubt a lone woman would have led them to approach the police, or even a group of naked men for that matter. That leaves my singular masculinity as the only thing they had issues with, which means they wish to be able to walk in all woods and forests, and mountains and fields, the entire world over, without ever having to encounter a single man, ever, clothed or not. Otherwise they will be frightened and call the police who will dutifully come around to see you. What a curious web we weave, when you actually take the trouble to think about it.

I should add that the police were in this case, once we had discussed this a bit, quite happy to drop the matter and merely said that they had to follow up each report, however inane. In one way, I entirely understand their position, they have a difficult task, (to protect the public – often from itself), and they have to investigate reports of what might be considered edge cases, and in this case they felt the need to make their presence felt. On the other hand, I find it offensive that I should be contacted by the German police, (who don't exactly have an overly friendly reputation worldwide – then again what police force do?), with the attendant fear generated in my wife: "Why did the police call, What on earth have you done. Why on earth did you do that? What will you do next?", she asked me when they called, with wide and staring eyes. I suppose I shouldn't have been quite so surprised by her reaction, as I was, but somehow I felt I deserved a little more faith, a little more implicit loyalty perhaps, but evidently not.

When will the mass of people we call the public, and their so-called guardians of morals and justice, finally realise that prohibiting simple nudity , in public or in private, is disadvantageous to the mental and physical health of the population and is merely playing into the hands of seedy business people, politicians, dubious moralists and perverts alike. It's very tempting to stand on a soapbox about the whole affair.

If you need any advice from me, you will go for a naked walk, today, and demonstrate to yourself, and perhaps a few more people, how ordinary nudity can be, and how much simple fun it is too, especially when the sun shines 🙂

There is a hugely interesting project on body images here: http://www.thebodyimages.com/

I commend the creation of a project, by the female photographer, which has nearly naked bodies as it's subject, and of all shapes and sizes, although quite why they're all wearing pants is anyone's guess. This snippet is from the "About" page on the project web site, and explains some of the rationale: "By photographing the diversity of the female body, Jes' hopes were to empower women by embracing all beauty and educating others while eradicating exclusivity."

However, besides the fact that the photos ARE good, and the models clearly enjoying themselves, perhaps it would be better if "The Body Images" project were either renamed to "The Female Body Images" project *or* included male bodies as well. Why is it always women being photographed "for beauty"?

I have a another great book here called "The Century Project" by a male photographer, and it's a fantastic book full of naked body images from every age from 1 to 100 years old – what a cool idea! Many of them are disabled in some way, or fat, or ugly, many are also beautiful, simply a huge and interesting mixture. They are all, every one of them, very good photos, and it makes a very special collection (1-100). But again, all female, of course.

Why?

I went for a short couple of hours naked hike, with my dog Polly, through the expansive Ebersbergerforst, south and east of the city of Munich, in Germany, in the recent spring. The air was amiable at approx. 18 deg. centigrade, there was no wind on the long straight forest tracks through the trees, and Polly and I ambled along happily minding our own business. Me letting my thoughts wander, feeling the forest air flow over my skin, listening to the birds chitter-chatter overhead, and occassionally throwing a stick. Polly desperately circling me until the stick would fly and hit a tree trunk or disappear into a wild bush. We were both in our element.

After a while we crossed several tracks, and on one of these we encountered an older couple coming in the opposite direction towards us. They had a dog with them, so I rapidly tied Polly on to her lead too. One thing which is important to realize about our Polly, is that she came from a sheep farm in the north of England where she was effectively starved for the first 3 months of her life and had to fight for scraps with her siblings while they were all locked up in a dark tin trailer. When we first got her, she was extremely sensitive and would fly into a panic at the slightest sound, or sudden movement, or unexpected person. She could not stand bicycles, joggers, farmers, neighbours, postmen, children, trees moving in the wind, anything! Everything she reacted to, she turned on with her teeth, and even as a tiny puppy could be quite terrifying. Now, over the several years we have had Polly, she has calmed down considerably and it would hard to recognize the same dog, and really the only thing she freaks out about now are other dogs. So a lot of progress has been made, but we're not perfect yet, and here was another dog.

I only explain this to give some context to why, on the approach of the couple with their dog, I knelt down next to her and held her mouth closed with my hand. The couple had no idea as they were approaching this naked man as to why I was gripping my dog's mouth so firmly, but I smiled as they went past and we exchanged brief helloes to one another and how I must be very warm to be hiking naked at this time of year, the usual conversation. Then the woman looked at me firmly and said: "you know in the forest you MUST keep your dog on a lead at all times!"

Which was kind of funny, in the circumstances 🙂

Open letter to Facebook and Twitter and their account users.

If someone doesn't like what I post on Twitter or Facebook, it's easy to fix, they just need to unfollow me, or block me from their account. It is not necessary to implement a stasi-like system where people can report someone anonymously and the target has no idea who did this or why. And their is no recourse, or appeal process of any kind. This simply feeds the witch-hunting and snitch mentality which was so pervasive in the 20th century.

The fact that someone sees my posts, and doesn't like what they see, means they are following my account. Surely if someone then reports me, it is a simple thing to unfriend them from my account and block us from eachother at the same time? Otherwise you just play into the hands of the fanatics who decide to dislike a theme, friend everyone they find with that theme, and report all of their posts. This just means your social networks are bogged down with bogus spam reporting from juvenile idiots.

If this is you, PLEASE unfollow me, or unfriend me, or block me, or whatever is necessary, but for goodness sake STOP reporting me. Thank you!

It's very tempting to use the religion card for naked activities, but this is flawed. Very few people actually say "we believe" being naked is good for you, and so forth. I think this approach stands up fine against some legal challenges and is a good position from which to defend general attacks in principle. If it's ok to go to school wearing a burka, then it's ok to go to school naked, and so forth.

However, nudism/naturism/naktiv is not a religion, it's a lifestyle choice, far more in the mould of being gay. People don't "believe in gay", they just are, or are not. Or choose to be, or not, as the case may be. In some ways I personally regard this as an unfortunate parallel, but that's not the point. The crucial point is to see how the gay movement got to where they are now and how naked people can leverage that strategy. Essentially they did it by "coming out", and saying: "I am gay, get over it."

This is what nudists in every club, naturists the world over, naked and active people everywhere, need to come to terms with. How to promote their lifestyle, whether in private or in public, as a perfectly harmless and entirely acceptable form of personal expression. The traditional private club movement has had over a hundred years with which to convince the world that nudity is acceptable. The situation we are now in, where censorship of nudity in mainstream media is the norm, and nudists are the butt of nudge-nudge wink-wink, jokes, proves they have comprehensively failed, and to move forward we need to implement a different strategy.

What naked and active people, nudists and naturists, need to do, is to "come out naked". This amounts to saying "I am naked, get over it." No more, and no less.

Midlife is an interesting time.

On the one hand it's going to get easier now, it's all downhill from here. On the other hand, even going downhill can start to hurt the creaky old knees. After the hustle-bustle of courting, the toil and strife of marriage, and the wonderous and challenging experience of parenting, coupled with carving and maintaining a career, and paying for all the things which need paying for, many people find simple nudity a particularly relaxing experience. Exploring being naked in a private or a public space, depending on both your inclinations and your opportunities, can be a great leveller for any age group, perhaps it just comes a little more naturally to the slightly wider in the middle set, or perhaps it's a result of being simply a bit less stressed. We realize, finally perhaps, that there are, after all, more important things to worry about.

Never mind that we're not having to impress the other (?) sex with our smart clothes and earning/mating potential, now we can relax and just enjoy the simpler pleasures in life. Happily, we find it's cheaper too, getting through less clothing, using less washing powder and cleaning chemicals, and bound with this of course there's the extra pleasant fuzzy feeling from the self-satisfied knowledge that the lifestyle is more environmentally friendly, too. And, for those who do not come from life-long nudist families, perhaps a change is as good as a rest.

Crisis? What crisis?

Is it your partner you respect, or their clothes?

Respect need not be a fear-based emotion, true respect begins and ends with character. Respecting a person's rights to hold a view is not synonymous with respecting their view. We can disagree in general and specific terms on principles and implementation, but no-one can say that any one of us is indefatigably correct in all cases, or that one rule fits all, history indeed informs us reliably otherwise, no matter what the (various – choose one) "good books" might say.

Declaring a set of more or less arbitrary rules for people to unthinkingly follow, which are expected to be applied in all cases at all times, is food for intransigent gods whose very idea, being anthropomorphic creations at best, can be seen as sufficient reason to encourage free-thinking, freedom of inquiry and unrestricted individual action, in and of self. We require the ability to break free from authoritarian rule, in whatever form it may disguise itself. It is not necessary for us as people to be controlled so constantly, for human potential to be realised. What is necessary is that we all have the freedom to choose what each of us do in any given situation, so long as no harm is done to anyone else, and that this freedom be respected.

If you have an issue like this in your relationship, maybe you, or your partner, need to let go of a little control? Try a little respect instead…

What do people think about how we might encourage more women to join the Naktiv site? I'm never going to expect parity but, as with female take-up in naturist/nudist venues, a little more balance wouldn't go amiss. I see having more female input as a counter to the otherwise overwhelming male contingent. This interests me on a more general level also, as to why men so clearly outnumber women in nudism, but not in the sex industry, for instance. The point being that clearly it's not the nudity alone which is a barrier.

This is a topic which has clearly been a constant question for traditional naturism/nudism as well as our more advanced style of naktivity, and perhaps this is a theme which the naked and active contingent can also address with more enthusiasm and success? While it's still early days for the site, perhaps there is something specific we can do to encourage women to join? Do we want more women on board is also a question, to which I think the answer is certainly yes, but perhaps that needs discussing too.

Given the answer to the above is affirmative, then we might need to consider site content. I'm thinking that promoting the artistic side of nudity, body-painting, drawing and painting, sculpture, is relevant. Also the health and wellness aspects of naturistm/nudism, being naked and active, is also of importance. Posting blogging links from the Naktiv site to various female-relevant sites, suggesting "comments welcome" might be a positive step, for instance.

Comments welcome.

The environment is our word for the place in which we live. Pigs are naturally clean creatures, in their natural forest environment – they only get smelly when humans cram them into an unnaturally small space. Locusts clear the very ground of every edible thing when they periodically hatch and swarm, there's nothing left for next time unless their progeny hide for a number of years waiting for their environment to recover sufficiently. As humans we have a brain capable of realizing these things, seeing the parallels with our own situation, and making positive or negative choices which affect the way we use or abuse our environment. We are clearly powerful enough to make lasting and substantial changes to the world around us. Allegedly we are intelligent enough to make informed decisions on how we interact with our environment. Being naked is one positive step in our dealings with nature. It's not complicated: we use less textile materials, dyes, transport mechanisms, slave labour and cleaning chemicals, when we use less clothing. To do something positive today, about tomorrow, get naked, how much simpler can it be?

the Naktiv site is for non-sexual (possibly naked) imagery and discussion.

Having noticed a photo of two guys kissing I was very tempted to delete immediately under the "no sex" rule. Then I wondered, whether if it was two girls kissing I would be so quick to head for the delete button, and thought "perhaps". Then I wondered whether if it was a man and woman gently kissing at sunset, whether I would head for the delete button too, and I decided probably not, possibly it would depend on how amorous the embrace was. I felt my reaction was tainted with an unwarranted prejudice as shades of intention and interpretation come to mind. Just because something makes me feel uncomfortable is not sufficient justification for my stamping on it, no matter how great the temptation.

At which point I came to the conclusion that I would leave the photo alone, for the moment, as being essentially harmless and a pleasant expression of affection, and see how other people react to the image. I'm not interested in votes of support from the gay community here, I'm interested in hearing whether people feel it's an overtly sexual image, or an entirely acceptable image, given that this is an explicitly non-sexual site.

Just by the way, I'd like to make one thing quite clear on this topic, you can push me, if you like, and start posting photos of guys fondling each other, and see how quickly I react to that, because you'll be off this site faster than shit off a shovel. So let's not bother with going there, thanks 🙂

That aside, I'd be interested in sensible feedback on the topic though. So, comments are most definitely welcome.

Paul, from Geneva, and I drove into Munich or 02:00, although the city was quieter than during the day there was still a surprising amount of traffic about. We parked and headed into the centre of town, past the Munich Opera House, our intended destination, and on to Marienplatz. We fortuitously met Rob, from Köln, at the entrance to a burger bar, and proceeded to meet up with the others from our little entourage up at the central square. Horst Kehm, admin of the FKK-Freun.DE website and Jürg. We made our way back to the meeting place, to find a huge queue of people trailed along the street, so, being English, I queue-jumped to the front. Once inside the "compounds", we were separated into two groups, and given a small tin of body paint each. One held gold, the other red, body paint. We'd come to take part in Spencer Tunick's naked installation celebrating the start of the Munich Opera season, and focussing on Wagner's "The Ring", or, as some Germans would have it: Das Ring Ding. The swarms of people grew, until there were perhaps 1700 people, all waiting to get naked in the centre of Munich city. We also met Johannes with his 20 year-old daughter, from Berlin. And Graham, a Spielplatz member who latched on to our group.

Occassionally we were informed as to what was happening, but I could not understand the shouted instructions from the loud-hailer being used, and do not comprehend why Tunick doesn't use a modern PA system. This was the same unintelligable garble we had to put up with during the, also very cool, Stadion in Vienna event. After several hours of waiting for something to happen, and dawn beginning to creep across the lightening sky, the red group received the order to strip and paint. We all had our cameras out and were busy snapping mementoes of the entertaining and highly unusual event as 800 naked people tried to cover themselves, totally, in red body paint, just across the square from us. Christine Madden, an Irish journalist working for a local German online newspaper, who came to take part and interview people, was highly annoyed at having listened to the "no camera" rule.

Red went first, then it was our turn, and we painted ourselves gold from the small pots of metallic paint, getting help from others for bits we couldn't reach, like our upper backs, or bits we'd missed, on our calves, or faces. The paint had a very effective metallic effect. When our turn came to exit, we walked out around the block, waving at a few solitary police cars and pedestrians, to the main square, forming a giant gold human ring around the central statue. Tunick took several photos, of us all standing and lying down on the cobbles, then the red group filled the space in our centre. It was entertaining listening to Tunick trying to organize everybody, from his raised platform, by pointing down and shouting "you, move left, no, you, NO, YOU!" Presumably he knew which person he was pointing at… The contrast of red and gold people was very effective, the human shapes and colour flowed dynamically around the statues and steps. This was Tunick's first use of colour with the naked human body in his installations, and I can imagine him using it again – the sharp colours created an intense contrast. After all the waiting, it was all over too soon, and once we'd taken a couple more photographs, we returned to the start point to get dressed, then into Marienplatz for coffee and cake. It was amusing watching the Lederhosen + Dirndl dressed locals watching us in our body paint, in particular the red-painted people were very striking, even when dressed.

Post-event we went to the Englischergarten and chilled out next to the fast flowing river. Rob greeting one asian cyclist, in a particularly large group of cyclists, in Chinese, and when she called back "I'm Korean", he repeated his greeting in Korean – much to *everyone*'s surprise. She almost fell off her bike. Rob + Graham walked to Feringasee, while Paul and I returned home to Kleinschwindau to meet his wife Marion who coming in by train from Geneva. Photos from "Das Ring Ding" made it online before we got home, and it was fun to see so much enthusiasm from so many people on various Facebook forums about the event, and the buzz was maintained for weeks afterwards.

There may be many reasons for each individual but, at least for me, I think the main reason is that being naked feels good.

When I am naked I can feel liberated and more in touch with my surroundings, with nature perhaps. I remember some years ago walking along a remote Karakorum Himalaya valley, the rock-strewn glacier snaked along the valley, hugging both sides, while enormous mountains soared on either side of me towards the clouds. The people in my group were either way in front or way behind, out of sight. I was completely alone in this vast amphitheatre. At that moment, I felt singularly humble. I was on a foreign continent, attempting to climb a remote 8,000 metre high himalayan mountain, and I was at once completely insignificant and instantly connected to all of it. For me, hiking naked sometimes reminds me of that feeling, of being in some small way related to the vastness that is all around us. I do not mean to say that to experience nature you have to take your clothes off, that would be daft, (though arguably arguable ;-). I am only trying to say here that it can mean that for some people.

At the end of the day though, when all is said and done, when the multiple deep and meaningful reasons have been passed around, argued, examined and evaluated, none of them are really that important. Being naked simply feels good – what more reason do you need ?-)

In San Francisco, the sight of a naked woman is enough to bring out two dozen frenzied and armed police-men and -women to deal with the affront to public sensibilities. Hundreds of happy onlookers cheer the naked lady to express their support for her right to be naked.

http://www.nude-in.blogspot.de/2013/03/in-san-francisco-it-takes-two-dozen.html

Gypsy Taub received 2 citations, even though "The City Attorney had previously acknowledged in court documents that the steps of City Hall was virtually one of the only places left in San Francisco where people could be nude with a permit and protest."

It can seem as though fear is what drives so much of what we call "society". Fear of what the neighbours might think, or what if the boss finds out (insert thing here), and so on. What a terrible way to live your life, in perpetual fear, just like a politician, always being terrified of someone finding out something about who you really are. It's a far better thing to do what the gay movement did, and come out naked. Period.

This is why it's important to use your real name, and not hide behind a pseudonym, or alias. This is why it's so important to realize that you do have the confidence to, for instance, show a naked photo of yourself and not be ashamed who sees that. This is me, if you don't like what you see, then stop staring.

Be yourself.

Emma James is interviewed in an outside BBC Radio broadcast on Saturday morning live.

Diogenes played host to BBC Radio 4 on 12 July 2012 with a very short-notice Outside Broadcast being conducted by Producer JP Devlin with Emma James. JPs brief was a “light hearted look at naturism” and that’s certainly what he got. I spent much of the time we were conducting the broadcast in fits of giggles whilst JP Devlin alternated between wry amusement and fear at the prospect of taking his clothes off.

You can read the full story here:

Outside broadcast for BBC Radio 4, Saturday Morning Live 900-1030am. Producer JP Devlin interviews Emma James

Here's an interesting article on the subject of Nudity and Censorship online: http://nudistnaturistamerica.org/nudity-and-censorship-online

<quote>
Let’s take a look at Facebook. The way that Facebook censors nudity for its 700 million users is odd to say the least. Images of mothers breastfeeding their infants are not allowed if nipples are showing (even partially). Male nipples are considered to be acceptable, but a female nipple are cause for alarm. The dividing line between what is considered acceptable and what is pornographic is not clear. oddly enough, gore and violence are perceived as acceptable and harmless.
</quote>

Read more in the original via the link above.