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rooftopwilly
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 Posted - 01/08/2014 : 10:22:34 AM
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Here is a piece written by an English journalist, in regards to the "Naked rambler"
Good on the Naked Rambler – more public nudity would be a good thing
Stephen Gough is back in jail. Embracing his activism might just do wonders for our society's unhealthy attitude to flesh
You'd think that a fortnight of gale force winds would have us all hunkering down in jumpers, tucking our thermal vests into our jeans and flagrantly disregarding our partners' hostility to bedsocks. Most people might be layering up in order to maintain bodily warmth – but not the Naked Rambler.
On Monday, Stephen Gough was jailed for 16 months after he breached an asbo intended to make him cover up in public. Gough is a prominent public nudity activist and has walked the length of Britain unclothed on two occasions; his most recent trip was the subject of a BBC documentary. He has also been sentenced and imprisoned numerous times on public nudity charges.
Gough maintains that being nude in public allows him a sense of personal freedom. The British legal system maintains that Gough's nudity is not for mass consumption. But why, in 2014, is so much money being spent on keeping his body out of sight? His court records state there is nothing disorderly about his behaviour – it's just about, as his lawyer pointed out in the autumn, "people's reaction" to that behaviour.
We're continually being exposed to sexualised nudity, but it's rare to see a middle-aged man naked in public. During the day, before the watershed, we see hundreds of advertisements for gorgeous, semi-nude women moaning in ecstasy because they are enjoying their yoghurt or shampoo. Go and stand in any gym, cafe or shop with a TV on, and count the seconds until you see cleavage. For more than 40 years, the Sun newspaper has been publishing pictures of nipples that readers can gaze at over breakfast. Why is it OK to hint at highly sexualised nudity all day long and then persecute a normal man for getting naked as he goes about his business?
Gough's critics are concerned that his presence could make vulnerable people feel disturbed and threatened. There's nothing disturbing about nudity itself, just the meaning that people ascribe to it. Yet when nudity isn't being used as sexual semaphore, it's presented as something grotesque, to frighten the observer and make the subject a symbol of ridicule. Shows such as Embarrassing Bodies and The Man With the 10 Stone Testicles have fetishised freakishness in a way that stops us recognising real bodies. I suspect that the many men and women of all ages who experience body dysmorphic disorders are not helped by this. We may be regularly exposed to representations of naked flesh but we only ever see gods and monsters.
Initially, I thought that the laws "protecting" us from Gough's body had a wider purpose. After all, if he's allowed to get naked, we might all start doing it, and no one wants that. But the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the widespread adoption of naturism might solve our problem with nudity. If we stopped seeing our bodies as either a source of shame, or something to show off, we might become healthier, happier human beings. Public nudity could prove revolutionary.
Young women would grow so accustomed to seeing real bellies and bottoms that they would feel less inclined to lose weight in order to match up to imaginary images, or get industrial filler injected into their buttocks. Violent sexual crimes might become more clear cut and easier to prosecute: you couldn't make a big deal of a victim wearing a short skirt if no one was wearing any clothes at all. And there would be no need for Embarrassing Bodies, because we'd tackle our health issues frankly and fast, knowing there's nothing to be ashamed about.
Gough has not chosen to go nude in order to invite us to comment on his body. He is reminding us that we are all naked under our clothes, and that no individual's body should warrant particularly close inspection – but our collective attitude to nudity certainly does.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/07/naked-rambler-public-nudity-stephen-gough
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gnarlyoldman
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Posted - 01/08/2014 : 1:11:17 PM
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Good for Steve G. He is raising a lot of public attention to the ridiculous laws against going naked, and to people being thrown in prisons even when there aren't any laws prohibiting people from being naked.
Naked people wandering about the city is only "a problem" because its been prohibited since the Victorian era when all body pleasures and functions became "bad." Its really insulting to each of us to be called "obscene" in our person.
Good for Steve. Shame on the agent of Satan in black robes of hell who sent him to prison for 16 months.
Bob
Naked is green.
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Edited by - gnarlyoldman on 01/08/2014 6:30:39 PM |
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free2be
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Posted - 01/08/2014 : 9:50:08 PM
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Thanks for posting the article Willy.
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JimmieMac51
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Posted - 01/14/2014 : 7:20:51 PM
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I often wondered, why no other nudists in Europe joined up with him to show solidarity.
I've seen a couple pictures with nude guys and gals camping with him...but every time he was incarcerated...alone!!!
If I had the means, I'd be waiting there when he gets out and continue with him on his trek.
Jimmie
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rooftopwilly
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Posted - 01/20/2014 : 10:21:17 AM
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Looks like some are finally backing him:
http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/30-strip-naked-outside-Courts-Justice-support/story-20467253-detail/story.html
30 strip naked outside Courts of Justice to support former Royal Marine 'The Naked Rambler'
DOZENS of protesters stripped off today and staged a naked rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice - to support former Royal Marine 'The Naked Rambler'.
The protest saw around 30 people take off all their clothes to campaign for Stephen Gough - who has spent most of the last decade in prison for refusing to wear clothes.
Former Royal Marine Stephen, 54, walks around the UK in the nude - but is repeatedly arrested and given ASBOs banning him from being naked in public.
He has been arrested several times in Devon and Cornwall - including while taking part in naked walks from Land's End to John O'Groats.
Stephen, of Eastleigh in Hampshire, was most recently jailed for 16 months earlier this month for breaching an order after he was spotted rambling in the buff.
His story is the subject of a TV documentary, titled 'The Naked Rambler', which will be screened on BBC1 at 10.35pm on Tuesday night.
This morning around two dozen supporters bared all outside the top London court in sympathy with Stephen, who has been jailed more than 20 times.
Protest organiser Richard Collins hopes the demonstration will help change people's attitudes towards nudity.
Richard, a 57-year-old dad-of-two said: "I strongly feel that everybody has the right to be naked. We are born that way and I fully intend on dying that way.
"Nudity is normal, and it should be a freedom. Naturism doesn't necessarily involve sex or sexuality.
"It's a freedom of expression and should not be persecuted in the same way that people who express themselves in the way they dress should not be persecuted.
He added: "People like Stephen are being persecuted for being clothes-free in public, and under current laws, it's only a crime if someone complains.
"People have an innate view on nudity. It's like sexuality - some people are gay, some people aren't, just like some people like being naked, others don't."
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JimmieMac51
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Posted - 01/22/2014 : 06:49:47 AM
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Glad to hear someone is standing up for Steven Gough.
Thanks Willy.
Jimmie
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TallTim
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Posted - 02/01/2014 : 12:12:35 PM
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Well I am glad that he's getting the attention he deserves.
I wonder how much tax money has been spent on this venture that could be used somewhere else.
Tim
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gnarlyoldman
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Posted - 02/01/2014 : 7:17:54 PM
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If I lived in the UK I would be glad to join in that protest. Good for them.
Bob
Naked is green.
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Great article
