4/28/13 Walter of the Week: Greece

This week our Walter Award goes to yet another country: Greece.  There are a lot of reasons why Greeks should be recognized for promoting nudity, of course.

To begin with, the ancient Greeks spent a lot of their time sans clothing.  (Those toga / cloak things they wore never covered much anyway.) We have naked workouts in the gymnasiums, plus the Olympics.  We have all those nude statues and vases.  We even have nude beaches in some parts of the Greek islands today.

The land of Athens and Sparta also deserves recognition for a story we ran on the Bare Platypus yesterday.  It seems that the Greeks loaned an entire museum exhibit worth of artifacts celebrating the Olympic games to the nation of Qatar.  When Qatar put coverings over the male anatomy of two statues, the Greek government called foul and said that would violate the spirit in which the statues had been created, not to mention interfering with their natural beauty.

Bravo to you, Greece.  Your economy may have some challenges, but you have civic pride and a history you refuse to alter for the sake of politics. 

Interestingly, this is not the first time that an audience has tried to put clothing on Greek statuary.  A statue depicting the mythical figure Poseidon---which was a gift from Greece in 1972 to the City of Sacramento, California---was once draped in things like khaki shorts and t-shirts by some attendees of a convention with lots of families in attendance. Apparently the convention ended before any Greeks learned about the clothing and had time to object.

Read that story here: Poseidon statue coverup

Nude Statues Prompt Controversy Between Greece and Qatar

The country of Qatar reportedly told the country of Greece to take their naked statues back.  It seems the statues were part of a traveling Olympic history exhibit with over 600 pieces of archaeological significance .  When Qatar covered up the male anatomy on two statues to "avoid offending female patrons," Greek officials voiced a strong objection that the coverings detracted from the beauty and spirit of the pieces.  Rather than escalate things, they agreed to take the statues to the home country.

Curiously, some statues of bare-breasted women did not prompt any complaints or coverings.

Read about the story:  Take Naked Statues Back says Qatar

Note: The Bare Platypus has written about whitewashing nudity from the history of the Olympics on a previous occasion in Remember the Olympics used to be Naked and in Naked History: Sanitized for your Protection

Good News Story: Dozens Go Skinny Dipping in England for Cancer Charity

In running a news search today, the Bare Platypus came across a story from England about some nude folks doing a good turn for their fellow man.  It seems that a couple dozen beachgoers went naked into the ocean as part of a radio station's fundraising event for a cancer charity. 

One swimmer who got bare said she did so on behalf of her 22 year old daughter who is terminally ill with cancer.  The video, which you can watch by clicking here for nude swim story , shows some people having good natured fun and happy to lend a hand.

We wish the folks in "Tynemouth Longsands" along the North Sea every success with their effort.  Let's hope they raise lots of money to fight the disease.  We also applaud the many nudists stateside who hold events to help pursue a cure.

Revisiting Autism and Nudity

This week Yale University reported the results of a breakthrough study in which researchers found they could predict the likelihood of a fetus developing into an autistic child based on an analysis of the folds of their mother's placenta.

According to that story as covered in USA Today, one behavioral expert began using intensive autism therapies on her own daughter at very early stages of her life. She did so after determining her daughter was at high risk for the condition given placenta data.

In previous posts, the Bare Platypus has asked, aloud,  Could nudity be a therapy for autism ?  We offered the question after numerous stories about certain persons on the autism spectrum who do not like the feeling of clothes on their body.  Apparently they have an increased sensitivity to the sensation of contact between fabric and skin.

Perhaps we will one day offer increased amounts of "naked time" to those whose placental analysis indicates a predisposition to autism.

Update: Where to find nude statuary online

Earlier this week we called for fellow nudists to introduce some nude statuary to their home's landscaping or interior décor.  We have since located at least one online source for finding such statuary: Click Here for Statue Inventory

Caveat Emptor: Our site gets NO commission or referral fee for sending readers to the above link.  We make NO representation or warranty about the quality of the materials offered on the site or their reliability for meeting your order either. You would do well to satisfy yourself before making any purchase(s). We have never shopped on the site in question. However, the selection was VAST.  We stopped after about two dozen pages of products. 

There appears to be something of every shape, size, style, color, and more... indoor and outdoor.  Happy bargain hunting!

04/24/13 Update: Here's another site with many, many Nude Statues

4/21/13 Walter of the Week: Denmark

Our Walter Award goes to a country this week... Denmark!

Denmark came to our attention when a story surfaced in the New York Times that the nation is re-evaluating its safety net of social programs .  However you feel about that subject, it got us thinking about what the country does to promote nude living and, thus, to deserve a Walter.

Leisure Time. To begin with, as the above-linked article points out, Danes enjoy significant amounts of vacation time and shorter work weeks.  That translates into more free time with friends and family and, if you're a nudist, more naked time.

Bare Platypus Visitors. Lately we have noticed more and more visitors to our blog site from Denmark stopping by, as well as visitors from Sweden, its neighbor to the North.  Welcome!

Natural Nudity. What we most admire about countries like Denmark, however, is how natural and matter-of-fact they are about nudity.

Imagine, for example, that for just a moment you were reading a blog where the author doesn't claim to be a nudist and doesn't have any hideous disclaimer about being "NSFW." Yet when summer comes round, pictures from the blogger's back yard and vacations depict nude and/or topless bathers and picnic-goers.  We've seen such blogs in "Dansk" but it helps if they use a little English too.

For another example, the famed statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen harbor provides a natural depiction of a subject with bare breasts and none of the Disney seashells covering her up, thank you.

So go on, Denmark.  Just keep on being yourself.  When it comes to natural nudity, we hope that imitation will be the form of flattery paid to you!

Creative Skinny Dipping

Summer is coming and, for those of a nudist mindset, it definitely means getting in some skinny-dipping. 

Some of us are fortunate enough to live in a home with a fenced back yard and a swimming pool.  That makes for an awesome combination for swimming bare.  Still others live within reasonable drive of a nudist club or nude beach.

But even if you don’t have a private pool or ready access to the sunny bum club, you can still dip.  Here are some creative ideas:

-          Get a wading pool for just a few bucks at your local Walmart.  Set it in the backyard to warm in the sun.   Later, when the light fades, slip out in a swimsuit, but ditch it once you’re in water. A relaxing soak for pennies.

 

-          Offer to “house sit” for friends who own a secluded pool.  Feed their cat.  Bring in their mail. Then go for a naked swim!

 

-          Go to a regular beach or lake and, once you’ve swum out a ways from shore, ditch the swimsuit.  Appoint a designated swimsuit keeper to tread water (or use a float) and hold them until you’re ready to head back into shore.

 

-          A variation on the above, some folks clip their suit to a small buoy or rope line to a raft.

 

-          If all else fails, fill the bath tub.  Turn down your lights and put on a tape of nature sounds… birds chirping, waterfalls, or ocean waves.   If you close your eyes you can imagine you’re soaking among the redwoods in a forest.  Or on a secluded beach.