Banning Cleavage

It's amazing to see what lengths people will go to in order to "protect" society from the "evils" of the female nipple. Today's WTF moment comes to us courtesy of the City Council of Sumner, Washington, which is so terrified of sexy female baristas coming into their jurisdiction that they have passed laws which make bikinis in public illegal.

The ordinance will prohibit public exposure of the genitals or any part of a female breast below the upper edge of the areola. Violators can be charged with a misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail.

As you can see by the above graphic, the woman wearing that particular bikini is exposing some of her breast area "below the upper edge of the areola" in the cleavage area, and is therefore subject to arrest and incarceration.

Are Sumner police going to go around with a long ruler measuring breasts? And why is the skin below the areola illegal, but the skin above is not? Is there an age limit to the law? What about a toddler running naked under a sprinkler in a back yard? Do we lock her up too? The entire concept is beyond ridiculous.

So here's to the City Council of Sumner, for protecting society from the deadly female nipple, which is now apparently public enemy number one.

Naughty Baristas

In a one-sided poor excuse for journalism article, Herald writer Debra Smith "reports" on the outraged crowd which gathered inside a Washington state church to "talk frankly" about the bikini hut scourge which is plaguing Snohomish County.

(Pastor and organizer Shahram) Hadian, a father of boys ages 5 and 2, said he is embarrassed to drive by the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand with his children. He talked with a 12-year-old neighbor who said the boys on his school bus shift over to one side when they drive by. The baristas have a right to self-expression, but the public also has a right to avoid seeing near-nudity and sexual behavior, he said. “There’s a part of me that said enough is enough.”By week’s end, organizers plan to set up a Web site, www.takeactionsnoco.info, where they want to post videos of baristas who appear to be violating county laws. They said they already have footage...“We sit here for an hour and we see them doing illegal things,” Hadian said Tuesday afternoon. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do some surveillance.”

So, the baristas have a "right to self-expression", but these people want that right revoked. Be careful what you wish for - these knee-jerk dress code ordinances don't stand up to constitutional scrutiny, and it's not likely that the city council will try to outlaw the wearing of bikinis, anyway.

I have a quick and easy fix for people who are offended by the sight of women wearing bikinis - look away. Don't buy coffee at the bikini huts. Pay attention to traffic and stop looking whenever you pass by. Drive down another street. Put away the cameras, or focus them on your own business.

And good luck to these vitriolic vigilantes when they set up their web site accusing people of illegal behavior. Not only are they setting themselves up for a healthy lawsuit, they will be actually promoting the businesses they are attempting to suppress.

I think it's hilarious that the boys on the school bus "shift over to one side" when they pass one of these coffee huts, as if that's something dangerous to their normal sexual development. You got trouble my friends, with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for "Boobs".

This is an issue that directly affects nudism because these people want to regulate "near-nudity", which seems to be a new concept that they just made up out of frustration and irrational thinking, and to arbitrarily designate such "near-nudity" establishments as adult entertainment subject to zoning and age restrictions. Any nudist venue or non-landed club could conceivably fall under these new restrictions depending on how the law is written, as would drug and convenience stores where girlie mags and condoms are sold.

My sense is that the city council is just going to have to live with the bikini huts. Any attempts to impose dress codes or widen the definition of adult entertainment businesses will only result in lawsuits and more trouble.

It's also likely that any overt sexual activity has died down at these joints due to all the increased scrutiny, so all the surveillance and investigations will just be a waste of taxpayer's money. As one reader noted in the comment section of the article, "Where was the meeting about the increased theft, gang and drug activity in Silver Lake?" It's obvious that police have more important matters to attend to.

The county prosecutor’s office advised the sheriff’s office that part of the county’s ordinance wouldn’t stand up in court, said deputy Jeffrey Miller at Tuesday’s meeting. He said his office wants to deal with the conduct, not the attire. The conduct has gotten “more out there than we anticipated.”“We are a public safety organization not the fashion police,” he said. “There are some things that have to be worked on the legislative side before we can take action.”

So the ball is in the court of the city council, which finds itself impotent to deal with the bikini huts and is desperately trying to make up something to placate the masses at Clearview Foursquare Church. Aside from monitoring the coffee shops for sexual behavior, there's really nothing they can do that's constitutional.

“The United States is watching us,” (Stephanie) Postier said when addressing the audience. “How is Washington state going to take a stand? This is not what we want to be known for.”

Right, you do not want to be known as the town that tried to ban the wearing of bikinis, so live and let live. Take away the freedom of the baristas, and you lose a little more freedom of your own.

Bikinis for Adults Only?

Snohomish County City Council Chairman Mike Cooper is trying to find a way to get rid of the bikini huts in Everett, Washington.

“I’m going to stop talking about bikini huts and start talking about nearly naked,” Cooper said last week. “Our code allows them to wear bikinis. There are some people who think we ought to do something about bikinis. We can’t.”

Currently, a business in Snohomish County is considered adults-only if 25 percent or more of its business comes from adult entertainment or products. In theory, that wouldn’t apply to coffee stands, even if patrons are attracted for other reasons.Cooper equated that with an “unenforced R-rating.”“I would say they’re marketing other things besides coffee, so we’ll take out the 25 percent loophole,” he said.

Let me get this straight. Even if there is no nudity, no sex for money exchanges, the mere fact that women are wearing bikinis when serving coffee constitutes adult entertainment?

This is insane on a number of levels. Does this make a public beach "adult entertainment' since some women are wearing bikinis? What about drugstores which sell condoms, or convenience stores which carry Playboy magazine? It appears that the removal of the 25% loophole would prohibit anyone under 18 from entering a Walgreens or a 7-11.

Little Johnny, you can't go to the pool today because a lot of the people there are "nearly naked".

The Everett City Council already passed an ordinance prohibiting women from baring their breasts in public -no word on how this new law affects breastfeeding mothers. If these people could ban the wearing of bikinis, they would do it.

Once again, authorities pick on the easy targets - women, children, small business owners, and the poor.

And what about male nipples? Men have breasts, too, and women find men's chests attractive. Let's put birkas on women and men just to be on the safe side.

It's endlessly fascinating to see people tripping all over themselves on sexual issues, and utterly dangerous to personal freedom when politicians blindly flail at windmills to impress upon the voters that they are heroic soldiers in the culture wars.

Women in Everett need to push back against this unconstitutional government interference in their personal lives. To show solidarity with the bikini baristas, everyone should wear a swimsuit to work one day. OK, it's a little chilly in Washington state this time of year, and businesses have dress codes, but it would be splendid if banks, malls, office buildings and grocery stores were filled with people in their bathing suits.

Georgia Public Indecency Ordinance Likely Unconstitutional

Council members in Vienna, Georgia, have unanimously approved a new public indecency ordinance.

Attire documented in the ordinance as indecent includes the “saggin pants” style that is popular among young men. Also included are some blouses/tops worn by females. Basically, the ordinance prohibits the wearing of any attire in public places that exposes “private areas” of the body including the buttocks and breasts and male or female genital areas.

I don't know if I've ever heard of a more restrictive public dress code. Such laws are almost always found to be unconstitutional as well as an abuse of power.

The Weekend Newds 5/8/09

• Since Spencer Tunick's Irish installation will not be exhibited in that country, the work will be put on a web site beginning on June 8 and lasting four months.
• A secluded clothes-free beach in California is being threatened by illicit sexual activity solicited on Craigslist.
• "When Breastfeeders Attack" is must reading.
• A California music teacher will not be charged for allegedly possessing child porn on his work computer. Although police have provided no details, my hunch is that the images were of a naturist variety.
• A former prosecutor called the felony conviction of an Ohio man "a misuse of the computer hacking law." Richard Wolf was fired from his position at a wastewater treatment plant after a nude self-portrait was discovered on his computer, leading to an investigation which found he uploaded the images to the Adult Friend Finder in order to connect with women. Had he been buying crap on eBay, he would have probably received a slap on the wrist, but once human sexuality enters the mix, it becomes a felony. Sure the guy was wrong and stupid to use a work computer, but if being a lonely guy looking for sex is a crime, then they had better start rounding up half the country.
• An Australian woman is entering a painting of a nude man in a local art show in order to challenge a new "sensitive art policy."

  “Let’s see what they do with it,” she said of her nude entry.“If they knock that back they don’t even know what art is.”

• Tennessee State Attorney General Bob Cooper warned that a proposed "saggy pants" bill could be unconstitutional.
• 13000 people signed an online protest, forcing a British department store to stop charging customers more for oversized bras.

  The campaign on Facebook was started by Beckie Williams, 26, who wears a 30G bra, after Marks and Spencer failed to respond to her complaints about the STG2 ($A4) extra charge on bras bigger than a DD cup. The group, Busts 4 Justice, condemned the policy as "criminally unfair" and urged "busty ladies" to "join forces to end this blatant discrimination".

• New Hampshire has become the latest state calling for censorship on Craigslist.
• The Washington Post covers the teen sexting issue.

  Sexters are often "the good kids," police said, with strong grades, involved parents and no criminal history. Many send photos without grasping that they could be widely circulated or posted on the Internet in view of strangers, predators and potential colleges and employers.

• The discovery of a cache of nude photos in a Texas city hall will likely not lead to any charges against the former employee. When contacted about the self portraits the man reportedly took the news in "good humor."
• Time Out New York has a nice little article about nude artists' models, with both clothed and unclothed photographs.
• Vietnamese "nudist" body painters are pursuing their art with passion, but still face great prejudice in a country where the line between art and photography is very thin.
• A German coastal town is fighting swinger sex on a secluded nude beach.
• The AANR Word Record Skinny-Dip on July 11 is very poorly organized. Just go to this link and try getting any meaningful information. UPDATE: If you have a Facebook account, there is a group set up here.
• An article on modesty touches upon the issue of nudity in the home.
• An unemployed English woman says her ideal job would be as a "topless motivational speaker."
• Apple is rejecting a newspaper app for the iPhone due to the fact that topless "Page Three" women are included.
• The nominees for the 1st Annual Naked News Awards have been announced.
• A nude calendar with strategically placed fruit over some body parts is being planned to boost tourism in Australia.

The Daily Newds 4/13/09

• Organizer of the Glade festival in the UK are seeking legal advice over the request of 30 Germans who want to attend the event in the nude.



• A man sneaked into a Ball State University life drawing class and snapped a photo of a nude model, and then ran away.



• An article on the Bird Island nudist controversy approaches the subject in a fair and neutral manner, concluding that it's all basically a "non-issue" in the first place.



• At Lolo Hot Springs in Montana, it's clothing optional after 9 PM.



• The Singapore woman charged with indecent exposure for her nude public walk with a Swedish friend is a member of Mensa and is persuing a PhD in infection biology at Karolinska Institute in Sweden.



• The Bare Buns 5K run is scheduled for 1 PM on Saturday, April 18, at Star Ranch in Texas.



• "Calendar Girls" has opened in London's West End, prompting critic Michael Coveney to examine the evolution of nudity on stage.



• Nudism seems awfully tame next to some social phenomenons, like fetish parties.



• Sexting Roundup: Ohio introduced a bill to make criminals out of teenagers, while Vermont indicated that it would totally decriminalize consensual exchanges of nude photos between two people 13 to 18 years old. Warner Todd Huston of the American Daily Review says that rushing to enact new anti-sexting laws in the wake of the tragic suicide of Ohio teen Jessica Logan is bad legislation.



• I think that child beauty pageants are a bit creepy, but one legislator wants the government to oversee the events, even to the point of regulating "excessive makeup".



• Padma Lakshmi, Chelsea Handler Eliza Dushku, Lynn Collins and Sharon Leal have all posed for Allure's nude issue.
  
  

  ALLURE: Are you comfortable with nudity?
  ELIZA DUSHKU: "I grew up with three brothers, and I was never shy about covering up. It got to the point where my mom was like, 'OK, honey, it's time to put some clothes on now.'"




• Joe Shuster, one of the creators of "Superman", drew underground comics in the fifties which contained "naked women with whips, brutish men brandishing red-hot pokers, exotic torture and politically incorrect spankings."



• The New York Times studies the legal challenges facing communities that want to outlaw saggy pants in public.



• A British poll finds three out of four adults are willing to pose nude for 6500 pounds. Everybody has a price.



• This article is a bit satirical on the subject of topfreedom, but the point is serious.
  
  

  If we took away the taboo of the bare breast, it might allow us to unclench just enough that we realize that it isn’t going to kill anyone, or turn our children into depraved maniacs. Then maybe we can start focusing on things that are really critical to mankind’s enlightenment.




• Finally, nudity comes to daytime TV in Great Britain as Channel 4 is broadcasting life drawing classes featuring nude models so people can sketch from home.
  
  

  John Whittingdale, the Tory chairman of the Commons culture select committee, said that, in principle, he would not object to nude life drawing classes before 9pm if they were in an “educational context” and avoided “gratuitous titillation”.

The Monthly Newds Part One 3/27/09

• Dropping the word "naked" from "naked mole rat" on a Washington state high school t-shirt was not enough, apparently, because parents are objecting on the grounds the words could be slang for female genitalia.
• Swimsuit model Joanna Krupa is not worried about being topless in a photo shoot because Pope John Paul II approved of nudity.
• Critics of Australia's proposed Internet blacklist to control child pornography say that such a filter is nothing but censorship. The proposal has sparked protests across the country. A similar outcry is happening in the UK over a new bill which could define even a comic book like "Watchmen" as being child pornography.
• Nashville is the latest city to try and control the dress codes of minorities.
• After more than 50 years of seeking young women to pose in the nude, Playboy magazine is still stirring up controversy on college campuses.
• CNN covers the "nakation".

  The economic recession is "doing us a lot of favors, maybe because there's the idea that if you've lost the shirt off your back, you should go nude," said Erich Schuttauf, executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation.

• Posters of nude women could be banned from Scottish prison cells because prisons should not display "anything which is offensive to other people". One presumes that ax murderers and bank robbers on display behind bars don't fall under the definition of "offensive".
• In hard economic times, more and more women are turning to stripping to support their families.
• Freehikers in Switzerland are threatening to sue the canton of Appenzell if a law is passed banning nudity on the trails.

  To the authorities' argument that naked hiking should be banned because it could be detrimental to children, Kettiger responds with incredulity. "Oh, please. In this day and age, when kids have access to the Internet and where images of naked people are on every newsstand, how can they be shocked?" he asks. "Is there really a child out there who hasn't seen a naked person yet?"

• Robin Lord recounts his visit to a nude beach in the Summer of '71, and the perils of not wearing sunscreen where the sun don't usually shine.
• The Supreme Court is about to hear a case where a 13 year-old girl was stripped searched six years ago by school officials because they suspected she was in possession of some ibuprofen pills.

  In Ms. Redding’s case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled that school officials had violated the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. Writing for the majority, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said, “It does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13-year-old child is an invasion of constitutional rights.”

• Officials at a Brooklyn public library have apologized to a woman who was scolded for breastfeeding her child in the children's book section.
• Jennifer Dempsey feels more comfortable about her body since she began working as a nude artists' model.

  Instantly I became someone new to myself. The mere act of standing on that platform made me someone who was confident to let people draw her nude body. When I struck my first gesture pose, the artists heads bobbed up and down, looking frantically from my body to their sketch pad, trying to capture the pose before the timer went off.

• To be continued....

In Myrtle Beach, "Nearly Nude" is a Crime

In Myrtle Beach, police officers are no longer required to issue warnings to those who show more skin than is allowed by local laws.

Depending on the severity of the indecent exposure, (city attorney Tom) Ellenburg said, an officer could issue a warning, a ticket or arrest the offender.

"Some indecent exposure rises to the level of a felony," he said. "Some is mild and some is just shocking."

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Sunday Newds 1/18/09

• Plans for installing surveillance cameras on a nude beach in Australia have been scrapped in favor of an increased police presence to deter sexual behavior.
• An Irish woman recalls the "lady with a stick" who used unorthodox means to enforce dress codes in a church.

  My skirt had obviously risen just above my knees as I was sitting down. Our friend chastised me verbally for my immodesty in church. I tried to move away but she moved over after me and whacked my legs with her stick. My son took grave exception to this and bawled so I had to leave. I missed the whole event.

• The Birmingham Museum of Art is presenting Body Image: American Art and the Human Form through May 9, 2009.

  "The human body has been an important subject for artistic expression from prehistoric times," says Graham Boettcher, PhD, William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. "The most fundamental training for any artist long consisted of the study of anatomy and life drawing."

• Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel would gladly trade full frontal nudity for another Super Bowl ring, no questions asked.
• Strapped Los Angeles homeowners are opening their doors to movies, commercials and porn shoots to pay the mortgage. Amazingly, according to the IRS, if the shooting lasts less than 15 days it's tax free, so the government is subsidizing porn.
• A US couple has been released from a Brazilian jail pending trial. They have been accused of sexually abusing children at a "nudist colony".
• Oscar de la Renta says that Hillary Clinton is "prudish about the type of clothes she likes to wear."
• "Art jamming" is a group painting session in Ireland where an instructor brings all the needed materials to a home or place of business so people can exercise their creativity in familiar settings. The "art jam" can be arranged for private parties, corporate events and festivals, and for "hen parties" a nude male can be provided as a subject.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Weekend Newds 1/17/09

• A judge in the UK ruled that a "convicted pedophile" can continue going on nude outings with British Naturism. The article mentions that the man was in possession of photos by "American author Robert Sturgess" which is likely to mean photographer Jock Sturges. The charges for the "indecent" images were dropped because the photos could be found in any reputable bookstore.
• Tampabay.com readers respond to the proposed stricter dress codes on Pinellas County beaches.

  "Let's stop being prudes and designate an area for "clothing optional" swimming. I'm sure the AANR (American Association for Nude Recreation) and TAN (Tampa Area Naturists) would support this and any extra fee that may be incurred. Other states and countries, even Canada, have a nude or topless beach areas." - Walter Latham
  
  "Lest you think otherwise, I am definitely not a prude, but please quit treating us like people who only want to wear clothes from the 1920s. Fashion is one thing, but leave our beaches for everyone to enjoy." - MaryLou Tuttle
  
  "Are you kidding me? With the state looking to close some of our most beautiful parks because of the Legislature's fiscal irresponsibility, we waste our collective time and ever-shrinking resources to debate bathing suits." - Keith Richardson
  
  "Indeed, it is the easy answer to state the obvious: Turn away. Turning away is a viable option. Perhaps these "dismayed visitors" could elect to turn away from underclad beachgoers. The very idea that this issue is under discussion is insulting." - Barbara Audirsch McKee

• Joanna Weiss makes the following astounding statement in The Boston Globe regarding the Facebook breastfeeding photo controversy:

  "But elevating nursing to some exalted status doesn't seem so healthy, either, and that seems to be the danger in that flood of profile pics. Nursing gets equated with motherhood itself, and that doesn't do new mothers any favors."

  Read the entire article for context, and be sure to check out the reader comments.
• The MARNA nudist swim tonight is a "critic's pick" in the Baltimore Citypaper.
• A children's cartoon depicting the bare buttocks of a princess is causing outrage in Romania.
• A PR consultant is suing her plastic surgeon and Fox TV because she alleges that nude photos of her body were broadcast without her permission.
• Caliente resort continues to sex-up nudism by hosting this year's Lingerie Bowl.

  The event, which will be held Jan. 31 and broadcast on pay-per-view during Super Bowl halftime, features barely dressed women playing full-contact football.

• Did singer Katy Perry take a nude photo of herself?
• Eight celebrities have posed nude for Marie Claire magazine to raise awareness of violence against women.
• If you are caught up in the big Midwest freeze of 2009, you might be interested in this article on how the body adapts to cold weather.
• A citizen responds to an editorial calling for laws restricting adult entertainment establishments in Maine, brought on by the granting of a business permit for a topless coffee shop in Vassalboro.

  America is the most prudish nation in the free world. The European, South American, South Pacific nations that do not restrict whether a female chooses to go topless or not, do not have anywhere near the sex based crimes, especially rape, that the US has. If a law is going to be passed that a female cannot be topless, then it will have to be applied to include men as well, or it will be a law based on sexual discrimination which is unconstitutional. Bottom line: If you don't like the idea of topless wait staff in a coffee shop, don't go, period.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Sunday Newds 10/19/08

• A YMCA in the Boston area has a misunderstanding with some Russian-born members who don't understand why bathing suits are required in the steam room.
• On of Britain's most well known television personalities, Carol Smillie, has stripped off for a series of photographs to raise awareness about breast cancer. "I have been asked to pose topless for a breast cancer campaign. I thought long and hard about it, as I heard that a lot of the others who have been asked are a lot younger than me. However, it's a great cause so I agreed to do it. Yep. They are coming out."
• The sex industry is finding that business is booming as people seek less-materialistic pleasures. Hey, try nudism, it's about the cheapest simple pleasure on the planet.
• Students and parents are fighting hard against the current onslaught of dress codes in schools.

  Like a lot of students, Grace Davis, a sophomore at Salinas, said the new rules only compounded the problem.
  
  “It doesn’t fix the disease. It just covers the symptoms,” she said. “I think we’re still going to have the same gang problem. We’re just going to be angry at the administration, and I don’t think that’s the way to go.”

• Some people would be pleased if their neighbors paid their AANR dues, but for a Boston couple it's one aspect of a criminal case involving identity fraud and conspiracy.
• Monroe, Louisiana, is getting it's first "titty" bar, but only because it's going to be "classy", catering to high-end professionals such as doctors and lawyers. Only one girl will dance at a time, and will only remove her top during the last half of her second song.
• Bill Henson's photos on display in New York are not stirring up nearly the degree of controversy as they did in Australia.

  The gallery's director of photography, Royce Howes, said he did not expect any controversy in the US, where Henson had a strong following.
  
  Mr Howes said many people in the US were aware of the controversy in May when NSW police seized his photographs from a Paddington gallery amid claims they were child pornography. The images were later released and no charges laid.
  
  He said that publicity about the exhibition made no reference to the seizure because the gallery did not want to distract from the photographs.
  
  "Basically, we just want to present the work on its merits," Mr Howes said. "I think … at least for our audience, it's a non-issue. When the controversy was going on lots of people were calling out of curiosity, but for the serious collectors it was not an issue."

• A nude photo shoot on the roof of a North Carolina building created a bit of a stir, but the models and photographer were not arrested, only given a warning not to trespass again.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

Droopy Drawers Law Unconstutional

A Palm Beach Circuit Court judge has ruled that a sagging pants ordinance in Riviera Beach is unconstitutional.

“We’re not talking about exposure of buttocks. No! We’re talking about someone who has on pants whose underwear are apparently visible to a police officer who then makes an arrest and the basis is he’s then held overnight, no bond,” said Judge Moyle.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked