Spiegel TV - die nackte Freiheit - der Film in voller Länge

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German Activists Protest Body Scanners By Stripping Down

Public Nudity in Berlin

2 berlinois pratiquent la nudité urbaine a berlin
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2 berlinois aux termes "Thermen am Europa"
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Naturism Featured in German Museum

The DDR museum in Germany displays artifacts of life under Communist rule in the GDR, an area we used to refer to as East Berlin, behind the wall. One of the exhibits is devoted to naturism, complete with dioramas of little nude people on the beach, uncensored. Visit the museum's English-version web site here.

Here's an interesting article about German nostalgia for the GDR, with a mention of nudist clubs.

Nude Musical too Popular?

A German theatre offered a free ticket for any audience member bold enough to show up nude for a performance of the musical "Naked", but the overwhelming interest from FKK free body culture groups threatened to create "a theatre scandal of a whole different kind."

Why not here in America, too?

An 11 mile trail has been set aside for naturist use in Germany.

Naked Sports Booming in Germany

According to Bild, with photo gallery.

Sacha Baron Cohen Dons Nude Suit in Berlin

I'm not sure if this is just a publicity stunt, or some deeper social statement...either way, it makes for a provocative photo. [via Huffington Post]

The Daily Newds 4/6/09

• The naturist resort at Berry Springs in Australia's Northern Territory has proved to be so successful that Central Australia wants a piece of that tourist pie.
• Anybody who looks down at San Francisco for its permissive attitudes about sex and sexuality, should take a look at Japan's Steel Phallus festival where a ginormous pink penis is paraded through Kawasaki, while spectators of all ages suck on their penis shaped lollipops. No kidding! A photo gallery is here.
• Loretta Laroche calls teen sexting "nonsense" and calls for a return to "scare tactics" from nuns and mothers to put kids back in line. On the other side, an editorial in The Buffalo News says that the country needs to "come to grips" with how to respond, if at all.
  
  What is lacking in all of these commentaries and editorials is any real concern about the fact that teens are having real in-the-flesh sex, oftentimes unprotected. Parents, lawmakers and prosecutors are all up in arms about some pictures, as if eliminating any photographic evidence of sex will also suppress the reality of it all. Photos are not reality, they are only images of reality. The dangers of risky sexual activity far outweigh any of the consequences of a mere photo.
• Here's another article on the German nudist hotel, and it seems that the idea is not only taking hold, it's spreading.
  

  Mr Haferkorn hopes his hotel will attract both walkers who like to go bare and nudists who like to walk.
  
  And while the strict nudity rule only applies within the grounds of the hotel, guests keen to bare it all on their walks may not have to wait too long for permission: two villages in the Harz mountain region are reportedly looking into designating some of their walking paths as nudist routes.

The Sunday Newds 4/5/09

• A New York judge has ruled that pole dancing is indeed an art form, and that cover charges collected by an all-nude strip club qualify as exempt from sales tax.
• A Canadian woman has cancelled a "nurse-in" at an aquatic center because she's "satisfied with the city's response and the positive changes that have been made" about policies related to public breastfeeding.
• I fear that this columnist's views on nudism are reflective of the general public. In response to the news of Germany's new nudist hotel, she made the following ignorant statements:
  

  Also, as someone who has spent around two hours on Vancouver's famous Wreck Beach, I can say with some authority that nudist hot spots seem disproportionately populated by wrinkly, naked old guys and much less so by the young, supple beauties they seek.
  
  This is logical given that while what attracts old guys to young women is the idea of them walking around naked, the same is definitely not the case the other way around. In fact, I would wager that women, young or otherwise, are far more attracted to guys when they are clothed. In suits. With pockets lined with money that they are willing to spend on them.
  
  With that in mind, the Germans can boost their hotel tourism industry by setting up in-house brothels.

• Rob York tries to explain why Americans are so hung up on nudity, and how it creates a culture shock when spending time in other countries like Korea.

  Among the joys of living in Korea for many years is the gradual shedding of inhibitions that comes from repeated exposure to such circumstances. Over time, even foreign males of an individualistic, fully clothed society come to see the virtues of a place where they can gather together, free of restraint or pretense. It is among the first experiences we share with the new foreign workers who come here.

• If this story about how sexting hysteria nearly ruined the life of a 30 year career teacher doesn't make your blood boil, then you're dead.

The Weekend Newds 4/4/09

• A federal judge has struck down a Maryland statue which would have banned strip clubs.

  On first gloss, the Maryland law would simply seem to ban such activities as exotic dancing, peep shows and lap dances anywhere with a liquor license. But by putting strictures on a whole list of naughty-sounding activities, including anything even simulating a sex act, the legislature went too far, wrote Judge Marvin Garbis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division. Bans against performers touching each other's buttocks, for instance, could prevent ballet dancers from lifting each other into the air, he noted, quoting the plaintiffs lawyers. Restrictions on even brief nudity would have prevented the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Wit" from being performed. Shakespeare, political satire and musical theater (think "The Full Monty") could all suffer as well.

• Mothers are planning a nurse-in at a Canadian pool to protest harassment by lifeguards.

  Gemma Kelsall, 32, is one of the organizers of a "nurse-in" planned for 10 a. m. at Killarney Aquatic & Recreation Centre. Kelsall visits the Killarney pool once or twice a week and sometimes nurses her 21-month-old daughter Kaliya in the water. She said she's been asked not to breastfeed "about 200 times" by lifeguards in the past 14 months. "In the past five weeks, they've been getting more aggressive and abusive about asking me to leave," said Kelsall, who operates a day home.

• Australia has joined the United States on the list of countries which seek to criminalize teenage sexuality.
• This article provides more details on the German nudist hotel.

  "We want to create a relaxing environment in which like-minded people can enjoy a natural environment in complete nudity," Mr Haferkorn said. "Lots of people try to portray nudity as something smutty, but we aim to show that it is something completely natural." Mr Haferkorn said his hotel's website had been inundated with booking requests.

• Three teenagers were trapped on a cliff while trying to get down to the clothing-optional Black's Beach in California, and had to be rescued by lifeguards.
• A student editorial from North Carolina State University supports the rights of women to pose nude for Playboy magazine.

  I am a beautiful young woman (inside and out), but I also know I do not fit the traditional standard of beauty portrayed in magazines like Playboy. If I want to go let someone take photos of me in a bikini, I have every right to do so. It does not make me any less of a woman. It does not mean I am going to lead a life of prostitution or become a victim of abuse. It does not mean I am objectifying or disrespecting myself. What it means is I am comfortable in my skin and happy with my body.

Peaceful Nude Protest at NATO Meeting

Love and peace was the message at a small non-violent protest near where President Obama was meeting with Angela Merkel. Some of the protesters took off their clothes to prove their points.

It's Not Clothing Optional at Germany's First Naked Hotel

If you want to stay at a new hotel in Freudenstadt, located in Germany's Black Forest, you will be required to leave your clothes at the entrance and be naked at all times on the premises.

The Daily Newds 2/25/09

• Rachael Isaacson supports breastfeeding but believes that being too open is counterproductive.

  ...my personal belief is I can meet my baby’s needs AND take into consideration of the public around me. That means being discreet. Some women disagree with this because breast feeding is natural and healthy and isn’t something to hide.

• Residents in the Vermont town of Westmore will vote whether of not to spend $25,000 to enforce a nudity ban on Lake Willoughby.
• A student at Whitworth University wants to preserve the legacy of streaking.

  The decline in streaking certainly can’t be due to an increased level of modesty or discomfort with our bodies. Society as a whole has become more immodest since the 1960s. If you think Whitworth is an exception to the rule, you have only to look at the popularity of the partially nude calendar the Carlson Men of Arend put out every year. There is no doubt that those students are comfortable with their bodies.

• The mayor of Oaxaca in Mexico wants to expand nude beaches to attract more tourists.
• This article exclaims that the summer of 2009 will be remembered as the time when nudism took off in Argentina.
• At an FKK swim in Germany, a woman was told that she had to undress, or leave the facility.
• More articles on the Maine topless coffee bar here and here.

  Topless waitress Susie Wiley, 23, of Farmingdale, said she went for the job because it's "something different" and said she's worked in coffee shops since she was a teenager. Asked whether the shop is degrading to women, Wiley said, "No, I love it. I find it very empowering, not degrading."

• Officials in Destin, Florida, plan to send out "inspectors" in order to catch nude dancers in the act.
• Members of the Edinburgh Music Theatre Company discuss disrobing for their production of "Hair".

  "I've never been unhappy with my body, but at the same time I've never been comfortable showing it off. I'm the kind of person that wouldn't even go topless on the beach, but this play has made me more comfortable – to the point where I wouldn't be afraid to bare all again. "Since I've been rehearsing for this show, I've learned to love the costumes and I've become comfortable being in character, with or without the clothes."

• I think this article is meant to be inspirational, but there's something a bit sad about a mother and daughter bonding over their boob jobs.

The Sunday Newds 11/30/08

• Women in Manchester, England, are getting breast enhancements at twice the rate as women in London.

  "Oh, women have massive boobs in Manchester," my 22-year-old law student cousin, Sarah, who lives just outside the city, tells me breezily. "There’s a lot of money around and it’s that Manchester look, isn’t it? Low cut tops, perma-tans, hair extensions. If you go out in town on a Saturday to places like Tiger Tiger or Circle Bar everyone is dolled up. Big breasts are just part of the look."

• Thanksgiving is celebrated at the Riverside Ranch the same as everywhere else, with the exception of clothing.
• British rugby teams are rivals on the field, as well as with their competing nude calendars.

  (Flanker Andy) Hazell said his team mates did not need much convincing to take their clothes off for charity.
  
  "It's just a bit of fun and we thought it would be good to do something like this," he said.
  
  "The boys are always willing to take their clothes off and pose around, so it seemed a logical thing to do really."

• When Suzanne G. Fullam proposed a nude calendar project to benefit a local library, she was told that it would be impossible to get a group of men to pose naked.

  A few months later, a contingent of firefighters pulled up for a photo shoot, jumped out of the truck and stripped down. Mr. (Cortland A.) Gariepy was stunned and told them to put their clothes back on until he’d set up the shot. “They were definitely the most comfortable. I saw a lot of things I didn’t want to see,” he said. Now, an image of several firefighters, including Chief Joseph Rogowski, with strategically positioned axes and hydrants graces one of the months in the newly released calendar.

• A German caregiver at a day care center allowed a small group of children to play naked in a separate room after they had repeatedly removed their clothing on their own.

  The nude frolicking of some of the children first began after the summer holidays. The fact that other children were disturbed by the lack of clothing did not put an end to the practice. Staff decided to put the nude kids in a separate room, where they could play, under supervision, in all of nature's glory. While the parents of the kids playing au naturel were informed, other parents were not. And when word got out, parents were incensed, talking about "pornography" at the day care centre.

• Parents of a Michigan teen suspended for sending a topless photo of herself to classmates are considering a lawsuit for gender discrimination because male students take photos of themselves topless all the time and are not suspended.
• The Watford Naturist Swimming Club in Great Britain is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
• Artist Melissa Sharplin has been painting nudes since she was 15 years old, and drew her inspiration from a stack of old Playboy magazines.

  "I went to fashion school and always loved fashion advertising and women's figures and trying on clothes. I have always loved the female nude", she says.
  
  "In the 70s it was about free love. It was about beauty and natural beauty."

• AP reporter Hugh Mulligan has died.

  Competing with AP colleagues in New York for choice feature assignments, Mulligan drew the short straw — a weekend in a Pennsylvania nudist colony.
  
  Oh, great," his hostess-to-be said by phone. "You'll be here in time for the square dance."
  
  Mulligan later described her as "5-feet-2 in any direction and barefoot all the way up to her harlequin sunglasses" and said the July 4 barbecue was "about the same as any other place except that people tend to stand a little further away from the fire."

• Seven students were suspended from a Michigan high school for nude cell phone photos, but any potential criminal charges are uncertain.

  Since the girl who took and sent the picture is under 18 the picture is considered child pornography, a felony, and anyone involved in having or sending the picture could face penalties that (Grand Blanc police Det. Robert) McFadden said range from seven to 20 years in prison. "Honestly I don't think we're going to send any kids to prison for 20 years, or even seven," McFadden said.

• I've said time and time again on this blog that if nudism can actually become a thriving capitalist profit cash cow, it will gain more widespread acceptance. Richard Mason, the president of the Florida Naturist Association says it's time for the state of Florida to "grow up" and create more nude beaches, which would create revenue from parking fees and help with state revenue problems. "Naturists like to be around the ocean," he said. "You put one of those beaches in Palm Beach County and it will draw a lot of people."
• Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls band ended up topless on stage after challenging the audience to donate some money to charity.

  "i made a joke from stage the other night during the collection for the danger ensemble (because steven pointed out that i looked like i was about to take my bra off). i joked that i would take my top off if someone donated $500 to the danger ensemble. and [expletive], some generously crazy person went to the club ATM and gave steven five $100 bills. so i had psycho crank up the painful techno remix of coin-operated boy and we had a topless rave (well, it wasn't much of a rave, and i was the only topless one, but we definitely all danced to flashing lights and bad techno) to end the show. i'd say the offer stands, but i think i'll tack on an extra hundred-dollar donation bounty for anyone who wants to see the topless rave again."

• Rosario Dawson is proud of her body, in part because her mother took her to nude beaches when she was young. "She'd say, 'I hate tan lines,' and off our bathing suits would go."

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

The Daily Newds 10/14/08

• Choreographer Trajal Harrell draws upon his experience with nudie shows at the age of 11 in his stage work today.

  “When I really started to look into my own sense of nudity, of course, I had to go back to my family,” he says. “When I was a young boy in Georgia, my father would take me to the county fair. At some point in the evening, he would go into the hoochie-koochie show. As the years went on, I became more curious about what that was; when I was maybe 10 or 11, I realized that it was a place with naked women dancing. This was my first introduction to performing and nakedness.”

• Click here for slideshow of body painting models from fashion week in Los Angeles.
• A museum in Dusseldorf is featuring Diana and Actaeon. The forbidden glimpse of the naked body, a gallery show focused upon "chastity and desire, of seeing and being seen, voyeurism and exhibitionism".
• Three nude paintings by Jonathan Hutchings have been moved out of general view by the Harrow City Council for fear of public complaints.

  "The council are being stricter than they have been. Two or three years ago the life class paintings went on show and they OK'd it.
  
  "I think the paintings may be 'questionable' but it depends on who's calling it offensive."

• A study shows that many children are suffering from Vitamin D deficiency, which can usually be helped with just a little exposure to sunshine.
• Journalist David Marr feels "terrible" about ruining the lives of a child and a school principal for reporting about photographer Bill Henson's recruiting visit.

  "I did not understand its beat-up potential, I did not understand therefore that people would seek out the principal. I feel terrible for what's happened to those people, terrible." Marr, who last night argued that as long as artists acted within the law, police should be kept out of arguments about taste, said the controversy was due to "tabloid rage capped and validated by the Prime Minister".

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

Naktivism

Naktivism is naturism in motion.

Almost every weekend each summer, a group of German men and women take a nude bicycling tour across Bavaria.

Founded three years ago in the wake of World Naked Bike Ride Day, the Nacktradler simply enjoy being at one with nature.

It's something local organiser, Alex von der Tour, is eager to point out, when asked about the point of the whole exercise.

"It gives you the feeling of freedom," he says. Yet is cycling nude in public not illegal? The German authorities, von der Tour tells me, prosecute only if members of the public complain.

"Some of our group have been fined," he admits, "but only when out alone."

Safety in numbers.

Truly, being nude and active outdoors is the way to be. As a cyclist myself, I'm a bit wary of what would happen to my skin if I took a tumble, but it appears that these German naktivists are not going for extreme rides.

This summer I was able to go for a nude hike for a couple of miles at Cedar Trails in Ohio. My wife and I wandered through the woods and around a meadow for well over an hour, completely free and out of sight of people and signs of civilization. Until you have experienced freehiking you cannot appreciate the comfort of not having sweaty clothes clinging to your body.

Perhaps naktivism is the answer to promoting nudism as an acceptable recreation, and to bringing more young people into experiencing the lifestyle.

Nacktradler Tours Home Page
Photo Gallery 1

Photo Gallery 2

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