Friday, September 24, 2010

On Nudity

At the ongoing London Fashion Week, the show by French-born designer Charlie Le Mindu, the favourite wigmaker of Lady Gaga, featured naked models walking down the catwalk clad in hot pink high-heeled boots, hats, bags and...wigs of course. No clothes.

His show generated quite a bit of comment in the British media with questions being asked as to whether creativity needs censorship, do we need to draw the line somewhere ya di ya da.

Without discussing the quirkiness of the designer and his penchant for designing wigs made of real mice and rat carcasses, and wigs shaped as teddy bears and the Eiffel Tower (he is Lady Gaga's favorite wig designer after all), let's talk about the issue of nudity in public.

Why do we make such a big deal about nudity? Or let me re-phrase that...why do the Brits make such a big deal about nudity? Their cousins across the Channel don't. Nude beaches are extremely common in Europe, particularly France & Spain. People amble around the beach wearing nothing, not even underwear, and no one gives a damn. There are parks in Germany - such as the Englische Garten in Munich & Tiergarten in Berlin - where people are allowed to sun-bathe in the nude. Where as you can get arrested for "indecent exposure" if you tried to do the same in America. Unless you're at Mardi Gras, of course.

I think it's time we get over our Victorian hangover and realize that nudity is really not a big deal. We don't think twice before letting kids run around naked, do we? Why should it be any different for adults? Tolerance towards things such as nudity & sex is one of the indicators of how mentally evolved people of a country are. And let's not even talk about censorship.

3 comments:

Moonshine said...

imagine a nudist park here!!!!

Scarlett said...

@Moonshine - Indian men won't be able to handle it. They'll get a heart-attack. Imagine one in Delhi, with all the punju aunties sunbathing in the nude!

Heathcliffs Girl said...

:) i like this post! pretty much what i thought after hearing it!