Platypusworld

Over the past couple of weeks the news has been abuzz with the story that the country of  South Korea is considering a nude beach  to boost tourism.   This prompts a few observations: First,  there is a tendency among those of us in the US to think paternalistic (elitist?) when thinking about Korea.   Maybe it comes from all those episodes of M*A*S *H* where the quaint, provincial village folk need the help of American soldiers and their technology to protect them.  Yet now it appears the Koreans may be getting more with the times. And leading. True, the  US has a few legally sanctioned nude beaches... but not many.  As a percentage of nude beach vs rest of the country,  one long stretch of a single bare beach in Korea may make the relative amount of "naked land" great because the country is much smaller. That's the second observation. The third point is more of a question. Will NORTH Korea try to catch up with a "me too" nude beach of their ...

There is a recent news story reporting the results of a study from (where else) Britain in which one out of six women say that they have NOT let their husbands see them naked within the past year or more .  Forty percent of these women acknowledge that it is harming their marriage. Read the story at One in six wives won't let husband see them naked .  The reasons these women won't bare in front of even their husbands varied but appear to be rooted in self image for about half. When people say that nudism is wrong because nudity should be confined to spouses have you ever heard them speak out against covering up with said spouses and the harm it does to marriage?  Didn't think so.  We think anti-nudity goes way beyond considerations of morality, and we think studies like the one quoted here help prove that. The Bare Platypus is NOT saying that you must go to a nudist club or nude beach or be nude with anyone other than your spouse and family if that's your ...

This story is old news by now but we are just getting around to commenting about it (hey it's hard to keep up when you run with webbed feet. ) Last week Facebook announced that they were reversing their policy and would allow the posting of such videos as the public beheading of a woman in Mexico.  The company reasoned that the videos were intended to foster dialogue against human rights abuses and that it was not glorifying violence or making a spectacle of it. The Platypus wouldn't know as we declined to seek out the video. You can read one news story about this at Facebook OK's Beheading Video but not Nudity . Here's what we don't get: In the same announcement Facebook "assured" the public that they  would  continue to ban nude images... including breast feeding mothers if the images triggered complaints.  So all those 13 year olds who are now free to post public information about their private lives per yet another Facebook change in policy will, at L...

Please take a moment to vote in our latest poll about who bares most at your house.  Does a gender gap exist in our homes? You  can make more than one selection if you wish. You can also make comments. We welcome your participation and thank those who have already cast a ballot.

For the past several months we have been running a poll to ask how you would raise a family. Today we reached exactly 400 votes. Because a mentor once told us that number was enough to approach confidence levels, we'll stop here.  Our results: 77.50% said "YES" (310 votes / 400)   3.25% said "NO" (13 votes / 400)   3.50% said "UNDECIDED" (14 votes / 400) 12.25% said "WE DID" (49 votes / 400)   3.50% (14 votes / 400) said "OTHER" and wrote the following comments... ... Already am! ... Their choice. ....At home, yes. ... No children anticipated. ... Wish I had. ... Not successful. ... No kids. ... Too late now she's grown-up. ... Kids with unashamed bodies! ... Wish I was able. ... Wish I had. ... Clothing-optional let them decide. ... Wish I did. ... We tried. So there you have it readers. Of the 400 votes cast, 89.75 percent said either that they would raise their kids nudist or were doing so.  When you add in those who expresse...

Anyone can start an internet poll that allows comments. We have polls here all the time.  It's more challenging to get lots of voters participating and making comments. By some means we came across a poll asking,   should displays of public nudity be allowed or banned?   The poll had a good number of responses and about 75 percent said "allow them."  You may wish to go cast your vote.  The title of this post isn't directed at the yea's or number of them, though you would,  we suspect,  get different results in different forums. What we take issue with are the comments made by the naysayers.  These varied but there were two prominent themes: 1. If people want to be nude in private in a place for it that would be okay but it shouldn't ever be public;  and 2. Children shouldn't be exposed to public nudity because they can't deal with it. Problem is, we were involved in defending nudist rights against encroachment for years and can tell you this....

As the Bare Platypus has noted before,  we live South of the Mason-Dixon line.  It's still warm here and,  when you travel four hours further South, it's warm enough to visit the beach.  So it was that mom and dad Platypus found ourselves accompanying a certain youth organization for some nearly on-the-beach camping.  We also did some pier fishing. Guess what we observed among most beach patrons? Girls or guys, young or old, not many people show skin at the beach.  And by that we mean bare chests on guys. Swimwear on ladies. Nary a bikini in sight. Far more likely the beachgoer is sporting long cargo shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Body concious? Sun concious? Dunno. Oh there were exceptions to be sure, though not a single Speedo.  A few brave souls bared a hairy chest, but not many. We do so many nudist destinations that we hadn't been to a textile beach in a long time. A lot has changed.  It's a lot more textile. Maybe this trip was an anomaly ...

If you happen to be lucky enough to get some unseasonably warm weather this fall don't miss out! Get naked and enjoy it however you can.  Go on. Go native.  It's the best way to enjoy the last days bare that you can. The Platypus remembers swimming in New England over one Columbus Day weekend. Hey... it can happen. Then again Platypus has fur...

Time magazine ran a story about a nude sculpture  that had to be covered up in preparation of nuclear bomb talks with Iran.  Imagine that... nukes can be discussed dispassionately. But only if there's no naked statuary to stir things up!

With the government shut down entering its second week there are stories circulating on the internet about National Park Service staff being told to make life difficult for visitors to attractions such as Mount Vernon,  once home to George Washington.  Mount Vernon is not run by the Park Service,  yet the parking lots are,  apparently. By closing these, the pressure stays on to end the shut down.  There are stories of other vendors being directed to cease operations although they maintain private payrolls. We didn't link to the stories here because this blog isn't usually about politics or the budget,  shutdown or otherwise. What we will say is that we have witnessed rangers being purposely difficult, at times obtuse,  when it came to nudity.  In one glaring example about 20 years ago the Superintendent of the Canaveral National Seashore in Florida didn't like a court ruling that said mere nudity did not necessarily equal a federal offense. So, in...

There's a fairly common meme around the internet that reads,  "I bet being a nudist takes all the fun out of Halloween," but that isn't true. In truth, nudists get quite innovative. Here are a few ways we've seen of dressing up without wearing anything.  Just in time to prepare for the occasion, should your travels take you to a nudist club,  or even if you just want to have fun at home: - Cupid: All you need are some fake wings,  a bit of satin sash,  perhaps,  and a bow and arrow (keep it safe with the plunger dart toy kind); - Adam or Eve: Get an apple.  Get a rubber snake.  If there's no bite in the apple you haven't messed up yet and don't need a fig leaf; - Lady Godiva: Get one of those polo pony hobby horse head on a stick toys that kids "ride" around the house.  May need blonde wig also; - Baby New Year: A sash with 2014 on it and a top hat will make you one character that's ahead of its time; - Huck Finn: Straw hat... Corn cob pi...

While searching for potential topics for the Bare Platypus, we came across the following article and interesting art concept: Can a naked woman ever be celebrated in the internet age?   By "celebrated," we take it from the context of the article to mean, viewed "dispassionately"... oh to be admired for its beauty, perhaps, but without arousing suspicion or appealing to something base. The article showcases a couple of examples of a project coordinated by Vanesa Omoregie.  Ms Omoregie encourages women (she calls them cam girls -- her term not ours) to send her pictures of themselves nude, while assuming poses in classic paintings such as Botticelli's Venus .  She then superimposes the "live" (photographed) nude onto the original painting.  After reviewing the works, the author of Can a naked woman makes observations about what it means for feminism in an internet age.  The author asks whether the internet has made it impossible to view the nude female...

Here at the Platypus, we write about sleeping naked quite a bit.  Tonight, there are results from yet another poll out that mentions the subject. As you may have guessed, it's from Britain.  And a bedding specialist company---this one called "Dreams"---commissioned this study. ( It seems that most such companies operating in the UK have learned that mentioning the words "sleep" and "naked" in the same press release is always good for garnering media attention. ) In the article sleeping naked considered "bad" behavior by some you'll see that going to bed with nothing on made the list of top ten "partner peeves."  It joined such antics as "snatching the covers" and "bringing pets to bed." We can't figure out why spouses (and significant others) would even care if you swapped skin for pajamas. Maybe because it's more difficult to get you to do other tasks such as bringing a bottle to the baby, or lettin...

... well,  it is another man's something else.   Consider that a simple picture of a nude woman was too controversial for an art show .  Then consider that a picture of a nude woman on a t-shirt landed a Kuwati man in jail .  After his arrest, the man was promptly "whisked away for interrogation."  Meanwhile, postcards featuring naked babies were regularly mailed  many decades ago.  Yet the curator of a museum who wrote about the popularity of those cards in an historical column that he writes for the internet was unwilling to post an example when he posted his article this week. In 2013. Imagine... okay to mail when Woodrow Wilson was President of the U.S. but too controversial for today's internet! Nothing is more subject to change than public opinion on nudity.  And nothing is more likely to get you in trouble if you get the public's opinion wrong. __________________________ Bare Platypus...

Previous posts this week on the subject of closing nudism's gender gap generated some animated and lengthy comments  Some folks questioned whether there is a gap.  Others strongly challenged "gender balancing" admission policies in clubs.  We find the discussion insightful. We're about to wrap up the subject and move on to other things for a while, but your posts raised a couple of additional ideas which the Platypus will take a moment to explore: - One post raised the idea of making separate male and female areas available for those who are just starting out with the whole group nudity concept.  If one thinks about it, this is what the YMCA, gym class showers, camp, and the military "did for many men: gave them a chance to experience how enjoyable nudity is, within a communal setting, without more. Perhaps guys and gals areas (at least, say, during open house weekends) would be a concept to explore; - A related idea is to have a "weekend with the girls...