Nudity in VT

[tracysaboe]

dude. God invented it. He has certain rules for utalizing these pleasures to prevent self destructive behaviors and heart-ache and interpersonal problems simply because sex is such a powerful force. But we shouldn't be afraid of or shun it.

I had my parents read for some of the more "riskie" parts of the song of Solomon and Proverbs for Amy and my wedding.

Coming into her garden and eating of her fruits, and her kissing his feet are both metephores for         .

"May her breasts always satisfy you"from Proverbs.

And "Your breasts are as two fawn. Twins of a gazzel"

It's errotic love poetry. Nothing more. Nothing less.

TRacy

[KBCraig]

A new article is out.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NAKED_TOWN?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-09-02-17-19-37

Sep 2, 5:19 PM EDT

Nude Teens Raising Eyebrows in Vermont

By LISA RATHKE
Associated Press Writer

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) -- Nudity isn't new here. Usually it bares itself in more subtle places than a downtown parking lot, though.

This summer, a group of teenagers has disrobed near restaurants, bookstores and galleries, igniting a debate about whether this bohemian southern Vermont town should ban a practice that has been tolerated until now.

"Brattleboro tends to be a laid-back town and pretty accepting of the unusual, but this is really pushing limits," said Police Chief John Martin.

"It's clearly to outrage people, it's clearly rebelliousness," he said.

By most accounts, the stripping started on a whim in early summer when a young woman sat naked on a park bench, Martin said. Then another woman started taking her shirt off downtown.

A music festival promoting nudity and rebelliousness set up in May in a downtown parking lot and attracted nude hula hoopers, Martin said.

Last month, a half dozen young people bared their bodies in the lot, encircled by the backs of bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants.

They say they're just exercising their rights.
   
"It's just an act of freedom," said 19-year-old Adhi Palar. "We're just doing so because we can." Palar and the others "do not consider nakedness to be innately sexual or rude and it shouldn't be confined to that," he said.

All the bare skin has raised eyebrows, even in a town that has seen clothing-optional swimming holes, streakers and an event known as "Breast Fest," which featured women parading topless.

To some, a bunch of teenagers going au naturel is just harmless rebellion.

"To most people, it's not a big deal," said Catherine Kauffman, 57, who calls Brattleboro "a don't-take-away-too-many-of-my-rights kind of town."

Rich Geidel, 50, co-owner of Everyone's Books, said the parking lot may not be the most appropriate place for nudity, but he said he's not concerned.

"We don't think it's bad for kids to hang out," he said. "As long as people are polite, don't block the entrance, we don't ask them to leave."

To others, it's disturbing. Some worry it could drive business away from downtown.

"It's a bad image for Brattleboro," said Ozzie Kocaoglu, 43, who owns Sundried Tomato restaurant at the far end of the parking lot, which has long been a teen hangout.

Vermont has no state laws against public nudity, but communities can pass their own rules banning it.

At least eight cities and towns have passed anti-nudity ordinances, according to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.

So far, Brattleboro has chosen not to, but the teenagers' dress-down may change that. The town is researching what other communities have done to curb their nakedness.

The 50,000-member American Association for Nude Recreation espouses nude recreation in appropriate places, but doesn't use nudity "for social commentary, or rebelliousness or an act of civil disobedience," said Mary Jane Kolassa.

Baring it all as a form of social protest is growing.

This summer, nude bicyclists rode through Burlington to protest the country's reliance on oil, part of an event known as the World Naked Bike Ride. Elsewhere, nudity has been used to oppose the Iraq war and the treatment of animals.

In Vermont, voters in another town shot down a ban on nudity after two public votes.

Prompted by complaints about nudity and sexual activity at a swimming hole, the Wilmington select board passed an anti-nudity ordinance in 2002. But supporters of the freedom to skinny dip rejected the ban.

"There were some ugly moments in the debate with some name calling and lots of good healthy debate about reasonable rights and responsibility under those rights," said Town Clerk Susie Haughwout. Officials weren't sure how they would have enforced a ban and to what extent, she said.

For now Brattleboro is weighing its options. And waiting for summer to turn to fall.

"As soon as winter comes, there won't be a story anymore," said Town Clerk Annette Cappy.

[tracysaboe]

Where do they get off saying the only reason the teenagers are doing this is "rebelliousness" That ticks me off. It ticks teenagers off too. It's one of the things that instigates general feelings of actual rebeliousness.

Tracy

[maineiac]

Dude,

Some kids need to do this in N.H.!

Darn kids!

[KBCraig]

Dude,

Some kids need to do this in N.H.!

Darn kids!

If they're doing it in Brattleboro, all they have to do is cross the bridge!

When we were hell-bent to get to Roger's Campground in June, I couldn't wait to set foot in NH. We were running up I-91 from MA, crossed the VT border, and I hung a hard right at the first opportunity. Brattleboro is a cool, funky little town. But, it's on the wrong side of the river: we had to cross the bridge to get a picture in front of the NH welcome sign.

Then we had to retreat back to VT for the hard charge up I-91, before finally crossing into the promised land at Lancaster.

Ahhhhh.... home!

Kevin

[maineiac]

Dude,

Some kids need to do this in N.H.!

Darn kids!

If they're doing it in Brattleboro, all they have to do is cross the bridge!

When we were hell-bent to get to Roger's Campground in June, I couldn't wait to set foot in NH. We were running up I-91 from MA, crossed the VT border, and I hung a hard right at the first opportunity. Brattleboro is a cool, funky little town. But, it's on the wrong side of the river: we had to cross the bridge to get a picture in front of the NH welcome sign.

Then we had to retreat back to VT for the hard charge up I-91, before finally crossing into the promised land at Lancaster.

Ahhhhh.... home!

Kevin

I guess the point I was trying to make is that if some kids tried this in N.H., Maine, or where ever it is you live, the jabs would bust their naked little asses in a heartbeat.

Maybe Russell could plan a little naked parade for his next gig!



All of which reminds me how cool the SVR movement in Vermont is.

[Kat Kanning]

I would watch that!!

[tracysaboe]

I don't know. The right to be naked in public is WAY down on my list of priorities.

Although, as a very free spirited person myself, it would be cool if I new for sure I wouldn't get arrested for it.

Tracy

[Dreepa]

Puritanism really isn't Biblical,

Genesis 3:7

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves

[tracysaboe]

That's a bit different from the puritanical "Sex is a dirty word" nonsense the puritans believed.

I suppose we have different definitions of the word puritan.

Tracy

[KBCraig]

That's a bit different from the puritanical "Sex is a dirty word" nonsense the puritans believed.

Actually, they didn't.

The Puritans (who didn't call themselves that, and were not any one particular group) were rebels against the church of England. They viewed it as "Catholic with a different Pope", and not nearly protestant enough.

One of the Catholic beliefs was that sex was for procreation, not recreation. This was one of the beliefs that the puritans rejected. Puritans believed that sex could be for pleasure, not just procreation.

Compared to modern mores, Puritans were -*ahem*- "puritanical". But compared to the religious views of what they were escaping, they were considered heretical in their liberalism.

Kevin

[tracysaboe]

I understand that, but people still have this idea that Christians think sex is bad.

Tracy

[KBCraig]

Update: Brattleboro declines anti-nudity ordinance.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/06/D8JVD1C00.html

Vt. Town Says No to Public Nudity Ban
Sep 06 9:44 AM US/Eastern

Mother Nature, not an ordinance, will draw the covers over public nudity in Brattleboro.

The town's Select Board decided Tuesday to take no action on an anti- nudity ordinance that was introduced in response to a clothing- optional movement launched by local teenagers this summer.

"Winter is coming. If spring comes and we still have a problem, we'll take another look at it," said Select Board Chairman Steve Steidle.

Vermont has no state law against public nudity, though at least eight communities have banned it locally.

Brattleboro, however, has long had a live-and-let-live culture. Its 12,000 residents have seen clothing-optional swimming holes, streakers, and even an event known as "Breast Fest," with women parading topless.

But the public nature of the latest movement _ naked teens smack in the heart of downtown _ raised eyebrows.

The stripping apparently started in early summer when a young woman sat naked on a park bench, said Police Chief John Martin. Then another woman took her shirt off downtown, a music festival inspired nude hula hoopers in a downtown parking lot, and in August a half dozen young people bared their bodies in a parking lot encircled by the backs of bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants.

One of the nudists, 19-year-old Adhi Palar, told the town board the issue was freedom.

"Our acting in nudity is an act of celebration of this history and traditional values as a place where you're allowed to be nude," he said. "I find that important, and I find that proud."

Not everyone agreed.

"I just think it's anarchy, because they won," said resident Theresa Toney, whose complaint about the public nudity prompted the debate. "It's inappropriate behavior for downtown. It has nothing to do with the weather. There's good behavior and there's bad behavior and that's bad behavior."

Town Manager Jerry Remillard said the town's image was tarnished by the uproar.

"We have been the brunt of phone calls from all over the world," Remillard said. "The media made this into nothing less than a circus."

[Kat Kanning]

There ya go, Lloyd.  It started with some young women.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Whoo! Whoo!

When Roger didn't post for a couple of days, I thouht he might have gone into town for some sun