Local Color

On our Fisherman’s Wharf adventure we were accosted by this lovely drive-by. 

It’s San Francisco, what are you going to do?  Naked people might ride by on bikes.

The naked bike riders made me think. 

My kids are just getting to the age where I have to start thinking about nudity and appropriateness and all that boring junk. 

I realize I’m on the fence.

There are definitely two ways to look at it, and in the above video you see both.  Some Guy turned his back and attempted to shield the kids.  I cheered their free-wheeling on.  After they went by the kids and I talked about it.  The people were riding their bikes naked just for fun, but it isn’t something kids should do.  Some day if they want to ride in a naked bike ride they can, but for now we only take off our clothes around our Mama or Dada.

I’m not offended by public nudity.  I don’t think it’s that weird, just amusing.  I like the idea of people doing what they want to do, and the rebel in me enjoys the fact that they may be offending innocent bystanders, like ourselves.  But should my little children be exposed to naked in that way?  It’s non-sexual which is, I guess, natural. 

This exposure seems to me like a celebration of the bodies God gave us.  It’s borderline lewd, but not in a necessarily sexual or disgusting sort of way. 

As mentioned, I’m Aloha about Body Image.  I like my body and I like other people’s bodies just the way they are.  If it were up to me and Mimi, we’d wear bikinis around all day every day.

Mimi and I both sleep in bikinis during the summer.

Do we shield our children’s eyes on the beaches in France?  How about the National Geographic pictures?  What about nursing mothers, should they hide themselves if they don’t feel like it?  Some Guy maintains that I don’t know how the male brain works.  I believe in the Seinfeld label “good naked” and “bad naked.”  If it’s not attractive it’s not sexual and therefore not offensive to me. 

I read an article the other day about a hat designer (ahem, milliner) in London who sent her models down the runway naked.  They were just wearing hats.  But here’s the kicker: one of the models was pregnant.  Naked and pregnant and walking the runway.  This was a hard one for me.  I like the idea of pregnant women rocking their pregnant bodies, even naked and proud.  But as a publicity stunt?  Despite the fact that I love how she is comfortable in her skin, there’s the obvious use of sex for advertising.  Or maybe it’s shock value for advertising?  Couldn’t she just have been pregnant and modeling?  That would have been a statement enough for me, I think.  I’m not 100% sure on this and could be swayed.  It’s just very interesting to me.

Posing pregnant and naked is not a new thing.  Demi Moore, Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson to name a few (clearly bastions of morality) have all posed in magazines naked and pregnant.  I don’t believe in nudity to sell things. 

But if you’re in a naked bike riding club, I say go for it.  I will cheer you and your nakedness on, maybe I’ll even join you some day.  Just don’t try to sell me anything.