Nudity on the Playa

[robotland]

Don't forget to start beerhydrating NOW, so that you will have developed a genital-protecting abdominal sunshade by August.

[Dr Feltersnatch]

Long live Tricky.

He's naked.

And famous.

[Rage]

Getting naked is not about how you look to others it's about how good it feels to you...and to some degree it's a fuck you to anyone who cares.
It's a freedom thing.

Once you realize that, you are on your way to the new understanding.

[LeChatNoir]

for someone who does not fit the template, someone who weighs more than 150 pounds, someone who has never been naked outside their shower stall, someone who is so thin they are uncomfortable being seen, someone who has large scars, or has birthmarks, someone who would never normally risk such a thing - for them to run around naked in public is incredible - it is definitely radical, and i applaud them...to me they are beautiful because they are taking a huge risk, putting themselves out there, making it happen - to me that is art.

Right on, sister...

I think it’s great. If you want to go naked, then I think you should and I don’t mind one bit what you look like. True beauty has nothing to do with what’s on the outside, at least not in my opinion. Myself, my friends, all the people I hold dear... we’re all “flawed” in some fashion. I just love people, no matter what shape or size.

[Donita]

I love the sun beating down on my naked boobies at Burning Man.

[regynalonglank]

i love seeing naked people at burning man because it is like a big billboard saying "you are not in normal land! proceed with abandon >:) faeries dwell here - anything is possible. go forth and pulsify" and i like that feeling.

i love burning man

[sputnik]

I could probably do naked next tiime I go. This past year was my first time and I've never been naked in public. I did walk from our shower to my tent a few times naked. That was hard the first time I did it. I still couldn't bring myself to walk into our lounge space naked, despite there being a couple of naked people there already.

[dr.placebo]

I agree with many in this thread about the value of nudity on the playa. For me, it's the whole idea that skin is another costume, and that no one should be able to fine you or lock you up because of your costume. On the playa it is a blessing that we can freely choose something denied on the outside, something denied through superstition and fear.

Can nudity be misinterpreted on the playa? Yes, because we can't help but bring the outside with us. But we can try to live as though the playa is more like the world we truly want: generous, tolerant, and free.

And in this cold and wet February I would love to feel the desert sun and wind and dust on my skin.

[occupant]

I went naked briefly. I did a patrol with Pantzooka Patrol searching for Donald Ducks. What a blast that was. They shot pants to the guys and girls that were just wearing shirts and no bottoms. That or they would request the liberation of their current shirt and supply sunscreen to the top portions.

I have a vague idea now what this "Pantzooka Patrol" is. That's funny. I shall have to bring spare pants to donate for ammo.

[theCryptofishist]

From what they said last year, the uglier the pants, the better.

[Rian Jackson]

I don't know if pantzooka's returning.

There's been talk, though....

[citizenx]

The Pantzooka Patrol will be back, never fear.

Your first and only warning will be the CRASH-WHOOSH as a tightly rolled pair of tighty-whities hurtles in your general direction (we have not yet developed a terminal-guidance package for the ordnance that will plaster the undies to you accurately and automatically).

Then we vanish into the background, leaving our motto,
"AVE HOMINEM VESTITUM !"
fading in the desert breeze.

[joel the ornery]

I love the sun beating down on my naked boobies at Burning Man.

We love the sun beating down on naked boobies of everyone at Burning Man.

[Janka]

No, you wouldn't, Joel. Sun on my skin in any longer amounts makes me burnt, sick, pissed off, and very unfriendly. There's no sunscreen invented short of maybe body paints that keeps me safe in playa conditions.

That said, as an anecdote maybe related to this, we mused in/after 2004 that if BM was in Finland, there would would probably be more fringe religions and mystical experiences and new age, and less sex and nudity - probably about so that the proportions would have been turned around. We seem to have a more relaxed attitude towards bodies and all that in general, but weird beliefs and mystical experiences are kind of hushed as non-civilized (we acknowledge the freedom of belief, but it's a bit socially embarrassing if someone is an "extremist" of any kind, if you follow me). To simplify to the extreme, here you are either a moderate and controlled Christian, or an atheist, or you are out-right weird - not that I mind too much, I am an agnostic/atheist myself, and being a Finn, making fuss about religion does embarrass me.

What surprised me more on playa than the nakedness was that many people had so strong opinions about it. While the older generation is still more strict here too, many people of my generation in (at least Southern) Finland are quite used to sharing saunas with the opposite gender - and with nothing sexual to it, just sharing in parties that have sauna, during weekends at summer places, whatever. They are just people without clothes, what's the fuss?

Of course, I realized soon that for many of the people who were naked, nakedness was exploring their limits, or a statement of itself. And if they feel that a statement is necessary, and that statement evokes such strong feelings, I kind of think that proves that there is a point to it.

(EDIT: just typos and grammar)

[Anthony Bondi]

No matter the humor involved, Pantzooka is confronting an aesthetic challenge by running away from it and encouraging others to do the same. Instead, give a try at showing there can be original style shown in a minimal upper body costume.

[robotland]

Hey, just 'cuz some stranger gives you pants doesn't mean you have to put 'em on! Just think of it as more Gifting.... I also consider Tighty Whities to be a MUCH more bizarre costume than the Donald Look.

[sputnik]

Will the pantzooka be aimed at me if I only wear the right half of my clothes?

[Nightterror]

Seriously - am I just being oversensitive or does the idea of a "Pantzooka" seem invasive and judgemental.

If I or any BRC citizen wants to cruise with a shirt on and nothing else shouldn't that be allowed without the fear of embarrassment by any group that deems themselves to be the fashion police.

[dr.placebo]

If you want to defend your bottomless freedom then one appropriate response to a Pantzooka attack is to take the offending underwear and place it firmly on your head.

[Nightterror]

I have to defend my freedom? Sounds a bit like assualt.

[theCryptofishist]

the Donald Look.

[sputnik]

I have to defend my freedom? Sounds a bit like assualt.

Everyday at burning man we are assaulted in one way or another. Audio assaults our hearing. Visuals assault our vision. The environment assaults our bodies. We deal with it. If someone acts that way toward me I shrug it off. When DPW came by with their barking dogs to force their way onto the coaster, I would have shrugged it off. Eventually they would have left. Unfortunately others in the group relented.

Perhaps a shirtzooka is next.

or a hatzooka for those baldheaded folk.

Regardless, pick up the moop and deal with it. Think about how their actions affect you and how you can best use this as a growth experience.

If i was painted green and a bluezooka crew came by and painted me blue, I would wonder what problems they have, and then try to enjoy being blue.

Sorry, I'm sorta drunk...

[robotland]

I've always played best alone, and it took a lotta years for me to let people in. When interacting with others in a public environment I still largely feel that violating another's space, or blocking their path, or other invasive behavior like panhandling or petitioning, is an unpardonable offense. BUT- Motive has to be considered. Sometimes I come out of my shell and attempt to solicit a response from others, usually by performing some sort of artistic behavior, and NEVER by cornering or accosting someone. I don't personally indulge the Donald look, Duck OR Trump, but I'm sure that if someone suddenly confronted me with a judgement about my furry aluminum hats or blinking sporrans my first response would be very defensive and affronted. Then I'd probably conclude that no malice was intended, since the whole concept of someone going out of their way to ridicule the appearance of another AT BURNING MAN is so completely absurd that it could only be intended as social satire. And then I'd want to examine the hardware.
The worst random, judgemental shittiness I have encountered so far was being called a tourist by a snotty chick at Best's Temple in 2003....I was taking pictures of structural details, and neither she nor anyone else was even CLOSE to being in my frame, but she felt it necessary to comment and it really ruined my day.....I'm more disappointed in myself for still letting it bug me, but I DO regret not responding...raising my sarong and saying, "Tour THIS!", for example.
Nutshell: Pantzooka Patrol- No Harm, No Foul. It's an experience, not an assault. Free pants.

[Janka]

Thread drifting, but I have to mention that one of my pet peeves on playa is the people who equate "camera" with "spectator". He-el-lo? When did photography stop being art?

(Certainly their are tourists with cameras there. But not all people with cameras are tourists...)

[joel the ornery]

Thread drifting, but I have to mention that one of my pet peeves on playa is the people who equate "camera" with "spectator". He-el-lo? When did photography stop being art?

(Certainly their are tourists with cameras there. But not all people with cameras are tourists...)

photographic journalists/artist ask permission of the subject before taking a photo.

tourists take photos without regard for the wants and needs of the subject.

in my humble opinion...

now let's get back to talking about breasts... ladies' breasts are my preference.

of course, a nicely mesquite grilled chicken breast sandwich is always a favorite of mine too.

naked chicken breasts.

[HughMungus]

Hot pants are so much more practical, and in fact, to me, cuter than being naked

I couldn't agree more. I think I love you now. Marry me instead.

[Anthony Bondi]

Ann Hollander, in "Sex and Suits", gives a good overview of the challenge. Now and then, nudity can be fashionable dress, but when nudity is presented as a stance in permanent opposition to fashionable dress, it becomes a quick-passing fad. The male suit is now the global standard for sober male dress, along with its informal cousin, t-shirt and jeans. This suit has been essentially unchanged for 200 years. It offers a fabric-based sketch of the male body concealed beneath it. The suit offers various horizontal lines at its mid-section to shift its description of the body from the block of the torso to the vertical lines of the lower body. That's the visual problem with the t-shirt over a bare lower body; the horizontal line of the t-shirt tale offers no transition to the lower body. The t-shirt was designed to end at the belt-line of pants. It's a piece of an ensemble. Fashionistas; fashion students, costumers; hip hop proved Elvis could finally be staked dead in his grave. Your challenge is the boring old male suit. I've got no special animosity toward the male suit; but, after two hundred years, nowhere but in BRC is there a place to experiment with a wholly different direction.

[robotland]

From now on, I'm going to just wear the top half of a sailor suit and a tiny cap.

[theCryptofishist]

That's the visual problem with the t-shirt over a bare lower body; the horizontal line of the t-shirt tale offers no transition to the lower body. The t-shirt was designed to end at the belt-line of pants.

Okay, travel the playa with a pair of medicine shears and a moop bag, and give raggedy cuts to the tee-shirts so that the tranistion changes.

[theCryptofishist]

From now on, I'm going to just wear the top half of a sailor suit and a tiny cap.

Watch out for horny pirates.