What about the Children?

This is so cool. A bunch of teens in Brattleboro, Vermont started going nude in the heat, and the town didn't care because it wasn't illegal. One person complained. She said, "What about the children seeing this?" It was the children doing this. But that's what they always say, "What about the children?" They'll pretend the sexual abuse doesn't exist in their own homes, but they can't have children seeing normal people interacting normally, albeit nude. So this one person complains, and the town officials start drafting the ban on nudity. The kids staged a nude sit-in. Right on! One young man referred to the "ridiculous war in the Middle East, so why's it a big problem if we chose to get nude?" Why indeed.

In this news article, we're told, "Some youths cheer on their naked friends, and a few adults are so offended that they become nearly hysterical." It's not the kids they're protecting, it's their own fear. Why so afraid of this human body?

Speaking of nudity, I just saw this great documentary called The Same River Twice. In 1978 a group of friends rafted for a month down the Grand Canyon. They were river guides, sun-browned athletes at ease with the rapids and the camping. One of them filmed them, and years later interviewed some of the people for this look at their past and this time 20 years later. I was fascinated by the footage, at how unconsciously free they were. One person reflecting on that time said, "It was a time where you didn't have to think of reasons to take clothes off, but you had to think of reasons to put them on."