I’ve asked it before, but I’ll ask it again: Why do so many on the Left think that the best protest is a naked one? As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a distraction from the main issue. Of course, maybe that’s the point. So often the main issues are silly that it’s probably worth while getting the audience confused and, depending on the physical attributes of the various protesters, occasionally disgusted. Anyone the latest naked bodies in the news come from Switzerland:
Hundreds of people posed naked on Switzerland‘s shrinking Aletsch glacier on Saturday for U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick as part of a Greenpeace campaign to raise awareness of global warming.
Not that any of these people would care, but I should point out that my son asked why Greenland is icy, while Iceland is green. He was just being silly, so I didn’t bother him with the historical truth but let me bother you with it. Greenland got its name because it used to be green, or at least tolerably warm, until the Little Ace Age hit.
Climates change…. Those same Alps, over the next few billions of years, will see warm and cold weather, cycling over decades, centuries and millenia. Naked people won’t change that.
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[…] Bookworm Room responds: Not that any of these people would care, but I should point out that my son asked why Greenland is icy, while Iceland is green. He was just being silly, so I didn’t bother him with the historical truth but let me bother you with it. Greenland got its name because it used to be green, or at least tolerably warm, until the Little Ace Age hit. […]
You might want to tell your son that. Could fight the Global Warmie indoctrination a bit ; )
Why do so many on the Left think that the best protest is a naked one?
Because they are acting as they have always believed that they were. New born babies that must depend upon the protection of their Mother.
For all their talk of “spirituality”, the left is ideologically wedded to carnality in all its forms. And, they still live in an era where nakedness was subversive. Thanks to their subversive actions lo these many years, it is no longer subversive, but I guess old habits die hard.
It’s not Leftists who think nakedness is radical, it’s boomers. (Which includes me) To understand why boomers think nakedness is radical, you need to understand their parents/upbringing. Their parents made love in the dark, and generally thought nakedness was shameful. So in order to shock “the establishment” boomers literally “let it all hang out.”
The irony is the children of boomers (and later) view nakedness as simply skin and purely natural. So instead of shock value, middle-aged activists’ nakedness is now merely embarrassing due to sagging breasts and fat butts!
Since you asked so nicely, and I’ve been away so long, I will try to explain why I think many on the left think a naked protest drives their point home.
I think the idea of the naked protest in America goes back to the protests of the 60s and is encapsulated in the slogan “Make love, not war.” Well, we’re adults and we all know “make love” really meant “have sex.”
A naked protest has nothing to do with “protection from the mother” and everything to do with party politics, just as whether or not you believe that global warming is a “real problem” or not has much to do with whether you voted for Bush or Al Gore. American (and apparently much of the rest of the world) is polarized in ways that harm everyone, because we do not look for truth but use preconceived ideas to prove what we want to be true. Even the terms leftist and conservative group people in ways that may not always be true.
The real point is Americans have a love/hate relationship with both sex and violence. And we pit one against the other like we used to do drinking and smoking. “Which is worse drinking or smoking?” implies you have to value one over the other, when in fact you can hate or love both. “When Clinton lied, nobody died” is another example of this false either/or. Clinton lied under oath to cover his butt but wouldn’t have “embarrassed America,” if the questions had stooped sooner. But we choose between Clinton’s immoral behavior and Bush’s war like there’s no way to say “both men were wrong.” Why? The nakedness is not really about sex. It says “Violence is the greater evil (between sex and violence).” And no matter what category you put me in, that’s I truly believe.
Nakedness is the medium not the point.
(Disclaimer: I personally have never participated in a naked protest nor do I plan to do so. I think Ellie explained “sagging” and “fat” quite well. I will state my opinions fully clothed. And for that, conservatives ought be very happy.)
Well, okay.
The Mother would then have to be party politics, that which can lead to the protection of humanity from violence and other things.
The nakedness is a means to an end, I would agree.
There is nothing more boring than the attempt to epater les bourgesois.
These days the left ain’t the vanguard, it’s the rearguard.
It’s also an inchoate attempt at the ultimate form of egalitarianism (no class-defining clothes, we’re all equally vulnerable), a muddled claim to authenticity.
[…] on the great naked caper: Sister Toldjah, Bookworm Room, Captain’s Quarters and Gateway Pundit Technorati Tags: Global Warming, Naked People, Spencer […]
Hey, Helen. Welcome back!
global warming is becoming such a obvious problem that someone somewhere other than Al Gore needs to step up to help drive the bus!
It’s a scam. In the words of Roger Kimball, “outrage by the yard.” If you spout the right politics, any gimmick, any mediocrity, any silly flipping thing is defined as art. Naked people on a glacier decries global warming. Naked people on a city street decries the dehumanization of modern urban life. Naked people crammed into a McDonalds restaurant decries the commodification and debasement of food, etc.
Who wudda thunk that I would be so happy to see HelenL back on these pages? 🙂
I believe the term ‘naked’ and the image both relate to the metaphor of ‘innocence’. It is also related to the metaphor of ‘free from deceit’.
I believe the naked protesters are accurate on the first count. They are truly innocent of the realities of the world. Innocent in the most childish naive ways.
The naked protesters are probably not free from deceit. They don’t understand the extent to which their innocence clouds their judgment. They are filled with self-deceit.
Andrea, I tried to send an email to the bookworm@ address and it came back.
I cannot disagree with you on anything that you posted, Michael, except that the initial imagery that confronted me in viewing those photos was more along the lines of “butt-ugly”.
hey, I just found your blog – thanks. I wanted to tell ya that it’s not showing up properly on the BlackBerry Browser (I have a Bold). Definitely on your feed on my laptop, so thanks a million