There are people in my life, close, dear and friends and social media friends who have anti Christmas views and go out of their way to express them.  I have written my thoughts on the subject with the hope that they can understand and perhaps change their minds a little.

What do I NOT believe?

I don’t believe it has much to do with Christianity – Christmas belongs to the Christians as much as Football or Cricket belongs to the English.  Yes.. ok.. they may have been involved in setting up the religious thing but it is now been taken over by so many non-Christians, commercial organisations, that Jesus doesn’t pop into people’s minds when they are going about getting ready for Christmas. So much so that it’s been renamed to Xmas long ago!!  Non-Christians can express/experience the Christmas ‘spirit’ as good as or better than some of the Christians!

I don’t believe Christmas is about midnight mass or mass spending – I don’t believe in god and I like giving gifts but giving of gifts has been hijacked by the commercial organisations to push us into buying bigger and better things. A gift has to be relevant and useful and meaningful, it doesn’t have to be expensive.  You can paint a picture yourself, bake a cake or give a promise IOU, these things don’t cost money but mean much more than a dancing bear or any variety of singing fish!  The society we live in has developed the meaning of love in terms of money, but you don’t have to follow that, break away and do your thing but it doesn’t have to be ‘do nothing’. You can buy whatever you can afford, if you’re fortunate enough to be able to buy someone an expensive gift; great otherwise a small meaningful gift or a loving hug will do just fine!

I don’t believe Christmas tree, Turkey, Puddings, Fancy lights are necessities for Christmas, nice but not a necessity.  They certainly didn’t have Turkeys or Pine trees in the Middle East 2000 years ago!! These are obviously time based additions to the Christmas event.  If you chose not to have them, it doesn’t make you a bad person. If you can afford them and wish to follow the modern trend, great.. enjoy what you can how you can.

I could go on.. but you get the idea!!

What DO I believe?

I believe much like many other man made events in our calendar year, Christmas is a date set aside for whole family/friends occasion. We have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day so why not a Family/Friends’ Day?  I know a lot of you will say that every day is that day, why have days set aside.. well my thoughts are quite simple.. in the hectic lives that we have; the day to day events don’t give us the time or the opportunity to meet up with, call or otherwise express our love and feelings for all the people we owe so much to and love so much.  A day set aside for these events allow us the time to stop and think and do what we all need and desire.

I believe that as human beings we all need love and affection, no matter how tough our lives may be, once we hold someone we love in our arms, all we want is love.  Sometime we don’t get that love back because not everyone is working off the same set of life instructions.  We all take knocks in our lives but if we look around there is normally someone there to who thinks that we are important to them.  We don’t have to agree with the people we love, I believe there is a separation between love and agreement.  We love people for many reasons, having a common agreement may be ONE of the reasons but not the only one.  So even if you don’t believe in Christmas as a religious event, it is not a reason not to show the love you have for all the people in your life.

I believe that family/friends circles have widened much more than ever before, more people are getting divorced and remarrying resulting in step-relations making families bigger and our friends are now not only next door or at work but also at all the places we visit and of course the social media sites that we use, although we can’t call all our social contacts friends, there will always be a few that you take into your friends circle.  Our lives are much enriched by these extensions to our lives and a lot of our new ‘relations’ may have nothing to do with Christianity but because they are friends or family we can enjoy the Christmas time with them.

I believe it is important to be with the people you love or your friends on the Christmas day, but if for whatever reason you can’t then being in contact with them is better than nothing.  Christmas is time for us all to say to those that we love.. ‘I love you’. It is nice if you can say it to their face but sometimes it is just as good if they get your message by other means and in this day and age of multi media communications, it is almost impossible to be out of contact!

So….

For those who are caught up in disliking Christmas for all the reason above and more.. I have just this to say.. Look again.. Christmas is NOT what you may hate, some people may be pushing you into thinking about it that way.. but you don’t have to go along with them.. it is your love and friendship that others are looking for even if it doesn’t seem that way!

You don’t have to go to the midnight mass to feel the Christmas spirit but if you do then that’s great you have included your religious beliefs in the celebration but if that is not for you and if you can just hold someone, call someone and tell them that you care about them.. that is Christmas in its purest sense.

What about Christmas and Nudity? Well let’s leave that for another day!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all..XX

If you present yourself as some kind of sex seeking or sex selling person, then I suspect there may be some people who would object to you being in public but if the fashion people can parade around in nude, then why can’t the normal people like you and me do the same.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2038289/London-Fashion-Week-2011-Risque-start-models-display-daring-topless-looks.html

IF it is was NOT OK to be nude in public then surely should the Fashion people promoting clothes that promote nudity in public not be arrested for promoting illegal activity??

Think about it.. we know that it is illegal to walk around the town with a gun in your hand, but you can have one for legal purposes.  The gun suppliers would be arrested if they promoted carrying of their products in public. 

If it was NOT OK for us to wear the clothes that the fashion trade wants us to wear out in the open; including those that show nudity, then surely would they not be arrested under the principle that they are promoting illegal activity or at least misrepresentation?  I am not being stupid about this, I mean I know that the fashion trade show underwear so using the above argument you could say that they don’t expect you to wear underwear in Public, but they show normal clothes showing the bits that would normally be hidden and they promote wearing those clothes and like other products there is no public health warning that says… ‘Wearing these clothes in Public can harm your freedom’.

I am not against the fashion trade, what I’m saying is that we live in a free country and we have the right to exercise our freedom.  Wearing something or not wearing something is not illegal in this country, so why do we force ourselves to follow the rules that are set by people with closed minds and not enforced by the law?

Let us use the law of the country and exercise our freedom to wear or not to wear what we like as long as we don’t intend to deliberately upset someone.  If someone is upset by our presence, judge the situation and handle it like a mature person.  There is little point in fighting someone who has been brought up with a closed mind or has suffered through nudity, they are very unlikely to change their mind through discussion and they will not care about your rights.  So walk away from the argument and exercise your freedom another place another day.  Happy Living!!

I do not claim to be an expert but being a female I feel I can shed some light on this.  There are some people who have deeper understanding and may relate this issue with some social or demographic reason, I am unlikely to be able to write something as serious as that, but I am entitled to my opinion and this is what I think;

UK Attitudes. Most people are aware that attitudes to nudity in Europe are better than those experienced in the UK, here nudity is still bit of a ‘odd’ thing in most people’s eyes.  This doesn’t mean that we the Brits are too shy about going nude when abroad.  So if we can do it there what stops us from doing it here.. probably the social pressure where the friends and relatives do not approve of nudity and we are not able to argue the case with everyone.  Females have always suffered more from the society’s views and nudity is no different.  Nudity is not seen as a respectable activity even if it is acceptable for the most influential females or celebrities to be caught nude on holidays.  This is obviously double standards, one rule for home and another when on holidays.

                                                                                                                                                   (Photo from the internet)

Sex. There are many men who use naturism as means to get sexual pleasure.  This is not the case for single females in most cases.  Men & Women use their own nudity to turn themselves on but men have more reason to do so than women because basically if a female wants a man, it is easy enough, but if a man wants a woman, he has to work at it.  So a lone female doesn’t need to use naturism to attract a sexual partner and even if she is a naturist in her private life, she doesn’t need to be open about it in the social media because to do so would invite criticism and unwanted attention. 

Having said this, there are obviously men who just wish to be in mixed sex company and if they don’t have their own partner they appreciate the company of other females.  This adds up to the imbalance of numbers.

Shame. Most of the naturist men/women in the social media avoid disclosing their identity. This is because they are concerned about public opinion and also want freedom to be what they desire as fantasy, to be able to say what they feel without being judged by friends/family.  This mysterious group does not help the natural approach to nudity or naturism.  It could be argued that if you have something to hide, then there must be something dirty or wrong that you are doing. If you are honest and clear about your objectives, why would you not want others to know who you are?  Any female who is honest about her life as a naturist would not wish to engage with men who are out to get cheap thrills, so they stay out of sight and don’t advertise the naturist part of their life.  It would be easier if naturist men were open about their beliefs and did not hide their identity.  I know this could have some serious implications for some people but if you believe in something, you need to be ready to fight for your rights.

Sexy Females. Females who hide under a false id and get a kick out of their sexual contact with others do not help the situation, this just leads men to believe  that most females that identify themselves as naturists/nudes are open to sexual kicks so therefore they continue their fantasy discussions with them, this obviously puts them off and could make them believe that naturist men are just perverts looking for some fun.    Whilst I’m not suggesting that the Internet becomes sex free (bit like asking for world peace!!), I would ask that if you are a man and want to see more females in naturism, then you need to learn to separate the sex kittens from natural/naturist females.

(There is a difference between those who engage others for sexual entertainment and those who are nude for just personal pleasure)

No Need.  This is probably the biggest reason why there are very few naturist females in public.  Females do not need to go nude all the way to enjoy nudity.  Because we as females are able to dress up or dress down and still enjoy a level of nudity/freedom in normal places, there is no need for us to go to a designated naturist place. For example.. on a beach; if a female wishes, she can go topless in most areas.  In this day and age, the only thing that stops a girl from going topless is herself.  It is true that in some areas, she is likely  to get more attention than she wants, but she doesn’t have to go far to get to a place where she feels comfortable.  In addition to going topless, like myself, other females are quite happy to wear a small thong that covers no more than 2 inches of the body.  This is virtually nude and the thongs nowadays are very comfortable and you don’t even notice that you’re wearing them.  So if a female or a group of females can do this on a normal decent beach, why would they wish to go out of their way to a naturist beach that very often is out of the way and has no amenities.  This is even more so in Europe, where topless females can be seen on many more beaches than in the UK.

Fear.  Females don’t generally want to upset the balance of their environment, they fear that they will be judged as sex mad if they are the first ones to do something that might be controversial, even going topless as I have explained above.  So it takes one woman to set the trend and others then follow.  I experience this quite often, most recently in Cannes, South of France. Even at a place such as that (where most people expect nudity), there is need for the females to feel that they are doing the right thing in the right place.  When I arrived at a beach restaurant it was almost full, although there were some topless females on the public beach about 100 meters away, none of the females in the restaurant beach had gone topless.  This led me to question whether this was allowed or not, it was an expensive place, where just the hire of the deck chair was about £25. It was very hot and we only had a few hours of the afternoon left.  As I hate tan lines, I decided to test the system and go topless and just wear a very small thong.  Being on crutches, I probably looked quite ridiculous but I wanted to enjoy the sun & the beach and so no reason why anyone should be upset by my nudity.

                                                                                                                                 (Beach restaurant in Cannes)

I walked to the beach and to the restaurant in my thongs and no one made any comments, within 15 min to half an hour of doing that, I discovered that quite a number of other females, old and young had also now gone topless.  Couple of the females were in their 60s whilst others ranged from teens to middle aged.   Perhaps it was a coincident but I have experienced this type of behaviour a number of times, which leads me to believe that it is the case of someone leading and others will follow, much like as it is in Fashion. I believe that if just a few females start to go topless in Parks, it would open up the attitudes in the UK and maybe before too long we too could enjoy a more liberal society.

Fashion.  Finally, Fashion. Men see it as ‘erotic’ whilst women see it as ‘feel good’ more than erotic. It is much easier for the females to use fashion to feel good, maybe sexy (I don’t mean take me I am yours kind of sexy!), and maybe experience the enjoyment and freedom of being nude or semi-nude.  Whilst I admit,  there are not many females that go about the normal places dressed the way I do, there are  quite a few and more of them are found in nightclubs, late night spots, holiday places.  There is much more of the body on display nowadays than in the past.  Media obviously plays a big role in this.  Although not many females will pluck up the courage to go to their local pub dressed like Lady GaGa, I am sure that they are wearing much less than they might have been 20 years ago and they are more likely to be adventurous on big nights out or whist on holidays.

                                                                                                                                                (Helping to promote London 2012! I think Boris should use this Pic!!)

Fashion lets females feel free and good about themselves.  This is not enjoyed so much by the men, who need actual nudity as they only have one thing that dictates whether they are nude or not.. if they have that hanging out in public then they are very likely to find themselves in trouble.

I am very fortunate that I am able to go out in one of the most multicultural cities in the world.  People are quite accepting of any fashion statement. Whilst I may not be able to go out completely naked, what I wear is not exactly hiding my nudity.  In my own mind, I think ‘You don’t want me to be nude but I am and you can’t do much about it’.  Unfortunately unless the men are close friends of ‘Right Said Fred’, or homosexual on their way to a gay bar, they are not likely to get away with a thong or loosely crocheted shirt in public.  This pushes them towards wanting to be a naturist so that they too can feel the enjoyment of being free and naked.

Fashion is also responsible for making nudity look dirty/sexy.  If you look at my pictures of me totally nude and those that are semi- nude through clothing, which ones look more erotic?   So the objective is to do away with clothing as much as possible, wherever possible, but if that cannot be done, then we should encourage the girls to do the next best thing, wear a little as possible without looking like ‘working girls’.

I also have to say… it is not what you wear it’s how you wear it.  You can wear clothing that allows you to be semi-nude without making you look like a tart (well some might disagree).   

I have said it in my blog many times that clothing makes females more erotic than total nudity, this is true, whilst I don’t wish to encourage misunderstanding that nudity means sex, it is nevertheless better to have nudity accepted through fashion than not at all.

Conclusion: The society allows females to enjoy a level of nudity through fashion or because of their unthreatening female form.   This means that there is less of a need for girls to be activists for naturism than men.  Fashion obviously is not going to promote total nudity, they would go out of business!! But where fashion leads to semi-nudity, it should be promoted through acceptance and encouragement and men should not make the females feel uncomfortable by showing too much attention. 

 If a female can sunbathe topless in the local park walk down the street wearing whatever she chooses to wear, without being harassed or thought of as a bad person (slut or worse!), more are likely to do the same.  If she is seen only as a sex object, then there is every need for her to cover up for safety.  If you see a topless girl in the park, leave her be, let her enjoy herself, walk away and enjoy the glimpse of happiness.  She does not want to talk to you, nor does she need help in understand whether what she is doing is right or wrong.  It is natural and allow her the freedom to do it.

If a female is on the social media and not openly advertising her sexual services, then don’t assume that she is there for your sexual entertainment.  If she posts a picture of nude or semi-nude body, avoid making sexual comments, she is not saying I want sex.. she is just sharing her feelings of enjoyment with you.

If this helps you to understand any of my views, I am very happy, I may not be right, but I am honest and open about my views and identity, which is lot more than vast majority of social media users.  If you wish to add to this discussion, please comment  and share with others.

Thank you to all those who have participated in the discussions here. THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED FOR COMMENTS However if you wish to say something to me please email me at Ladygod1va@hotmail.co.uk. Thank You.

I have been meaning to write about BN for some time now, so thought I should get on and do it!!

What I am about to write is only my opinion  and understanding, you are welcome to comment, agree or disagree, any form of discussion can only help in better understanding.

(I have to acknowledge that this is a joint effort with my partner as at time I have to be helped!!)

The problem I see in the UK is that there are far too many independent organisations supporting naturism through clubs, social gatherings, social networks, personal blogs, membership sites, holiday services and so on whilst there is a very small target audience who are openly able to enjoy the naturism life for various personal reasons or beliefs.  This is the same at international level, where countries are represented by their national organisations but the national organisations have the following of only a very small percentage of naturists  in their country.

The number of naturists in the UK probably grows or shrinks over the years in relation to the population numbers aged between 40-60.   This is not affected by immigration because the general UK naturists numbers do not reflect the percentage of foreign nationals in the community.  Contrary to popular belief the percentage of foreign nationals in the UK is very small however in some areas it is obviously more visible than others.

If you reference the document below at the national statistics office you will see that we are enjoying the highest numbers of naturists in the UK probably because the population aged between 40-60 is the highest for a long time due to the baby booms of the 60s (not that I would know much about it !!).

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pop0610.pdf

So… I see it as now being the best harvest of suitable naturism candidates for the naturist organisations to increase their numbers.  However I don’t believe that it is being done successfully because there is just too much choice for what is still a limited number of naturists.

There are many more naturists amongst the general public who just do not have any reason to join any club or organisation because their form of naturism doesn’t require it.  They are busy people who go on naturists’ holidays when possible, go nude once in a while, enjoy it and treat it as a thrill which they feel is not possible to extend to their normal lives.

Looking at the statistics you will see that greater number of females are opting not to have children until later into their 30s, these females are quite confident and go topless and some obviously go nude but mostly when on holidays, so why are they not more visible in the naturist circles?  I would suggest the following to be the main issues;

1. Because being seen topless in the local park by anyone they know is likely to cause them embarrassment.
2. The UK naturist movement still have a seedy association with sexual activities and perverts of one kind or another.
3. Lack of role models, someone has to make a start and others could follow.
4. Lack of understanding of the law
5. Personal or religious beliefs

If the UK naturism doesn’t progress during these few years, then in another 20 years or so, it will suffer serious reduction in numbers unless the UK becomes more like some of the European countries in terms of their attitude to nudity and naturism.  My fear is that with pressure from the USA, the religious righteous, influences from the Eastern countries, the UK naturism could suffer.

I am very fortunate, I have the confidence and support to do almost whatever and whenever I wish to do when it comes to nudity/naturism.   I enjoy my freedom but it is not as free as I would like it to be.  Therefore for the past year or so, I have been promoting naturism to try and make some difference if not for me then for those that are younger than me.

So far I have attracted a large number of people from around the world, but a large percentage of them are already naturists and they are just glad to find someone who is open minded and willing to discuss the subject.

There needs to be 100s of people like me, girls and boys who don’t need to go around demonstrating about lack of freedom etc.. but  just do it (sorry Nike!!).

If we are to encourage these people to try and do what they believe in without fear or reprisal, we need more than just clubs, web sites, social networks etc,  because I don’t believe all that works on people who fall into the category I mentioned above.

They need the support of a credible organisation that has the respect of the country’s legal and political and ethical organisations.  This is not my blog or someone’s web site or a few good meaning people who may wish to support naturism.

There needs to be a reason why those who are comfortable going skinny dipping would consider themselves as naturists.  There needs to be more than just middle to old aged people making noises about naturism.   There needs to be something more than what we have now. It is only through increasing the numbers that greater freedom  will come.

The perverts linked to naturism have to be separated from true naturists.

The swingers calling themselves naturists have to be tackled and prevented from making naturism look bad.  If swingers are allowed to get away with calling themselves naturists then everyone who has sex in the nude must be a naturist!!! It is true that SOME naturists might also be swingers.. to them I would suggest that they keep the 2 things different.  It is not logical to say that if you are a swinger you can’t join BN or local club, but it is logical to say that if you try breaking the naturism rules or just good manners then you may not be welcomed there.

In the same way not everyone that has sex is a naturist, it is fair to say that not everyone who is a naturist should be tagged as some sort of pervert but those that link these 2 aspect of life generate mix feelings and don’t help the naturism.

If you support these views also, then you can help to tackle these problems by ;

• Supporting the national organisation (BN) that has the muscle to do something.
• Challenge the misrepresentation of naturism wherever you can.
• Help to address the perverts who spoil it for the majority
• Join the self help groups that keep the beaches/nude places clean and safe for everyone
• If you are in it for sex and thrills, then don’t call yourself a naturist, a swinger is the correct name so go ahead and do that.

The biggest problem in the past has been that no one has tackled these issues, I now see some movement, particularly from BN who are best placed to lead on this.  However we the naturists have to believe in BN as  being the leader and support them in this task.  The best way to do so is to become a member of BN and let your friends know that you are a member (whenever possible), this will give you confidence that you are a member of an organisation that is focused on pure naturism and fights all that is unacceptable in naturism.  

So this way.. you become linked to the Good Guys!!  In return the right organisation gets your support and some funds to help towards improving the situation.

In addition to that if you are a member and you run into trouble, you have someone to seek support and guidance from. For example if you are arrested for sunbathing nude in your garden, your local duty solicitor is unlikely to be supportive of your case!!  Whereas if you hold BN membership, you are more likely to be advised correctly and there would be someone who knows the law well enough to keep you out of trouble and media if necessary.

For example.. BN have published the benefits of joining on their web site

http://www.british-naturism.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_ID=111

If you decide to join the form is available online

https://www.british-naturism.org.uk/secure/join_us/form_pt1.asp

At present BN are offering £10 reward for introductions, I will be more than happy to return this to you if you put LADYGOD1VA in the membership number (can’t find my number at present) field for the person introducing you.  This is simply to prove to you that I am not doing this to generate funds for myself!

If you are still reading this, it means you have some serious interest in joining BN and hope you do.  It will bring you closer to a group of people that are true to naturism as you and who are willing to support you as long as you are one of the Good Guys

Post Publication Note:

Some comments below are from people already known to me and even though I don’t agree with some things said below, out of respect and to show that this Blog is not edited, I am going to leave them for you to read.

If you practice naturism and would like someone to talk to or gain guidance and support from then obviously starting with the national authority on the matter (BN) is a good place to start.  I would encourage you to join BN and be part of a fantistic and very supportive group of people that are the British naturists!

I hope you are all well and enjoying whatever is left of our Great British summer!!

I just wish to send you this short message to sound out your views on something that has been discussed for quite a long time in our household and seems to be taking momentum in the emails and various social site discussions.

As you all know, my partner is more experienced than me and whatever I do, he also has to agree with. This works for me because it prevents me from doing silly things most of the time.  This includes not getting involved in some activities that I’ve been invited to participate in that would have brought me into arguments that I have very little experience of.

I have also turned down the offer of appearing in certain magazines that might have focused too much on my body rather than my brain.

I am obviously passionate about promoting naturism but it does get very difficult at times when people use arguments based on illegal/sexual activities carried out by so called naturists.

Naturists are obviously no different than any other group of people, you are going to get all mixture of characters, the good, bad and the ugly.  However when the same happens in other social groups they perhaps are not tarred with a general image as much as naturists seems to be.  For example, when a few teachers, priests are found to be sexually offending the children in their care, not all the teachers are banned from teaching and there has been no movement to close particular school or church because some crimes have been committed there.  So… this brings me to the point of naturists beaches and other recreational areas used by the naturists.. if these areas are used by one or two perverts to conduct some illegal/sexual activities then the place where the crimes are conducted should not be made to close denying pleasure to all other law abiding users.

This makes me reluctant to spend time and effort in campaigning for more and better facilities because the same may occur there.  I have a strong wish to encourage people to use public spaces, like parks etc, in the same way they are used in some countries in Europe.  In that, if a girl wants to sunbathe topless, she just goes ahead and does it and she is not pestered or abused by passer byes, the same should be the case if the females or men wish to go fully nude, as long as there is no obvious sexual intent, there should be no hesitation in people doing what they feel is natural.  Obviously it is not for everyone and you cannot put the rights of naturists ahead of the rights of non naturists but a common sense approach should be acceptable.

What I mean by that is that, if you take Regents Park in London, I have sunbathed nude in the Rose Garden in the past, but I will not walk into the nearby cafe area in the nude as that would upset the non naturists with children and they may also not wish to see a nude person whilst eating etc.

In order to arrive at this ‘happy place’ the general public who wish to be more liberated and are not necessarily members of any naturist club, need to be assured that this is within the current legal limits and the ‘perverts’ will be managed.

In my view, the illegal and perverted activities will cause more problems if only specific area is nominated as ‘nude’ area.  This would become the ‘target’ for the perverts in the similar way the nude beaches are.

Whilst this may be a problem in public nude areas, it is obviously not a problem at naturist membership controlled clubs where rules are obeyed by the members or they are dealt with by the club authorities.  The ‘serious’ naturists tend to seek the freedom of naturists clubs through the protection they offer, however this doesn’t protect them from being related to the pervert naturists who do nothing but harm naturism.   The perverts and law breaking nudists may also call themselves naturists to avoid detection or prosecution this is made easier for them when they can use ‘authorised’ public areas.

OK.. Now to come to the main point, I could go on and use various examples to support my suggestion but it might not be needed if I can use maybe just one example.

In the same way we have the law enforcement wherever there is a need; we should address this situation and establish a method of resolving the problem.

We cannot depend on the Police to be there on the beaches and parks all the time to protect the small number of naturists that use the facilities.  This is never going to happen. However in order to enforce the law, there needs to be some method that is able to detect and deal with the crimes in much shorter time than it would take to call the local police and for them to attend a low level incident such as a man misbehaving at a nudist beach.

In the same way as most of you naturists and naturist organisation fight for the rights of the naturists to be given these places, YOU also have to fight to keep them and manage them so that those who come to use the ‘authorised’ places are not subjected to what is clearly illegal or at least against the ‘Terms and Conditions’ for use of the facilities.

How do we do this.. an idea being discussed is to create a volunteer naturist special police constables.   Most of you probably think it cannot be done, too complicated, too expensive not enough support, that is to be expected. My view is that unless you debate an idea, there is no chance of anything being done.

We  have a reasonably clear idea of how this could work at the national level. This requires a proposal and people to then debate on it.  It is little too much for me and not enough time today to do.  A rough idea is that the national naturist organisations discuss this problem with the Police and obtain an agreement to train more of the special volunteer constables but specifically for nudist areas.  These would be volunteers who are against the name of naturism being used by perverts to damage their reputation and wish to see a law abiding naturist place used by everyone who is entitled to be there. This would be another version of the police force in order not to mix them up with the current specials as described here;

http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/specials/volunteering.html

The naturist special police could be managed through the national organisation (current or new), that simply co-ordinates the availability/attendance of the volunteers at trouble spots during most of the time that people use it.  This should not be too difficult if the volunteers are made up from people who would normally be there anyway. A web database application could quite easily manage this activity without too much manual intervention.

Their duty would be similar to the existing special constables, in that they deal with the situation in the first instance, collect evidence, through photography or statements and if arrest is required, they call the local police.

The ‘equipment’ doesn’t need to be any more than a hat, vest, phone and camera.  This could be funded quite easily through membership revenue or donations.

If the police do not take up this idea, the national naturist organisations perhaps could take it up as a ‘self’ policing activity.

I would like to invite your views and try to understand what you are willing to do to remove this nasty image of naturism that is preventing the naturists from being respected as law abiding citizens and gaining better facilities for the future.

Please comment here or email me at Ladygod1va@hotmail.co.uk or you can discuss on twitter @Ladygod1va .  Thank you.

Hello everyone,

Once again, thank you for expressing interest in Edinburgh¹s 2010 World
Naked Bike Ride! It¹s all coming together pretty well with full go-ahead
from all the necessary authorities, so just fingers crossed for the
weather…

There are a few things I must mention to you all of the UTMOST importance,
however, so please take note and we look forward to seeing you all on
Saturday!

LOCATION AND ROUTE: Riders are to assemble on Middle Meadow Walk from
2.15pm. You will see the wnbr group flags and hopefully some brightly
coloured riders somewhere in the middle just off the path. We shall depart
at 3pm and make our way to the top of Holyrood park for a downhill ride,
coming back up (gradually, no big hills I promise!) through the new town and
then the old town, making our way back to Lauriston place and terminating
the ride in the Meadows once again. We do not have permission to hold an
Œevent¹ at the Meadows, we have permission only to disseminate, so I would
ask that upon dismount, riders dress as quickly as possible and then feel
free to picnic in the meadows or head off into town for drinks….there will
as such, however, be no Œpost-ride meeting¹ at the Meadows.

WHAT TO BRING/WEAR: We are aiming to have a few windbreaks set up as screens
for body-painting, but will be packing these up at about 2.45pm (as the ride
starts at 3pm) so anybody unable to come down early I would advise to
prepare at home, so just a simple de-robing is required upon arrival! The
police are going to be very stringent that we stick within the law in terms
of modesty, so PLEASE NOTE that absolutely no genitals must be exposed. Wear
as little as you feel comfortable with, but rather than risk jeopardising
the event for other riders keep to the law¹s requirements. It is important
that we get our green message across, especially in light of the recent oil
spills, and I think that Œone message at a time¹ is the approach here. If
this year¹s ride is successful, we can perhaps push the boundaries some
more! Bring a pannier or small bag to put clothes and a waterbottle in, and
any form of slim cane attachable to a bicycle would be useful as you can
then have one of the fantasic WNBR flags! You are welcome to bring camera
phones or cameras for your own memories of the event, but as always ask
permission of other riders before taking their photo! The police have also
asked me to inform you all that the Law in Scotland not only prohibits the
exposure of genitals in public, but that an offence may also be committed it
a member of the public takes offense. So, please bear this in mind when
choosing what to wear/not wear on the day. You will not face arrest, but you
will be asked to cover up if you are deemed to be inappropriate, so I would
advise riders planning on being especially risque to prepare for this in
terms of what you take with you on the ride (ie. bring a pair of swim trunks
to put on if you get collared about wearing just bodypaint, etc etc)

Hope the above makes sense and doesn¹t put anybody off. This is an important
cause and will be great fun and send a strong message the more participants
involved. Hopefully we can build on the success of this year¹s ride in years
to come and make it into a huge event.

I am posting this to help the interested people understand a little about the ride and why there will be no police presence.

I am actually very excited by the fact that London is grown up enough to host a WNBR without the need for a police presence. I hope it all goes well and everyone has a good day.  The ride starts in Hyde park and ends near Towers of London, going through various parts of London, it is my understanding that the ride will be around 9 miles long and take 2-3 hours.

I have copied the latest email from the ride organisers below because not everyone has access to the WNBR Wiki site or the Yahoo Group.  Hope it helps.

Subject: Re: [wnbr-uk] Re: Stewards for London needed urgently. Please volunteer if you can!

I think that on the day that the World Cup game between the England and the USA, there are more risks of serious disorder in London than in many other cities. I think that this probably played a role. Basically, the London police said it wasn’t an easy decision to reach, but they didn’t have enough budget to attend all public events (as in previous years). As we’ve had a fairly incident free 5 years of cycling on the roads, they felt that we’d be fine on the roads and advised us to dial 999 if an incident arose. There are police all over London, so they’ll be able to reach the ride in no time at all. You are lucky to have police attending the ride, but that has been the custom until this year. The police didn’t attend the London ride in 2005, on the same basis as this year. Prioritising other events for police coverage.

The mood of the WNBR is so positive and optimistic, that I think there is very low risk of incident. In the 6 years that I’ve known the ride, we’ve
had reports of only one attempted assault, and one attempted grope, and a few drunken spectators threw beer on riders in the 2006 ride (which
coincided with a major World Cup game). People should take care not to expose themselves to risk – specifically avoid passing too close to
spectators spilling out of sports pubs. Our stewards will do their best to help ensure safety of riders, but participants should help each other avoid wandering into oncomming traffic, or riding in a risky manner. All bike passengers should be seated and/or secured such that they are not in danger of coming off the bike.

Anyway today, we went to get some stuff and ended up being lured into clothing shops ask any girl it is quite normal.

My partner saw some really attractive designer clothes (I won’t mention the names as it is going to be taken as showing off or getting me into trouble), and a couple of dresses where very attractive, in that they were made with very soft fine cotton like material and quite see through.  I like those kind of clothes because it allow me to go to most clothing places that I like to go to feeling naked and yet remaining within the law.  I know some of my friends have said only girls can do that, men would still be arrested.. true but a girl has to have some advantages.. guys can go topless without too much fuss so some things get evened out one way or another…

These dresses were in a large departmental store but under the designer outlet.  They were quite expensive, over £200 which puts them out of reach of casual shoppers but obviously still within the price bracket for those shopping in the store.

What I want to talk about is that.. when a store stocks items like that, as if they were just off the catwalk and displays with pride and cause temptation, what happens when the customers actually show interest.

This has happened to me many times, but it is only today that I feel the need to write and share this with you. 

I picked up the dresses and took them into the dressing room to try on.  Most stores have the rule that men are not allowed into the female dressing room.  If a female is going to spend a large sum on  a dress, she wants the confirmation from her partner that she looks good in it.  So she has no option but to dress up and come out to parade in front of her partner and of course indirectly, rest of the shoppers..  You see this all the time in the shopping centres.. girls trying on just normal clothes but still being very conscious of coming out of the changing rooms to show their partner/family and gain the necessary thumbs up!!  I have never understood why most girls act so under confident when they do this. It is not as if they are showing anything more than they would be if they purchase the item and wear it shopping the next day!

I always come out without any concern or shame because unless it is underwear, the garment is going to be worn in public so why should I be ashamed of showing it in public?? 

The designer dresses I was trying on were sure enough for parties/going out, but that means being seen in public so I put one on and came out to show.  The dress is lovely, soft, skin coloured, down to the calf and the designed is such a way that underwear would not suit.

Although you could not clearly see my body in total as you would if I was nude, it was clear that I had no underwear and my whole body was clearly visible in the same way as you see the models on the catwalk with these type of dresses. It has a little gathering in the right place to keep onlookers guessing,  the dress looked fantastic.  It made me feel good. But the shop assistant looked at me and I could see the horror in her eyes, thinking please don’t come out of the cubicles.. she didn’t say anything, but looked around for support from other staff members and went over to discuss whilst I showed the dress to my partner.  There were one or two shoppers who looked but then walked on.  But the attention I was getting from the shop assistant was quite off-putting.    They were uncertain as to what they should do or say.. the best thing that happened was that they said nothing… because I know what would have happened and they would not have made the sale..

As it was, I tried the second dress on, which is not see through but so short that some people would call it a bra!  Well by then, the assistants seemed actually relieved, at least my body didn’t appear naked from head to toe!!

I went to pay for the dresses and reaching for my credit card I asked the Till girl, was there any problem with me trying on my dresses as your staff seemed little concerned.. of course she said no no  .. no.. no problem Madam! I guess by that time she was probably thinking that hitting my credit card with the large sum for only 2 dresses was enough punishment for me!

As I said before, this is not the first time and it won’t be the last that I get this type of reaction from people who depend on selling the goods for their employment and yet they seemed little shocked when they see people enjoying their products.  The stores should either improve on staff training or provide better dressing rooms.

It has happened to me even in larger stores and in the case of Harrods, it started with the door man not allowing me into the store one summer’s day when I was wearing a pair of shorts and a short top.  Said it was against the company rules!!  After putting a T-Shirt on and being allowed in, I spend the next 2 hour trying on some very attractive/sexy summer party dresses that made the shoppers stop and look each time I came out of the dressing cubicle!!  So I guess being almost nude in front of staff and shoppers is not against the company rules because the price of each dresses being more than the average monthly staff salary! 

So what have I gained.. I look at it this way.. My wish for people to gain better acceptance of bodies and nudity made some progress today.. if nothing else, the shop assistance were taken beyond their comfort zone and they will now be less shocked if anyone else wants to try on similar dresses.  It might even have changed something in their minds for long term affect.

Same as in this example, IF those with confidence in their beliefs of naturism or IF they support what I explained above, were to behave in similar way, not only when shopping but in general,  I feel it would help to move society in the right direction, where more and more people are exposed to behaviour that is mature and accepting our bodies and some form of nudity as natural.

This may very well be an impossible task, but the little that we all do towards it can only help and I feel that things are changing for the better slowly but surely.

I welcome your comments and share your experiences if you wish.

Please leave a comment below or email me at Ladygod1va@hotmail.co.uk if you wish to assist or be kept informed.

However someone else started a discussion on Skinbook which seems to have taken an odd direction for a naturist site, so I’ve drafted a quick response with the details which as far as I know are correct.  I am sure even with the details given here, it is not enough to fully understand the case, but then again I don’t think everyone has enough time to read and understand everything.. it has taken me a number of days to catch up with all the information obtained in the last few days. So.. this is a health warning for anyone wishing to comment on Steve Gough’s resolve to confront the Scottish legal system .. Please take the time to learn the facts before passing judgement on his attitude or behaviour. I was pointed to a Skingbook discussion by another user which seems to be quite anti Steve, saying that he is doing damage to the naturist cause etc…

I read about Steve in the online papers a few days ago and didn’t know much about it before that. Since then I have been trying to learn what this is all about and have requested help from all my contacts who have been kind enough to explain the situation and point me to the relevant documents, laws etc. My education of this has been helped by people who know Steve and have walked with him as well as some senior members of British Naturism and other naturist organisations in Canada, USA and Australia. I am explaining this because having read on this subject for a number of very late nights and having communicated with knowledgeable people and listened to the Radio 2 broadcast during Jeremy Vine show, I still don’t feel adequately knowledgeable to make comments such as I find on the Skinbook discussion.

Whilst there are plenty of injustices and disasters going on around the world, we end up commenting on what affects us most, so as this subject is something that I have a deep interest in, I can justify the time to comment. I don’t know Steve, never met him and didn’t know who he was until just a few days ago.

As a caring human being, I am quite depressed to learn that a normal person who has not endangered animals or mankind has been locked up since 2006 on a matter of NOT unlawful nudity but a matter of technicality of the Law.  He is, as I have been informed, being locked up on charges of ‘Contempt of Court’, in that he has refused to dress for the court appearance and decided to undress whilst in flight (air) to his court appearance. I ‘suspect’ he keeps getting arrested because the court instructed him to remain dressed until the court hearing.   There is a lot more to this case than this blog can illustrate… So I shall try to keep it short.   It is even more depressing to read some of the comments on Skinbook and some emails to me, this can be made into a massive debate of what is right and wrong about naturism.  However, as I am no expert of the Scottish Law or Naturism, I shall attempt to remain within my limits.   I would suggest that you allow yourself the time to read this and the linked articles. 

This is important because If the naturists are not able to understand the law, how can we expect others to understand the naturist ways of life.  Do people really feel that it is right to keep a man locked up for over 3 years just because he doesn’t feel it right that he should be judged to be wrong before the hearing has taken place?  I say this on the basis that if nudity itself is not a crime (although in Scottish Common Law it is regarded as ’Breach of Peace’ and the Law on indecent exposure is different)  his court appearance is to judge whether he has committed a crime, why should he be ordered to appear before the court dressed where that act in itself could be used against him to argue that in the same way he can see the logic of dressing for the court, he should dress for public places. The Law is different in England because the naturists got involved as far back as 2003 and gained a change in the English Law see… http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article884480.ece

ARE WE HAPPY THAT OUR COURTS CAN DO THIS TO SOMEONE FOR SO LONG?

I can speak from experience as far as the 4th Plinth project is concerned, if you want to know more about why we were not arrested (about 14 people went nude during day and night) see the link below where the English law was challenged and it was made public that being nude in public (anywhere) is not illegal in itself. If someone complains there has to be some reasonable evidence that the complaint is valid. http://www.oneandother.co.uk/blog/2009/08/baring-all.html

The law is little clearer in England/Wales, it is NOT the same in Scotland. In the case of Steve, this law has not even been challenged because he has not had his day in court as far as I understand from what I have read. I am not a Law ‘Professional’ so I will avoid the temptation to provide a ‘Living Room Lawyer ’s ‘ interpretation of the Scottish Law. However the law as applied to Steve’s case is very clearly documented at his appeal papers available at the links below: A summary of the appeal is available at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/sln/blogentry.aspx?blogentryref=6772

The full details are available at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2007HCJAC63.html

I would strongly suggest that all who wish to comment on the legal aspects of this case, read the details at the links above. Having read all that and all the views expressed in email responses to me over the past few days.

It would appear that the stalemate now is that the Court Demands that Steve dresses prior to leaving jail.

My view is that Steve’s case will force a review of the ‘Breach of Peace’ common Law  and maybe the ‘Contempt of Court’, however that is more difficult to deal with.    There are various source of information if you want t learn more about Steve, I can point you to one such site .. http://www.nakedwalk.org/

He is obviously not involving any naturist movement, he says he is NOT a naturist, if any naturists feel associated it is because they share a common interest to be in the nude.   If you have read the details provided through the links above, then, please feel free to comment on rest of this post, otherwise avoid the temptation to feel that you have been personally criticised, which is not my aim.

What right does anyone have to comment on his relationship with his ex-wife or girlfriend? There are more ‘ It’s Complicated ’ relationship on Skinbook/Facebook than anything else!! You have the right to believe whether he is or not damaging the naturist cause, but if your naturist beliefs are not strong enough to argue your own case with whoever you need to argue them with, then I have no suggestions or recommendations other than perhaps that you should avoid questioning other people’s resolve in their beliefs.  Just because you are weak in your beliefs should not result in you criticising someone else’s stubborn attitude or maybe strength in doing what they believe in.

The world is shaped through small wins and at times major achievements. Why not admire the man? Why do the Scots take so much pride in their men wearing kilts without pants and not afraid to ‘expose’ themselves.. What would happen if a proud ‘Jock’ continued to wear a type of kilt that exposed his bits at the slightest gust of wind whilst wandering down Princes Street??  Would they have him taken to court and made to wear a Kilt with heavier yarn???  Or would he be hailed as a hero of Scotland for being a traditionalist?

Is the world history not full of people who stood up to the ‘Law’ and made the change for better. Is this not something that happens each and everyday in the courts all around the world?  Doesn’t every defence attorney aim to challenge the evidence and the Law in support of the accused? Are we as naturist so weak that we cannot stand up for someone who is being bullied into submission by the Scottish Legal Authorities.  If the Scottish Law is so right, then how is it that a Sheriff has the power to lock someone up for the rest of his life without trial?  Is it not about the time that someone in the higher office (not the job of an appeal court as they themselves have stated) took a look at this 0n humanitarian grounds and not to mention a total waste of tax payers’ money! 

In my humble and sentimental opinion.. this is total nonsense and it is about the time that someone higher than the Sheriff took the matter in hand and put a stop to it.  The Scottish Law can perhaps find the time to address this difference of Law where a person on a country walk (in the nude of course) can be quite happily enjoying the freedom and freshness of the ENGLISH air.. and a few minutes later can be arrested for wandering into the SCOTTISH air without being adequately dressed.

I have also learnt that the WNBR are trying to organise a ride in Edinburgh and the Police direction is that anyone ‘Fully’ nude (boobs or lower parts showing) will be arrested! Apparently this is the only city in the world where WNBR participants are subjected to this condition.

There is now a FaceBook Group to support Steve Gough’s Plight:

 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=247410229402#

Naturism & Sex

If you are a naturist, you will probably have seen this video already, however if you haven’t please watch it if you can.  It is funny and educational at the same time.  My thoughts are that Rufus Hound appears to have pale skin that probably hasn’t seen the sun very often, so he may not be a regular outdoor naturist, however he did strip naked on a national TV show in support of naturism.  So the question is.. if he can do it, why can’t more naturists face their family, friends and workplace without embarrassment or guilt..

Nude at York Maze

What is Nudism

Bud Advert

Just for fun..