Nudity is a very simple concept that’s been made wildly complicated by a mess of social historical, and cultural pressures. We emerge into this world wearing nothing but bits of amniotic sac (and a very beautiful baby wig, in the case of Suri Cruise); however, once a human has reached late childhood, the freedom to frolic naked without raising confusion, shock and panic vanishes.
Enter some students from Brown University (side note: one time I visited Brown and I saw a young man dancing around outside of a frat, balancing a dildo on his head, while everyone cheered encouragingly). They’ve decided to establish a Nudity Week, a week-long bacchanal in which they all take to the woods in orgiastic glee to shed their mundane concerns. JUST KIDDING — it’s a very thoughtful series of performances and panels meant to facilitate “an open and honest discussion about power, privilege, race, class, gender, ability, and other isms how they intersect with nudity, body image, nudity in relation to (de)sexuality, etc.” (which is the liberal arts student’s equivalent of a gleeful forest-orgy).