Nudity in the News

Annie's Mailbox: Hot-tubbing at home not public nudity [1]

By Kathy Mitchell & Marcy Sugar
For The Norwich Bulletin

Posted May 18, 2009 @ 11:04 PM


DEAR ANNIE: I am 23 years old and a virgin. I have never seen a naked man in my life because I believe virginity should be kept until marriage. The other day, I went with my sister to watch my nephew’s baseball game. He plays on a field that is uphill, so you can see the backyards of some of the houses across the street. My nephew had heard from his friends that one of the men in those yards sits naked in his hot tub. I always assumed this wasn’t true.

When I got to the game, I instantly remembered those rumors. I didn’t intend to be a Peeping Tom, but I looked around and saw a man in a hot tub. I assumed this was the guy, so I kept watching. Five minutes later, he got out of the hot tub and really was naked. I instantly got a headache and my eyes burned. I want to do something to prevent children from seeing him. I know he was in his own backyard, but you could see him clearly from the field. Would that count as public nudity? Do you think I should report him?

SCARRED FOR LIFE

DEAR SCARRED: We’re sure glad you didn’t go blind. For someone claiming not to be a Peeping Tom, you certainly expended a lot of energy trying to catch a glimpse of this naked man. If he is hot-tubbing on his own property and taking appropriate precautions to be discreet, it is not public nudity. Unless, of course, he does the hot-tub routine only during games, in which case there is some exhibitionism going on. If you think this is traumatizing the Little Leaguers, you can mention it to one of the parents.

[1] Mitchell, Kathy & Sugar, Marcy. Annie’s Mailbox: Hot-tubbing at home not public nudity. The Norwich Bulletin, May 18, 2009 (accessed May 20, 2009). http://www.norwichbulletin.com/lifestyles/x342404240/Annies-Mailbox-Hot-tubbing-at-home-not-public-nudity

The re-printed article above is the latest example of nudist related news I came across from crawling non-nudist news sites. The original writer to this “Dear Abby” type column goes far beyond being ridiculous and yet I found the article another sterling example of the equally ridiculous perspectives of non-nudists when it comes to the nude human body.

First, since she thought it necessary to inform everyone that she was “a virgin” who “[had] never seen a naked man…because [she] believes virginity should be kept until marriage” it is evident that this person clearly associates nudity with sex, a most common misconception among Textiles. Second, she goes out of her way to become a common voyeur and spy on a man who within the privacy of his own backyard, enjoys a refreshing dip in his hot tub sans clothing and then has the unmitigated gall to complain that she was so offended that she signed herself “Scarred for Life.” She attempts to justify her “Peeping Tom” behavior by rationalizing that she was only concerned about the welfare of children who might be exposed to seeing a naked man which was nothing short of hypocritical. I did enjoy the dramatic flair she exhibited by stating that after she observed the naked man whose privacy she was brazenly violating, “I instantly got a headache and my eyes burned.” There is no way of knowing of course whether the man involved was an actual nudist or just one of likely millions of Americans who finds hot tubbing most meaningful when enjoyed in the nude. My girlfriend, who does not at all have an attraction for naturism per se, does enjoy both nude hot-tubbing and skinny-dipping on occasion when we have the opportunity. But the article does bring to light many issues related to nudity.

First, why should nudists and others who like to be nude on their own property, in the privacy of their own backyard and who have taken the reasonable precaution to avoid offending the prudish community by erecting a reasonable privacy fence, have to fear repercussions resulting from complaints by the likes of Miss Virginal Prude? I think this lady needs grow up, don her big girl panties and accept the fact that every male on the planet has a penis and every female has a vagina and breasts and both have butts, and then she needs to get over it. The simple fact that she happened to be occupying an elevated site that permitted her to be able to violate someone’s privacy by looking over their fence into their backyard does not all serve to condone the fact that she took advantage of the circumstances to do so and then became “offended.” After a span roughly 5,000 years of recorded human civilization, it is mind boggling to me that the majority of humans are so plagued by an unhealthy view of their own nudity and that of others. Doesn’t it make you wonder how we ever progressed as far as we have? In some respects I find myself wondering whether as a society we are becoming more civilized or less so.

I did for the most part find myself in agreement with “Annie’s” reply. She not only flatly informed the writer that what she described was not public nudity but also called her out on the fact that she was the person in the wrong by engaging in voyeuristic behavior and then crying foul! I also enjoyed the little jab, “We’re sure glad you didn’t go blind.” The only disagreement I found with the article was the final “Unless, of course, he does the hot-tub routine only during games, in which case there is some exhibitionism going on. If you think this is traumatizing the Little Leaguers, you can mention it to one of the parents.” While I agree if someone was exposing their nakedness for exhibitionist purposes, they cross that invisible line between mere nudity and lewdness but of course someone like the writer who has already revealed their agenda would of course skip over the “if” and go directly to the “then" "mention it to the parents” part.

Personally, I think erecting a privacy fence around one’s backyard is all the reasonable precaution a person should be expected to take with regard to taking appropriate action to preclude offending someone who finds nudity offensive. Once they have done that, if others choose to build an elevated baseball field or a two story home for that matter that provides people the facility for peering over a privacy fence and observing what is going on in someone else’s backyard, then they cannot then claim to be offended if they happen to observe someone sunbathing or hot-tubbing in the nude. This madness has to stop!