Terrific! I’ve discovered a new (to me) shop called Damage, which rather happily features many nude models (bots) showing off shapes to full effect.

Too often shops (and bloggers) are overly coy when demonstrating skins and/or shapes, resorting to ridiculous pasties instead of nipples, emasculated males instead of penises.

Therefore it was rather lovely to discover ‘Damage’ and check out a wide range of fully nude shape models, as well as some sexy, affordable wear, some of which would easily fit into the ‘naturist accessories’ category.

Affordably priced wet T shirt at ‘Damage’

Peephole bra at ‘Damage’

One of the (many) nude model shapes to be seen at ‘Damage’

As time progresses we see some shops be more ‘at ease’ with nudity in store, or occasionally in blogs. I hope it’s a trend that continues.

Pookes

Previously, we linked to Sarah Aubel’s website which featured a series of portraits of French naturists, their ages, professions and how long they’ve been naturists.

Sarah Aubel has updated this portfolio, so click the link.

We did a sort of ‘homage’ to Sarah in this post, and as she has updated her ‘Children of Eden’ series, I thought it would be nice if we updated ours! 🙂

Just one photo, more to follow if people like the concept.

Ella

Religion has been occupying my thoughts this last week, specifically the things that are wrong with it, and why -because of that- I’m not a church-goer or, indeed, believer.

Seven couples have nude weddings in the Hedonism resort in Jamaica in 2003

We had the murder, a week ago, of an off-duty soldier in Woolwich, London by ‘Islamist fantatics’ (whatever they’re meant to be, and the statement by one, to camera, in the wake of the pointless slaughter, merely reinforced the theory that not even they -the perpetrators- were sure about their function) and the stabbing of another soldier, again by ‘an Islamist fantatic’, in La Defense, Paris.

I’ve addressed the issue of these idiotic actions in another post (yet to be published to the blog), so I won’t repeat myself here.

And today France has celebrated its first gay marriage. Well, ‘celebrated’ is not quite the emotion being expressed across the country, with 150,000(!!!!!) marching last Sunday to decry the legislation that made it possible, and extra police drafted in for the ceremony, in case it attracted ‘the far right’ (according to the BBC report, via the link).

What the hell has the legal union of two people in love got to do with anyone else???? What impact would a ceremony between a gay couple have on their lives which self-evidently lack something if it attracts a crowd of 150,000?

France: historically the nation of ‘the mistress’, stretching back to the court at Versailles and probably much earlier (as well as in the corridors of English power). Where was the sanctity of marriage vows in a heterosexual relationship? Did 150,000 take to the streets to protest at the disclosure of a heterosexual figure involved in an affair? Did the (Catholic) church throw its weight behind protests against illicit affairs? Living ‘in sin’? Divorce?

Of course not.

All of these are, presumably, ‘crimes’ against the sanctity of marriage. Yet, historically, there has never been the same outcry. The tolerance levels of people aren’t, apparently, tested quite so much by the visibility of, whisper it quietly, homosexuals.

Naturists are an extremely tolerant group of people, amongst the least judgemental I’ve ever met. Last year I was privileged to be a guest at a lesbian wedding on a beach in Spain. The two women, both of whom I regard as friends, are in love, make a lovely couple, are faithful to each other, committed and caring. All of the attributes we’d ideally like to see in heterosexual relationships, in fact. And yet some nations seem to think it’s their right to interfere in the union of two people in love (my own country included, hence the marriage of two ex-pat British women in Spain). Often, basic human rights are held back because of a powerful religious lobby in what we’re told is an increasingly secular world.

Second Life is also an extremely tolerant society, and same-sex partnerships have been commonplace in the five years I’ve been involved in the metaverse. We are an extremely non-judgemental set of people, those of us who’ve been involved for some time.

OK…we mocked this up. Dagmar and Don aren’t really an SL couple, but we thought it would be a nice idea to present photos of a nude ‘wedding’ in SL. I’m sure there are couples who’ve done this for real inworld. If there are, and if you’ve got photos, please, send them to us and share your memories of your nudist wedding with us. While there are those will be horrified at the idea, either in SL or RL, remember that Pope John Paul II said that nakedness need not equate with immodesty.

Why mix-up real life society’s attitudes to homosexuality, to nudity, etc, with the edicts passed by governments and religious ‘leaders’? Because it’s the theme to SLN9, exploring the core values of RL naturism, and the fact that it’s a more moralistic, enlightened, liberal, family-orientated and positive outlook on life than pretty much all of the world’s religions and most of its governments. We’ll be examining the history, the values, and the future of RL naturism, how it’s perceived by the media, and how all of this reflects on our SL naturist values.

Ella

‘I know she said there’d be a slow-down of posts in advance of SLN9…’.

Yes, but that’s not the reason why there’s been no posts recently.

I have the builders working next door. In the past three weeks they’ve a) destroyed the hedge between us and the property they’re working on, b) wrecked part of our carport and c) worst of all, dug through the pavement and destroyed the entire road’s internet and satellite television connection (at least those homes beyond us).

Cue irate householders, including an incandescent Ella. Not only has this affected my social interneting, it has (possibly more importantly) affected my work! Today, finally, I’ve got the internet back, with the worrying prospect of the repaired footpath outside that carries the cable now being marked with fluorescent paint that suggests water piping is next. I bet you that the idiot builders manage to sever both that and the recently repaired cable ducting next week, or the week after, or in a month’s time!. Grrrrr!!!!!

Thanks goodness we’re off to Spain in just a few short weeks (with the worrying prospect that, on our return, we find our entire house demolished 😦 )

Anyway, it’s now a game of ‘catch up’ to get all of the SLN9 articles finished, assembled into some sort of order, and also get whizzing around the sims in order to see what decelopments there may have been in the past fortnight and update accordingly. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get all of this done in time for our anticipated publication date, but I’ll try my best.

Given that there’s so much to do, I’ve (lazily) just added a couple of ‘stock’ photos to this post, from a session Harry did at Turtle Coast. That’s him in the photos, hamming it up for the camera beside a tiki style boat, with some nice poses, in Turtle’s lagoon.

Ella.

Wherever you are in the world, I’m sure news that Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy has made your radio, television and print news today.

I have to say that I’m delighted, not because I wish any negative thoughts on Angelina Jolie, but because she has bravely, in an industry that demands a certain standard of ‘beauty’ and also demands that she removes her clothes ‘for the sake of reality’ (and we won’t comment on why her cinematic paramour keeps his boxer shorts on in the love scenes).

While searching and researching for this post I found a huge number of ‘nude’, many probably faked, Angelina Jolie photos, which goes to demonstrate just how mankind values her breasts. To a degree, she is practically defined by them, rather than her acting abilities.

The reason why I’m delighted that she has come out and told the world about this is because it raises the profile of this cancer, and goes some way (for at least a period of time) in getting women to get checks, investigate if they may have a faulty gene that causes the cancer and may, just may, save lives. Ms.Jolie also speaks of her decision in a NY Times article you can find here.

For that, I applaud Ms. Jolie. I wish her a speedy recovery from surgery and a return to full health.

On the back of the initial report, the BBC has sought the opinion of ‘ordinary’ women (with the caveat that none of us, female or male, are ever ‘ordinary’) who have undergone the same procedure. That report is here.

I would urge all women who may be in that risk zone to read all of those (and more) reports.

Here in SL, we’re pretty good at a rolling support for breast cancer (pink ribbon) charities, with events from time to time that also raises the profile of the cancer.

Those who’ve read this blog for a while will know I previously wrote for another blog, one on which a contributor went through the process of discovering she had breast cancer and undergoing a (single) mastectomy. Thanks to early detection, she recovered fully, but opted not to undergo any further reconstructive surgery and live with a prosthesis (a false breast in her clothing). Having heard and read Ms. Jolie’s story, I emailed that avatar who is no longer particularly active in SL, to ask for her input on the day’s news. This afternoon, I was delighted to receive an email back from her, with permission to reprint it in full.

‘As women, we’re very often defined by our breasts. Or so the media would have us believe. They epitomise our femininity, our sexuality. It’s a traumatic experience to not only hear you’ve got cancer, and the prospect of surgery and possibly chemo and radio therapy, but there’s the feeling you are losing your attractiveness. If you have a loving partner, their support is vital. You won’t cease to be attractive, you won’t cease to be a sexual being. There’s now excellent reconstructive surgery, but I opted not to go through this. I don’t expect to ever go through this, and instead will wear a prosthetic breast for the remainder of my life. I’m in a settled relationship, where it doesn’t really matter much, but I can see younger women being afraid no one would ever find them attractive. You have the choice for reconstruction. Remember that if you’re ever diagnosed. 

“After my surgery, I was still active in Second Life, and made a decision in that context to live it as real as I could. I tried to source a mastectomy skin, without success, and tried to adopt a male shape, without breast tissue, also without success. At the same time, being given a second chance in life, I gave up the better-paid job I was doing and went to work for a cancer charity so that I could, from experience, speak of it and maybe inform others of choices and their prospects. I reached the point where that work overtook everything else and while I enjoyed Second Life I gradually withdrew from it simply through lack of time, although my account is still active I think. Today, I’ve been inundated by meals and messages, and I’m looking at working long into the night and over the course of coming days because there will be a ‘Jolie effect’ on the back of this. Her announcement will save lives, and if she never does anything else with her life in terms of movies, she has made a very, very positive declaration today and in time may well be much more remembered for that as for her acting career.

“I hope that you can raise some further awareness through your blog, and I hope that Second Life continues to be supportive of whatever pink ribbon campaigns bloggers and avatars choose to highlight and support. I think I probably speak for everyone working in breast cancer awareness and support around the globe in saying that continued support, even in a niche game like Second Life, is greatly appreciated. Keep on supporting us, Second Life people, and one day soon we’ll be able to effectively, if not ‘cure’ the cancer and the causes of it, then at least ensure women are effectively screened around the globe to ensure it’s always survivable. That’s what I strive for.

“PS. Let me know if you come across a feminine looking SL male skin that could effectively be adopted as a ‘post mastectomy’ avatar. I might be tempted to come back into the game regularly if there’s one I could wear and get the chance to talk about my work in the context of the game’

There you have it, SL skin designers. A challenge!

SLN would be in full support of the existence of a post single or double mastectomy skin, and willing to promote that to the max if anyone can point us in the right direction.

While not ‘naturist’ in its (initial) scope, this article is intended to show that those of us who are female in SL are still defined to a degree by our breasts (the current fad for breast enhancements demonstrate this). If our, and our male counterparts in SL, focus of attention is on breasts, it seems correct to highlight another perspective of them and underscore the fact that those of us nude in SL, be it on a beach of in the privacy of a SL bedroom, are much more than the size of our boobs!

Ella

I was asked recently if I would consider making a Facebook page for SLN. The answer is ‘no’.

I know many SL bloggers link to social media, but it’s not something I’ll be doing for ‘SLN’, and not something I do on a personal level either, as I simply can’t stand Facebook. I resent the advertising, I resent the ‘user as commodity’ element of it, I resent meaningless messages from people I barely know about being on buses, or the state of their cold. I really don’t care and I manage well enough without it, thanks. SLN will manage without it, too.

As you’ve maybe noticed, there’s been fewer posts in the past week, and that’s likely to continue up until we publish SLN9, in about 4 weeks time. ALL of my SL/blogging time is, as usual, going into that.

Reader Kym was in touch recently, having read our ‘Naked Kayaking’ post, and suggested we (re)visit ‘Naked Dreams’. I’ve IM’ed Pookes, who did the initial kayaking post, and asked her to follow that up as a standalone post, so that may turn up in a few days. Other than that, I don’t anticipate too many posts over the next couple of weeks (although, as usual, it only takes one thing to happen, one new sim to open or close, and our plans substantially alter) as we pour our energies into SLN9.

Ella

Sentencing two men -friends- who had gone on a ten hour drunken binge, resulting in a fight in which a total stranger was seriously injured, an English judge was moved to say that, in his day, they’d drink, climb telegraph poles, and maybe go skinny dipping somewhere. There was no violence.

You can read the report, from Britain’s Daily Telegraph, here.

It says a little about British society (and before anyone thinks I’m being critical of Britons, please remember this blog originates in the UK and I’m a Briton too, so feel comfortably qualified to comment on the matter) that our ‘socialising’ is often measured in binge drinking, kebabs at 300am, and a fight which the protagonists can’t remember.

The comments have had an interesting by-product, in that they’ve raised the profile on skinny-dipping (and by extension, naturism) into the public consciousness in the UK in the past couple of days, with skinny dipping, rather than binge drinking, becoming part of the national debate, in print and on electronic media. Sad, too, I think, that the effects of binge drinking are now so commonplace that they’re immediately ‘invisible’ into the often sad state of British society, and it’s other comments that we pick up on. It’s also sad, in a way, that skinny dipping is still seen as something ‘odd’ and ‘weird’ in British society. I can’t imagine the same debate even being part of a German media agenda, for example.

Part of the subsequent debate then focused on The Secret Swimming Club, an ad hoc ‘flash (!) mob’ collective, who organise dips in open and often publicly accessible water. You can see a video here, check out their website here, or check them out on social media, Facebook and Twitter. Another organisation, who aren’t (as far as I know) ‘skinny dipping’ orientated, is Wild Swimming, but who do also organise swimming in bodies of open water. Is this just a uniquely British thing, or do other nations have their own equivalents? Let me know.

It’s sometimes fun to go ‘skinny dipping’ in SL, for precisely the same reasons it’s fun to go skinny dipping in RL. A frisson of excitement, danger and the possibility of getting caught.

Dropping, naked, into a non-naturist sim, using certain search terms like ‘river’, offers this feeling of danger and excitement. Have you ever done this? Would you consider doing this? Have you taken photos and would you care to share?

Ella

We have a lot of traffic from Korea (the southern part, anyway, the north spends more time practicing its ‘combat postures’ 😦 …and doesn’t that link show a scary, scary newsreader!)

That led me to consider what, exactly, is the state of naturism in Korea. The answer is there is ‘none’.

What I discovered is that there was a kind of nature park, called Vivi Ecopia, in Jangheung, where those who are so inclined, while segregated by sex, can wander nude through a forest, with an emphasis on well-being, and the place very much linked to a health angle.

That’s very true, of course. There are enormous health (both physical and mental) benefits to going nude where possible.

Whether Vivi Ecopia may actually be regarded as ‘naturist’ in the manner we would understand it is something else. But pointing out the health benefits of naturism (often tied into walking, swimming, etc, as well as healthy eating) is a beginning.

I guess the closest we have to a naturist forest in SL is Lupe’s Magical Forest, and it has a similar sort of effect, in that one can feel better about wandering through nature not doing much of anything if one decides.

Hmm…the page we used to make inworld hyperlinks has changed and I’m not sure how to add a url to Lupe’s now. Typing it into SL’s new page doesn’t even bring it up! That’s how terrific it is! I guess I, and the others, will need to experiment with this to get proper links to locations. In the meantime, I’m afraid you’re going to have to search in world, and tp yourself to Lupes

Barbara

Away back in May last year we reported from the Mykonos sim (read the article here)

The photograph (above) should also give you a sense of how true to life the architecture (and colours!) were on the sim.

I went back to it today to find it gone. Typical of the pace at which SL changes. More ‘naturist friendly’ than strictly naturist, it was one of those places that was a little beyond the usual beach places in SL in that it did replicate somewhere real, but with a whole different architectural feel and vibe.

The reason why I went back is that I found a couple of photos online from a photo shoot by the legendary naturist photographer Leif Heilberg.

And they immediately sent me scurrying to the now gone Mykonos sim to show you just how accurately the build compared to real life, and how our photos from a year ago also accurately reflected Heilberg’s classic naturist work.

I’ve no problem in showing RL naturist photos in this instance, on the basis that these are exceptionally well known and classic naturist images by one of the titans of naturist travelogues.

A shame that such a beautiful build, and the architectural diversity it offered, is now lost to us.

Ella.

Margaret (Małgorzata Jamroży) is a Polish pop singer who, in February 2013, released a single called ‘Thank You Very Much'(sung in English) . I couldn’t find a wiki entry, but she’s on Facebook, for those of you who have that. (I don’t).

It’s hardly a song for my demographic, but I was intrigued by the video, in which this clothed teenager is ‘going through a fad’ of clothes wearing, to the embarrassment of her naturist parents and their extended family. In the video she is surrounded by a number of (pixellated) naturists. You can see the video on youtube here.

It’s also an amusing, and very accurate, depiction of teenagers within naturist families. Often crippled by self-doubt and lacking body confidence, and despite having maybe been raised naturist, they hit the teenage years and cover up.

There’s a little ‘twist’ at the end of the video, but I won’t spoil it for you in case you want to see it first. 🙂

Warning: Plot spoiler is revealed further down the page. If you don’t want to learn the ending, go watch the video first!

Margaret goes to her boyfriend’s house, and he is wearing a pair of ‘backless’ jeans. He, too, seems to be making an early attempt at embracing naturism! 🙂

It’s all so true!

While totally unrelated to SL, I thought you’d enjoy how naturism is becoming more ‘mainstream’, and can now (even pixellated) be the core element of modern pop video. While Margaret’s audience might acknowledge the existence of ’embarrassing parents’, naturist or not, I’m delighted to see that naturism is now mainstream-pop/video.

Unfortunately, due to those who, reprehensibly, indulged in ‘age play’ within SL, it’s not really a scene we can expect to see replicated on the grid, something that skews the vision of SL naturism somewhat slightly, in that there are no babies/children/teenagers around. I’m certainly not advocating a return to age-play, no way, but sometimes I think it would be nice to more accurately reflect RL naturism with the possibility of ‘attachment’ children (in swimwear, if necessary). As a naturist mother, I think the opportunity to have ‘attachments’ (not separate avatars) that would reflect my RL situation at a naturist beach or resort would present a more rounded picture of RL naturism. That said, I’m sure a time will come when my own children are wholly embarrassed by their naked parents!

Of course, I do see the difficulties in such an approach, but it might be nice if we could work a way around people who odiously indulge in age-play and continue to marginalise them while presenting a more accurate reflection of RL on the grid.

Ella.