I’m not for gratuitous nudity, but if there’s humor, I don’t have a problem
- Rebecca Romijn Stamos
A naked woman is less dangerous than one who spreads her skirt skillfully to cover and exhibit everything at once.
- Honore de Balzac
It seems that when a woman or a group of women become famous, inevitably the talk turns to when and how they’re going to take their clothes off. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a naked women as much as the next knuckledragging horndog guy, but it strikes me as odd that, in a world where women want to be treated as equals, so many seem so willing to get naked in front of a camera. Some women’s sports organizations (Germany and Australia, f’rinstance) use nudity as a fundraising device. Some do it to draw attention to their sport or their cause. Some do it because…well, because they can and there’s a market for that sort of thing (and there will be as long as men continue to walk the Earth). Guys are always willing to pay for naked pictures of attractive, athletic women. Go figure…. ;-)
In thinking about this, I’ve realized that it’s probably just as well that the largest market for nudity is limited to attractive women. After all, I really can’t imagine that anyone’s going to want to see this middle-age writer sans culottes…no matter how much I might have going for me. That being said, I think it’s safe to promise that when my book is published I won’t be taking my clothes off in front of a camera- for ESPN, Popular Mechanics, Dog Fancy, or anyone else…and I’m fairly certain the world will be a better place for it.
