Nude Against Breast Cancer

So Taiwanese model Patina Lin didn't appear nude at the opening of the Taipei Deaflympics last Saturday after all. It was all a stunt to attract more attention. She had been nude and body-painted on the poster, but not at the actual event, where she hung from wires for 10 minutes wearing lots of feathers.

However, a bunch of other models from the Elite modeling house did the real thing. They went naked in a campaign against breast cancer. I still don't understand how the nude pictures fit in with the charity campaign, and how it will profit financially from their action. Also, the main event is the six ladies appearing in nude pictures for the Taiwanese edition of FHM, a "men's magazine" that I can only label as one-sided, i.e. giving male viewers who are not used too much a taste of titillation at pictures of scantily dressed beautiful women.

In other words, not a naturist magazine, since to us naturists, all nudity is equal. Male or female, young or old, beautiful or less beautiful. Naturism is not about showing off beautiful body parts, it's about feeling right inside the body you have. Anyway, if the photo shoot really does benefit the campaign against breast cancer, I have no problems with it. If the models going nude raises understanding that nudity is not inherently wrong, then good for them. If it's just a stunt to sell more magazines, it'll probably work, but it might leave a bad aftertaste.

The six models explain everything in Chinese at the www.fhm.com.tw web site. While they may not be as famous, even in Asia, as Patina Lin, they include two sisters - on the right - as well as talent contest winners Lin You-li (third from left) and Wu Li-ya (second from left). Models in Taiwan are like singers and actors, stars who regularly appear in the entertainment pages of the newspapers and in massive advertisements on the sides of buses and apartment buildings.