Modesty Taiwan

Taiwan model agency Elite was asked to supply a picture for the promotion of a new local Yahoo-related online TV show featuring its models. So what it did was gather around 11 of its models - some of them household names in Taiwan through coverage in the entertainment press - and drape them in textiles. The models were technically nude, even though not a nipple was shown.

Yet, even that was too much for the online broadcaster, who refused the use the original picture. Elite let it know it was annoyed because the whole shoot took up five hours and had been difficult to arrange in the first place. The models themselves also expressed disappointment, the Taiwanese press said. As a result, Elite recalled all the models and had them do a shoot wearing white blouses and black skirts or pants. We'll spare you that picture, but instead we'll show you the original from Elite.

Even though Taiwan does have its naturists, they're still a long way from becoming mainstream.

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.