Everybody Can Be Botticelli's Venus

Photo from Emily Ratajkowski's Instagram account @emrata

I've said it many times before on this blog, especially around the time I announce my Celebrity Naturist of the Year. Just because a famous person likes posing nude or issuing nude pictures to the world, does not mean they are naturists.

For most celebrities, we just don't know whether their preference for nudity only exists in front of the camera or extends into their daily lives. As celebrities, they are unlikely to appear at nude beaches with Jack and Jill Naturist, but will prefer a more private environment, at a villa or on a yacht near an isolated beach.

Emily Ratajkowski is a case in point. She became famous for wandering topless in the Blurred Lines pop video, condemned by many  as an example of pure sexism. Since then, she has been frequently posting topless or 'near-naked' pictures of herself on her Instagram, ensuring they get picked up by the world media.

Is she a true naturist? Difficult to tell. Eva Mendes, Heidi Klum and Rosario Dawson - to name but a few of my past Celebrity Naturists of the Year - are known to hang around naked in their homes or on the beach. If you look at the past Instagram offerings by @emrata, you must come to the conclusion, that at least when she's at home or at a villa with pool, Emily Ratajkowski enjoys it too.

Of course, there is the issue of looks and fame. The all-too-frequent reaction to nudity is that it's allright if the person in case is good to look at, but if they somehow don't conform to general ideals of beauty, they should remain dressed.

This is where naturism comes in. At a naturist resort, on a nude beach, it doesn't matter whether you look like Emily Ratajkowski or not. Everyone is free to enjoy the sunshine and the water on his or her skin, and doesn't have to worry about what other people will think. Not only social class distinctions disappear with the clothes, but notions of beauty as well.

In the naturist world, everybody can become Botticelli's Venus, just like Emily Ratajkowski.

Maybe that's an idea for a new photo album, people of varying body types posing for The Birth of Venus. Anyway, whether she's a naturist or not, I personally feel Emily Ratajkowski - and other nude-friendly celebrities like her - are promoting the idea that nudity is OK, nudity is relaxation and nature.

More about Emily Ratajkowski's Botticelli pictures: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5266209/Emily-Ratajkowkski-evokes-Birth-Venus-nude-photo.html

Kim Kardashian also went 'one step further' with her most recent nude post, according to the media: http://www.tmz.com/2018/04/24/kim-kardashian-almost-shows-off-vagina-nude-photo/



Kim Kardashian or Not

Each December, I go looking for a Celebrity Naturist of the Year who did something during the past year which might benefit the cause of naturism, i.e. non-sexual social nudity, without necessarily being a naturist himself. Over the past few year, the Free the Nipple movement has, without advocating true naturism, played a major part in normalizing the female breast, whether it be breastfeeding a child or sunbathing in the park.
Most of my past Celebrity Naturists of the Year have been famous women, actresses, stars, entertainers, because they often serve as role models, as examples to be followed. My reasoning is: if they think non-sexual nudity is allright, then maybe naturism will also get a bigger chance of being heard.
There are some stars though whose link with nudity is too sexual and whom I therefore am highly unlikely to name or even consider as Celebrity Naturist of the Year: the obvious example is Miley Cyrus, who seems to see nudity purely as provocation. Lady Gaga and Madonna also still go too far in the direction of the erotic and sexual to be considered.
However, one person recently crossed the line for me - in a positive way.
I have never been a fan of Kim Kardashian or of any other member of the Kardashian - Jenner clan. Basically, I don't understand why they're famous. They're extremely good at promoting themselves, but they're not actors, they're not singers, they're - well - entertainers I suppose. I do not like persons who only think about themselves, about promoting themselves, about making money only. The latest addition to the clan - Kim Kardashian husband Kanye West - might be a talented singer and musician, but his antics with Taylor Swift show he has a huge ego.
Still, Kim Kardashian crossed the line into 'consideration for Celebrity Naturist of the Year' for me thanks to her recent nude selfie, the most recent of many similar selfies.
Other stars such as Bette Midler and Chloe Grace Moretz inadvertently helped by condemning her. Even though she might have only posted the pic to promote herself, Kim Kardashian helped show that it's allright to be naked, to live naked. She is not and might never be a naturist, but she helped the cause of nudity and won support for it. Sharon Osbourne and Emily Ratajkowski promptly imitated her to praise her action.
Commentators talked about the third wave and the fourth wave of feminism, with the latter including a group of younger women who feel it is not sexual exploitation or pornography to be naked. They see the right to be naked or at least topless as a field where equality with men has still not been achieved. Breastfeeding in public is still being contested, topless sunbathing and swimming is still not allowed in many parts of the world, including the supposedly liberal United States.
Whatever Kim Kardashian's motives, breaking the Internet or promoting herself, she did break my barrier keeping her from being considered as a Celebrity Naturist of the Year. Whatever you think of her, she did at least one favor for the cause of naturism.
But remember: all bodies are equal, not just the beautiful ones. Naturism is not only about non-sexual social nudity, it also brings the message that everybody can be naked if he or she respects the other.

Paper and Oil

Paper and oil broke the Internet.
That was the intention anyway. Until last week, most of the world, including myself, had probably never heard of Paper. The magazine, anyway. No idea what kind of content it offered, and still do only vaguely.
Everything changed however when Kim Kardashian had a picture of her naked behind, all oily, go on its cover and around the world. Paper might not have been famous, but Kim Kardashian certainly is. Celebrities used to be singers or actors, people who had become famous because they had a certain talent that helped them sell records and movies. Kim K. does have TV shows, though I never saw any of them, not just because I don't live in the US, but because it's probably not the kind of show I would want to watch.
Anyway, Kim is world famous for being a celebrity, for having married hiphop star Kanye West, and now for having posed naked for Paper, the magazine.
After the picture where the champagne lands in a glass put on her behind, and after the picture with the full behind as it were bursting out of her dress, she also did a nude picture full-frontal.
And it's that addition which landed her on this blog. Many stars, models, entertainers, singers have posed in various stages of nudity, but most have preferred to put their hands or other objects in the way of their strategic places, the 'three points' as the Chinese call them.
Kim Kardashian did not. For that, she deserves our praise. I am not so naive as to believe that Kim K. is interested in promoting the naturist lifestyle, she's not, she's mostly interested in promoting herself, the brand Kim Kardashian. But putting up the courage to have herself pictured fully/frontally naked in a magazine, that's what I call a positive step. It doesn't need to push other celebrities to do the same, but it can persuade more women to value their body and to accept all body types.
As to the pictures themselves, I would have preferred something more natural. A walk along the beach, sitting by the swimming pool. The pictures in Paper are too obviously posed, and she has more oil dripping off her than a naturist would put suntan lotion on the beach.
Sorry, Kim. But for posing naked at all, thank you, Kim.
I shall be picking my Celebrity Naturist of the Year 2014 at the end of December. Let's see if Kim Kardashian will be one of the contenders.