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.

The Heatwave of 2013

A French weather forecaster made headlines about a month ago by predicting the summer of 2013 would be one of the worst on record, at least for France and the surrounding countries. July is almost over and what do we have: heatwaves in Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius for some considerable time, interspersed only with a few violent thunderstorms with hail, 39 degrees C in Italy and Austria, and similar high temperatures in the Northeastern United States and the Kanto region of Japan, i.e. the capital Tokyo. However, the weather forecaster hasn't give up yet. He says August is yet to come.
He may be right, but the high temperatures have been good for naturism. Reports from the UK suggest that more than ever, higher temperatures and sunny skies mean people want to find out how and where they can wear fewer or no clothes. Not all people can spend time on the beach or in the water swimming, so it's only normal that people want to move beyond to a fully unclothed lifestyle. Naturism is not just about hanging around the beach naked, it's also about being naked in any possible circumstance anywhere and anytime.
The heatwave has also benefiting a new attempt to get naturism into the record books by staging a mass skinny-dip. At Vera Playa in Almeria Province, Andalusia, Spain, a total of 729 people went naked into the sea together, breaking a Guinness World Record previously set in New Zealand. Of course, Vera Playa is a perfect place to try that kind of event, because you don't have to go far to look for naturists, many of them already live there, even outside of the holiday season. If I were to search for a place where I could live as a naturist as close to 24/7 as possible, Vera Playa would be it. I've always been a fan of the Mediterranean, and now that I live in a hot country that has no naturist culture whatsoever, I am dreaming of moving to some place like that. You can find more about Vera Playa at www.veraplayafriends.com.
Nudity has always appealed to celebrities, though some of it are really into it because it makes them feel good, others because it provides them with acres of news coverage. I'm not qualified to say in which category Lady Gaga falls, but we all know she's not afraid of outlandish acts. She must have run out of ideas, because instead of wearing steaks, she is now wearing absolutely nothing on the cover of V Magazine www.vmagazine.com. The feat probably won't get her a Celebrity Naturist of the Year Award from me, because I am not convinced her deeds promote the naturist lifestyle.
Heidi Klum, German supermodel and presenter of Project Runway, might not be a true naturist either, but at least she promotes a lifestyle with fewer clothes. Tweeting holiday pics from Tahiti recently, she said she had always been sunning and swimming topless - just like thousands of other German and European women - so the latest pictures were not meant to shock or create a media stir. Her mother was the one responsible for taking the pictures, she said, so there. You can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@heidiklum.
There is no European holiday in my near future, so I'm going to have to stick to read about how other people are enjoying the lifestyle around the world. Just follow me at www.twitter.com/@thenudeguru, where I usually tweet about naturism-related items I find in the world's press, mostly in the US, UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Taiwan.
My personal naturist experiences this summer look like remaining limited to sleeping naked and home naturism behind curtains.
Have a Great Naturist Summer of 2013.