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.

Naturism in China: So Predictable

China is going to open up a naturist resort, I read about a week ago. Excellent news and a major breakthrough for naturism in such a huge country. But it's also a Communist and a conservative country, so what happened afterward was no surprise.
The naturist resort never opened, because it received a letter from the authorities telling it not to be 'indecent.' When you receive a letter from the authorities in China, you do what you're told and nothing else.
Is this an enormous setback? No, because if there are already people ready to promote naturism now, there will be more so later, as more Chinese get acquainted with naturism, either through the Internet or by travel overseas.
Having said that, I must add that the resort planned for Lin'an County in the economically prosperous coastal province of Zhejiang was not a naturist holiday center the way we understand it overseas. Rather, it was naturism 'with Chinese characteristics.' Which means men and women were completely separated. There were two natural ponds, one for women, one for men, separated by 100 meters and a thick bamboo grove which would have made contact between the two sides impossible. In other words, more a hot springs resort Japanese style than a naturist resort European style.
You can read more about the Chinese naturist resort and its demise at http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_407189.html and at http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200907/20090727/article_408735.htm.
As to nudity in Taiwan, a positive development: after the police at the Kaohsiung World Games telling the Brazilian topless athletes on the beach to cover up, I'm glad to hear that the Taipei Deaflympics - the next big sporting event in this country, next September - is likely to take a more liberal attitude toward nudity. One of Taiwan's top models, Patina Lin Chia-chi, will be asked to perform completely nude but covered in body painting at the opening ceremony. I hope to report more on that when it happens.
The Taiwanese media this week also suddenly reported about Les Bleues, France's national women's football team, undressing completely for a series of pictures destined to attract more attention to the female side of the sport. Why the Taiwanese media reported about this now, I don't know, because an Internet search showed me this was news in France back in April. Anyway, I'm not complaining, because even at this late date, it tells the public that nudity is not wrong if it's tastefully done for a good cause.