Talking point: Why nudity means life imprisonment - in the UK!
Did you realise clothes-dodging could get you locked up for life? Well, Stephen Gough, the 50-year-old naked rambler, has discovered nudity isn’t as liberating as he’d hoped.
The naturist has been repeatedly arrested for streaking, or as the Scottish authorities have labelled it, ‘breaching the peace’. Gough walked free from Perth prison in December, but was arrested within a minute of his release for refusing to put on clothes. He’s been warned that every time he leaves prison in the nude he’ll be dragged back inside.
‘The freedom to go naked in public is a basic human right,’ insists Gough.
We’ve got to ask: is nudity really so shocking and offensive these days when Z-list celebrities are out in public wearing next to nothing? Or is ‘below the belt’ nudity the last taboo?
- Kate Faithfull
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- With the risk of sounding a tad prudish, I think walking around in all your glory can be offensive to some people & being naked is probably best enjoyed in the privacy of your own home.
I can imagine some little old couple settling down in the Scottish highlands to enjoy their flask of hot tea and views and then up pops (no pun intended) Mr Gough striding along with everything bouncing along.
fashionrat - I agree fashionrat - definitely a trend not to be encouraged!
dublinista - People who object to nudity always invoke "some little old couple" or children as the reason for their opposition - no one ever objects in their own right. What is *your* objection, fashionrat? The elderly have been around long enough to speak for themselves, and usually they've seen and heard a lot more and are far less squeamish in what they can cope with. And children only know something's wronf if they're taught it's wrong. So what's wrong with Steve Gough's nudity, and why is it all right for "Calendar Girls" to be a calendar, a film and a West End play? And to go back to the article's original premise - is the naked body so terrible it has to be locked away for life?
peejay - Sorry despite being a naturist/nudist I've never been a fan of Mr Gough especially after the BBC documentary about him. I still feel the Scottish courts have handled this matter wrongly from the outset costing their taxpayers thousands of pounds with his imprisonment and Mr Gough's stubbornness has made matters worse.
Real naturists have no desire to walk down their local high street stark naked .. well I don't !
Ref. http://snudesb.blogspot.com
bonduk7 - If Stephen Gough wants to go nude in this weather then let him - frost on his delicate bits might prove to be a deterrent!!
Janey64 - My response was meant to be a little tongue in cheek and funny but obviously we don't share the same sense of humour peejay as you had quite a heavy and serious response there.
In answer to your question, I don't really give two figs about someone wanting to wave their bits about to be honest. I don't really want to see a fifty year old man bobbling along but if David Beckham wanted to strip off and stroll pass, well how could one complain?
fashionrat - I wonder if the outcry would be the same for Stephanie Gough?
tomwho - I wonder if the outcry would be the same for Stephanie Gough?
tomwho - I wonder if the outcry would be the same for Stephanie Gough?
tomwho - Now, in Barcelona, it's actually legal to be naked in public... and much warmer! And no, I don't find nudity offensive - just a tad unhygenic in certain circumstances!
euterpe13 - Get a whole nude attitude!
Nude is normal
Like your body? Show it!
Who says there's anything wrong with skin?
Skinful isn't sinful
Turn life skin-side out - go naked
It's time to turn your life skin-side out
http://www.naturistspace.org
sarababe - Yawn. If Mr Gough wants to walk around naked then so be it. You always will get someone who wants to show every single piece of them to all and sundry and bleats on about those that object are obviously ashamed of the naked body or want to keep it under lock and key. Again double yawn.
splash
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