Natural Nudists Unite -- And Apologize!

As a natural nudist, who comes from a family of natural nudists, the Miley Cyrus flap astounds me. Nothing is flapping on Miley. She's draped in a sheet. Besides, when is a nude body a lewd body? Anyway, the kid's not even half naked. What is this nonsense?

Well, it's an occasion for another apology. We need an apolo-blog section on HuffPuff. Then there will be one central clearing house for apologies. We can all apologize for things we didn't do, things we didn't say and things we never even thought.

I will issue a general apology and hope to have it all covered for the rest of my life. I will apologize for the Democratic Party, for the IRS, for Bill Clinton's sex addiction and Barack Obama's pastor. I will apologize for the idiocy of network TV, for Eliot Spitzer's penchant for prostitutes and for Chris Matthews' tirades. I will apologize for chemical warfare in World War I and for the Nazis' anti-Semitism in the 1940s and all the children it wiped off the face of the earth. I can certainly apologize for things that happened before I was born, can't I?

While I'm at it, I will apologize for all my books, for the time I posed for People mag zipping up my jeans, for my various divorces -- and those of all my friends. As long as you apologize, you can do anything in our nation. You can test hormones on women, intern the Japanese Americans, exterminate the indigenous peoples, then give their few remaining descendants gambling casinos. You can lynch Black people, keep Jews out of certain clubs and neighborhoods and jobs and starve the working poor. You can put arsenic in kids' drinking water. Just remember to apologize.

You get the idea. If Miley had any spunk, she certainly would take her clothes off and stay naked 'till we got out of Iraq. That would be better for her fans that all these hypocritical apologies. Stop feeling embarrassed for your non-nakedness kiddo. Start feeling embarrassed for your country!

Comments

[MikeDu]

You're right on that point.
We're becoming a' culture of apology'. This is a natural consequence of the longstanding RNC tactic of 'faux outrage'. They make believe they're offended for craven political gain and we're forced to make believe we're apologizing in order to limit the political damage. Who was that legislator who was compelled to 'apologize' to George Bush last year over a perfectly true statement he made about war casualties? This is what its about. If you can force someone to apologize its almost as good as forcing them onto their knees.

[mbaty]

Isn't this just another trick by the MSM to distract us from the Military Analysts scandal...you know, where high-ups were paid by the pentagon to parrot party lines? It's a distraction...like Janet's boob. So many claim to be so puritanical...obviously it's a ruse; that girl is showing her shoulder, and Janet's boob was covered in a star thing. Make lots of noise over here...so no one's looking over there at the secret torture prisons. Meanwhile porn is a billion dollar industry with no mainstream advertising. We are not prudes. Let's not become pawns.

[MrStill]

I'm sorry I'm worth a billion dollars and Im sorry we created this whole 'story' to make Vanity Fair and myself even richer.

-Miley Cyrus

[ignrnthllblly]

Erica, Erica, Erica--I would have to call you "too brave" if only what we please to call "readers" knew the difference between a thesis and the next worry bead on their sociological rosaries. While you and I may not understand that nudity equals pornography, you may rest assured that we are in minority so small that any suspicion arising in the minds of the majority is self-validating. Pornography is not in the eye of the beholder, but in the mind of the beholder of the beholder. This allows us to get from implied undress to the same as semi-nude, which is the same (of course) as nude and nude (of course) is sexual, which is therefore the same as prurient, and therefore the same as pornography, and (in this case) the same as child pornography. You'd understand this if you just weren't too "deviant" to see that female's "bits" scare decent folk and should be confined to the necessity of selling someone something.

Really, you'd know these things if you'd peer through the combination microscope and kaleidoscope called the Internet. It mutitplies all those scary things and makes them seem ever so close.

[lynchcheney]

Making light of the Holocaust, that's nice.

[mamacat]

I am familiar with the statues in Oslo, and I am familiar with nudity, and, thanks to the tabloids and my TV, I am also familiar with the sexual exploitation of children.

I resent when a young person is exploited sexually for economic reasons. Unlike the statues in Norway, the photo-shoot of Miss Cyrus was designed specifically to titilate men by showing the skin of a famous and beautiful 15 year old, and in so doing to increase profits for someone.

The problem with the Cyrus photos is that they are sexually suggestive, that she is very much a minor, that her parents and the magazine should know better, and that the whole thing seems to have been done for money. The young woman involved should not be condemned, she is too young to understand sexual exploitation, and is too young to give her consent. Her parents probably saw the whole thing from a different viewpoint, although they overlooked the obvious. The magazine certainly is guilty of extremely bad judgment.

[davy]

If America crawled any further up it's own . . .

[JimR]

Ain't that the truth!

[newshawk14]

For the second time in a week or so, I've really liked your article. I would recommend that everyone
look into the sculptures Of Gustav Vigeland at Oslo's Frogner Park. A number of years ago, a friend
(who I think sensed I was ready for it) invited me to participate in a massage therapy class, that he
was teaching. All the participants were nude, and I would say that virtually everyone, focused their
minds on the massage and not sexual reactions. I consider it one of the more valuable experiences
of my life, and helped to clean out a little of the crap that I had been carrying.

[LarryMcD]

Today, Senator Clinton stood next to Governor Easley, smiling broadly, while he described her as making "Rocky Balboa looking like a pansy."

As a gay man in his 60s, I can't help wondering what you'd feel like if she'd kept smiling that way while he said she'd make "Rocky Balboa look like a pussy"?

[LordMoon]

Well, what I'd like to know Erica is why you have to make everything into a joke?

What happened here shows a serious lack of judgement on the part of the Adults who are supposed to be watching out for this childs care and safety, and as such it just isn't funny.

In my opinion it borders on Child porn, and should be treated as such. As mentioned previously sexualizing a 15 year old girl is against the law.

I know that you are sorry about lots of things, that don't really have a bearing on this case anyway.

Instead of apologizing for things you don't understand, try getting a clue.

[darthmaul]

Judgment-Smugement. These people, including Miley Cyrus made a business decision that this was a profitable move.

I had to laugh when Miley said (paraphrasing here) "I had to do the photo shoot with the sheet, nobody says no to Annie!"

I'm forced to ask who "gives a sheet" about this photo shoot. That's a joke! Great post Erica!

[LiberalBuzz]

Boy if you consider this child porn, you had better stay away from the beaches this summer. As I've said before, I've seen girls with bikini's that the entire thing wouldn't make a good handkerchief.

There was NOTHING wrong with this photo shoot. Personally I didn't think it was that good as it kind of makes her look like she belongs in 'THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD". But otherwise, it's a nice photo of a young woman.

In fact Miley and her father (who reallllly needs to get a decent hair style) should have told everyone to get over it, grow the hell up and get on with the more serious issues facing us these days.

A bare back???

People you need to get a grip.

And Lordy.....here's a quarter....go buy yourself a clue..

[JimR]

It's certainly not child porn, but it most certainly is sexually suggestive.

[GoodwithWood]

Funny how the worshipers of the 3 great religions find the human body to be sinful, yet find violence to be virtuous. Sexuality is a greater sin than killing. Go figure????

GWW

[JohnIII]

What other kind of nudist is there?

Unnatural?

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

Erica, this is one of the wonderful things you have written here. It inspires my inner curmudgeon to shout out, "Not me, I don't apologize for anything. You can all go screw yourselves!" But then somebody would probably come along and make me apologize for saying that.

[aceholiday]

applause

[billydog]

It's that picture with her father that was not cool. That picture exuded heavy breathing sex---but it's his daughter for Christs sakes and heavy breathing sex is inappropriate and indecent. That scene is two lovers sprawled provocatively with each other. If you did not know they were father and daughter your reaction would be hubba-hubba.

[SpinCycleRadio]

I certainly find no need for an apology from Miley Cyrus. She is just a pawn in this. Vanity Fair and her handlers may be a different matter.

The shot quite delibrately contained tons of cues taken from glamour photography: the pose, the sheet, the hair looking like she was just ready, or just finished, a romp in the sack. Sure they can say that there is no nudity but to claim that they didn't know that they were going for an erotic effect with that pose is just silly.

[JohnIII]

You're exactly right. I'm an art director in an ad agency. This shit is calculated.

These people now exactly what they're doing.

[Retrofuturistic]

Why don't YOU go naked till we get out of Iraq? At least you're old enough to know what you're doing....

[Merin]

Good article, Erica.

Bravo!

[Quelkin]

She just wants a little extra attention. Good for her career. Hey, at least she's not trashing Obama.

[shrugged]

Watch out, Texas Child Authorities will invade your community and kidnap all the children.

[artgal]

This dust-up wasnt about nudity - it was about the sexulization of an underage girl who happens to have thousands of underage fans who look up to her. That pose had a sexual overtone - she makes millions from her little fans - and the parents that allow their children to watch Ms. Cyrus have a right to be upset. Maybe Miley is mature - probably enough to get pregnant next year - but shes a brand and presents that brand as wholesome. Everyone associated with that photo-shoot was responsible,
but who cares in the long run? As long as there is money to be made by these celebu-kids and their parents - you will eventually see it all.

[LiberalBuzz]

If the press hadn't of sensationalized the photos I doubt any little girls read Vanity Fair.

Besides if your kid sees those photos and immediately wants to start getting her picture taken the same, then you've done some strange things bringing up your kids.

My two nieces saw the pictures and said, "big deal" and wandered away. The kids at their junior high and high school all thought the adults were acting like idiots over the pictures. They said they've seen her look hotter at concerts.

[PatA]

"""""Every column inch devoted to this story is free publicity for little what's her name and a slap in the face to all the children suffering from our policies that wage war on the poor here and abroad. Save your tears, folks, little miss billionaire will survive this somehow.""""
I agree with the above poster's idea but I think that the idea behind all of this comes from the father, Billy Ray Cyrus. It is convenient that he and the mother left "before" that photograph was taken. The photo of BRC with Ms. Cyrus is provocative as well.
Let's all give a donation to the Children's Fund now!

[sassafra]

yaaaaaaay erica! i knew you still had it in you to make sense.
perfect.

[stellanoir]

She exposed her back. Big Deal.

[KillTheMessenger]

A back? Is that what you see in the image? I think you are doing Annie Leibovitz a favor by completely ignoring the true quality of the image. Look closer and you will see a near perfect artistic rendering of the mixture of innocence and sensuality that every pedophile in the world craves. Nobody says Annie Leibovitz is not a great artist. But she might want to think twice about her unintended audience when she takes the next shot of a female celebrity who is clearly not able to discern fine art from the looks of not so fine spectators herself.

[Melissa]

She is a child and was exploited by her parents and Annie Leibowitz. I see another Brittany and Lindsay in the making. What a shame!

[jheartney]

I have no idea what "every pedophile in the world craves," but since you seem to have an inside track, we'll have to take your word for it.

I guess we couldn't let Afghanistan have all the fun, so we've got our own home-grown Taliban to send around morality police and flog a young girl for having the impudence not to wear our version of a chador. Nice work.

[escobar]

Simple.
A nude body is lewd when it is that of a young girl designed to provolk the sexual interest of mature men, or perhaps in Erica's case women.
Having run naked through much of the seventies whenever I could...the scene was not so much about sexual provocation but freedom of expression, acceptance, and a sort of hippy back to nature ideal.
Nudists do not go naked to sexually stimulate others.
I'm 100% in favor of nudity.
The photos expolit a child because they provolk sexual interest.
Medical photos of her nude body would not have the same impact as those of the artist.