Celebrities and Nudity

Whether it's Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape or Lindsay Lohan's latest "nip slip," our culture seems obsessed with celebrities and their various states of undress. Thousands of blogs and websites are devoted to actresses, actors and musicians who purposely--or inadvertently--expose their bare assets to the public and get nude for the camera.

Perhaps it all began with the infamous Playboy spread. Hugh Hefner's popular men's magazine became a bit of a notch in the belt for a female celebrity. Indeed, the inside of Playboy has featured the likes of Sharon Stone, Garcelle Beauvais, Kim Basinger, Naomi Campbell, Tia Carrere, Cindy Crawford, Carmen Electra, Debbie Gibson, Bai Ling, Jenny McCarthy, Jaime Pressly, Denise Richards, Anna Nicole Smith, Suzanne Somers and Vanessa Williams.

But despite its feature of naked women and nude celebrities, Playboy is also known for tasteful photos, good fiction and great celebrity interviews. It's the Cadillac of men's magazines, and many female actresses and musicians consider it an honor to be naked on Playboy's pages.

However, that doesn't really explain the many websites and blogs that are simply devoted to featuring nude celebrities. Many feature still shots from movies, such as Diane Lane's hot love scene in Unfaithful or Denise Richards bare breasts in Wild Things. Even pictures of Sharon Stone's private parts from Basic Instinct can easily be found--for free--online. Nude scenes of Angelina Jolie, Amy Smart, Mischa Barton, Kate Hudson, Demi Moore, Uma Thurman, Alyssa Milano, Keira Knightley, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Ashley Judd, Halle Berry, Katie Holmes, Jennifer Lopez, Charlize Theron, Kate Beckinsale and Drew Barrymore are quite easy to find with a quick Google search. Who knew that so many famous Hollywood actresses have been naked in front of the camera?

Nonetheless, in all of these cases the female celebrity was paid to remove her clothes. She voluntarily chose to get naked for the camera, and she understood (hopefully) the possible consequences she might have to face in the future for her actions (such as the revival of a long-forgotten B-movie with a torrid nude sex scene).

But what about celebrities who simply let their body parts "slip" into view? Anyone who follows celebrity culture has seen up-close-and-personal shots of Paris Hilton's private parts and Lindsay Lohan's breasts. For some reason, many young celebrity women refuse to wear undergarments. Instead, they prefer to "inadvertently" expose their nude body parts to paparazzi cameras. Britney Spears frequently engages in this type of nude exposure. And even seemingly modest celebrities--like Jennifer Garner and Claire Danes--sometimes have a nipple slip out of their clothing. These paparazzi photos can be found all over the Internet with minimal effort.

It's clear our society is obsessed with nude and naked celebrities. And no obsession would be complete without including our fascination with sex tape videos. Many actresses--for some reason--videotape themselves having sex with a man. (Although one important factor seems to be that the man must famous, too. A fellow actor or a musician is usually on the receiving end of the female celebrity's sexual attention.) Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Pam Anderson are just a few of the actresses who have capitalized after their sex tape was "slipped" to the public.

And our culture just gobbles up these scandalous photos and videos. Then we beg for more.

So what's the reason for our obsession with nude celebrities? Is it simply a fascination with naked women (which is, let's face it, a fascination for many men regardless of culture)? Or does it extend further than that? Is it an extension of our obsession with celebrity life in general? Surely the popularity of magazines such as People and The Enquirer suggests that reading about celebrities is an enjoyable hobby for many folks.

Regardless of the reason for our obsession with nude celebrities, it's quite clear that there's an abundance of naked photos and videos available online. And it also seems clear that there's no sign that this type of media will become less desirable in the near future.