Strip2Clothe: Saviour or Sinner?

When I first heard about Virgin Mobile's brainchild, Strip2Clothe, I must admit I started experiencing palpitations. The idea of anyone being able to upload videos of themselves stripping down to who knows what made me a little nervous. I just kept thinking about child porn and the irresponsible situation that Virgin had created. I knew I just had to check this site out after reading several articles proclaiming my thoughts exactly. So check it out I did.

For those of you who are aware of this new controversial web site, Strip2Clothe is a charity, created by Virgin Mobile, that gives clothing to homeless teenagers. It allows people to submit videos of them stripping. Every time someone submits a video, a clothing company will donate one article of clothing. Once out in the public, every five views that a video gets, results in another pair of jeans or shirt being donated. One can also use their cell phone and send texts to a certain number which will also add more donations.

Upon getting onto Strip2Clothe's home page I was greeted by a pair of male legs holding up pictures of different types of underwear while a catchy dance tune kept time with his tapping foot. I expected the video to turn raunchy at any point, but much to my relief, this guy just kept showing different pairs of skivvies. I confess that I had a smile on my face. The video was brilliant. It was interesting, creative, catchy, and, most importantly, there was no nudity. I proceeded to watch other videos, still expecting some sort of sex overdose or underage teenager. I'm happy to report that I could find no such visuals.

This prompted me to check out the site's submission guidelines. While the word strip is a very provocative way of phrasing it because of the immediate mental images, Strip2Clothe does put out some decent rules. Firstly, only people 18 and over may submit, which relieves every child's parents of wondering whether their daughter may have discovered a new career. Second, in capitalized letters, they emphasize that there is to be no full out nudity. They only will accept a strip down to a modest bathing suit. No string bikinis or Playboy lingerie here. Sorry boys. Their other rules basically state that the videos need to be under three minutes long and there can't be any name brands, cursing, or music, as they provide it for you. They also emphasize that all videos will be reviewed before being available to the public. After reading all this, I quite thankfully settled down.

What had started as an outraged quest to find a way to stop this site had turned into an amusing half an hour for a good cause. All the videos I saw were done in good taste, and most were entertaining to watch. Some people really get into it with crazy clothes and wacky dance moves. I almost feel like contributing to the site with my own creative take, but, as I'm a shy bunny, I think I'll just stick to watching the others show me how it's done. After all, it is in the name of charity.