World Nude Day: It's a Darn Shame

February 6 usually passes without notice, but this year, people around the world raised either eyebrows or shirts to celebrate World Nude Day. According to the World New Day website (worldnudeday.com), this holiday urges participants to get rid of the clothing and film themselves doing something funny. There is a prize of $10,000 US in gold to the best video. Many critics exclaim that such a holiday is about exhibitionism and narcissism, but the website simply states, "It's about nude, not lewd."

It is quite possible that the critics have forgotten how to properly celebrate the beauty of a functioning human body. In a world full of scantily-clad women dancing in bad music videos and pop stars feeling a bit too liberated from their undergarments, it is too easy to forget that the human form is a miraculous creation. Some of the most recognizable works of art are those in the nude. Michelangelo and Donatello both created the undeniably famous statues of David (Statue.com). Artists throughout the centuries have recognized the ability to use the nude form to convey messages of change or growth, of innocence, and of beauty.

Critics of nudity must realize that human skin is directly tied to the history and the present. The ancient Olympics were held in the nude, but this was mostly to ensure that a woman did not compete. All the same, nudity was an important part of Greek culture (Perseus.Tufts.edu). Even today, some "primitive" cultures that live in warmer climates continue to participate in nudity quite frequently (Primitivism.com). It is absurd to suggest that there is some shame in a non-sexual public celebration of flesh. Even the late Pope John Paul II has stated, "The human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve intact its splendor and its beauty...Nakedness as such is not to be equated with physical shamelessness...Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person...The human body is not in itself shameful...Shamelessness (just like shame and modesty) is a function of the interior of a person."

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