I get that this is probably the complaint of an older person. Except that, I’ve never been one for putting my body or my business out ‘there’. Everyone has the right to do with their bodies, relationships and daily lives what they will. This is just my story.

Let’s first talk about where ‘there’ is. Especially in the age of the internet, ‘there’ is multidimensional. I am fairly comfortable publishing the little bit I do online, because it feels controllable. Of course, I know that even these little musings can be misconstrued. Or, perhaps, understood all too well.

I was listening to Radiolab, the episode that dives deep into the Candid Camera phenonemon:

Smile My Ass

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smile-my-ass/id152249110?i=1000354249864

What a story! Now, I remember laughing with my family at Candid Camera’s antics, when I was a very small kid. Heck, I even laugh at some of these now!

But. listening to the who’s origin story, as Funt and his team took the concept through iterations that irritated the audience’s concept of the importance of privacy, one phrase kept popping up in my mind: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

With the benefit of hindsight I am not proud of enjoying the humiliation of others, even if it seemed ‘all in fun’. Then, the idea that Funt’s own twisted project made an admittedly dopey and shallow and scared group of people turn on him (you’ll have to listen to the podcast episode for the details): that seemed, in some way, payback.

…

There’s an idea that’s been popular for decades, that one way to assert female power is to own our bodies and do with them what we want. While I believe in that in principle, I think I’m a pedestrian thinker when it comes to the necessity for near-nudity. I am probably a victim of Black respectability politics, and I’ll own up to this distaste being driven by some of that.

But dang, there’s something so satisfying about somebody using their creativity without needing to eschew clothing. And this is coming from somebody who spends most of my non-work time at home in comfortable just-about-nothing. But that’s in the privacy of my home! Where I pay the rent and make the rules, such as they are, lol! It wouldn’t even occur to me to give the gift of my altogether to everyone all together.

This also comes, I suspect, from my memories of the long ago Rainbow Gathering at Mount Shasta, a hippie event to which I drove cross-country with my then-hubby. I adopted the community’s nudity culture for a bit. But then I felt like: what the hell? I don’t need to be nude to contribute. So I slipped back into my jeans and teeshirt and went on about my business.

Anyway, even with this sense of mild irritation at this ongoing pop culture trend, I enjoy a good bop and well-crafted video as much as the next person. I just want to elevate the folks who can radiate creativity while wearing clothing too. With that in mind, here’s an adorable video by a new artist, Sunny War: looking forward to her debut album!