No, it’s not the Madison version of the World Naked Bike Ride, though both of those are about parading. Indeed, they are about parading for freedom. No, I’m talking about the reaction to the Madison Naked Bike Ride in the comments section of the Wisconsin State Journal photo spread. These conservatives evidently forgot that they’ve been rallying for rights in the past few days, and are still rallying. Hey, at least the right to be naked doesn’t have the potential to harm others. . . I’m thinking that “concealed carry” is a bit of a moot issue for a nudist.
Sure, the ignorance in those comments, where whack jobs rail against supposed “liberals and “leftists” is bad enough, but these people don’t even know anything about the place of Wisconsin in the history of nudism and naturism. They don’t know, for instance, the longstanding historic status of Mazo Beach as a place where people can go naked and commune with nature legally. And they certainly don’t know that the biggest organization of naturists on the planet is headquartered in. . . Oshkosh.
There’s the big problem with conservatives, and we’re seeing it here on this blog constantly. Ignorance. It is exceedingly rare around here for a conservative to comment with any sense of the history or background of the subject at debate, at least if one actually expects citations of sources, as I do. But further, the hyposcrisy on the subject of rights is intense among all conservative, and not just among those who fight for a concealed carry right but seem appalled at the notion of a nonsexual naked man or woman riding a bike. Hey, the Catholic Church in New York is simultaneously battling gay marriage (it’ll make you Asian, I hear) and lawsuits about pedophile priests without a hint that they understand the irony of those actions. So, no, I am not surprised by the irony.
I just wonder if any of these yahoos whining about the naked bike ride ever tried taking a walk with only a breeze for protection. . . would that change their minds? (In the interest of TMI, I will not detail my last nudist outing, nor how some complete stranger came up and commented on the size of my two year old son’s privates. . . that’s a story for friends.) Perhaps if these ignorant conservatives just took advantage of the basic right to be unclothed they’d be a little less bellicose and obtuse, or perhaps I’m just a bit too optimistic.
oh em eff gee
You don’t have to be “conservative” to realize that the stupid naked Bike Ride is both stupid (as we have already established) and an exercise in Blaargh. People in WI should never be allowed to be naked. Look around you, really. Dey nasty. With clothes ON.
Let alone hunched over, mobile, and elevated just to eye level with a bit of bike seat rammed up their summer-sweaty and can-this-be-more-unsanitary Personal Bits. It’s so lovely to see all your little hairs and blemishes and all that which makes you soooo unique glinting in the afternoon sun.
gross gross gross.
No citizen has a right to sneak attack their naked self on other citizens. You may have heard some middle school guidance counselor tell you that “every body is beautiful”, they were lying. Tons of people have sex with the lights out for a good reason. Wisconsinites need to go find a Black Hole in space to go have sex in. It’s that bad.
No one needs to be “informed” about what constitutes Total Blaargh, it’s instinctive. In addition – People who get off (you know you do) on suddenly sharing their asses w/ unsuspecting persons need help.
a.) You know it is the social norm to be clothed
b.) Appearing unclothed will startle and rattle and nauseate some people
c.) That’s the whole point
d.) People who think that’s cool are not (cool)
BTW, there’s a whole new world for you of Public Nudity photo fetishists at Deviantart.com. IMO it’s a pox (one of many) ruining the whole site, which was supposed to be “about art”, but is rapidly becoming a soft porn portal. You’ll probably love it. Oh the gritty existentiality of the unsuspecting people at the mall when a large-breasted woman suddenly appears on the escaltor *sigh* What art! What genius!
Enjoy.
(you big blaarghmeister)
You evidently didn’t read the comments. That is where the references of conservative and liberal come from.
As to the rest of your reply, in responding to something you didn’t even decide to research, you sure do have a whole lot of information and misinformation. There’s another post around here somewhere that discusses people like you who spout off as if they have facts and simply believe it, a situation where no real facts would actually make them blink. Yours is a post we’ll use as an example. Hope you don’t mind. .
Yes, Steven. We are all dumb conservatives. You clearly show us that you are superior in every way possible. So we don’t even try.
I suspect that’s the problem, Mark, that the standards have changed for some conservatives, and all they think they have to do is assert something, without evidence. In this case, Captain Fabulous thinks it’s OK to comment on something without even reading what he’s commenting on. Of course then others such as yourself, when I point out the sorry state of discourse, decide that insults are the way to go. It’s the old elitist argument.
Since when was it wrong to be smart, to argue using facts, to actually strive to know what’s true rather than just spouting off whatever you please? Since when is it wrong to take things seriously, but instead whine about elitism?
Wait, is this all part of the hate schoolteacher thing? Is that’s what’s going on? Schoolteachers used to make kids use facts, after all. And conservatives on message boards seem to think facts are no longer required.
Why is it that when people say they believe in rights, they don’t believe in everyone having a conception of what those rights should be? Aren’t rights intrinsic to the notion of that happiness we’re supposed to be pursuing? Liberals understand this, and wish to expand rights, as a general principle. There are few liberals anymore who even rhetorically stand in the way of gun rights. But conservatives talk a whole lot about rights except when it comes time for gays who want the right to be married, or simply naked people who see no harm in being nude. That’s hypocrisy.
Steven, I love your posts and find them refreshing. The only disagreement I have with you on this is that I don’t want right-wingers to go naked. The first one I thought of was Chris Christie, and I about gagged at the thought.
It’s so typical of rethugs to be upset about something as silly as a naked bike ride. Who the hell cares? After seeing photos of war, the devastation left by Katrina, the death and destruction of the recent tornadoes across the country, and the faces of people waiting in line for hours and hours just to apply for a handful of low-paying jobs—I could not care less about a handful of naturists pedaling their butts around town. I care even less that rethugs find THAT repulsive, but don’t give a shit about death and destruction. Fuck ’em and their sanctimonious horror at bare flesh.
Chris Christie naked, perhaps at Gunnison Beach right there in his home state? OK, that’s a bit awe inspiring, and not in a good way, but I’d assert that this isn’t really about the aesthetics of specific bodies, but about people feeling good enough about their own bodies that they don’t develop disorders. And don’t tell me there aren’t disorders related to poor body image running rampant in this country.
Your point is well taken. The conservatives whining on that site are far more likely to insult naturists with no knowledge of the issue than they are willing to concern themselves with issues like the death and destruction caused by the wars they supported, or the programs they cancel.