Naked Men: Should They Be Allowed In San Francisco?
There is an “aesthetic problem” in San Francisco, right now. Men, naked, outside, in the Castro! “Most people just don’t think older men look good naked,” says a newspaper reporter on KQED’s public nudity program, Forum. Also, it’s so cold sometimes. Mark Twain has a famous quote about being naked in the Castro, because it’s so chilly. And county supervisor Scott Wiener (come on) has proposed a new law that would make most people have to wear clothes outside, most of the time.
There are exceptions, of course. There are the famous parades! A San Francisco parade without thousands of naked people who do not need to look like 14-year-old anorexic models, thank you very much, well that isn’t a parade at all. And what about the nudist festivals, which are a kind of parade without moving? So, these will be fine, but those old naked dudes in Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro, some citizens say they are tired of it, which is not very tolerant!
“Very rarely do people ask me why I do this,” [54-year-old Woody] Miller said. “I like the way it feels. I like the feel of the sun and air on my skin. I think it puts me closer in contact with who I am.
“A lot of people say we are too fat, too old, too hairy. But I consider my body to be a record of my lived experiences,” Miller said, noting a dramatic scar from a heart operation that plunges down his chest and ends in a dimpled cross just above his abdomen.
Why are San Francisco’s prudes against basic sexiness?