Here's Why The World Is Baring All

The first nude restaurant in posh south-east London called Bunyadi, opened recently has already has a staggering list of 46000 people in the wait list. Londoners felt privileged as they got a chance to dress up in their birthday suit to have an organic dinner, in a dim-lit exotic joint, where the only requirement was to be naked. Opened for only three-months in a year, this restaurant is an interesting experiment for those who call it the ‘purest form’ of dining and an experience that offers complete ‘liberation’.

The diners at the restaurant feel that this is a perfect destination for those who are comfortable with their body and want a ‘dressing optional’ experience. The waiters were naked while the guests were expected to be nude too.

The first nude restaurant in the world is in Tokyo, Japan, which has an Indian name called The Amrita-which is aims at giving the most ‘natural’ platform possible. Entry to this hotel is only for those between 18-60 years, while overweight people or those with tattoos on their bodies are not allowed.

Nudism, lately, has emerged as a pertinent device to make an announcement. These restaurants attached nudism with purity and naturalism to create a niche identity, while several social work groups and activist have been using it for a social cause. Political activists across the world are stripping to express their displeasure. It is no longer a word which was demeaned and used for titillation.

A few weeks ago, nearly 200 people paraded topless on Brighton beach near London, to highlight nipple ban. These girls sunbathed on the pebble beach, to make the media/films/showbiz stop the ‘sexualisation of women’s nipples’. Famous as ‘Free The Nipple’ march, this was organised by comedian Samantha Pressdee.

World naked bike ride took place last week on central London’s busy streets as hundreds of nude cyclist, rode through to protest against car culture and oil dependency. Thousands of onlookers, instead of ogling at the cyclists clapped in their support. The annual event is aimed to highlight the vulnerability of cyclists as road users and also to celebrate human body.

Naked protests have clearly been a strongest form of protest. In 2004, nearly 40 middle-aged women in Manipur had stripped to allegedly stage an angry demonstration outside the Assam Rifles base to protest the death of Manipuri women Thangjam Manorama, who was picked forcefully by the army. The naked women also raised slogans against the alleged rape, torture and murder of Manorama.

In China, hundreds of supporters of Chinese contemporary artist and political activist Ai WeiWei have been posing naked to demonstrate against the action of authorities by posing nude on the internet. This was the scathing response to the Chinese government after it accused WeiWei of pornography for a series of naked photos he made.

Ukraine’s social organisation Femen, protested against rising sex tourism and prostitution in east Ukraine, as the women went topless. Animal rights organisation PETA had featured nude models and celebrities for its high-profile campaign ‘Rather go naked than wear fur’.