Protests - Part 66

 Kennedy Center

In February, President Trump took over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  The Center is the home of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, and it also hosts performances of theater, dance, jazz, folk music, and more.

Trump dismissed the board members appointed by Joe Biden and appointed replacements who then made him the chairman of the board.  Trump has cancelled performances that he deemed "woke", including a concert featuring the Gay Men's Chorus and a performance of the National Symphony Orchestra to celebrate 50 years of Pride.

There is concern that Trump will turn the Kennedy Center into an easy-listening outlet for MAGA artists.

Tavish Forsyth was the program director for the Kennedy Center's Opera Institute.  Just a few days ago, on March 19, he posted a 35-minute video on social media protesting Trump and Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center and questioning whether he, Forsyth, should stay or quit.  Perhaps to attract more attention, Forsyth, who is gay, delivered his monologue naked.  Above is a clip from his protest video.

His question whether to stay or quit became a moot point.  Soon after he posted the video, he was fired.

By the way, in the video, he refers to Trump as "Vice President Trump," which is a put-down that implies that Elon Musk is the one who is really running the country.

Ivy League Posture Photos - Part 45

 Ivy League Posture Photos

Yale started taking nude photos of incoming freshmen in 1919 as part of a program to detect and correct posture problems.  The Yale photos have erroneously been associated with William Sheldon, a psychologist at Harvard and author of Nazi-like eugenic theories who used Harvard nude posture photos to illustrate his theory of somatypes.  The Yale program predates Sheldon, and, as far as I can tell, the Yale photos were never connected to Sheldon's work.

Here are posture photos of seven more Yale students that I had the opportunity to acquire.  For privacy reasons, I redact the names of men who might still be alive.  Two of these men may still be alive, so their names are redacted.

This is Yale freshman P.V. on Dec. 18, 1952.

In 1952, Yale installed an apparatus using mirrors to photograph the front, rear, side and top view.  Prior to that, the posture photo was just a side view.

This is Yale freshman Frank Gorry Welch, Jr. on Oct. 21, 1952.

Note the strange pins stuck to each student's back and chest.  The pins were stuck on at specific points for later posture analysis.

This is Yale freshman Charles Peyton West on Dec. 17, 1952.

Supposedly, by examining the angles formed by connecting the points where the pins touched the body, certain posture problems could be detected.  If posture problems were detected, the student had to attend remedial posture sessions, and a second posture photo was taken.

This is Yale freshman Henry Thorp on March 17, 1953.

The photography and analysis of the photos was conducted by the staff of Yale's Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

This is Yale freshman William Thaw Elliot.  Date not given but probably 1948.

This photo and the rest of today's photos were taken before 1952 and show only a side view.

This is Yale freshman Harry Everett Gordon on Oct. 18, 1948.

Nobody outside the gymnasium staff saw the photos, and the photos were not published for other students to see.

This is Yale freshman J.A. on Oct. 6, 1948.

The posture photo program was discontinued in the 1960s, and later, most of the photos were burned.  However, some of the photos escaped burning, including the photos that I have been showing in this series.

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Note: some of my followers consider these photos an invasion of privacy for the students.  To protect the privacy of the students, I redact the names of students who may still be alive.  I only publish the names of students who have died.  Legally, the right to privacy does not extend beyond death, i.e. it does not extend to spouses, children, grandchildren, etc. of the deceased person.

I consider these photos to be a historical record of the time.  Almost all of the Ivy League posture photos were burned when their existence became widely known.  In my opinion, that was akin to book-burning of books that someone claimed were obscene.  These photos are not obscene.  They should be celebrated, not hidden away.

Ads - Part 64

 Posters part 6

We continue our mini-series on ads in the form of posters featuring nude males.  Today, posters from 2000 through 2013.  Above, a 2006 poster for shower gel.

A 2006 poster for the German magazine Die Zeit, asking "What is manly?"

A 2007 poster for the off-Broadway show Naked Boys SInging.

A 2007 poster for Trabant, a Norwegian jazz-rock trio.

A 2008 poster for Powerade featuring Olympic swimmer Gregor Tait.

This 2008 Saints and Sinners poster was pasted onto a dumpster in Austin, Texas. 

This 2010 testicular cancer awareness poster features figure skater Matt Evers.

The 2011 poster above, seen in a Spanish shopping center, is for the Marcus chain of fashionable clothing stores for young men.

A 2012 poster for a party held on Fire Island, New York.

A 2013 poster for Twang beer salt.

We end with a poster for a 2012-2013 art exhibit called Nackte Männer (Naked Men) at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria.  The poster features 2006 photo-art by Pierre et Gilles called Vive la France, showing French football (soccer) players Serge, Moussa and Roberto.  This poster was posted in public places around Vienna and generated public complaints about the full-frontal male nudity.

So the museum covered the offending part of the posters (above).  But if some people disapproved, others were intrigued.  The Nackte Männer exhibit drew more than 2000 visitors per day.

Next time: Posters from 2014 to the present.

Naked Farmer - Part 41

 State of Nature

This is the last post in my series of photos from the Naked Farmer, Ben Brooksby, a young Australian farmer who posted photos of naked Australian farmers on social media sites. The naked photos were to get people's attention, and his message was to encourage people with mental health issues like suicidal thoughts to talk about it with someone and not to hide it away. Ben himself had suffered from panic attacks in school.

Farmers sent Ben naked photos of themselves from all over Australia.  I organize the photos by which Australian state they're from.  Today's photos did not specify a state, so I call them "state of nature."

Above, two farmers weeding or picking a crop.

What a catch!

A farmer with his ute.  None of the photos show frontal views, because Ben posted them on Facebook, which does not allow frontals.

But Facebook allows rear views, as long as they don't dominate the whole photo.  The photo above was captioned "When the groom gets his gear off."

Most of the photos are anonymous, but some farmers were brave enough to provide names.  This is William Carruthers with his airplane.

Aussies must have their beer, no matter where they find themselves.

A bunch of farmers with morning wood (sorry, couldn't resist).

This guy has caught some yabbies, a type of Australian crayfish.

This one was captioned "Stumped why we don't talk about mental health."

And finally, I believe this is a photo of Ben Brooksby, the Naked Farmer, himself, celebrating the first birthday of his site with a birthday cake that has a carrot as a candle.  Thanks, Ben!

Bodybuilders - Part 17

Clarence Ross

Clarence "Clancy" Ross (1923-2008) won the Mr. America contest in 1945, above.

He also won the Mr. USA contest in 1948, above.

He was featured in several of the "beefcake" magazines that started coming out in the 1950s.  Above, the cover of the December 1954 issue of Muscle Builder.  The photo is by Russ Warner.

Here he is on the cover of the March 1955 issue of Body Beautiful.  Again, the photo is by Russ Warner.

There are many photos of Clarence Ross showing him wearing briefs.  However, he did pose nude for photographer Russ Warner, including the two magazine photos, though they don't show much, and the photo above showing a nice rear view.

This photo is the only photo of Ross I have ever found that shows frontal nudity, even if the view is oblique.  It was unattributed, but it looks to me like it came from the same studio session with Russ Warner.

Clarence Ross died in 2008 at age 84.

Hiking - Part 64

 Honey Hollow Trail, Vermont

A few years ago, after a cancer diagnosis, Jim Bornholdt decided to embrace the idea of naked hiking, which he had done a few times before.  For him, shedding his clothes was symbolic of shedding fears and negative baggage.  He calls it "forest bathing", and he relishes the freedom of going into and out of the sunshine and feeling the forest energy across his skin.

He lives in Connecticut, but he found that public nudity is legal in Vermont (as long as you don't engage in "lewd and lascivious conduct"), and Vermont has many wonderful hiking trails, so he began hiking the Vermont trails naked and publishing photos of his hikes on his blog called Baring It All in the Woods.

Today we look at a hike that Jim did on the Honey Hollow Trail in Bolton, Vermont on June 11, 2023.  Each time he starts a hike, Jim posts a sign "Naked hiker on the trail" (above) to warn fellow hikers, but the reaction from hikers he meets on the trail is almost universally positive.

Here's the trail information sign at the start of the trail.

The first part of the trail goes through open countryside, where Jim met three friendly women hikers and a dog.

Then it becomes more wooded.  Jim met a jogger on the trail who took this photo of him.

Wild raspberry bushes blooming by the side of the trail.

Jim took a snack break sitting on a boulder.

He encountered a few more hikers.  All were friendly and no one even mentioned his nudity.  Then it was time to head back (above).

Back at the trail entrance after a great hike.

Jim has done many naked hikes, so we might see him again.

St. Patrick's Day 2025

 St. Patrick's Day

Today's the day when we all get to be a little bit Irish through the wearing of the green, whether it's a green scarf ...

or a green tie ...

or a green cap ...

or a green bandana, or whatever you choose.

You don't have to go all out like the guy above.

Just a little bit of green will do.  See how Brian, above right, looks much more festive than Samuel.

If you're shy, you can wear it where only you will know ...

or he will know.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!