Feeling mammalian lately? Basic zoology texts tell us that we mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates that possess hair, mammary glands, three middle-ear bones, and a characteristically developed neocortex. Humans, like many mammal species, have sweat glands, specialized teeth, placental births, and dual-fluid penises (yep, you read that right). Page from an early 1970s children’s book on animalsContinue reading “Mammals”
Tag Archives: movement
Carefully Taught
“You’ve got to be carefully taught” is a line from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific. The sense of this satirical song is that prejudice is not natural but learned. The first verse spells it out: “You’ve got to be taught To hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught From year to year,Continue reading “Carefully Taught”
12 Nude Year Resolutions
Nudity can be light-hearted, but there are times when it’s no joke. When people, whether individuals or groups, risk arrest or worse simply for posting nude photographs of themselves in those parts of the world still clutching very restrictive ideas about nudity (and sometimes those parts of the world are closer to home than oneContinue reading “12 Nude Year Resolutions”
On Reserve
Unwrapping the Sensory Mechanics of Nudity There are certain body parts that the twin social strictures of religion and politics most want to cover—or, more accurately, to bind. These parts are put on reserve, so to speak: under wraps. According to the rules of repression, they can’t be checked out, or unwrapped, except by special,Continue reading “On Reserve”