Some interesting facts:

By Heleen Van der Haar

Sorry my friends, this is not about boob enhancement or cosmetic surgery. Please keep on reading anyway. This article is about breast awareness, breast cancer and loving your boobs. Don’t think breast cancer won’t happen to you or your partner. IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE, even men! Statistics show that in today’s society 1 in 8 women and 1 in 763 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Thanks to medical technology it doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore.

Early breast cancer can be treated successfully. I definitely didn’t think it was going to happen to me. I was in my sixties, in the process of retiring and really enjoying a more relaxed lifestyle. I did yoga, bushwalking and rode my bike to my weekly line dance classes. I was fit as a fiddle and on top of the world as we had booked a trip overseas. I had always checked my breast on a regular base. So one night in bed I did it again and found a lump in my right breast.

Many women have asked me: “What are you supposed to look for and how does it feel”? Well I definitely felt that there was something wrong; the lump was hard as a rock and about the size of an almond kernel. A lot of these lumps appear to be benign, so I didn’t panic straight away. ”She’ll be right!”, but I went to see my GP anyway. He sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound. When the results came back as “highly suspicious” I had a needle biopsy.

The departure date for our trip came closer and closer but I was still optimistic and hoping I would be OK. A week later we got the bad news, yes it was breast cancer. I was so in denial and remember asking the registrar breast oncologist “Could treatment wait until we came back from overseas”? She went out to call in the big boss; he spoke to me in a very severe and convincing way:” NO it couldn’t wait”. I was booked in for a lumpectomy and we went home, defeated and all and cancelled our trip to Hollandand our lovely Singaporestopover. Thank God we had taken out travel insurance and we were totally refunded.

As it happened, I was the sixth person in our short street with 16 houses diagnosed with breast cancer. My darling neighbour died of it. I started to wonder, was there something wrong with our street? Was it built on top of a toxic dump? If I’d been younger I would have liked to research it, but I just simply don’t have the energy. The lumpectomy was a day procedure. They also took out a few lymph nodes and unfortunately when they came back from pathology, it turned out that the cancer had spread to the lymph glands under my arm. I had a CT scan to check all the other glands in the body and we were very relieved to hear that the cancer hadn’t spread to other organs. So a few weeks later I had another operation to remove 10 lymph nodes under the arm. I also underwent six courses of three-weekly chemotherapy and 25 sessions of radiotherapy, just as a precaution in case any cancer cells were left behind. All in all a terrible winter of staying in doors, feeling sick and extremely exhausted.

The chemo attacks and destroys the white blood cells (and hopefully the cancer). In the meantime the body, which is truly a wonderful mechanism is working very hard to make new blood cells, hence the tiredness. I lost all my hair and had beautiful smooth, hairless legs. I didn’t need a Brazilian and was a real smoothie! I also lost 8kg but was quite happy with that. So you see, every cloud has a silver lining.

I had always been a very active person and found it very hard to spend so many hours indoors and in my bed. Fortunately I have many wonderful (nudist) friends who supported me. The outpouring of love was very touching. On my very few good days I was able to go out and see a movie or go to a local cafe. I was also working on a presentation for Northside’s 50th birthday celebration and that always brought a big smile on my face. On one of those good days, usually at the end of the three weeks cycle I went to see the show “Busting out”, created and played by Emma Powell and Bev Killick. It is the female equivalent of “The Puppetry of the Penis”. If you haven’t seen any of these shows, you have missed a great opportunity. “Busting out” which features nudity from the waist up is all about girls and their boobs: “tid(t)bits, tit-songs and tit-tricks”. Did you realize that a breast could be made to look like a hamburger, a doughnut, a baby or a plumber’s crack? I found it absolutely hilarious and to have a good laugh in all my misery was so liberating and healing. Critics called the show “titillating, mammographic”, Cirque du Boobleil”. At the end of my “annus horribilus” I was the happiest woman alive; it was all over, I was looking forward to the rest of my life and counting all my blessings.

My breast had hardly any scarring, just a small dent. I really do admire other nudist women who dare to go nude after a mastectomy or partial breast removal. You are such courageous girls, I don’t know if I could do it. My sister-in-law in Holland, who is also a nudist, had a mastectomy three years ago. She reckons if people don’t like the look of it, bad luck; they don’t have to look! She is very brave I’d never thought very highly about my boobs, reckoned they were too small and after breastfeeding two children, too droopy. Now after nearly losing one, I love them to bits! (tit-bits?). I love wearing low-cut tops and when I see my cleavage I’m so happy I’ve got two healthy breasts. So girls, be happy with what you’ve got, be it pear shaped, apple shaped, melon size, cherry bud size – boobs are beautiful. Love them and look after them.

Do have that mammogram. Put up with that uncomfortable short-lived squeeze under the machine which is nothing compared to suffering from breast cancer. You can always prepare yourself at home; put your boob in the open fridge door and close the door.... joking J! Get to know your breasts and check them out on a regular base. Don't let your partner do it; you know your own body best. The sad truth is that in the future 1 in 2 people will suffer from cancer at some stage in their life. If you are one of those unlucky ones, then breast cancer is not the worst-case scenario. Cancer of vital organs like lungs, bowel, liver etc. is more dangerous. You can live without a breast. You can wear a prothesis or have a reconstruction made from the flap tissue around the waist. Most women have got plenty of that and who doesn't want a tummy tuck?

I believe that I'm a changed person after having faced my mortality. I don't take anything for granted anymore. I'm on a very healthy diet and still enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner. I've been told that a glass of red is very good for you – so imagine how good five glasses would be... joking again J ! I now do need a nanny nap most days and exercise a lot; the more oxygen in the blood the less chance of the cancer coming back I go to a weekly meditation class based on Ian Gawler's philosophy of healing.

At the age of 24, Gawler, an Australian athlete and veterinarian was diagnosed with bone cancer and was expected to live for only a few more months. His right leg was amputated. He completely changed his life style and now 35 years later, he is still alive. He has written several books and published meditation CD's.

I'll have a yearly mammogram for the rest of my life. The first one was a bit nerve-racking but no abnormalities were found. So we went straight away to the travel agent to book our trip to Holland we had to cancel the year before (you can read about it in TAN # 49). For the next five years I'll have to take hormone-suppressing tablets. There are side effects, but who cares; at least I'm here to complain about it! I never lost my sense of humour. My motto is “Lose your tumour, not your humour”. There is a great deal of support for breast cancer sufferers. On offer are free counseling and meditation, a 24 hours helpline to only name a few. The specially trained breast care nurses were marvelous. They offer a shoulder to cry on. They organize workshops and even help you how to set up a support group. Somewhere in country Victoria there is a support group that calls themselves “The Young and the Breastless”... J.

Seize the day; you never know when your time's up!

Source: newnaturists.com

Time to book a trip to Hungary! Planning on backpacking around Europe anytime soon and curious about the penis sizes of the European population, here's a map for you. A new infographic that shows the average penis size –- in centimeters mind you — divided by country.

"I am not a naturist, a nudist, a streaker, nor an exhibitionist. Labels are for clothes. My unclothed appearance is also not motivated sexually nor out of any gratuitous need to seek attention. I believe that while society continues to have a fundamentally negative relationship with the human body and appearance, we can never be a free or mature society. It's the 21st century. Time to evolve."

- Russell Higgs

Please leave your opinion in the comments below.

A short video by "greatlifesg" who visited the excellent and genuine naturist Chan Resort, Pattaya Thailand.

Follow the eccentric duo's morning routine as they prepare to go bare rollin' across London. The crusaders without clothes dance in the raw at Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the Tate Modern and Abbey Road.

"Drinking Song" by Lily and King lilyandking.com
The Nakedme Show lives at nakedme.com

Aspiring pop star Margaret knows how to ensure her debut single doesn’t go unnoticed.
The Polish 21-year-old makes her mark on the entertainment industry courtesy of a video full of completely naked men and women of all ages, shapes and sizes.

Unsurprisingly, the promo to her catchy summer tune Thank You Very Much has sparked a fair bit of controversy.
The clip centres on a fictional birthday party thrown for Margaret.

It kicks off with the singer being chastised by her parents for wearing tummy-baring clothing, leading viewers to believe her attire is considered too risqué for a party with family and friends.

However, the action then cuts to her mum and dad – who are standing stark naked as they deliver their diatribe.

It quickly transpires that every guest at the house bash has been invited to attend the event in the nude. Here is the full video below:

By Les Rootsey

I’ve had a long association with nudist/naturist gatherings/rallies/conventions. From my very first convention back in 1965 – the Australian Sunbathers Association (ASA) rally at Woodlands (sports) and Heritage (swimming races) in Sydney’s southwest. The ASA became the Australian Nudist Federation a few years later and I went on to attend most ANF Conventions from those early years right through to those of more recent years. One thing that highlighted those many conventions was the sporting contests that were keenly contested. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a member of winning volleyball teams, doubles tennis champion, miniten mens’ champ and even table tennis champion over these many years. I mention these honours for the fact that sports were a major component of early ANF Conventions and involved intense and high-level competitors. In fact our champion volleyball team from Woodlands Nudist Club in the early 1970’s went on to win the Sydney A grade open competition (the highest competitive level of volleyball in Australia at the time), and many tennis players at ANF conventions in those early days were regional and state tennis champions.

Until recently, ANF Conventions were held annually and lasted for ten days with intense sports competitions and many social activities to fill those days and nights. Crowds, well in excess of 2000 people, would jam-pack convention venues, with the average age of conventioneers hovering around their early 30’s.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve also attended numerous New Zealand Naturist Federation (NSNF) Rallies and American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) Conventions and the occasional British Naturism (BN) event.

The NZ rallies have featured a combination of intense sporting competition and social/fun activities, while the AANR Conventions have had a more social and business focus.

Over those two decades numbers at both these gatherings have followed the trend of the ANF Conventions with a gradual decline in attendees. However, those declines have accelerated in more recent years.

The ANF are now holding their conventions every two years, due to fading interest and attendances. The writing is on the wall for ANF Conventions and sadly it doesn’t make good reading!

The NZ Rallies continue to hold better interest, than their ANF equivalent. However, the number of participants is reflected by the choice of venue, with a real North versus South Islandrivalry a determining factor in the success in numbers attending. However, the NZ rallies still involve intense sporting competition plus real fun activities for those ‘not-so-sporting’ types.

Further across the ‘Bigger Ditch’ AANR Conventions have followed a different approach to elsewhere around the naturist globe. I’ve just returned from their most recent convention at Laguna del Sol near Sacramento, California. Laguna is one of the prestige nudist resorts in the US, with spectacular facilities and an equally spectacular environment surrounding a huge manmade lake. AANR has never really embraced the sporting intensity of other conventions, with sport relegated to a casual, free-and-easy approach and little recognition of winners. AANR conventions main focus is on business and committee meetings to determine direction and funding disposal for the coming year. It is the only opportunity for the rank and file, across this expansive country, to have an input into AANR’s million-dollar annual budget.

Understandably, with 330 million people in the USA, the AANR conventions should attract a proportionately larger attendance than their ‘down-under’ cousins – and they do. Around 700 people attended the recent Laguna Convention while ANF Conventions have been lucky to attract 70 people in recent years. However, this AANR figure, as in Australia, was considerably down on previous years with a definite trend in the past decade of reducing attendances.

So what conclusions can be drawn from 46 years of personal experience in the nudist movement?

Certainly, external social factors have played a very large contributing factor in declining numbers. The changes in commercial shopping hours and the introduction of Sunday trading in the 1980’s virtually decimated family gatherings on a Sunday. Family Sundays were a major factor to naturist clubs attracting family memberships and the younger generation. Also the everincreasing conservatism in the wider community resulting from the growth of the women’s liberation movement was a further blow to social nudism. Thirdly, the ‘me’ factor of the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ generation and their lack of interest in formal, group activities, rules and regulations, has been a further blow to organised nudism.

As a result the ‘baby boomers’ are now the only naturists left to support organised naturism and annual Conventions/Rallies. As this generation ages and gradually moves into retirement villages, the result will be an ever-decreasing number of ‘cardcarrying’ naturists.

Now add to this the modern phenomenon of further reduction in liberty due to fear of exposure from social media, such as Twitter, Facebook etc. Every day we now hear of people being ‘exposed’ due to the reach of the web. An unfortunate image posted on YouTube or Facebook has the potential to be seen by a worldwide audience within minutes of being posted. As a result people are now more and more reluctant to have their image captured by digital media, no matter what the medium may be.

Interestingly, on my visit to Laguna del Sol and the recent AANR Convention there was a ‘blanket’ ban on any photography. Hence all the images that appear in this feature were taken at previous events. Unfortunately, as this negative attitude to photography at naturist events spreads, the result will be little or no publicity of any naturist activities and eventually no reputable and responsible naturist media. It doesn’t take an Einstein to realise that without commercial publicity and the work of naturist entrepreneurs, naturism will die a quick death, with volunteers the only means to spread the word for future group gatherings and individual club activities. As any part-time volunteer organisation will admit, no matter how well intentioned volunteer input may be, it can only achieve minimal output.

From all the above many might argue that the future is not good for the naturist movement.

However, there are still many people very interested in the naturist lifestyle despite declining numbers in structured groups. As many regular readers of TAN will know, the TAN Getaways, each year have attracted many hundreds of readers to a weeklong holiday – totally nude! However, I would estimate that fewer than 5% of these people are members of a nudist club or members of any naturist organisation – BUT they are very interested in the naturist lifestyle and willing to spend their hard-earned dollars on a naturist activity. Also, judging by sales of TAN, both from our paper and online editions, there are tens of thousands of people just in Australia, keen on reading and learning about the naturist lifestyle. So how do we attract this HUGE groundswell of naturists (young and old) into the established naturist movement?

Well, there is a solution and it can be summed up with four words – Public Relations and Publicity!

There are still many younger members in the current naturist community AND they enjoy being active, playing sports and having fun. Let’s again promote naturism as a vibrant, vital lifestyle. We already have the sporting facilities. For example, many young people have never seen the wonderful game of miniten, yet when I’ve seen them have a go, they love it and you have to virtually drag them off the court so that the ‘oldies’ can get a game. Why not promote an international miniten competition – what a great opportunity for PR for the naturist lifestyle!

The original impetus to naturism was physical activity in a healthy environment. Sports and active recreation were the means to achieve a healthy, vital mind and body. We seem to have lost our way from this original philosophy. All the modern medical evidence points to maintaining a regular exercise routine right through all stages of life. Naturist clubs and resorts have all the facilities to achieve this goal – why not promote this aspect of our lifestyle once again?

Unfortunately, most naturist groups relegate PR to the least important item in their planning and budget. Look at the most successful businesses in today’s world. None of them achieved their success purely by word-of-mouth. Advertising/promotion was their initial stimulus to growth! However, along with the publicity, you must first have a good product.

What better product is there for today’s world than the naturist lifestyle? We have one of the best and easiest products to promote – AND you don’t necessarily need a lot of money to promote this product. The media fall over themselves whenever the word ‘Nude’ is mentioned. But not all publicity is necessarily good publicity. Too often publicity surrounding nudist events is done by the textile media with a HUGE ‘tongue in cheek’ – wink, wink, nudge, nudge – and squeeze as many giggles as you can into a 30sec grab, at the end of a news bulletin.

We need professionals to promote our product! As mentioned above there are some nudist organisations that have no problem finding funds. AANR have a million dollar PLUS, annual budget. Where does their money come from? Mainly from the rank and file and commercial naturist facilities! They also have very active fund raising committees. Unfortunately, for AANR, a lot of their funds, by necessity, go into political defence against anti-nudist legislations around their country.

There is also the possibility for naturist clubs to improve their grounds (and attract more members) by applying for grants from governments or funding groups. Did you know that the International Naturist Federation (INF) have funding for some naturist activities, if existing member groups submit an acceptable proposal. Also, as naturist clubs are regarded as community recreational facilities by many Local Governments, they may well be entitled to financial support/ grants for improvements to, or creation of, infrastructure to their existing club facilities.

There are many other possibilities to promote naturism and help reverse the current decline. But existing naturists must be willing to take up the fight – come out and declare themselves as ‘Naturist and Proud’.

The future can be bright – we just need to ‘shine our light’!

Source: newnaturists.com

Breast augmentation, reasons and effects. data sourced from various sources, not intended for any commercial gains.

Design, Direction, Sound Design & Animation: Antonio Vicentini
Music: "Adocica" by Beto Barbosa / "Où est ma tête?" by Pink Martini / "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Bongo
Sound Effects Library: freesound.org

Average breast cup size in the world. Again, this piece has data from various sources. This is made for non commercial purpose only.

Did you know that there were naturists in an episode of Doctor Who? They were very briefly seen in the third episode, "Gridlock", of the third season of (the revived series) Doctor Who back in 2007.





Don't believe me? Well this clip from the episode will prove I'm right:



The one thing about this clip I love is the magazine the woman is reading:



It looks like that we naturists will be around in the future!

If you have seen naturists in any other science-fiction TV shows, please say where and when in the comments below.

In the wake of the "topless jihad" held in support of Tunisian activist Amina Tyler, a group of Muslim women have fiercely challenged the principles of Femen.

Muslim Women Against Femen (MWAF) claim the group's bare-breasted protests are not liberating and that they "do not need saving".

In an open letter, MWAF complained it was "fed up and tired of hearing from women of privilege perpetuating the stereotype that Muslim women, women of colour and women from the Global South are submissive, helpless and in need of western 'progress'."

Femen leader Inna Shevchenko (pictured above) sparked anger with her comment that MWAF "Write on their posters that they don't need liberation but in their eyes it's written 'help me'."

Now she has composed a full response in which she appears to extend an olive branch towards MWAF... of sorts.

Here is the text in full:

“The letter is obviously written not in feminist rhetoric at all, they are making accusations of racism.
“Being born in a post USSR country [Ukraine] I know it's a common trait of dictatorial countries to promote the official position of the government pretending that it's backed by the people.

“I don't deny the fact that there Muslim women who will say they are free and hijab is their choice and right.

“So, sisters, (I prefer to talk to women anyway, even knowing that behind them are bearded men with knives). You say to us that you are against Femen but we are here for you and for all of us, as women are the modern slaves and it's never a question of colour of skin.

“You say you live the way you want. Being the fifth wife in a harem, the maximum you can be is the favourite wife…right?

“You say we talk about you because we are irritated only by bearded men who pray five times per day.

“We have enough bearded bastards in our part of the world, the beard of Russian patriarch Kirill [a Russian Orthodox bishop who is a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin] would win a competition of 'holy beards' and some people even say that he is so connected to the God so he is praying 30 times a day.

“Sisters, we don’t care how many times your men are praying, but we care a lot what do they do in between.

“We care a lot about violence and aggression, we care when your fathers, brothers and husbands are raping and killing, when they call to stone your sisters, we care a lot when they burn embassies and all that for Allah!

“In our actions the people we are attacking are the one who are constantly oppressing women, covering them, disrespecting them, raping them, beating them whether they are religious or not. But if they do it in name of religion then we can do nothing but tell them their religion is worth nothing.

“We would never talk about Allah or Jesus and other fantasies if those fantasies did not affect human rights.

“You claim that we bring you our idea from our part of the world and you don't need it.

“The idea of freedom doesn't have anything to do with nationality or colour of skin.

“There is no set of human rights for Europeans and another for Arabs or Americans, it’s universal. And we are going to keep fighting for all of us, for our right for freedom.

“We are going to fight with you, with Arab women, like Aliaa Elmahdy, [Egyptian internet activist], like Amina and I hope like you.

“And you can put as many scarves as you want if you are free tomorrow to take it off and to put it back the next day but don't deny millions of your sisters who have fear behind their scarfs, don't deny that there are million of your sisters who have been raped and killed because they are not following wish of Allah!

“We are here to scream about that.

“You say we are Islamophobes, just recently we heard from anti-gay Catholics that we are Christianophobes.

“Yes, I’m scared of all your religions because all of them are bleeding. I’m an Atheist and I cannot say that you are an Atheistophobe as there is nothing that you can be scared of.

“You personally have rights to believe in whatever you want, the same as me but until the moment there are no stones, bullets and blood in your religion we are going to fight it.

“Often, I dream about a world with religions that are only in your houses or churches and don't appear in other places.

“And do you know what I see? I see a world without Serbs, Croats and Muslims being massacred, without 9/11, without witchhunts, without 7/7, a world without suicide bombers and without the Taliban, without Israeli-Palestinian wars, without persecution of Jews as ‘Christ-killers’, without Northern Ireland troubles, without Crusades, a world where are no public beheadings of blasphemers and no flogging of female skin for the crime of showing an inch of it.

“See you on the battle lines!”
Source: The Huffington Post UK - Article Written By Sara C Nelson

'Naked Castaway,' a survival reality show debuting April 14, chronicles how a man left naked and alone on a deserted island near Fiji manages to stay alive. 'Naked and Afraid,' airing in the summer, puts a naked man and woman together in a remote location and challenges them to survive.

The Discovery Channel is stripping survival down to its bare essentials.

The cable network known for hard-core documentaries will launch two new survival series in which the participants are dropped into some of the world’s most dangerous, remote locations — completely nude.

“Naked Castaway,” features survivalist Ed Stafford who lands naked and alone on a deserted island, southeast of Fiji, with only his brain, bare hands, and a camera to keep him alive for 60 days. He takes no food, water, clothes, knife or tools.

It debuts April 14.

On “Naked and Afraid,” premiering this summer, two complete strangers — a man and a woman — meet for the first time while in the buff, surrounded by the wilderness and wild animals. The first episode takes place in Tanzania on the Serengeti plains.

“I’m an ultimate survivalist,” said the show’s star, Kellie Nightlinger, 38, who was starving after two weeks in the wild when she cooked up a scheme to use her ladyparts as bait to catch fish between her legs at a muddy watering hole.

“We were very hungry and needed fish for our survival,” Nightlinger, a former gold miner in Alaska, told the Daily News. “We needed something with protein and because the water was so muddy, traditional fishing methods wouldn’t work, so I had to improvise, adapt and overcome.”

At night, she and her survival partner, E.J. Snyder, a retired Army vet turned survival instructor, used a fire — lit by rubbing sticks together — to keep hyenas at bay.

“They were frightening, but at least they seemed to be afraid of fire,” she said of the predators.

Other episodes, with different couples have been filmed in Panama, Costa Rica, the Maldives and Borneo.

“I think the challenge brings out the very best and very worst,” said executive producer Steve Rankin from a hospital bed in Costa Rica where he was recovering Thursday after being bitten hours earlier by a venomous snake while working on the show.

“The idea here is to push the ball down the field,” said Discovery channel exec, Craig Coffman. “Survival shows are so common now that it’s gotten more and more difficult to convince the audience that what they’re watching is something extreme.

“Having no clothes just takes it to the next level. It’s the ultimate test and makes survival exponentially more difficult.”

Source: nydailynews.com - Article Written By Don Kaplan