Shaking off the Shackles

Waitangi Day is also World Nude Day, a day which originated in New Zealand and which this year promoted itself with the slogan “Nude not Lewd” and a US$10,000 “in gold” online prize for the best public nudity video. An editorial on Associated Content ruminates on the event: “I’m still not entirely sure what goes on in New Zealand, but I can tell you that for at least one day out of the year whatever is going on in New Zealand is happening in the nude. In fact, the need to ‘drop trou’ as the old saying goes is apparently so great, that World Nude Day is now celebrated all over the world.” From the official site the story behind the day is explained: “Hidden away in the ass-end of the world (just as we like it) we New Zealanders have been hiding a secret. Like kids before Christmas we wait for the day, counting down the sleeps … and when she comes, ohhh when she comes we embrace her with liberated souls, in the only way we know how. Nude!”