majka@ubc-visi (10/10/83)
From: Marc Majka <majka@ubc-vision.UUCP> > Clothes make the man. Clothes may make you, friend, but naturists regard human dignity and value as innate qualities. Neither suit, sex, nor colour of skin have any bearing on them. If your opinion of yourself changes with your socks, then my pity goes to you. > Naked people have little or no influence on society. While it is arguable what influence naked people have on society (remember "Hair" and "Oh Calcutta!"?), Naturists - naked or clothed - are people who: 1 enjoy unencumbered recreation 2 are not ashamed of the human body nor think it obscene, rather, they regard the body as simply natural 3 believe in innate human dignity. Naturists have an influence on society just as any other group of people who hold common values and follow common pursuits.
charliep@tekgds.UUCP (10/14/83)
Some well-acculturated American recently proclaimed that
"Clothes make the man".
I say, instead, that "Men make the clothes", which is true in any of its
several interpretations.
In fact, I propose that the former cliche is one of the more
anti-humanist and anti-human falsehoods that have plagued human societies.
Q. Do you think that usenet communication gives you a truer understanding
of other correspondents than might be obtained by seeing how they dress,
or even how they FAIL TO dress?
To further rebut the cliche that prompted my response, I submit that
indeed, wearing no clothes provides people with a cogent and immediate
*sense* of their human nature! (not to mention a pleasant escape from
being "clothed-minded") I am assuming for the sake of kindness that the
use of "man" in the cliche does not specify sex.
Or, indeed, "No clothes make the man".
Charles Perkins
PS. To userid riddle (who was made by clothes) -- you ought to check out
Lake Travis for skinnydipping. I envy your geographical proximity
to this beautiful recreation area.
PPS. I would be VERY LIKELY (other things being equal) to vote for someone
who ran for political office naked. Such a person, I suspect, would
be likely to represent an entirely new way of thinking to our other
cowardly legislators. The point about naked people having little
influence on world affairs, however, overlooks the fact that many
influential people run around naked during times when they are not
exercising their powers (i.e, for relaxation).laura@utcsstat.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (10/23/83)
Anyone want to argue about whether I am idiosyncric or not? Good. I am. One of the things I do not do is throw out the unmatched sock when I lose one to the washing-machine-black-hole. After all, it is a nice sock. Another thing I do not do is fold my socks together. This takes a lot of time. So at the crack of afternoon (when I am dragging myself out of bed) I stick my hand into my sock/underwear drawer and pull out the first 2 socks that are about the same length. Okay. this means that I have about 0% chance of getting a matched pair of socks. It has probably been years since this event has occurred spontaneously. Now, for some reason, I get more abuse over my socks than over any of the rest of my appearance, which is unlikely to please any of the fashion conscious any of the time. I have always wondered. "Why do my socks tee people off so much?" I mean, on alternate Thursdays when still very sleepy I can almost image why people might conceivably think that "the clothes make a man" but the SOCKS? Does the fact that a lot of them are brightly striped matter? How come it bothers my mother who will tolerate almost *anything* ?? Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura