Saturday, October 22, 2005

Derriere of Danger!

America continues its love/hate relationship with its buttocks.

On the one hand, bare backsides are the nearly-acceptable public nudity. Butts can be flashed on prime time TV -- as witness NYPD BLUE -- whereas a bared nipple on broadcast TV causes a national meltdown. Cheeks are readily exposed on California beaches, and young women wear hip-hugger jeans with thongs with the apparent goal of exposing themselves.

On the other hand, a mannequin in a thong is causing a scandal in Manhattan Beach. Understand, this is not a live woman, or even a particularly life-like one; it is a plastic doll with white skin like the Silver Surfer (the white John Buscema version, not the shiny silver Jack Kirby version). And her rump is not bare; she is wearing a yellow thong-like pair of knickers. Nor is she flaunting her assets; she is lying in repose, with her foundation casually aimed at the viewer. Bare -- er, bear -- in mind also that there are artistic statues of completely nekked men and women to be found throughout Southern California.

Yet mothers hide their children's eyes, and protests inundate (well, trickle into) the MB City Hall. "It's public nudity!" sniffs one lady on the TV news. Well, no, it isn't.

Sigh. Once again, So Cal becomes the butt of the world's jokes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What you have is a small group of people making much ado about nothing and the media blowing it out of proportion.