Beautiful Bodies

There is a movement afoot to not show women’s bodies on TV, as though the human body has become obscene. Miss America contestants won’t have to wear swimsuits; instead, they will answer essay questions. The biggest brain wins. The World Surf League is urging cameramen to not shoot close-ups of female contestants wearing bikini swimsuits (which they wear voluntarily for comfort and practicality). Women’s beach volleyball will be next. The Tour de France is getting rid of its “podium girls” (a voluntary job that is well-paid and sought-after) despite the fact that current and former podium girls defend the job. How will women’s bodybuilding competitions be judged when all the female contestants are wearing burkas? For that matter, how will men’s bodybuilding competitions be judged when all the men are required to hide their muscles? Or is this “cover-up the body” movement restricted to women?

Come on, people. The human body is beautiful and has been celebrated in art for as long as humans have been creating art. Are we to hang tarps over the ancient Greek and Roman statues of naked men and women? Are we to drape curtains over the Renaissance paintings that depict the nude human form? If a body is beautiful, what is the problem? I say, good for those who have a beautiful body. I wish I had one, too.

In the name of “protecting” women—including women who don’t want our so-called protection—is it possible we have overreacted? Has the pendulum swung too far the other way? Have we become somehow ashamed of the human body and feel sympathy for those people who parade their bodies proudly on a stage?

There has always been an undercurrent of prudishness in American society. This present-day movement to protect women from showing their bodies is a manifestation of that prudishness—an echo from the Puritans—come to life in the 21st century. Prudes assume that a woman wearing a bikini is embarrassed and ashamed of her body and is being victimized by cameras. The idea that women can be proud of their bodies is an idea they cannot grasp.