Naked party
Encyclopedia
A naked or nude party is a party
where the participants are required to be nude
. The parties have become associated with college campuses and with college-age people and have gained prominence in recent years, particularly after naked parties were organized at Brown
and Yale
.
Attendees of a naked party often report that they stop feeling awkward after just a few minutes, since everyone disrobed before entering the party, and since everyone's nudity was accepted, regardless of body type. According to reports, most naked college parties are sex free. At Brown University, the nakedness is "more of an experiment in social interaction than a sexual experience."
movements and campus streaking
, the modern "naked party" movement appears to have its roots at Brown University
in the 1980s. The student group The Pundits are anecdotally credited to reviving this on a wider scale at Yale University
, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Wesleyan University
, and Columbia University
have been known to have student groups host them as well.
Naked parties have been noted as rather polite events, where sexuality and sexual overtones are often frowned upon. Even with these unwritten rules in place, there have been problems with alleged sexual assault. With this noted, even some more notable names, such as Barbara Bush
, George W. Bush
's daughter, have been linked to parties at Yale.
's I Am Charlotte Simmons
, and Natalie Krinsky, who turned her on-campus sex and relationship column into a novel, Chloe Does Yale
, where the main character remarks that "Yalies shouldn't be naked. That's what the University of Miami is for. We are smart. Smart people are not attractive people."
Religious groups have attempted to have the parties banned in some municipalities, and an oft-cited column appeared in Christianity Today
called "What to Say at a Naked Party," which cited concerns about sexual assault and objective morality.
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
where the participants are required to be nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
. The parties have become associated with college campuses and with college-age people and have gained prominence in recent years, particularly after naked parties were organized at Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Attendees of a naked party often report that they stop feeling awkward after just a few minutes, since everyone disrobed before entering the party, and since everyone's nudity was accepted, regardless of body type. According to reports, most naked college parties are sex free. At Brown University, the nakedness is "more of an experiment in social interaction than a sexual experience."
History
While the roots of naked parties come from the nudismNaturism
Naturism or nudism is a cultural and political movement practising, advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public. It may also refer to a lifestyle based on personal, family and/or social nudism....
movements and campus streaking
Streaking
Streaking is the act of running nude through a public place.-History:On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter...
, the modern "naked party" movement appears to have its roots at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in the 1980s. The student group The Pundits are anecdotally credited to reviving this on a wider scale at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
have been known to have student groups host them as well.
Naked parties have been noted as rather polite events, where sexuality and sexual overtones are often frowned upon. Even with these unwritten rules in place, there have been problems with alleged sexual assault. With this noted, even some more notable names, such as Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the elder of the sororal twin daughters of the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, and the granddaughter of the 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and his wife Barbara Bush, after whom she was named...
, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's daughter, have been linked to parties at Yale.
Controversy
The spread of naked parties has sparked international controversy. Some students do not like the idea of their school being associated with them, and these concerns have been discussed in different works of literature, such as Tom WolfeTom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's I Am Charlotte Simmons
I Am Charlotte Simmons
I Am Charlotte Simmons is a 2004 novel by Tom Wolfe, concerning sexual and status relationships at the fictional Dupont University, closely modeled after Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University...
, and Natalie Krinsky, who turned her on-campus sex and relationship column into a novel, Chloe Does Yale
Chloe Does Yale
Chloe Does Yale is a college fiction or more precisely a chick lit novel by Natalie Krinsky. The story line follows a Yale junior, Chloe Carrington, who writes a stirring column, “Sex in the City” for the Yale Daily News.- Plot introduction:...
, where the main character remarks that "Yalies shouldn't be naked. That's what the University of Miami is for. We are smart. Smart people are not attractive people."
Religious groups have attempted to have the parties banned in some municipalities, and an oft-cited column appeared in Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
called "What to Say at a Naked Party," which cited concerns about sexual assault and objective morality.