Nakedness confuses us at SpouseBuzz. Managing editor Amy Bushatz and I were puzzling recently over the crowd wisdom that came out of different stories in which military participants bared their bodies for a variety of reasons.
The response was almost never what we predicted. In some instances, readers thought military nakedness was OK, even admirable. At other times, nekkidness was just plain trashy. Here is what our readers have said over the past year or so:
1.Nakedness is OK to cure cancer. When a National Guard commanding officer’s wife in Alaska posed semi-nude for an American Cancer Society calendar, the crowd thought the resulting military investigation was silly. Reader Rquick noted: "Shes not part of the military and if its legal and she’s consenting than why the big deal?”
2. Nakedness is admirable when it exposes PTSD. When a crowd of young spouses joined the “Battling Bare” movement to raise awareness around PTSD, crowd wisdom favored them. “Not only are these female bodies going to bring attention to the issue,” wrote Sarah. “But the fact that they are spouses reminds everyone that PTSD does not just affect soldiers, but also their families.”
3. Nakedness is beautiful if you are breastfeeding. In multiple stories about breastfeeding—including a story about a milspouse who was asked to leave a housing office when she breastfed her baby--readers expressed three cheers for breast milk and babies and mommies in general.
4. Nakedness is unacceptable if you are wearing a uniform. In a story about two National Guardsmen breastfeeding their babies in uniform as part of a publicity stunt, readers were OK with the breastfeeding part. Yet they came down on the soldiers for either being out of uniform or using the uniform for a political cause.
5.Nakedness is adorable among irreverent British soldiers. As part of “Support Prince Harry With A Naked Salute,” hundreds of Brits posed completely out of uniform except for strategically placed weapons, statues or cupcakes. We thought this was very Monty Python.
6. Nakedness is not acceptable for men if it is not acceptable for women. In the above incident, we were called to task for imposing a double standard. Reader Josh wrote, “If a man were to write an article saying how much he enjoys looking at naked women, he would be attacked, but it seems A-OK for women to post what they want about men...seems a sad state.” Point taken.
7. Wife nakedness is welcome in a care package to deployed troops. ‘Nuff said.
8.Nakedness in an email is risky. Many readers responded to our Should You Put Wife Porn In Your Care Package post with reminders that things are not always private and that sensitive photos can appear on the Internet. Keep it classy, people.
9.Near nakedness at military balls or homecoming events is still in fierce debate. Some think it is disgraceful. Others think inappropriate attire is all part of the entertainment. Household61974 noted, “Wait. Isn't half of the entertainment at a ball oggling over what some of the (ahhem) "ladies" have on, or who has had one too many drinks, or whose boob has made its way nearly out of her dress, or whose husband is sitting a bit too close, or . . . or . . . all of the above?”
10.Naked makes you look. Like every other media outlet, we at SpouseBuzz know that even including the word ‘naked’ in a post makes the reader look. We humans are wired to be aware of nudity. That’s why it works to promote causes. That’s why it makes people laugh. That’s why we do—believe it or not-- ignore the more salacious military stories that run across our desktops. We don't need every naked story.
Trying to get to a certain balance when it comes to naked stories is harder than we thought. We will keep working on it. And we will always listen to what you have to say.
