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28%OFFPhilip Carr-Gomm - A Brief History of Nakedness - 9781780230221 - V9781780230221
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A Brief History of Nakedness

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Description for A Brief History of Nakedness Paperback. Traces our preoccupation with nudity in three distinct areas of human endeavour: religion, politics and popular culture. This book explores new territory - revealing the ways in which religious teachers, politicians, protestors and cultural icons have used nudity to enlighten or empower themselves, or simply to entertain us. Num Pages: 288 pages, 153 black & white illustrations, 99 colour illustrations. BIC Classification: HBTB; JFC. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 234 x 158 x 21. Weight in Grams: 748.
Confrontations with naked human bodies can provoke powerful, and often contradictory, impressions and feelings. Just as they might either thrill or revolt, they can signal innocence or sexiness, frankness or madness, a oneness with nature or a separation from society. Advertisers and the media are very aware of the complex and highly subjective associations that most of us have towards nakedness, and use images incessantly to compete for our attention. Yet mystics have embraced nudity to get closer to God or to some other remote power, while political activists have discovered that baring all is one of the most effective ways to gain publicity for a cause. In "A Brief History of Nakedness", Philip Carr-Gomm traces our preoccupation with nudity in three distinct areas of human endeavour: religion, politics and popular culture. Rather than study the history of the fine-art nude, or detail the ways in which the naked body has been denigrated or imprisoned, this book explores new territory - revealing the ways in which religious teachers, politicians, protestors and cultural icons have used nudity to enlighten or empower themselves, or simply to entertain us. From the naked sages of India and St Francis of Assisi to modern-day druids and Christian nudists, from "The Full Monty" and "Calendar Girls" to Lady Godiva and Lady Gaga, "A Brief History of Nakedness" surveys the touching, sometimes tragic, and often bizarre story of our relationship with our own and with others' naked bodies.

Product Details

Publisher
Reaktion Books United Kingdom
Number of pages
288
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2012
Condition
New
Number of Pages
288
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781780230221
SKU
V9781780230221
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-3

About Philip Carr-Gomm
Philip Carr-Gomm is a writer and psychologist. His many books include Sacred Places (2008), Druid Mysteries (2002) and The Book of English Magic (with Richard Heygate, 2009).

Reviews for A Brief History of Nakedness
'Philip Carr-Gomm has an idea: Stop reading and take off your clothes' - Chronicle of Higher Education 'Being naked in public can be fun, or naughty, or provocative, or health-giving, or political. It is almost always illegal. And, as anyone who has visited a nudist resort can testify, it is rarely, if ever, sexy. But, as Philip Carr-Gomm reveals in his academic romp through two millenniums of public exhibitionism from the ancient Greeks to animal-rights activists, you can be naked anywhere. You are only nude if someone is watching. Nakedness on its own is straightforward - it's the context and the audience of nudity that make it interesting ... wonderful illustrations' - Sunday Times 'Once you've finished this thought-provoking book, go back to the mirror. Slip off the bathrobe and have another look. Unless you were reading it in the waiting room of a plastic surgeon, nothing much will have changed. Yet something seems different. If it weren't anatomically impossible, you'd swear your whole body was smiling.' - Daily Telegraph

Goodreads reviews for A Brief History of Nakedness


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