In late November Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer got a lot of press coverage (cough, cough) with an announcement of a four-minute (!) film of herself surfing naked. Some details in this article:
Australian big wave surfer Felicity Palmateer to release naked surf film
Australian big wave surfer Felicity Palmateer is set to make massive waves with her next project and has released a titillating teaser to the masses.
The 15-second teaser features stylised shots of the 26-year-old and is the first stage of her latest art project called ‘Skin Deep’, with the full four-minute film set to be released next week.
It’s been a long time coming with the project taking three years to complete and explores her interpretation of being free.
“Everyone has insecurities, I’ve had my own issues of self-doubt,” she told The Sunday Telegraph about the project.
“It was kind of cathartic. I feel so much more empowered now I have done this. I felt really free and it was wonderful.”
Let’s be honest here. The temptation is to be slightly skeptical of the notion that Felicity had significant “issues of self-doubt” about being naked to demonstrate her obvious athletic talent. One has to wonder how it could have taken three years to complete a four-minute “art project”. And what’s so novel about the idea of using nudity to symbolize the idea of “being free”?
But let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. It’s entirely understandable that top athletes are proud of their talents. For athletes in major team sports like soccer or baseball, media attention is almost guaranteed. But for solo, non-competitive sports like surfing, it takes a little something extra to get attention. As naturists, we should be grateful that Felicity overcame whatever anxiety she may initially have felt about going naked to demonstrate her skill. Nobody without her skill could possibly have pulled this off on the basis of nudity alone.
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Awesome! Anyone who promotes Nudity in any athletic venue, for me personally is a positive! I beachrun, trailrun, surf, bodysurf, bodyboard, paddle and go hiking in the nude. I have a bucket list of more, WNBR naked Bike ride next, then Nude 5K runs! Thank you Felicity, you’re not the first and never the last! Aloha!