Naked bike ride

[Chocbuttonsandredwine]

Was in London yesterday: naked bike ride. Fine.. not my thing (or many other women). They finished the ride/protest/whatvever and then conjugated near B palace.. and just seemed to be happy wafting their micro penis’s about for kicks and giggles/

A lot of horrid middle aged naked men kicking about just felt unnecessary.

and 🤮

The naked rambler was charged with breaching the peace and then contempt of court for disobeying the law.

But, you know, there weren't hundreds of him and he wasn't on a bicycle 🤷🏼‍♀️

😂

Flashers taking advantage of a socially 'acceptable' way of exhibiting themselves in front of whoever unexpectedly happens to be in the vicinity. Nope.

Did have a large staff though

Some people for whatever reason want to do this sort of stuff.

Probably best to check out on the web where the events are and avoid them if you are adverse to them. There are probably only a couple of them per city per year.

The other thing about the naked rambler bloke was that he was walking from Land's End to John O'Groats. He was fine walking through England, his legal trouble started when he got to Scotland. Scottish law is different to English law.

In England it's not illegal to be naked in public, anyone can be naked anywhere. The offence is when someone exposes themselves with the intent to cause distress or harrassment. It's not enough that someone sees them and is distressed by the nudity, it has to be proved that the person intended to cause the distress. That's why flashing is a crime and just sunbathing naked isn't.

A good way to look at it is to ask "would their behaviour be acceptable if they were clothed?" Something like walking or cycling is not normally a crime if someone is dressed, so it's not a crime if someone is naked. An organised protest is legal, so an organised naked protest is legal.

That's not to say perverts don't use legitimate rights as a means of expressing their deviancy. Undoubtedly a naked bike ride is an excuse for some exhibitionists to get a thrill in a situation they would normally fall under suspicion. The same as nudist beaches often have sections frequented by doggers.

The point is it is necessary to distinguish between people participating in a legal activity and those who are engaged in a criminal one.

What a crock of shit

Men just living their lives are not dominating the world, intimidating or forcing themselves into your vision

Oh, yeah. The patriarchy is a total figment of my imagination.

And they are forcing themselves into my vision. They’re literally protesting. Protests generally don’t work if you do it at home with the curtains closed.

Yes, because Fortnum's as a private business can enforce a dress code. Like "no shirt, no sale" or "shirts and shoes must be worn inside the pub"

The naked rambler made things worse in Scotland by turning up in court naked or leaving prison naked. Sounds like they decided to teach him a lesson.

I heard him being interviewed after (I think) the first naked walk up the Country and he said the police in some English counties weren't bothered, in some he was arrested and in others, rather pragmatically, they picked him up at the border and dropped him off at the next border.

Memory's fuzzy, but he didn't come across as a nut

A naked bike ride with both genders that has happened for 21 years and is a known protest isn't the patriarchy

I can't imagine as a woman wanting to do this. Imagine seeing someone you worked with, as you cycled by, or your kids friends, or a school dad 😳

Potentially people could take photos of you and they could be all over the Internet. Or someone you know you take one and share it with everyone else you know.

It's a violation of other people's boundaries without their consent.

I don't want to see a naked man when I'm not wanting or expecting to see one. I don't want my children to see random naked strangers.

If I deliberately went to a nudist beach, I understand I'd be signing up to be okay with for whatever I saw there.

But when I'm just out and about with the kids, enjoying the day, it's totally fucking out of order TBH and nothing anyone can say will convince me it's not part of a deviant fetish.

Looking him up, he was indeed fine in England and was released after the couple of arrests but it became a problem when he went into Scotland.

His lack of clothing in court also landed him in trouble

And he was later arrested in England because he himself was given specific bail conditions not to be naked which he ignored

And yet there were plenty of women doing it...

Was also there and saw this. Wasn’t terribly shocked by the riders (thought I would be, but en masse, they kind of just looked ridiculous).

However I was with my DD, who is autistic, gender non conforming and battling gender dysphoria. She was rather triggered by it, not least because she couldnt understand what being naked had to do with wanting to reduce car usage or sticking it to the oil &gas companies. She’d have supported it, apparently, if it had been an anti sex industry/porn protest (ie the message was ‘our bodies are natural and we need to stop sexualising them’) but she couldn’t get the link. Rightly I think. She felt it was just a bunch of exhibitionist pervs riding bikes and revealing their bodies without her consent. She was actually really upset.

But she got over it after an hour in Waterstones at CHX and £130 worth of books were purchased for uni 🤣 She is apparently now asexual as seeing all those naked, white bodied, wrinkly, flabby old men in their glory has put her off sex for life…

Not to you.

For those saying that men are doing this because they get off on shocking and intimidating people, well if this is the case you’re giving them exactly what they want with your pearl clutching reactions. Laughing and carrying on with your day would be more effective at dampening their ardour.

BTW are the women who participate also trying to shock and intimidate? 🤔

Another thought: if this happened anywhere in (most of) Europe no one would even raise an eyebrow!

It’s not very nice. I don’t wish to see another persons naked body without my consent. But as on ever on Mumsnet it’s a race to the bottom (lol) to seem the most “cool girl.”

I agree with your DC! I don’t see the link either…doing it dressed as fossils, ok. Seabirds in an iridescent oil slick? Ok. Even just a neon uniform of t shirt and shorts so they’re eye catching, ok. Butt naked? Nah.

I have to wear padded cycling shorts so my first thought was ooow sore

Yep.. and some of the bikes were the green hire bikes you can pick up over the capital. Will think twice about hiring one myself now…

The people who take part in a naked bike ride in public are unlikely to be too worried about any of that. It's kind of the point.

I'd rather everyone (regardless of sex, size, shape) had genitals and nipples covered in public. Not a fan of naked cyclists, naked ramblers, or shirtless men in public.

I realise this is regarded as deeply old-fashioned and prudish, but I believe our bodies are precious and private, and I'm in favour of everyone - men and women - dressing modestly.

Not to anyone