Comments of a Nobody

If you were intending to go rambling without your clothes in the Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, then it seems that you may have to change your plans. The authorities in this area are planning to introduce laws to impose fines on anyone choosing to walk through this mountainous region without clothes on. This is in response to a number of nudists visiting last year, many of them from Germany where “free body culture” is popular.

I guess this raises a couple of questions. Firstly, why would anyone want to walk through the Swiss mountains, or any mountains for that matter, without the benefit of clothes? What do people gain from it? They obviously gain something from it otherwise they would not do it. Maybe it is something to do with being at one with nature. I can’t help thinking though, I wonder if there many midges or other biting insects in Switzerland?!

The other side of this is what is so offensive about wandering around naked anyway? The Swiss authorities make a point of the fact that many children visit the area as if children are likely to be harmed in some way by seeing naked people rambling through the Swiss countryside. Attitudes to rambling naked can be encapsulated by the attempts of Steve Gough in 2005 to walk the length of Great Britain from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. Along his journey he received reactions of shock and disgust from a few, but messages of support from many more. His most difficult time was in Scotland where he was ultimately arrested and imprisoned for his actions.

What do you think?Is this a legitimate pastime? Or should people be compelled to wear clothes in public?

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