Topless protest

Nudity is sometimes used as a tactic during a protest to attract public attention to a cause, and sometimes promotion of public nudity is itself the objective of a nude protest. The use of the tactic goes back to the Doukhobor social movement in 1914. The tactic has been used by other groups later in the century, especially after the 1960s. Like public nudity in general, cultural and legal acceptance of nudity as a tactic in protest also varies around the world. Some opponents of any public nudity claim that it is indecent especially when it can be viewed by children; while others argue that it is a legitimate form of expression covered by the right to free speech.

Even in places where public nudity is tolerated, it is still unexpected enough that its use by activists as a deliberate tactic is often successful in attracting publicity from the media.

Some nude activism is not to promote a particular cause, but rather to promote public nudity itself, or to change community perceptions of the naked human body, or as an expression of a personal desire to be nude in public.

Animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have used nudity to draw attention to their causes. (See below.) For example, the Lettuce Ladies, young women dressed in bikinis which appear to be made of lettuce, had gathered in city centers to hand out leaflets about veganism. Every year the Running of the Nudes campaign sees PETA activists run naked through Pamplona, Spain in a parody of the annual Running of the Bulls tradition. Supermodels such as Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell have posed naked on billboards with the slogan "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" emblazoned across their chests.

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Wikipedia