Sunday, 28 December 2014

Sensual Nudity an emerging trend in fashion threatening dignity

Culled from Vanguard

Gabriella Sabatini looked sexy on court. She was elegant and late Ayo Oshitelu once wrote that the Argentine tennis girl would easily win a beauty contest if she entered for any. Her figure was amazing and facial beauty incredible. Walking from the net to the baseline after making a point was thrilling. There was music in her steps. Ositelu, in one of his trips to Wimbledon wrote that her beauty attracted more fans to the arena than the game she played. Sabatini appeared sexy in her times but the reigning players now have made her show a child’s play.


At the Olympic Games, World Championships and other international events the skimpy wears of athletes have become part of the game. They entertain the eyes. Ever wondered why people spend hundreds of dollars to buy tickets for events that would be aired on television? You can’t beat the stadium atmosphere. The television cameras do not pick all the fans enjoy in venues. The elegance of athletes entertains. The athletes appear to be aware of the imagination they create in the minds of fans and they make efforts to outdo each other. We are talking about female athletes. They make sure that fans have value for their money. Nobody goes to the Olympic games and regrets it. You are thoroughly entertained by the actions on the courts and the apparels of the female athletes.


It is not only in sports that women have taken upper hand in entertaining fans. Male musicians sometimes wear jackets which they fling to the fans or simply pull off while performing. Not so with women. They must entertain with some nudity. And the fans like it. Female artists the world over have opted to debase the sanctity of womanhood in their acts, a conservative person may argue. But the world is changing and sex sells. From the ancient days to now, the dignity of a woman lies in her body. But female entertainers in the music industry, drama, sport and modelling have carried their performances beyond the ordinary. To them, there’s dignity in the creating imagination in the minds of all. From America, Europe and down to Africa performing almost nude on stage and posting nude photographs online have become a phenomenon.

Jennifer Lopez, a global figure and a mother of two stirred the honest nest in her stage performance at the recent America music award and a British female journalist,ANNABEL COLE writing in The Daily Mail captured her with these words: “She mounted the podium decked on a tight-hugging body suit, fish-net tight and lashing of lipsticks. Critics liken her display to that of an aspiring starlet who was in a hurry to make fame in the competitive music world.

From one end of the stage to another, Lopez gyrates provocatively treating the audience to eye watering views of her naked body as she rendered the lyrics of her new song, titled, Booty. For the audience, it was as if the popular female musician was communicating the lyrics of her song with her anatomy. As she craws suggestively across the stage, displaying her famously curvy derrière and at a point, spanking Australian rapper, Iggy Azalea who is young enough to be her son.
“This overtly sexy act by Jennifer Lopez has elicited divergent reactions even among her fans.’But watching this aggressively titillating performance from the comfort of his sofa, one of her adult male fans said; ‘’I was overwhelmed by the desire to hide my face behind the cushions. My 15year- old daughter, Elsa, watching alongside with me was even less charitable. Yuck! She shrievelled. She’s way too old to be doing that.’’

Ironically, thrice divorced Jennifer Lopez is surely not the only artist who wants to show global audience how sexier they are as singers despite their age. Madonna, who’s 56 also seems to be trying in putting her young rivals on the edge. She frequently appears on stage in her sheer bra tops that leave almost nothing to the imagination of the audience. Her regular stage costumes of fishnet skirts and suspenders flashing her knickers at the audience did not suggest otherwise.
“Still on the trail of nude female singers is 68 years old Cher whose latest dress to kill tour would have been dabbed Dress To Die Of Embarrassment. Cher recently performed in a sheer fringed body stocking with her modesty covered by pink sequinned nipple tassels. But unfortunately, it does not seem as though any woman of her age would want to flaunt her body in such debasing manner.
“Just last month, 44 years old Mariah Carey was reported to have worn a mini skirt that appears to show her gusset, while her ample embodiment was barely held in check by her strapless, jewelled bustier in a concert in China”.

Nigeria Female Entertainers Go Nude Too
From the music scene to Nollywood, Nigerian female artists seem to embrace this trend. Today, performing almost nude has become another way of showing how sexy they are. This openness to emotional susceptibility has demonstrated that the female artists have the emotional capacities to achieve their pursuit of sensual pleasures.

Available reports showed that celebs going naked is not exactly a new phenomenon. Last year witnessed more of them shedding their sensitive parts in the name of promotion. At the moment, Nigerian female celebrities nude photos inspire instant fascination from fans. With the likes of Singer Maheeda, Dencia, actress and Afrocandy model, Ify Jones, Tiwa Savage, Cossy Orjiakor, Tonto Dikeh, Ini Edo, the most beautifully girl in Nigeria [MBGN], Munachia Abii now rapper, Eku Edewor and others blazing the trial, the trend is on fire in Nigeria. Female celebs have a way of converting every advantage into an opportunity to display their attributes, be it on the red carpet or on instagram photo. This trend has assumed unprecedented dimension as these female artists crave to forge ahead in their career as actors or models. For a beginner, it starts with dressing half nude just like a test with one weary foot before committing the whole body.

Nude Maheeda spills iced cream and milk over herself. But the singer has dismissed her critics, saying ,‘’it’s deliberate. I know what I’m doing. The pictures are not targeted at anything. It’s all about attention and there’s no mistake about it. This business of music is called show business and I’m convinced I’m on the right track. I owe no apologies. I just realised this way will be faster hit than any other way. The pictures are working for me”.

In Churches Too
Not even religious temples are spared by women who opt to dress in the name of sex appeal. Today, women also dress up in sexy styles in churches. And they are causing sensation.
. The Archbishop Emeritus of the metropolitan See of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubumi Okojie attested this much in a recent gathering. “Most girls nowadays go around almost naked all in the name of fashion with the so called ‘’Spaghetti” or micro mini” kind of dresses. It is more disheartening when one finds mothers with the sacred parts of their bodies exposed, all in the name of fashion’’.
This trend which seems peculiar to new generation churches has become a sight too in orthodox churches known for their conservative disposition. As bizarre as it may sound, married women have joined the foray. On worship days, residents in the neighbourhood of Oregun in Lagos are treated to free eye watering view of sexy dressed female worshippers who throng the churches domiciled in the vicinity. One of the residents who gave his name as Ifeanyi Olise said, Sundays in Oregun is interesting.

“We feed our eyes with all manner girls who dress sexy and women alike as though they are in beauty contest trying to outdo one another in the house of God. But the most painful of this experience remains the married women, who too, want to show off how trendy they could be in their tight-hugging skirts or blouses”.

But in a swift reaction, a female worshipper in one of the churches who would not want her name in print told Saturday Vanguard that women must not risk losing their husbands to teenagers because they want to dress conservatively.
Lead us not into temptation
Pastors have had to restrain themselves from the tempting display of sexy wears by some of these women in churches. They are human and sometimes they fall to these temptations.

Nollywood Too
Apart from the romantic scenes which dot most Nollywood films, their sexy costumes have become another source of attraction. This trend is peculiar to renowned Actress as Tonto Dikeh, Mercy Johnson, Ini Edo and host of others. But the trend is global and they are just trying to keep pace with the changing world of entertainment. Why Going Nude?

For female entertainers all over the world, going almost naked shows how sexy they are. It helps promote their works and also elicits imagination from the fans. But for the old generation artists, as Jennifer Lopez and her contemporaries, they want to remain relevant in the industry that is fast becoming wild.

Most upcoming female artists who indulge in the act want to hit limelight in a jiffy which in turn could earn them mileage in terms of promotion.
Interestingly, a recent psychological study showed that men who regularly lust to view exposed breasts of women could live longer. According to the report, viewing the breasts arouses excitement that releases some hormones in men that make them live longer. Though much as this fact cannot be empirically verified, the much touted claim that laughter also promotes good health could attest to this claim.

In sports, Nudity is the game
In the exciting world of sports, nudity is part of the game. Female athletes dazzle fans with their skimpy wears. Apart from their sheer brilliance in the game, spectators fall over heels in sheer admiration of what they see.

From the tracks to the tennis courts, and from the beach volleyball to the gymnasium and to the swimming pool, the entertainment in today’s sports is also in fashion. The female athletes who, apart from their dexterity in the game, thrill the spectators with their skimpy sport wears and tight-hugging apparels attract admiration. This disposition of the female athletes adds colour to the entertainment they bring forth.

Besides the cheering of the spectators, the photo journalists go wild with their cameras clicking from every impossible angles in order to capture the ‘potent’ part of a female athlete. It’s part of the game. Hence, papparazis and photo-journalists would always take front-row seat awaiting any wardrobe malfunction or a slide that will show the full weight of what lies down under. Check out the likes of Serena Williams.

And the fans seem to be conscious of the fact that nudity sells in sports. A recall of how tickets to the female Beach volleyball matches at the London 2012 Olympics were sold at record prices in the first hour of being made public in the weeks before the global sporting extravaganza attests this. Surprisingly, most of those who bought front-row seats to watch these sexy beach volleyball ladies were mainly white-collar job guys.

In Nigeria, the queen of the track, Mary Oyenli Omagbemi, Olympic long jump medallist, Chioma Ajuwa, a host of other athletes of that time and now Blessing Okagbare had, in their various athletic exploits, given fans a lot to cheer. It’s all part of the game.




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