Postmodernists Are Especially Welcome at . . .
Hearty
VtNM is a no-charge, multi-site internet club
dedicated to
1) promoting the occurrence,
2) facilitating the viewing, and
3) exploring the meanings,
of visual presentations of the uncovered male body
in the fine arts, mass media,
popular entertainment, and daily living.
VtNM thereby aims to encourage
a positive appreciation
of men's richly diverse embodiment and physicality
in lived-experience, as well as in
scientific research and studies in the humanities.
VtNM sponsors several operations which house numerous galleries and
textual repositories. Thus, it serves as a clearinghouse for
materials--both written and pictorial--about the practices and imagery
of male nudity. It also provides forums for discussing issues related
to the subject.
At its various locations may be found hundreds of thousands of
pictures, in addition to many postings and documents, about matters
ranging from the iconography of antiquity to the erotica of Tom of
Finland, from nude outdoor recreation to spiritual disciplines
performed naked, from body decoration to working/performing/socializing
without clothing . Non-members may view some parts of these sites. At
each location membership is free and readily obtainable.
Headquarters on xxxRated Groups:
(emphasis on naked/nudist/naturist culture, as well as practices within
mass society including bathing, physical exams & inspections,
surveillance cameras, sleeping in the raw, skinny dipping, advertising,
pornography, festivals, sports, magazines, vacationing,
exhibitionism, saunas and steam rooms, streaking, body
shaving/ornamentation, comic and musical performances, etc.)
http://xxxratedgroups.com/group/Naked_Men/
Headquarters on Yahoo Groups:
(emphasis on contemporary paintings, sculpture, graphics, and fine art
photography and film, etc.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/visualizingthenakedman
Headquarters on World Groups:
(focus on mass media and popular culture, including many of the same
experiences and events cited above in relation to the xxxRated Group
Headquarters)
http://WorldGroups.com/groups/SpotlightingtheMaleNude
Annex on xxxRated Groups for the Fine Arts
(emphasis on the male figure in historical and contemporary painting,
sculpture, drawing, and fine art photography)
http://xxxratedgroups.com/group/ArtisticMaleFigure
Annex on Yahoo for Historical Male Art
(emphasis on painting and sculpture in both traditional & modernist
styles)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vtnmhistoricalmalenudeart
Registration with Yahoo, World and/or xxxRated groups is required to
join VtNM's sites hosted by them.
To register with Yahoo at no charge go to
https://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register?.intl=us&new=1&.done=http%3A
Registration with World Groups may be done by clicking "Join for Free"
in the banner at the upper right of http://WorldGroups.com No payment
is required but a credit card is necessary for identification and
age-verification purposes.
Registration with xxxRated Groups is accomplished by filling out the
free and easy User Registration form at
http://xxxratedgroups.com/logon/new-user/?uri=/
Viewable at VtNM's group sites are galleries of creations in various
media (paintings, photographics, sculpture, etc.) by contemporary,
avant-garde, folk, classical and academic artists. There are also
links, "chat" set-ups, bulletin boards, recommended reading and
viewing lists, and on-going written discussions about various topics
relating to the depiction of unclothed men in elite and popular
cultures, as well as about individual and group experiences carried
out in the nude.
There is a jumpsite describing VtNM's purposes with links to its
various sites on AOL at
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/index.html
There is a similar site on Geocities at
http://www.geocities.com/bodythinker/vtnm.html
VtNM's Movie Recommendations for "Best Performances by Actors in
Naked Roles" are at
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/movies.html
VtNM's General Book Recommendations are found in these listings "Male
Nudes Contemptuous of Chic," "Movies Make the Man," and "Stripping Men
in Visual Culture" at
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/books.html
VtNM's Recommended Reading of Recent Books about Nudity/Nakedness,
Nudism/Naturism are at
http://www.geocities.com/bodythinker/naturism_books.html
For VtNM's scholarly bibliography of writings pertaining to the male
body in Western culture go to
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/business.html
For VtNM's Directory of Yahoo Groups Promoting Male Nakedness go to
http://www.geocities.com/bodythinker/groups_directory.html
The instances of male nakedness which VtNM presents and reflects upon
may have happened long ago or just yesterday. They may be found in
painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, the graphic
arts/advertising, erotica, postage stamps, digitalized art,
cinema/theatre/performance art, body-painting and tattooing,
nudist/naturist practices and documentation, DVD/video pieces, musical
shows, medical instructional/diagnostic picturing, no/minimal-clothing
religious or athletic practices, and so forth.
Members may approach the male body from any number of angles, including
practical-functionally, historically, philosophically, theologically,
psychologically, sociologically, anthropologically, art-critically,
aesthetically, erotically, etc. and/or from various viewpoints
including feminist, gay/queer, Marxist, nudist/naturist, as well as
postmodernist/cultural studies.
All interested persons are welcomed irrespective of gender, sexual
orientation, age of adulthood, race/ethnicity, and background.
Writings reflective of VtNM's objectives may also be read or
downloaded at these locations:
The Male Body: All Over in the Altogether:
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/writing.html
Schlong Liberation:
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/index.html
The Classical Nude: Ideal Dead or Dead Ideal?
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/beautytips.html
Thinking about Human Nakedness:
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/garden.html
Art Comes from the Body
http://hometown.aol.com/heisnude/myhomepage/howto.html