| All around the world people are taking their clothes off for Peace. This may
sound trivial but it is not, as you will realise when you
read on. Have a look at the images and messages these groups
of people have created all over the world:
http://www.baringwitness.org
http://www.barewitness.org
http://www.sfheart.com/naked_for_peace.html
http://www.barewitness.org/photoalbum/photoalbum3.htm
BARING WITNESS - THE NEW PEACE MOVEMENT
By Paul Reffell
December 2002
PEACE - its such a simple word, but it has many connotations
in the current political climate. Youre either with us or
against us has become official national policy, and when
the us involved is bent on bombing somebody - anybody - to
make them pay for September 11, talking about peace could
be an act of treason.
So, it takes a certain amount of courage to speak out against
war these days. To speak out publicly, stripped of anonymity
and clothing takes even more courage.
On November 12th, forty-five women in West Marin County,
Northern California dared and bared all in protest against
impending war. Lying down naked on a field in the rain, they
formed the word PEACE with their bodies, spelling out their
convictions for all to see.
The photograph of theirprotest became the shot seen around
the world, once it hit the news wires and the Internet. It
has aroused passion and inspired women and men nationwide
to take action, speak their minds and express their frustrations
at not being heard by those in power.
Many of these new activists have never taken part in a protest
before. Some have never written an e-mail to anyone about
a political issue. Such is the persuasive power of the vulnerability
of the naked female body.
That power is seduction and it may be the deciding factor
in creating support for peace.
When the image of the PEACE photo was shown on CBS Sunday
Morning as a segue between news items, Charles Osgoods voice-over
was a respectful statement of the facts, but when he came
on camera, he said, Talk about a body of work. Then he turned
to introduce Bob Schieffer, who said, I was hoping for a
close-up. Many women were offended by these typical male
responses, but what do they really convey?
These are the kind of stock responses that men express when
they get together. They form a mask of bravado, which is
a survival tactic for men among men. What they really show
is the embarrassment most sober men feel when confronted
by public female nudity. Bob Schieffers body language - grinning,
his eyes down and head slightly bowed - revealed not leering
priapism but self-conscious uncertainty, even as he spoke
the words that he was expected to say. That is part of the
dilemma of appearing manly in America.
That uncertainty is a cultural, and possibly genetic, behavior,
which could be very useful in the continuing peace movement.
If men are publicly confronted by large numbers of naked
women protesting the distinctly male phenomenon of war, it
could begin a shift of consciousness, a re-examination of
motives and behavior. That just might tip the scale of public
opinion against continued international aggression as a substitute
for rational foreign policy.
That is the goal of the new peace movement; to gather large
numbers of women so that they can express how exhausted and
frustrated they are by the state of the world in mens hands.
If that means standing naked and unprotected, unarmed in
a violent world, they are ready to do it. No symbol of life
is more potent than the female body.
It is time for collaboration, for a more balanced implementation
of male and female energies. The male striving for knowledge
and invention has transformed the world for the better and
the worse. Our comforts are greater, but so are our effects
on the world that supports our very existence. The needs
of the modern world create greed for the raw materials from
which our needs are satisfied. Wars are fought under other
pretexts to satisfy those needs. It is time for the nurturing
influence of women to be felt more strongly.
As simplistic as it sounds, the movement can make our rulers
stop and listen, even if only for a second. That one second
could be the difference between their pushing the button
and listening to their hearts. They are still human. They
are still men. They have other ways of perception than women,
but they are not monsters. They have got carried away with
having their own way for so long. They are like spoilt, squabbling
boys with dangerous toys.
It is womans role to give life, to nurture and protect their
men and their children. When men are at war, either between
themselves or with Nature, they are unhealthy, unhappy and
in danger. That is the time for women to step in. That is
when it is time to shock men, stop them in their tracks,
turn them into embarrassed schoolboys, remind them of how
they all came into this world and make them listen to words
of consolation, healing and peace.
That is the time for Baring Witness.
http://www.baringwitness.org
From a similar action by men elsewhere in the USA As the photo session took place,
the act took on a somber aspect. One of the participants,
Jim Cameron, describes the scene as the men moved to take
up their assigned positions. “As we walked in a broken group
through the tall grass, I was deeply touched at the sight
of everyone against the hills, trees, sunlight and blue sky.
The group was composed of young college students, old hippies,
alternative culture folks and Viet Nam vets. But the sight
of everyone wading through the tall grass was so archetypical
and I guess reminiscent of the tragedy of war.” Once the
men were posed for the photograph, Mark Kamleiter, an attorney
and peace activist, was struck by the same symbolism. “These
bodies, pale and white, laid out, exposed on the ground resembled,
symbolically, the dead that the pending war with Iraq will
most certainly produce.”
This peace action was organized by Diane Cardin-Kamleiter
and Linda Pollini, two Green Party peace activists. It sprang
from a growing sense of urgency as this country rushes to
war. Despite at large peace demonstrations around the country,
the media has largely ignored the steadily growing peace
movement. Even the most conservative polls show that almost
half of the citizens in this county do not want a war with
Iraq, yet the mainstream media has neglected serious treatment
of the anti-war sentiment in this country.
What is sought from this daring act? That all those who see
these photographs stop and reflect on their meaning and hear
the message of Peace.
http://www.sfheart.com/naked_for_peace.html
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