Ban on Public Nudity Needed?

As a woman who has posed nude in public places and gone close to nude on public beaches, I understand people’s desire to be free of clothing. And I also understand the whole freedom of expression angle.

CNN reports on San Francisco’s ban on public nudity: San Francisco approves public nudity ban; protesters strip down.

“Supervisor Scott Wiener, who introduced the ordinance, disputed claims that the measure violates freedom of expression.

 "We're a city that believes in freedom, and we've always believed in freedom and free expression," Wiener told CNN affilite KGO. "But taking your pants off at Castro and Market and displaying your genitals to everyone, that's not free expression."

 But some nudists have filed a lawsuit claiming the ban violates their First Amendment rights.”

I can understand why public nudity could be a problem when there are kids around or when people are abusing the right, but overall I don’t have a problem with it.

If a person really just feels more comfortable nude and they’re not out there swinging things around or anything, what’s the big deal? Nude is our natural state after all.

I don’t think there are too many people who really want to go around naked in public anyway.

Do you think there needs to be a ban on public nudity?

Dressing Up is the New Stripping Down

There’s so much to love about this article on NBC News: From farmer to supermodel: China's latest fashion sensation is 72-year-old granddad.

It seems Liu Qianping, a retired farmer, was having fun trying on some of his granddaughter’s clothes for her shop when she decided to take some photos. What got passed around in fun turned into a viral sensation.

Now Grandpa is the model for his granddaughter’s online store.

“Most special is that I could do something for my little granddaughter. I feel fulfilled," Qianping said.

I love seeing people having fun with life and trying new things and not caring what others think. And when those people end up being celebrated and “seen,” it just makes me light up.

Stripping Down for the Camera

Cameron Diaz from STV

 According to STV, Cameron Diaz enjoys stripping down and posing for the camera.

She told The Sunday Times newspaper: ''It's empowering. I'm not some young girl with the photographer going, 'Will you take your clothes off?' I'm like [mimes stripping], 'How does this look?'

That is an interesting difference to point out. As a former model, I do know that I felt more comfortable posing in the nude for some photographers than I did fully dressed for others. The sense of empowerment comes from doing what I felt comfortable with and what I felt empowered to do.

Do most women think it’s okay for other women or themselves to pose nude or in a provocative way as long as the woman feels empowered by it?

Diaz went on to explain ''I think every woman does want to be objectified. There's a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think it’s healthy.''

What do you think about what Diaz says? I’m not sure that I would agree that “every woman” wants to be objectified. I think I understand what she is trying to say though—that many women want to be seen as beautiful, which might be different than wanting to be objectified.

Is there a way for women to have it all when it comes to feeling beautiful for themselves and being objectified by men?

Can these two desires actually work together? Or are those two different ends that cannot meet?

A Girl's Need to Feel: Purposeful, Accomplished and Special

I was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie when I was a girl; I read all the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then watched and rewatched the television series.

Another one of the series’ star came out with a memoir, MSNBC reports: Former child star reveals mom’s cruelty in memoir: "Little House on the Prairie" actress’ success fueled by pride, pressure from hermother.

Melissa Francis played Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on the hit television series. In an excerpt from her book, Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter: A Memoir, she talks about her childhood and her relationship with her mother.

“The day I won that part may have been the highlight of Mom’s life. Our two years on Little House on the Prairie were without question her happiest. There was no reason for me to talk back, or for her to take a scissor to my favorite shirt in front of me in response. I cried on cue, the adoration on the set enveloped me. Rebukes from Mom were short-lived, lest I show up for work uncooperative. But in truth, we were both so happy there was nothing to struggle over. She woke me at 5 am to make an early call and we worked well into the evening, but I loved the sense of purpose an acting job gave me, as well as the sense of accomplishment, and, of course, feeling so very special.”

What strikes me is how much what she says in the final line resonates with what I have written about and how I have described my experience in my teens: but I loved the sense of purpose an acting job gave me, as well as the sense of accomplishment, and, of course, feeling so very special.

Reading this in someone else’s words just makes me realize how important those needs are for some girls. And I’m wondering what we can learn from this description of young womanhood.

How do we give our girls ways to meet those needs, but in healthy ways?

How can we help our daughters to feel purposeful, accomplished and special through age-appropriate and beneficial rituals or activities?

I am not knocking acting for young girls; I think there are many good aspects of it. But I want to find ways for my daughter to feel all these empowering feelings without having to “perform.”

Baring All For Our Children

Please visit Alicia Kamm's new website, Born Ready Baby. She interviewed me for a piece, Mom Bares All: Now & Then.

Baring all, stripping down, seems like such an important task for women today. Especially as mothers. I want my daughter to not enter the world without knowledge or to be stunned when she loses her innocence.

It's a wobbly line I walk as I figure out how and when to talk to my daughter about my past. But I know it's so important to be honest and to present her with a good role model.

Celebrity Baby Scoop reports on actress Melissa McCarthy about how she deals with talking to her own young daughters about her issues in Melissa McCarthy: I Don’t Want To Pass On Negative Body Image To Daughters.

Mom-of-two Melissa McCarthy opens up about her weight in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping. ”Sometimes I wish I were just magically a size six and I never had to give [my weight] a single thought,” the Bridesmaids star admits. 

“But I am weirdly healthy, so I don’t beat myself up about it – it wouldn’t help, and I don’t want to pass that on to my girls,” she adds.

As moms we are so hyper-vigilant about not passing on our issues to our daughters, which I think is good.

If we're aware enough to understand what will probably affect our children, hopefully we're conscious enough to also be working on our issues for ourselves, too.

Are there any issues or bad habits that you worry about passing on to your children?

Proud to Be Wearing Clean Underwear

When it comes to positive body image advice, it sometimes seems like there's nothing new under the sun to add.

While that may be true, you never know when someone will spark a new can-do attitude in someone who's never come across that idea before. Or sometimes, just the way someone else presents a time-tested tip can be just what you need to hear.

Here's a  list of helpful hints from Yahoo Shine: 15 Ways to Get a Killer Body Image.

I like number 1:

1. Before you leave your apartment in the morning, take a moment to strike a ridiculous (-ly attractive) pose in the mirror. It's silly, but it's good to take a moment and remember how hot you are when you're just out of the shower and freshly primped for the day. 

Except I don't know if I always feel that attractive in the morning. Especially not when I'm just throwing on clothes to get out of the house on time with three kids.

And today I have a cold, feel depressed and achy. Let's see if I can somehow make myself feel beautiful even when I feel like crap and my primping consisted of putting on clean underpants and brushing my teeth.

What can we learn from the above photo of me as compared to the model in the pretty blue sweater at the start of this blog?

Well, first of all, I really need to wipe off the kids' fingerprint smudges from my bedroom mirror. And secondly, I may not look so "hot" in this photo. But seeing as I managed to clothe myself, deliver my kids to school, and come home to a heated house, I guess I'm feeling pretty good about myself today.

Sometimes body image takes a backseat to being proud of ourselves for just getting up and out there even when we're not feeling so "hot."

Yoga Girl

I stumbled on this video Yoga Girl, which brightened up my day when I was feeling stressed.

I've just been trying to figure out where yoga fits in with my life in the world today and how to modernize it and make it more applicable to my own life and myself as a woman.

This is a pretty funny take on a lot of the issues I have about yoga and women.

 

Dj Dave and Barney Kook bust an R and B inspired ballad dedicated to Yoga Girls all over the world.

Model Poses in Sandy's Destruction

Do people have no shame anymore when it comes to publicity?

Wait...this doesn't surprise me at all.

Publicity is all about doing something that gets attention. Model Nana Gouvêa got attention. Posing amid Sandy's destruction.

I like the Internet Memes that have sprung up showing Gouvêa inserted into different tragedies.

Alas, that just gives her more free publicity, which is probably what this was all about.

If this had been done in the name of Art (with a capital"A"), would it have made a difference?

Perhaps if there was a vision or a message being sent, I would think, yes.

What do you think? Can and should Art be made from devastation?

Lap Dancing is Not an Art Says New York Court

The AP reports that the courts have decided and the verdict is...lap dancing is not an art!

I had a feeling that his might be the finding, but what surprises me is how close the vote was; the vote was split 4 to 3.

It looks like Nite Moves strip club is going to have to cough up the back taxes they owe or get to choreographing those lap dances better. Maybe throw a few tutus on the dancers. You know, high-brow it up a bit.

What do you think? Should stripping or lap dancing be considered an art?

The Sun's Page 3 Topless Women Issue

Can you imagine the outrage if an American daily newspaper decided to start publishing photos of topless women inside their pages?

The UK's Sun has something called Page 3 Women, which is just that. Every day. Every page 3. A topless woman.

It seems like such a sad representation of our society that in this day and age topless women would adorn a news daily.

And I'm not a man-hater or anti-topless women. I think the nude body is a beautiful thing.

But I think there's a place for everything. And a daily newspaper that little girls might pick up and glance at is not the place for representing women as simply objects.

Check out my blog for the UK's Huffington Post on this issue: Former Topless Model Advocates Highlighting Women's Talents and Abilities in the Sun.

Living with Depression

Image of Sheila Hageman

Depression can be a very serious illness, which affects so many people in different ways.

I'm so relieved when I see depression being spoken about more openly in the news. The more we learn about depression and open the conversation to everyone, the more research and help will become available.

Here is my ireport for CNN on depression and how to live with depression we need to stop fighting it...

Read the story here...

Sexual Contracts Open Up the Conversation

My segment from Huff Post Live on sexual contracts ended up on the homepage of AOL.

Check out my interview: Has She Found the 'Key to Better Sex’?: Sheila Hageman claims a small relationship technique will lead to life-changing improvements -- and it can work for anyone. Method supposedly reinvigorates marriages

Stripping as Art? Life as Art!

I had a fun interview with Thom Hartmann on The Big Picture about whether stripping is an art.

I absolutely think that stripping can be an art, I really do.

There were times when I would really get into character and feel incredibly sexy and beautiful and put on an amazing performance.

But there were other days, other stages, where I felt belittled and demeaned where I could barely move my body.

I do think stripping can be done as an art, just as anything can be actually.

Unfortunately, we're all so busy just trying to earn our salary and make a living that we often lose touch with approaching living itself as an art.

Life can be done as an art. That is what I strive for.

When and Where is Breastfeeding OK in the Public's Opinion?

I wrote about Professor Adrienne Pine's breastfeeding in class for the Huffington Post: Breastfeeding Professor's Non-Incident Makes Headlines: When Will Moms Be Allowed to do it all in Order to Have it All?

Yahoo's headline made me think this professor was using the classroom as political statement: "Feminist Anthropology Professor Blasted for Breastfeeding During Class," but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Professor Adrienne Pine had a dilemma on the first day of her Sex, Gender and Culture class at American University in Washington, D.C when her baby had a fever and couldn't go to daycare. She didn't want her students to miss the introductory class, so she brought along her child to it. Her child did fine for awhile, but when she got cranky, she breastfed for a few minutes until the baby fell asleep.

Professor Pine never meant to make a statement. She was just trying to teach her class. Unfortunately, some students went to the college's newspaper, where they were all too eager to make it a story. Despite Pine's attempts to explain the situation and show what a non-issue this was, it has turned into headline news...

Read the rest at The Huffington Post...

Can Anything Be Art?

Painting by Richard Phillips from The Huffington Post

There's a Zen saying that goes something like this: How you do anything is how you do everything.

If that is true, is it not possible for just about anything to be done as "Art"?

After my latest Huffington Post blog The Art of the Lap Dance: As Told by a Former Strip Tease Artist, I’ve been thinking about this whole idea of art.

I mean, really—who gets to decide what art is or not?

Then I ran into this piece today: Lindsay Lohan, Adriana Lima Paintings By Richard Phillips: Are They Really Art?

The writer Michael Hogan asks some great questions about how we determine what is art or not in relation to Richard Phillips’ huge painting of celebrity women:

“You can call it a sad commentary on the way we live now, but is that on him or on us? If Phillips is holding up a mirror to our environment and all we want to do is smash it, whose fault, really, is that?”

Do you think it’s possible for anyone to do anything and have a grand “arty” explanation for it and that makes it art?

Or do you think Art (notice the capital “A”) must meet certain other standards?

Stripping Down #1 on Amazon for Free Kindle ebooks in Memoir

Image of Stripping Down Cover

Stripping Down is currently #21 in all free Kindle ebooks and #1 in memoir!

Thanks for your support everyone!

You can still download a free copy until Midnight!

Please download and let your friends know!

Stripping Down: A Memoir Free Kindle on Amazon Today

My book STRIPPING DOWN: A MEMOIR is free for Kindle on Amazon today!

Please download and let your friends know!

Why You Should Keep Writing and Not Feel Bad About Low Amazon Rankings

Credit: Chicago Sun-Times

Come on—admit it. If you have a published book you check your Amazon ranking on a consistent basis. Maybe not every day, but you keep an eye on it.

There are good reasons to keep tabs on your numbers—how else are you going to know if your publicity attempts are having an effect on your book sales? Or if your latest blog posts have sent people to your Amazon book page?

But don’t get discouraged when you are number one-million-something because just having a better-ranking does not necessarily mean your book is going to be a best seller.

Case in point: if you are anything like fired highschool coach Bryan Craig who wrote a 47-page book called “It’s Her Fault,” your excellent Amazon ranking will likely diminish once your fifteen minutes of infamy are over. And keep in mind that a good Amazon number does not necessarily mean the book is selling well, just that people are visiting the page.

Craig’s self-published 47-page, I hesitate to call it a book, perhaps booklet, which contains wisdom such as “the easiest kill for a man is through the young lady with low self-esteem,” sits as of now at #10,000 on Amazon’s best-sellers.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Craig’s numbers improve even more as his notoriety and curiosity spreads, but will it be because he has written the next classic tome?

Perhaps not—with such classic quotes as, “Women far exceed men in terms of brainpower” and “For some reason, I always find a trail of popcorn leading back to it being her fault.” Hmm…seems curious if women are so much smarter that all relationship problems would stem from us…

So the next time you are feeling like your book is unworthy, remember your Amazon ranking has nothing to do with your book’s vale or your worth as a writer.

Stay true to your mission and keep writing regardless of what the “numbers” tell you.

Minnie Mouse and Lady Gaga Want You to Know They Are Skinny

From Celebuzz.com

If almost everybody agrees that scary skinny isn't even pretty, then why do we still see that body image being presented to us as everyday as the ideal?

My latest blog for the Huffington Post looks at last week's examples of extreme Photoshopping and what it says about us.

Minnie Mouse and Lady Gaga Love Them Some Photoshop

How do you feel about beloved children's characters like Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck being made into skinny supermodels to hawk clothes for Barneys?

From Shine.Yahoo.com

And what about Lady Gaga? I thought she was all about us being proud of being "Born this Way"?

Do you think the Photoshopping of her Vogue cover sends the wrong message?

Mommy Makeover on The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda

I had a blast having a Mommy Makeover 

with Eve Michaels on 

The Today Show 

on Monday 

with Kathie Lee and Hoda.

Image of Sheila Hageman before appearing on The Today Show

After the initial consultation with Eve Michaels, author of Dress Code: Ending Beauty Anarchy, three other moms and I spent the day in Bloomingdales shopping for the perfect outfits.

Trying on another black dress

Flouncy

The old haircut and color

I have never spent so much time 

trying on clothes!

Theory Blue Leather Coat

The next day we spent at the salon with hairdresser guru Craig. 

Melissa hanging out at Maria Benito Salon

Mary Ellen warming up with hairdryer

Clarice

Monday morning at 6am we were at the Trump Soho getting into 

hair and make-up.

Sheila Hageman

Then off to Rockefeller Center to the studio.

Dressing room neighbor...the Jonas Brothers

I couldn't sit once in my dress, so we munched on grapes with Dr. Ruth and...stood around.

Clarice, Craig, Melissa, Eve, Sheila, Julie, Mary Ellen

After our segment we took more photos and then Nick and I headed out for lunch.

Rockefeller Center