Vermont teen beats humidity by walking naked in Montpelier

[Baseballfan]

http://blastmagazine.com/the-news/local-news/2010/06/vermont-teen-beats-humidity-by-walking-naked-in-montpelier/

Hot weather spurs nude walker in Montpelier, Vemont



Times Argus Staff - Published: June 29, 2010

MONTPELIER – What better way to beat the heat than…walk naked through the Capital City?

That was one 18-year-old woman's solution to the humidity on Monday afternoon, a tactic that turned heads and prompted a flurry of phone calls to the Montpelier Police Department starting at 1:26 p.m.

Police identified the woman and spoke with her but said there was little they could do from a law enforcement perspective.

"As long as they're not exhibiting any kind of overt gestures or communicating any kind of lewd act, then they're within their rights — if we'll use that word — to do that," said Sgt. Neil Martel of the Montpelier Police Department.

Police did not observe the woman doing anything that violated state laws or city ordinances, said Martel.

"We watched her and there wasn't anything going on that would have violated the ordinance," he said.

Martel said he had an officer go out and speak with the woman, whom he declined to name. "She just said it was a hot day, I guess, and she was taking a walk," said Martel.

The woman, who was accompanied by a male, made her way around the downtown, said Martel. She was reported on School Street and Main Street.

The nudity issue has come up in the past for Montpelier city officials surrounding the annual naked bike ride, which is allowed to happen in the city for the same reasons the pants-free pedestrian was allowed to saunter through the city Monday. Under the laws and ordinances, you can be nude outside but can't disrobe outside, said Martel.

[Wolfboy]

If i would do that here i would get arrested straight away, even if i would use "it is a hot day" as reason to the police officer...

[Steggsaurus]

i wonder if reaction would have been different had she been alone?  or if the situation were reversed (the guy was nude and she was dressed)?  or if they were both nude?  or if she was 40 and overweight?

in all those situations the law would not have been broken but i'm kind of cynical about how the general public view naked young women versus naked anyone else...

[brandon]

Those are all good questions. Even in liberal Vermont I think reactions would be closer to horror and panic than bemusement if the nudity involved anyone other than a youngish female.

My guess is that if a single male strolled down the street, at the very least, the police would demand to know his identity so they could run a background check. A single female might be stopped to see if she was on drugs or was a prostitute. A male running (i.e. a streaker) might be laughed off more than a male strolling down the street.

A group of nude people (or mixed nude and clothed) would probably be tolerated more than a single person or a couple. Couples, opposite sex or even same sex, would probably be tolerated more than an individual. A nude male with a non-nude female would probably draw more scrutiny than this case of female nude, male not, but would still be tolerated more than a single nude male.

Being young and attractive is definitely a plus when it comes to this sort of activity.

For an individual, having some sort of prop, such as a dog on a leash, an iPod, a backpack, a skateboard, a camera, or even an ice cream cone, would probably make the person appear less nude, and therefore less of a threat.

Even a weird hat, a tiera, or something equally odd might be helpful, because then the person would be identified as eccentric rather than a pervert.

[Steggsaurus]

A group of nude people (or mixed nude and clothed) would probably be tolerated more than a single person or a couple. Couples, opposite sex or even same sex, would probably be tolerated more than an individual.

that's an interesting point.

i mentioned this on another thread but on a recent trip to a club my friends and i left the club and went for a walk in the fields nearby.  4 guys and a girl, all wearing nothing but shoes and with no clothes or anything else with us to cover up with (so if anyone saw us we would be rumbled straight away).

we all pretty much agreed that if we did come across any other people out walking, we stood a much better chance of getting away with it because we were in a mixed-sex group. if it had been one of us alone, or even without the female member of the group, people might have got the wrong idea.

as it was we saw nobody but cows lol