Body in Mind is dedicated to fighting for beauty whenever and wherever it is attacked. Thus we support SuperBeauty.Org in their fight against injustice towards women and hatred of beauty around the world, and you should too. Visit SuperBeauty.Org to fight for the beauty you love. It might sound corny, but it's what heroes are supposed to do. -D.Bell (BiM founder, editor)

Britney bares all for Harper's Bazaar

June 28, 2006 - A newly brunette Britney Spears has posed for the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine - naked and six months pregnant.

She also appears both nude and wearing only a g-string alongside her nine-month old son Sean in a six page photo spread.

Spears has faced enormous criticism lately, for her choice of husband, her parenting skills, and for a recent interview in which she described herself as 'an emotional wreck'. But one thing she's done right is embrace her feminine beauty and celebrate it . We're hoping one day soon beautiful women will feel free to pose naked even when not pregnant, with the same spirit of glorious womanhood and an appreciation of everything that makes them divine.

For all your Nikkala Stott needs

Did you know that Body in Mind has more Nikkala Stott photos than any other publication in the world - even more than the Page 3 tabloids in Britain that made her famous? In fact, we've got more than all the other publications combined! More than Maxim, more than FHM, more than Perfect 10. And every month we feature a new nude lifestyle series with Nikkala. This time we watch Nikkala cool down after her workout. We've been adding intimate series like this for more than a year, with some amazing things yet to come. You won't believe some of the places Nikkala gets naked! In the meantime, enjoy this latest series by Michael White. And in the future remember, it's Body in Mind, for all your Nikkala Stott needs.

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Nude model draws crowd of 200

June 22, 2006 - More than 200 spectators gathered at the Picasso International Art Center in Chongqing, China a few days ago, to watch in respectful silence as a pretty young lady posed nude for artists. Some in the crowd sketched her, while others just 'peacefully contemplated' her. The model posed for half an hour, after which 'ardent applause accompanied her backstage'.The event was organized 'to demystify the human body and encourage artistic appreciation of the human form'.

Would that the whole world was this sane.

Swedish weathergirl suspended for posing fully dressed in magazine

June 21, 2006 - A TV weathergirl in Sweden has been suspended from her job for three months for posing for a photo spread in a Norwegian men's magazine - fully clothed. Tone Bekkestad posed for Slitz magazine's feature on Sweden's best looking women wearing tight jeans and an open blazer, with 'her cleavage partly showing'.

"...Her pictures in Slitz don't fit with what TV4 stands for." said a channel spokeswoman.

We think the photos are charming, lovely, and a delightful example of the kind of fashion women should be allowed to feel free wearing, even in real life, let alone a magazine.

We think it's no coincidence that the country with the most virulent beauty-hating feminists is also the country with the best-looking women.

Ya Yas for Ta Tas

June 17, 2006 - Fremont, Washington celebrates its 35th annual Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade this weekend. What's extraordinary about this family festival is the kind of floats that will be part of the parade.

This year, among the floats will be Ya-Yas for Ta-Tas, which will feature a group of bare-breasted women in a salute to breasts. In the same parade will be Salmon Bay School's float featuring kid's drawings, and Alternative School #1 and their peace doves.

No one has raised so much as an eyebrow about the presence of bare breasted women and kids in the same vicinity. Apparently the citizens of Fremont think it all good clean fun.

And so it is.

Girls banned from festival for baring breasts

June 15, 2006 - Two young women in Greenwood, Indiana were banned from a church festival for baring their breasts in order to extend their time on an amusement ride. The ride attendant obligingly extended their ride by more than 20 minutes. Both girls were banned from the property, and the elder was told she would be charged with trespassing if she returned.

Rev. Jonathan Meyer, a priest at the catholic church that sponsored the festival, said "it's a shame these young women didn't know the great gift and beauty they have as a woman. The body is sacred and holy. We should be sad for them."

We are sad for them. Sad that they are among on the only women out there who do understand the 'great gift and beauty' they have as women and are happy to use it in a funloving way, but that doing so has become a criminal offense.

Lovely Chinese blogger mixes fiction and nudity

June 12, 2006 - A female Chinese writer who claims to 'have much in common with Kafka' has started her own writing blog - on which she also posts nude photos of herself.

Dai Qin, a writer of 'romantic novels' has received two kinds of reactions from viewers: either crass sexual comments from "fans" who want to sleep with her, or outraged critics who make comments like "She can't say how she's like Kafka at all. He was a great writer and had nothing to do with a nude ass", or "She just wants to make a name for herself by stripping".

So far Qin has defended what she calls her 'charming' pictures. So do we. If nothing else, the blog comments show that negative attitudes towards intelligent beauty are still prevalent and in desperate need of changing.

Peta Waking

If you were an artist, or a cartoon animator, and you came up with a figure like that of Peta Todd's, you'd probably be told it was too unrealistic, and that no woman could ever look like that. Her breasts are sumptuously large, her waist tapers in gracefully, her legs are long and shapely. You'd probably be told to tone it down. But such a beauty does exist, in the extraordinary person of Peta Todd. She does it all with ease : a new mum, a nude model, a kind and lovely person. Waking up with her would bring sunshine into any man's life, and we're thrilled to share just a glimpse of what that would be like in our latest gallery of her by Michael White.

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Sunbather wins right to go nude in her own garden

June 7, 2006 - A 55 year-old woman in Cardiff, Wales was arrested for indecent exposure after her neighbors videotaped her sunbathing nude in her garden -but she was cleared of all charges by local magistrates who found that 'she intended no harm'.

Her neighbor broke out the video camera after he spotted her puttering naked in her backyard, claiming "I have been extremely shaken by this. It has been very upsetting and worrying. I don’t want to bring up my children in such an environment.”

Clearly he prefers to bring up his children in an environment in which the nude female body is considered a traumatic experience warranting the brutal force of law.

The Divine Feminine

By now there probably isn't a person alive who doesn't know about the Da Vinci Code, and how it's author Dan Brown makes a startling case for a married Jesus and the modern day descendants of he and his wife, Mary Magdalene. The story makes the point that the church has waged a 2000-year battle to keep the true nature of their relationship secret, and to 'protect' Christendom from such a scandalous idea. But why should it be a scandalous idea at all? Doesn't it make sense that an iconic figure like Jesus who was supposedly all about love would find the greatest love of all for himself? We think it's only natural that the feminine is divine, and that even a god would fall on his knees before a beauty like Arielle. Chris Ruegge does in his latest photo shoot.

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Michelle Marsh gets voted off X Factor

June 3, 2006 - Body in Mind model Michelle Marsh became the third celebrity singer to be sent home by Simon Cowell on England's X-Factor: Battle of the Stars.

Even though he had declared her version of Alanis Morrissette's Ironic "wasn't bad" and that "it actually surprised me", he cast the deciding vote to remove her from the show.

Michelle responded by accusing him of voting against him because she had rejected his sexual advances, saying "I kind of expected it since I turned you down".

Maria Dandelions

Ever wonder why women and flowers go so well together? For centuries, poets have equated lovely ladies with blossoms, and for just as long parents have been giving their daughters names like Rose, Daisy and Violet among others. Maybe it's because we see an instant metaphor for a woman when we see a flower: great beauty that's both meant to attract and which exists purely for its own sake; a kind of fragility and strength mixed together, in the delicateness of its petals and in its fierce determination to grow. And of course, flowers herald the coming of the spring, the rebirth of life after a cold, dark winter, a joyous celebration of life. Just like Maria does, in her field of wild dandelions.

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Check Out My Breasts.com

June 1, 2006 - A group called Rethink Breast Cancer has launched a new website called Check Out My Breasts.com, in which an attractive young woman goes topless to show women how to accurately examine themselves for early signs of the deadly disease.

The model demonstrates the proper techniques for self-exams, and does so in an engaging but completely serious manner. She shows no hint that there's anything untoward about a topless woman speaking frankly and intelligently, and we love her for it. Not only is she helping educate women as to how they can protect their lives, she's proving that a beautiful, articulate, topless woman can be a valued part of our culture.

For the love of women, check out Check Out My Breasts.com

Monika - a white dream

If there's one job that evokes instant envy among men, it's that of nude photographer. Imagine making your daily bread by spending the day with a gorgeous naked woman, who enjoys being nude and who makes every effort to show off her incredible body to its full potential . It must be a dream job, a piece of cake, right? Dream job, perhaps, but piece of cake, definitely not. It takes incredible skill to create images like Janosch Simon has with Monika. As tempting as it might be to just stare at her, or to ask her to pose in a more provocative way, Janosch accomplishes something that qualifies as true beauty: he focuses on the woman, not on how he or the viewer might feel about her. He makes her beauty the intention of the photos, and defies us to look at her any other way. Coupled with deft skills behind the lens, it makes for a stunning series of a sculptural beauty.

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Radio presenter fired for dressing too sexily

May 28, 2006 - A female radio DJ from London, England has been fired for dressing too sexily on air. 25-year old Lady Ray claims her boss told her her "skirts were too short and her tops too low".

"But I don't understand it, it's not as if any of the listeners can see me and my breasts don't speak into the microphone." she says.

We understand it, unfortunately. The mere mental image of a beautiful woman, the very thought of it, is often enough to bring out the beauty-haters' desire to hurt women. Even if her listeners could see her, SO WHAT????

Samantha

There's just something about Samantha. Maybe it's the cool intelligence of her eyes, the casual disarray of her long dark curls, or the forthright way she displays her whole body to us while challenging us to look at her face. But whatever it is, she has it, that elusive combination of beauty, intelligence and sensuality that captivates our hearts and minds. Samantha seems totally comfortable naked on the edge of the world, as though she owns it, and totally comfortable owning her beauty too. Let her own you here.

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Amazon - the world's first 'beauty video' is here!

Have you ever wondered who's the most beautiful woman in the world? We have. And to answer that question, we've created Amazon, the first ever beauty video starring Body in Mind super beauty Nikkala Stott. In spite of an amazing 6 year career as a top model, this is Nikkala's first speaking role in any film - finally we get to see and hear Nikkala - as she describes for us - and role plays - the many of the modern manifestations of the greatest beauty of all, the Amazon. More...

Preview, join and watch the video here.

"Nikkala is, physically, the ideal choice of girl to do this. Nikkala's height and classy facial looks give her "Godess" qualities." - Simply-Gorgeous.com

The Chronicles of Atlantis

"My mouth went dry as I stared at her. I had a camera in my backpack, I knew that I should at least try to get a photo of her, but I couldn't look away. I had never seen such a beautiful woman, so calmly, easily beautiful without a hint of shame or self-consciousness. Who was this magnificent woman? My mind raced with a thousand questions. What was she doing out here on this island in the middle of the sea? What was this place she lived in? And why did she look so fully dressed wearing nothing but a few strands of gold?" More....

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Testimonial

"Just joined BodyinMind.com after seeing it mentioned in the June 2006 (USA) issue of Playboy. WOW! I've never joined one of these sites before - and never thought I would. But sheer curiosity of the "fight for superbeauty" thing - had to have a look. No regrets. In fact, I almost fell out of my chair after seeing the galleries of your model, Cornelia. Even the "supermodels" pale in comparison to her. I get what you mean by 'superbeauty'." - P.H. (new BiM member)

Alena Skinny Dip

Remember those hot, hazy days of summer when you were a kid? You'd try to fry an egg on the sidewalk to see if what your grandmother said was true. You'd bike over to the corner store and slap your pennies down on the counter with grubby hands, and run off with a long slushy tube of colored ice. And if it was really hot, you'd peel off everything and go for a skinny dip, not caring about anything other than cooling off and having fun. Wouldn't it be great if a pretty woman felt free enough to do that too? Alena shows us what it would be like to live in that kind of world. Dive in here.

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Video Games: the last refuge of pure beauty?

May 8, 2006 - We're not particular fans of video games - but we're fans of beauty, and we appreciate it wherever we can find it. Increasingly these days, beautiful women have turned up in the cyberworld of video games, and increasingly they're sexy, strong, and a powerful force for good.

Lara Croft was probably the first one to achieve worldwide fame. Others, like Aeon Flux, followed suit. You can tell that these characters are created with pure beauty in mind, because when live action movies are made based on these games, only the most beautiful women in the world, like Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron, can pull off the lead role.

Video game makers are happily starting to run with the idea of bodacious babes saving the world. One example, among many, is Bloodrayne. She's a statuesque 5'7 redhead who seriously kicks ass. She's got emerald green eyes that will bore right into your sole, a killer body, and even wears various sexy outfits like "schoolgirl Rayne" while saving humanity from her evil vampire siblings. And she has a movie coming out May 26.

We'd love to see more live action films made starring these incredible women. We'd love to see more of these women period. At least they exist in video games for now.

So game on.

If you're in Toronto and you like classic pin-ups...

... you'll want to check out glamor photographer Glenn Specht's latest exhibition of his work featuring some of the top Playboy models, titled: The Pin-up, inspired by the glamour masters. The show is an exploration of the illustration during the 40's and 50's by some of the masters of the "cheese cake" or "pin-up" genre, such as Armstrong, Elvgren, Petty, Vargas, and Ward.

Preview some of the works here.

The opening reception will be Wednesday May 10th starting at 6:30 at 9 Davies Ave, Suite 311, and the exhibition runs from May 09 to May 14th.

Map with directions

Madonna goes topless for W

May 5, 2006 - Madonna is set to appear topless in a 58-page spread for W magazine.

Shot by celebrity photographer Steven Klein, the series will feature the 47-year old singer as an equestrian - wearing fishnet stockings, leather gloves and a riding crop.

"Madonna still looks amazing even though she is 47." a source said. "She has always been comfortable about showing off her body."

"In one (photo) she is dressed as an English horse rider, but there is a sexy twist as she has her boobs out."

Dreams can come true

The dream began the moment we first laid eyes on Nikkala Stott. It was the year 2000 and Body in Mind was a 3 year old site dedicated to featuring and commenting on the most beautiful images of women being created in the world's various media, movies, TV, magazines, the internet. But none of the images we ever found was as good as we could imagine creating ourselves. And we were dying to prove it. Then we discovered Nikkala on the 3rd page of the British tabloids, where models are regularly featured topless.

We were amazed that in spite of being perhaps the most beautiful woman we'd ever seen - and we've seen a lot - she wasn't world famous, and she wasn't really being used to her potential.

We knew then that our goal was to make Body in Mind enough of a success that one day we would make the kind of images we knew were possible with a model as beautiful as Nikkala.

Today Body in Mind has more images of Nikkala than any other website or publication in the world. And we dare say they are not only the very best of Nikkala, but the very best of any model, ever.

We have Nikkala to thank of course, and her spirited dedication to quality modeling. And also our photographer, Michael White, whose direct yet romantic style depicts a Nikkala we can't help love.

But mostly we have our dreams to thank. We saw our dreams in Nikkala. And now we see Nikkala in our dreams come true.

And if you're a Nikkala Stott fan, Body in Mind is your dream come true, too.

Dream the dream of Nikkala here.

"Every new Nikkala gallery seems to have a few pictures that make me feel like I'm in that world with her. It's a great feeling." - Ben (BiM member)

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Teacher fired over going topless for magazine article

April 28, 2006 - A boys' school teacher in England has been fired for appearing topless in a Cosmo magazine article entitled "How Normal Are Your Breasts".

In the article, 33 year old Kristina Howells discussed the 'uniqueness' of her 'small and different breasts", and how much she loves them because of it. She also discussed how a recent weight loss improved her sex life with her boyfriend. The school where she was a supply music teacher then informed her agency that her services were no longer required.

Cosmopolitan spokeswoman Caroline Wood expressed concern over this issue, saying "Cosmopolitan ran a responsible health and body confidence feature on the differing size and shapes of women's breasts. The increase in breast augmentation surgery, and concerns about health issues like breast cancer, make informative features like this one ever more important."

Cindy Margolis to pose nude for Playboy

April 26, 2006 - 2006 is turning out to be a banner year for famous women deciding to pose nude. The latest to join the bandwagon is Cindy Margolis, the reputed Most Downloaded Woman on the Internet, who will be posing for Playboy this year, at age 40.

Margolis, who has famously turned down Playboy and other chances to appear nude in the past, has said that she feels 40 is the perfect age for her debut nudes. "In the past it would have been for gratuitous reasons". she said. Now she feels it's empowering, and thanks the tv show Desperate Housewives for proving "you’re not dead just because you are married and have children."

"It will be fun to go up against the 20-year-olds and show them that they don’t have anything on me," she said.

Gillian Anderson to appear topless in new film

April 24, 2006 - For everyone who was in love with Agent Scully's cool, intelligent beauty - and let's face it, who wasn't - your dreams may be about to come true. Gillian Anderson is set to go topless in a new film.

Straightheads is a 'dark and twisted tale of revenge' from British director Dan Reed. Anderson stars with Danny Dyer as a couple who go on a rampage of revenge after being attacked on a country road. Release date is unknown as of yet, but the director promises that it will be one of the 'most talked about films of 2006."

We're already talking about it, thanks to Gillian Anderson.

Miss USA airs tonight

April 21, 2006 - Don't miss the Miss USA pageant, airing live tonight from Baltimore, Maryland at 9 pm on NBC. And if you want to get a sneak peek at the 50 candidates, check them out on Deal or No Deal at 8 pm on NBC.

Lauren Hutton beautifully nude at 62

April 21, 2006 - Lauren Hutton has posed nude for Big magazine, at the age of 62. And she looks pretty damned amazing, if you ask us.

The entire upcoming issue, called "Lauren Hutton: The Beautiful Persists" is dedicated to her career and includes eight non-retouched nude photos of the former 70's model. Hutton posed topless in 1974, and Larry Flynt once offered her $1 million to pose nude - making her one of only four women he made this offer to. But this is the first time fully nude photos of her have ever been published.

"I want (women) not to be ashamed of who they are when they're in bed," Hutton told Good Morning America. "Society has told us to be ashamed."

Bravery is beautiful

In our page on the things that make a woman beautiful we recently noticed that we left out perhaps the most important one: bravery. The model in our latest gallery from exclusive BiM photographer, Chris Ruegge, is Jess. Jess is not a professional model. She is just a regular girl who answered an ad to appear nude on a German television show. We always marvel at the bravery of some women, women who are brave enough to risk the derision and sneers of beauty haters in order to experience the joy of being admired by the beauty lovers out there. A lot of nude sites these days claim their models are amateurs when in fact they are almost all seasoned pros. Men want to see real girls so these sites lie to them to sell memberships. Jess is real. And her bravery is no lie. This is what makes her more beautiful to us than most of the seasoned pros out there. See if you agree here.

"Just  when I  thought  I  had  seen  the  best,  along  comes  Jessi. What  a  spectacular  body    with  beautiful  firm  breasts  in proportion  to  the  rest of  her  body.   Superb  photography on  every  shot.   This  is  art  at  its  very  best." - John (BiM member)

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Canada Post cancels topless stamp

April 18, 2006 - A Canadian photographer has had his customized postage stamps - featuring photos of his topless wife - rejected for being inappropriate.

Canada post offers a service whereby people can create customized postage stamps using their own photographs. But when Frederick Potter created some stamps using photos of his Ukrainian born wife Oleanna either topless or else in a bikini top with red maple leaves covering her breasts, the stamps were rejected.

"It's arbitrary censorship," he said. "Would a picture of a baby on a bearskin rug be considered child pornography? ... Where does it end?"

Oleanna, who came to Canada three years ago, posed in the Maple Leaf bikini as a tribute to her new country. But the company who provides the service claim they can't accept the photo due to 'flag etiquette'.

"I feel like I'm in a very conservative country," she said."We were just going to send it on letters to my family and friends in Ukraine. My family has a nude picture of me on their wall -- in Ukraine that's normal."

Her husband won't be submitting any more photos in the future. "Anything that's not distinctive to her is not worth owning," he said

What if Christ was a woman?

We at Body in Mind always think of Australian erotic artist Norman Lindsay at Easter. We're not exactly sure why. Maybe it was that irreverent drawing of a woman being crucified he did. That, and the fact that the nearest we get to a religious belief around here is our conviction in the goodness and power of female beauty and the need to see it celebrated with a holiday of its own. So many innocent women have been sacrificed to hatred and blindness - and are being so still - that we cannot be terribly moved by what happened to Christ. For us Easter is dedicated to celebrating women and THEIR power. After all, Christ was sacrificed over 2000 years ago, if at all, and is still being praised and revered for it. But where is the reverence and love for the multitudes of women being executed for their connection to a higher power - female beauty - today, and in the past? So today we get you as close to this kind of reverencial celebration. To our knowledge, it exists nowhere but in the works of Norman Lindsay. It is our great hope for the world, that this power and reverence for it, will be resurrected soon.

LINK

Vive le bikini: the two-piece turns 60

April 15, 2006 - In 1946, French car engineer Louis Reard, who had taken over his mother's Paris lingerie boutique, debuted a range of two-piece swimsuits made from just 70 cm (27 inches) of cloth.

"My bikini is smaller than the smallest swimsuit" he boasted, enjoying the scandal that ensued from producing a garment that showed a woman's navel - at that time banned as 'indecent' from Hollywood films.

The scandal was such that he couldn't even find a fashion model willing to wear it. He eventually persuaded Micheiline Bernardini, a nude dancer, to pose in it. But sales were slow, the bikini was called immoral by the Vatican and was banned in Portugal, Spain and Italy. It wasn't until Hollywood stars Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth were photographed in it that it became popular. By 1966, when Raquel Welch wore it in Life magazine, the scandal was largely forgotten.

And the name? Reard named it after Bikini Atoll in the south Pacific, where the US had recently tested a nuclear bomb. He thought it would set off 'an atomic bomb-like burst of excitement'.

60 years later, it still does.

How to get a girlfriend like Zuzana Drabinova

The Charmer. The chick magnet. The lady killer. Whatever you call him, he's the kind of man who makes women weak-kneed and makes men shake their heads and say "how the hell does he do it?". He is wildly popular with women, and never seems to have any shortage of them in his life. You probably even know one. He's not that great looking, he's not rich, as far as you know he isn't freakishly well endowed. But every woman within a five mile radius is putty in his hands, and you can't figure out why.

His secret? He loves women. More...

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Playboy Indonesia to stop publishing after offices are stoned

April 14, 2006 - Two policemen were injured and an office building damaged when 300 hardline muslim protesters stoned the Jakarta offices of Playboy last Wednesday. "We will carry out more attacks if Playboy refuses to stop publishing," one of the protest leaders said. The chief of police has since asked Playboy to leave Jakarta and stop publishing the magazine in Indonesia.

Playboy Indonesia features no nudity, only models in lingerie, and has no centerfold. The first issue sold out immediately, and some copies were traded for three times the cover price.

Indonesia currently allows the sale of many magazines that go farther than Playboy in terms of the sexual content of articles, and at least as far as Playboy in terms of the photos they use. Sidewalk vendors routinely sell sexually explicit movies, and the country, according to some reports, has a 'flourishing sex industry'.

So why is a magazine that features photos of fully clothed women under attack? We've said it all along; it's not sex that people hate, it's beauty. And the easiest way to destroy beauty is to start with porn, then with nudity, then go after the real target. It's beautiful women themselves, devoid of any sexual content or nude imagery, that brings out the most hostility, as the attacks on Playboy prove.

Moreover, the government of Indonesia has not only failed to defend Playboy's rights, it has joined the mob attack. It has sacrificed itself to mob rule. What now will stop mobs from throwing stones at women on the street? And will the government respond by jailing the mob or by forcing curfews and full body coverings onto women?

Seems pretty obvious doesn't it?

LINK

It isn't a sin for Christians to enjoy erotica and nudity in films

Body in Mind member and author John Solomon has a new book that argues that looking at and enjoying a beautiful female in a non-sexual way doesn't have to be a sin.

He didn't have to tell us that! But then we're atheists, rational beauty admirers, and we not only think it's not a sin, we think it's a downright virtue to allow a beautiful woman to inspire you morally, to make you want to live your life to the fullest. It seems to us that enjoying its most beautiful creation is something any decent God would want you to do.

But if you're a Christian, and you've got a lot of guilt or questions about the propriety of looking at nude women, this book will help you.

This book is available in paperback with samples on Amazon here.

LINK

Zuzana Drabinova: Super beauty retaking mainstream media

When Body in Mind began back in 1997 really beautiful women had disappeared from mainstream media. The cultural backlash against the success of the supermodels of the early 90s - the grunge movement and later the heroin chic style - had successfully replaced every single bodacious babe on TV and the movies with skinny little boy women, just as it had on the fashion runways of the world. Super beautiful women had only one place to go: porn. Jenna Jameson, Adele Stephens, Tera Patrick and Chloe Jones come to mind. Since then, Body in Mind has been on the forefront of a movement to return super beauty to the popular media, endeavoring to create a tasteful website - free of porn - where the most beautiful women in the world can make a good living. This week we watched our model Zuzana Drabinova make a splash onto the page 3 scene in Britain, a topless-only gig which may help solidify her tasteful nude modeling career. We hope so. The world needs super beauty everywhere, not only in porn.

"Wow, she has just started modelling on page 3 of the daily star and she looks even better nude. Her tits are awesome and she is so beautiful." - F.P. (BiM member)

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We don't hang 17-year-old girls for defending themselves, do we?

In Iran they do. On January 3, 2006, 17-year-old Nazanin was sentenced to death for murder by a court in Iran after she reportedly admitted fatally stabbing one of three men who attempted to r4pe her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in March 2005.

Iranian born Miss World Canada, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, has admirably made it her job to fight for her namesake in Iran by creating this petition to save her.

According to her site, "Nazanin is not alone, at least eight minors in Iran were hanged in 2005 in direct violation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child."

As long as people believe that female beauty is an evil, and as long as people give the benefit of the doubt to those who openly hate it, the laws of Iran or any country will always be unfair to women, and the people of those countries will watch their women killed unjustly, for it is out of hatred of female beauty that women are brutally killed, by single madmen, and by entire civilizations. Thus it is appropriate for one of the world's beautiful women, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, to lead the fight to save this girl. While most women in the world spend their wrath attacking the beauty of other women, they should instead be attacking those who seek their destruction, including the governement of Iran. We hope the women of the world learn from Nazanin Afshin-Jam that beauty is good, not evil, and that they should be fighting for it, not against it. Women hold their fate in their own hands. And the world watches to see if they will choose life, or suicide; beauty, or its destruction.

Which do you choose? To save it, or to let it be destroyed? It can be one or the other.

New Miss Iraq forced to step down over threats

April 10, 2006 - The newly crowned Miss Iraq, the first such pageant winner to be crowned on Iraqi soil in four years, has relinquished her crown after only four days, citing threats to her and her family from religious extremists. She has since fled the country for security reasons.

23-year old Tamar Goregian, the first Armenian Iraqi to win the title, stepped down after being threatened by fundamentalists calling her 'the queen of the infidels'. Neither the first, second or third runners up in the contest would agree to take the crown, for the same reasons. Miss Teen Iraq, a Christian named Silva Shahakian, finally accepted the title.

Pageant organizers were hoping to send a delegate to the Miss Universe pageant in July of this year, in order to "present a positive and modern image of Iraqi women." Instead, it sends a clear message about the negative and outdated reality of Iraq's attitude towards women.

But we applaud Miss Goregian for her insightful comments she made during her acceptance speech: "Maybe beauty is the final step to end violence and preach world peace after all".

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Maria is one of the most beautiful women of all time. Of that we have no doubt. At once a buxom blonde bombshell and a statuesque classical beauty. Marilyn Monroe and Elle Macpherson combined. An almost impossible thing to imagine if we didn't have Maria right in front of us gently and happily embodying it. Her unique beauty has caused a problem for many very talented photographers. Some manage to show off her body but don't seem to know what to do with her animated face and bubbly personality. Others get so distracted by her uninhibited sexuality that they forget she's incredibly beautiful just standing there. Maybe that's why the best photos of her are always by her husband and photographer Dmitry Kurapov. Dmitry has access to her 24 hours a day and can catch her at her most beautiful, which seems to be, when Maria is just being Maria. We hope you enjoy our latest series of Maria just chillin'. We think it's the most beautiful yet.

"Maria chillin' in the snow is HOT." - Boyett (BiM member)

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British beauties support their footballers in song

April 6, 2006 - Beautiful women and professional athletes have always gone together - and now some beautiful ladies in England are helping to spur their favorite footballers on to victory.

The reigning Miss England, Hammasa Kohistani, has written a sexy song to help support England's team in this year's World Cup. "Come on England (Time for Glory)" was recorded by Kohistani and four other regional beauties: Miss Greater London Jenny Velasquez, Miss Rugby Kate Solomons, Miss Oxford Eleanor Glynn and Miss Plymouth Angela Fluke.

"We've come up with a sexy song that we know all the lads will love." says Kohistani. "Recording it with a group of super girls was an amazing experience because we are supporting our English football team."

The song will be released on April 23, St. George's Day in England, but you can hear a preview sample of it here.

The White Witch

Anyone who has ever explored the unknown knows that it's at the very edge of human knowledge, human experience and man-made maps where all the truly exciting things are waiting to be found. For example, C.S. Lewis's story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe upon which the recent feature film was based hid a magical world at the very back of a huge old wardrobe closet. Such discoveries await us in real life too, thanks to the White Witch of nudes, Muse. Muse is an extraordinary model and actress who has created and rules her own world of fiercely romantic, fearlessly artistic nudes, a world waiting to be discovered by anyone who prefers to look past the cliched and the obvious to find what's deep and true in life. Explore Muse's magical but very real world here.

Hatred of beauty masquerades as love of women

April 4, 2006: India - A senior leader of the right wing Shiv Sena party, Pramod Navalkar, is among those legislators upset by some accidental female nudity at this year's Bombay fashion week and is demanding a full government inquiry into it. "In these fashion shows the majority of the body was exposed and very little was covered," Mr Navalkar told the BBC. "Such exploitation of a woman's body for commercial purposes is not acceptable to us."

This is yet another pathetic example of politicians who hate and attack female beauty slyly pretending to do so out of concern for women. Have a look at this quick search of an Indian newspaper for a long list of examples of Indian women being butchered and killed by husbands and families seeking to extort more dowry from the ladies' families. And then ask yourself why those people who are 'outraged' by half naked models aren't complaining about women being literally killed for money.

The truth is that those upset by nudity are not concerned about women at all, in fact they are upset only because some women were able to freely express their beauty. It is every women's (including fashion model's) inalienable right to use their beauty as they like. Those who hate female beauty are only ever happy when women are forcibly - and often violently - kept from using it. This is why they don't mind women being mutilated and disfigured but are absolutely outraged by a little exposed skin.

We think there should be a government inquiry into the true motives of such people. It would reveal that there is nothing more hated in the world than female beauty and the women who use it. And noone more dangerous to women than beauty haters.

Our members speak

Something simple this time. Rather than yet another clever way to look at female beauty, instead of something philosophically profound, for our gallery of Dasha, a brand new model, we thought we'd simply let our members, who have just seen this gallery tell you about it. Our members are some of the most amazing people we know, always thoughtful, always direct, and always holding onto a real reverence for beauty and the women who possess it. We're as proud of them, as we are of our models, our photographers and our photos. Thank you everyone! It's a joy to run this site for you. - D & L

"This has to be one of the very best series. A beautiful model, a great variety of poses and an excellent photographer. What more could one ask? Dasha is a girl to be treasured!" - John (BiM Member)

"Dasha, of perfect classic proportions, and all perfectly natural. What a joy to behold!. A nice smile tops off the 'perfect' model. Great photography from Dmitry [Kurapov] combine to give an altogether excellent gallery. I hope we see more of this team, perhaps some outdoor work?" - Roger (BiM member)

"Great Photos.  Great model.  Great body.  Best feature - those eyes!  You could drown in those eyes." - Arthur (BiM member)

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Forgotten Heroines: Ruth Bernhard

The world of nude photography has seen its share of famous artists: Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Mario Testino, Patrick DeMarchelier, the list goes on and on. But among these household names we'd like to add that of a relatively unknown female photographer, Ruth Bernhard.

In 1929, at the age of 24, Ruth began her photography career as a darkroom assistant and pursued her interest in various subjects that fascinated her: architecture, fashion, still lifes. But it was a chance meeting on a Santa Monica beach with photographer Edward Weston that convinced her that photography could be art. She continued to study with him, and eventually became famous for her sensuous, elegant female nudes.

She herself says it best: "If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual twentieth century... woman has been the target of much that is sordid and cheap, especially in photography. To raise, to elevate, to endorse with timeless reverence the image of woman, has been my mission - the reason for my work ."

Sharon Stone reveals all in Basic Instinct 2

March 30, 2006 - Joining the list of Hollywood stars like Jennifer Garner and Selma Hayek, Sharon Stone appears fully nude in the new movie Basic Instinct 2. The 48 year old actress admits "It's pretty easy for me to be naked" and actually encouraged the director to shoot more provocative sex scenes for the film.

It was her breakout role as Catherine Trammel in the original Basic Instinct that earned Stone her reputation as an actress who was more than comfortable with nudity and sexuality. Her leg crossing scene - in which she wore no underwear - is legendary among movie moments. She says she fails to see why nudity is such a 'big deal', and that "I'm a person who feels that if it's appropriate for the character I'm playing or the mood of the piece, then it's no big thing."

in an age where images of youth seem to dominate the culture, we're delighted to see such a strong, sexy, intelligent woman representing the beauty and sexuality of older women.

Nude Beauty Week in Moscow

(RPS) MOSCOW In a bid to increase toursim to problem-plagued Moscow, city officials have announced a novel new tourist attraction: Beauty Week.

For the next seven days, scores of beautiful women will walk throughout the city completely nude. Gorky Park will serve as a kind of "Beauty Central", where visitors to the city are invited to talk with the women, pose for photographers or invite the women to model for photos of their own. In other parts of the city, the ladies will stroll through the streets, go shopping, dine at cafes... More...

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Body in Mind news: now available in 43 more countries

March 29, 2006 - Body in Mind is pleased to announce that our memberships are now available to subscribers in the following countries:

American Samoa, Argentina, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Greenland, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mongolia, Montserrat, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea,Paraguay,Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia-Montenegro,Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen.

Jennifer Garner's naked Sabbatical

March 24, 2006 - First Selma Hayek, now Jennifer Garner. For everyone who's spent the last few seasons of Alias - or the entire movies Daredevil and Elektra - imagining what Jennifer looks like naked - you're about to find out.

Garner is set to star in a new erotic thriller called "Sabbatical" in which she plays a woman who takes a break from her marriage, but returns to find her husband has disappeared. And she will be naked at some point in the film, showing off a newly-trim post-baby body.

We hope this is a ongoing Hollywood trend: smart, sexy women willing to share their beauty without the fear of damaging their careers.

Wardrobe function

The FCC recently upheld a multi-million dollar fine against CBS for giving airtime to Janet Jackson's breast. Laws in Daytona, Florida were recently upheld allowing public nudity for women. Nude dancer Melissa Harrington was recently ticketed for being topless. Salma Hayek appears fully nude in her latest movie. A nineteen year old Polish woman was expelled from the high school for posing for Playboy. The battle over women's bodies continues. Some people want to see them naked. Others don't. Who will win? Fashion designer Vivien Westwood said the function of fashion is about eventually being naked. Let's hope she's right. This is certainly true in our model Viktorya's case. Her wardrobe functions perfectly as it slips right off her body in today's gallery by Voronin. And stay tuned for more news on this subject in the days to come. We're all pulling for those women who want to use their bodies as they please. When they win, we win.

Check out this drawing of Viktorya hot of the drawing board of our favourite artist, Eric Wallis.

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Selma Hayek goes completely nude in new film

March 21, 2006 - For all those who have waited patiently to see sultry beauty Selma Hayek nude, your patience will soon be rewarded.

Selma has just filmed a full frontal nudity scene for her new movie, "Ask the Dust", about a Depression-era Mexican waitress who wants to marry a rich American but who falls for an Italian writer, played by Colin Farrell.

When asked about the nude beach scene, Selma replied “I don’t want to do nudity for the sake of doing nudity. But this is an iconic part of the story (from) the book. It’s important because it represents [Camilla’s] spirit, which is very free, and yet she lives in a world where she’s very repressed by the circumstances. So [the nudity is] almost symbolic for who she is.”

The incomparable Bettie Page

March 20, 2006 - The kitschy straight cut bangs, the campy costumes, the legs that wouldn't quit. If you don't know who Bettie Page is by now, you probably will soon.

Bettie is perhaps the most iconic of fifties cheesecake models, and is even more popular today than when she was young. After growing up in abusive family, and losing out on scholarship dreams because of it, Bettie Mae page of Jackson, Tennessee was discovered by an amateur photographer strolling the beach at Coney Island, and the rest is history. Using costumes she sewed herself, and with her attitude that "being in the nude isn't a disgrace unless you're being promiscuous about it," she quickly became a worldwide sensation, inspiring everything from fan clubs to action figures to beach towels. And, as she adds, "thirteen rock groups have written songs about me".

In the last five years, the now 82-year-old's website has attracted 588 million visitors, and she is in demand for autograph sessions now that interest in her continues to soar. A new film about her life, called "The Notorious Bettie Page" (she objects to the word "notorious") starring Gretchen Mol is set for release on April 14.

Bettie has had her ups and downs in life, and now lives quietly in California taking comfort in her bible and in her role in shaping the sexual revolution of the sixties. Sadly, the woman who became famous smiling for the camera no longer allows pictures to be taken of her face.

"I want to be remembered," she says, "as I was when I was young and in my golden times ... I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."

We love you Bettie. You'll always be beautiful to us.

Fresh, hot and delicious

Did anyone notice that the guy in this series of Nikkala having lunch is the same guy who was giving her directions when she was driving topless and lost her way? Did you also notice he's her mailman? And on top of all that she invites him to lunch out of gratitude for all his help! It would seem fate is smiling on this fellow something fierce. Sometimes fate does that. We wanted to show you this series of nude lifestyle photos of a Day in the Life of Nikkala because Body in Mind is all about achieving your dreams in life. It's about allowing the power in female beauty to inspire you to morality and personal greatness. And for those who think such things as this can't happen, let me remind you that I was once a guy sitting in his apartment eating pizza alone and dreaming of working with a model as amazing as Nikkala. And today I am. It took a hell of a lot of work, but it was more than worth it. So the next time you've got a piece of pizza in your mouth, imagine the one sitting across from you is a beautiful woman like Nikkala. And then do what it takes to make it true. Don't ever underestimate the power and morality of beautiful women. You rob yourself when you do. Enjoy this gallery and remember your dreams.

"Image 63 is the single most heart stoppingly natural photo on the site. Worth the price of entry for that shot alone. Thanks!" - BiM Member

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Portia De Rossi hits new low

Apparently she is now suggesting that her skinny Ally Mcbeal co-stars like Calista Flockhart gave her anorexia. Can you imagine how Calista Flockhart feels being blamed for giving someone a disease? Anorexia is not caused by idealizing thin women. It's caused by a severe lack of self-esteem, which can be caused by any number of things. Thin women have never been shown to be one of them, not in any study, ever. There used to be a time when actresses desparate for a come back would expose their bodies in Playboy. Today they expose their most personal and embarrassing secrets to the media. We prefer the Playboy method. At least it has some dignity.

Topless in New York...and on NBC

March 17, 2006 - Today's edition of NBC's "Today" show featured a segment on photographer Jordan Matter, who "seeks to challenge the taboo issue of women's bodies". To that end, he has produced a series of photos of women topless in New York City. NBC aired the story with 22 screen shots of pixelated nudity, and featured a seven-second clip of a woman skating topless.

"Challenging this inequity between the sexes is the purpose of my work." he says on his website. "There has been a recent shift in America towards a socially conservative philosophy, so right after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at the the Super Bowl, I started asking women to appear topless in New York City".

Matter's images feature a cheerfully brave group of women going about their business in the Big Apple, like feeding the pigeons, window shopping, and one young lass proudly wearing a green skirt - and nothing else - behind the barricades at the St. Patrick's Day parade. These public displays of toplessness don't seem to ruffle any feathers from others in the background of these photos, and indeed the majority of those interviewed by NBC about it were in favor of it, one man calling it "art...good art".

Dutch government defends beauty in new immigration video

March 16, 2006 - "To the Netherlands" is a new film produced with the express purpose of warning would-be immigrants, specifically Muslims, that if they want to move to Holland, they had better be prepared to see things that their religion or countries of birth might not allow. The film features an attractive woman sunbathing topless, while the narrator says "People do not make a fuss about nudity". It also points out that homosexuals have the same rights as heterosexuals, including the right to marry, and to drive home the point, shows two men kissing in a meadow.

New immigration policies also place requirements on age and income in order to stop the influx of underage Muslim women brought into the country for arranged marriages.

The point of the film is to help curtail the recent spate of violence that saw the murder of an anti-immigration politician and a filmmaker who produced the controversial film "Submission" about Islam's often barbaric treatment of women. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (our personal heroine here at Body in Mind), the female member of Parliament who wrote Submission, and who had to leave Holland temporarily because of death threats over it, has defended the new film saying "The film is meant for people not yet in Holland to take note that this is normal here and not be shocked and awed by it once they arrive."

It's refreshing to see a government take such a moral stand with the aim of protecting its citizens, and we applaud them.

Peta Todd's pregnant pause

I can always tell when a model is going to be hugely successful. Always. I've built Body in Mind on it. Nikkala Stott, Laetitia Casta, Giselle, Michelle Marsh, Keeley, I predicted them all. Last year, when she first appeared on Page 3, I predicted Peta Todd would also become a big star. Then, barely months into a skyrocketing success, she left the industry to have a child. Well she almost left. She has posed exclusively for Body in Mind these last several months and has given us some of the most amazing photos we've ever done. She has single handedly helped us create a new aesthetic in female nudes - the expectant mother. We recently chatted with Peta about her life, her career, her body, and her baby. We think you'll find her every bit as candid and charming as we do. Will she become a star? Hey, around here, she already is. More...

"I am astonished at the beauty of Peta in the window shoot while she's pregnant. Give my congratulations to Michael White." - BiM Member

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The Figure in Nature: beauty by Dave Levingston

March 14, 2006 - Taking pictures is not as easy as it seems. Taking good pictures is even harder. Taking beautiful, sumptuous images of nature that feature beautiful women is perhaps the hardest of all. Many photographers make the mistake of thinking that the only requirement for a good photo is a naked woman standing amongst the trees - but when you see the work of Dave Levingston, we're sure you'll agree that there's a considerable amountl of artistry and vision that goes into making a truly beautiful image.

The Figure in Nature is photographer Dave Levingston's new book of photos, which feature stunning examples of women photographed amongst natural wonders from California to Maine. The photos have an ethereal, almost spiritual beauty about them, and Levingston has the gift of being able to make each model seem like a goddess. Far from looking 'lost in the woods', the women in his photos appear timeless, wise even, as though he were capturing the legendary women of myth on film.

It's always a delight to find a photographer who celebrates the female form and takes such care to frame her in such beautiful surroundings. We hope you'll agree.

Prettier than spring and twice as delightful

Nothing brings us more pleasure here at BiM than the incredible beauty of women. This is why it is such a delight to bring you these photos of brand new model Lana by new BiM contributing photographer Stiv Rang. It's hard to express how wonderful it is to see images of a happy young woman enjoying her own beauty perhaps as much as we do. The rapturous smile on her pretty face says it all. Lana is exhilarated to be young, beautiful, free, and admired. There is not a trace of shame or self-loathing. She is perfect, and happy. It is a rare moment of pure love for what is uniquely human, and we're all lucky indeed to witness something as beautiful as this.

"I've just fallen in love with Lana, the latest model to feature on Body In Mind, what a beautiful young lady she is. I must have sat here and gazed upon her photographs for the last thirty minutes completely spellbound, time has just slipped a notch for me. Her beauty has made me blush, I must admit to being taken by surprise by this young lady's looks!!" - BiM member

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Strip into shape

It used to be that if you said the word 'stripper', women would cringe and wrinkle their noses and express disdain for the whole profession. Nowadays, though, a whole new industry has sprung up around the proverbial brass pole: strip aerobics.

Health clubs all over the country are featuring classes that help women bump and grind their way to fitness, and we think it's a hell of a good thing. Imagine women have fun with fitness, instead of maniacally aerobicizing their way into smaller and smaller dress sizes. Imagine women celebrating their sexuality, finding new and fun ways to entertain their men at home and make themselves feel vibrant and feminine. With sexy stars like Carmen Electra jumping on the bandwagon with instructional DVDs, it looks like the true spirit of stripping - women reveling in their unique beauty and moving their bodies in sensual, pleasing ways - has finally earned a little respect.

Of course, not everyone thinks this is a good thing. There'll always be some spoilsport to shout 'what about the children?' like this personal trainer who thinks "cardio tease" has no place in a "family facility" - but we like the idea that women are finally being allowed to remember where all these families come from: women's own special power to mesmerize men through movement and beauty alone.

Model ticketed for public nudity again

March 9, 2006 - An exceptionally beautiful Lincoln, Nebraska internet model who was fined for posting nude photos of herself taken in a local bar in 2003 has been ticketed again, for "showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering on any part of the areola and nipple". Melissa Harrington was hosting a wet t-shirt contest at another local bar, when police officers saw her hosting the show topless. They didn't issue her a ticket at the time, agreeing with her that since her nipples were covered with a pink paint, she was 'covered'. She was later issued a ticket and has a court date for April 13.

Harrington vows to fight the ticket "all the way to the end", because they "harass me all the time at my promotions." She also added that she has no plans to change her behavior at future events because she isn't doing anything wrong. We agree. Melissa is the victim of a disturbing trend in U.S. law enforcement of late towards harassment of grown women for using their beauty in harmless and usually legal ways. Support her fight by joining her site, here.

Photos more powerful than porn and more uplifting than art

No two photographers we know have done it longer, or better, than Robert Base and Dieter Wegner of VIP Nudes. For example this photo of 3 beautiful women standing proudly nude in the full sunlight of a dying day. It perfectly captures the mood of our civilization, and the choice we face: we can admire women in all their glory or we can denounce them with all our might, destroying the whole human race in the process. Seems kind of silly but such is the world we live in these days. Those who denounce women, their bodies, and their beauty forget one very important fact - we cannot survive without them! But these 3 proud beauties seem to know it. They know that the beauty of women is more powerful than porn, inspiring us not just to sex, but to love; and that it is more uplifting than art, inspiring us not just to admire, but to be admirable ourselves. Do you respond to beauty this way? Base and Wegner do. That's why they are VIPs. You may be too after enjoying this best-of selection of their photos, only on Body in Mind, and VIP-nudes.com.

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Hatred of Beauty example # 7,098,892,408

March 6, 2006 - Hatred of beauty has cost women their jobs, their freedom, and everything else of value, sometimes their very lives. Now here's a case in which being beautiful has cost a woman an education.

A nineteen year old Polish woman was expelled from the high school she was attending - for posing in Playboy.

Sylwia Preiss is now attending a private high school paid for by the magazine, since the local education authorities upheld her expulsion on the grounds that her "action could have a negative effect on other students".

The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection has said he will examine the case closely.

More MILFs?

Our latest series of the voluptuous and fun-loving Alena by Chris Ruegge reminds us of a time during adolescence when our attentions turned to our best friend's beautiful and sexy mother. There is a time in almost all young men's lives when they find themselves unexpectedly attracted to a much older woman. Today we call them MILFs, a very cynical word for women who inspire what is really one of the most innocent and delightful and mature feelings a boy can have - love and admiration for a grown woman. Unfortunately our society worships youth to such a degree that it's almost impossible to use the word 'mature' without conjuring up the image of a 60 year old, but the fact remains that when our best friend's mother allowed us to get a good look at her naked it made us feel mature for the first time in our lives. We hope this gallery of Alena lets you remember this feeling too. We need more MILFs in the world, because we need more boys who want to be men.

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Another beauty defender speaks up

Sometimes being defenders of beauty is a lonely job. Faced with the constant onslaught of right-wing types and religious nuts who shamelessly denegrate the human body and anyone who likes looking at it...well, it can wear on a person's soul. Is there anyone out there listening to reason? Or is everyone gripped by the greatest perversion there is, the unquestioning, unimpeachable belief that nudity means sex and sex means evil and evil is what we all so clearly are?

Well, at least one young man out there has restored our faith in the goodness of humanity and the rationality of the human mind. Dustin Chase Jasmer, a columnist with Utah's Weber State University, has written an intelligent, positive discourse on the value of the human form and the glaring injustice of a culture that blithely allows graphic violence and murder to permeate the airwaves but launches lawsuits over the briefest glimpse of Janet Jackson's breast.

"We need to realize violence is more harmful than sex. When a breast is shown on television, we need to realize it is a beautiful life-sustaining organ and not a portrayal of filth like the right would have us believe." says Jasmer.

Here, here, Dustin. Thanks for speaking up.

Forgotten Heroines: Artemisia Gentileschi

History hardly ever remembers women painters, so much so that few people even know that women painters existed before the 20th century. But among the masters of the Renaissance lived an extraordinary woman: a gifted artist who defied a r4pist, made her own living from painting strong female characters, and became the first woman to paint other women in the nude.

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593, the daughter of a well known artist. Her father provided her early art training, and when the art academies later rejected her, she continued to study under a friend of her father, Agostino Tassi.

Tassi r4ped Artemisia, and her father brought suit against him which resulted in a well-publicized 7-month trial during which Artemisia was tortured. Tassi accused her of being an "insatiable whore", denied r4ping her even though witnesses retold how often he boasted of the act, and was ultimately convicted of r4pe. He served a year in prison, but the assault deeply affected the nineteen-year old Artemisia. Her subsequent paintings depicted women vanquishing their attackers, or else portrayed strong female characters, like the biblical Judith or Cleopatra, in new, innovative ways. She is credited with being the first woman to paint nude female subjects, something that was permitted only for male painters up until that point.

Artemisia died in 1652, after a cosmopolitan life in the English court of King Charles I and after receiving much praise from fellow painters. Epitaphs on her death made no mention of her art, though, and instead featured sexual terms that cast her as a nymphomaniac and adulterer.