Illustrating the swinging pendulum of bodily modesty through the ages, she takes us on a journey from the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Babylon, through the birth of Christianity and Islam, to the lax morals of the medieval period and the bawdiness of Chaucer and Shakespeare to the clampdowns of the Puritans and later the Victorians and, more recently, to the re-veiling of the Middle East and the purity pledges of modern-day America. She ends with a plea: feminists must unite to challenge the repression of the female body, as only then can women be truly free.Ĭonvincing analysis of the causes of and the harm to women from the “modesty cult”ĭrawing together historical and contemporary evidence from around the work, in easy-to-read Naked Feminism Victoria Bateman argues convincingly that the “modesty cult” harms ALL women. In Naked Feminism, Bateman makes a compelling case for women’s bodily freedom, and explains why the current puritanical revival is so dangerous for women. She has appeared naked on national television, on stage, in art and at protests – using her body, as well as her brain, to deliver her message. Is it right that, despite the promises of feminism, women’s bodies remain at the mercy of state, society and religion? Should a scantily clad woman, or a promiscuous one, be worth less than a fully covered woman, or a chaste one? Are being sexy and being smart really mutually exclusive? Can a woman be both body and brain? Victoria Bateman has confronted these questions with actions as well as words.

Naked Feminism by Victoria Bateman