Pride: It’s Not Just About Being Gay… It’s About Being Naked.
For those of you who managed to miss the Gay Pride celebration this weekend, it wasn’t just one of the best parties of the year, or a celebration of the recent strides in the marriage equality movement. It was also some of the best people watching ever. One of the very first performers I saw was a very expressive, half naked woman named “Licious”. She was dressed like a hooker and gyrated on stage to some pre-recorded music. She wasn’t what I would call a “talented” or “trained” dancer, but she was most certainly a pro. Here’s the amazing thing about Licious. She absolutley blew me away. She lifted her “skirt” and revealed all of her bootilicousness to the crowd. This woman was not what most people would consider to be classically pretty. Her ass was a real ass. It was big, it jiggled with cellulite and was covered in stretch marks. There she was, unafraid, unashamed and proud. That was the thing, she really was proud. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t ashamed. She took it to a new level.
Licious was by no means the only naked or barely clothed person at Pride. It’s one of those festivals where for some reason people who one would never consciously choose to see naked are out and about in all of their glory. Leather Alley featured a flogging booth by the Society of Janus. Professional floggers, binders and various other BDSM fetishists displayed their talents and their bodies. Each woman was larger than the last, all of them stripped down to their undies, each one covered in cellulite, bruises, lash marks, stretch marks veins. The only thing missing was a sense of shame about it all. These women had men around them who loved them and thought they were sexy as hell.
It all really made me question my own body issues. We all have them, in one way or another, women more so than men. My ass is by far the part of my body I have the most issue with. I’ve never really talked about it, but here I am, getting real with you and myself about it. Licious made me think that perhaps I should learn to not just accept my body but that I should love it and be proud of it. No one is perfect. We’re all afraid we’re not good enough. The reality is, we are good enough, we are beautiful. My ass is big and it’s not perfect and it doesn’t look great in a bathing suit. But it’s mine and I think it’s time I start learning to love it.
No worries Amber. Although the best thing to do would be to love it, if you choose not too i’m sure there’s a slew of men waiting to love it for you.
Comment by Rai-mon Barnes — July 2, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
I can’t find words to discuss Amber’s butt, however, I do have a few choice words about SF Pride this year… which seemed to me like less of a festival for being proud to be gay, than an excuse for dressing/acting weird in public. Being heterosexual, I am probably not the best one to gauge the “gayness” of an event, but in a city with such a diverse heritage, the festival itself seemed weak and lackluster… like a straight-couple’s gay safari (oooh, there’s a naked blue “gay”!!) …But after all’s said and done, it was a great to finally see “Lipstick Conspiracy”, and any excuse to be outside is never a bad thing.
Comment by kc! Bradshaw — July 2, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
I think Pride Weekend is still great! Yeah, it may be just an excuse like Folsom Street Fair, to get naked and crazy. But how cool is it to live in a city that not only allows this, but embraces it! As a breeder myself, the sight of some bear in assless chaps makes me queezy. But put that same guy in the context of Pride or Folsom, and I admire and revere him for the ability to express himself.
Comment by Chris Guest — July 2, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Meh. Another parade, and another naked guy on the street with girls taking pictures and giggling. Call me jaded, but this year Pride just looked like another excuse for overpriced booths to sell you gyros and sausages, while has-been performers rehash the past… same as any other event, anywhere.
Comment by kc! Bradshaw — July 2, 2008 @ 8:25 pm