Mar 19, 2003 Naked as a Jaybird: Nudists Gone Wild by Debra Hyde 03/06/03 Naked as a Jaybird Dian Hanson, Taschen Books 263 pages, December 2002 ISBN: 3822819565 Once upon a time, full frontal depictions of human genitalia wer forbidden by law and nowhere was it more noticeable than in the depiction of women's bodies. The whole world of men's magazine was void of pudenda -- no pubic hair, not even a hint of crotch. And forget wide open beavers. They were rarer than the endangered creatures of the Rodentia kind. Consequently, the average American male clamored for so much as a wisp of pubes. At the same time, nudism was well established in the United States. Ironically, nudism had formed in America at roughly the same time Hitler rose to power and abolished it in Germany, and Americans largely followed in the footsteps of German "Nacktkultur" by emulating its enthusiasm for "health, beauty, and purity through nudity and light." However, not all forms of nakedness were acceptable. Nudist magazines couldn't show genitalia unless they were willing to risk coming down on the wrong side of the law. Consequently, art directors kept airbrushes in hand and rendered men and women void of below-the-waist genitalia. (Think Ken and Barbie.) All that would change in 1958. After battling postal officials and decency groups in the courts for a good fifteen years, Ilsley Boone, publisher of Sunshine and Health Magazine succeeded in securing a court decision that judged nudist magazines to be nonsexual and therefore not obscene. Hence, they could travel through the mail without risking Comstockian prosecution. And they had an edge over overtly sexual magazines: They could show full frontal nudity. At first it seemed that, to the joy of nudists everywhere, the philosophy of nudism had finally arrived. To pussy-starved men, it was simply heaven on earth. But then Jaybird came along and all hell broke loose. Making its debut in 1965, Jaybird was the great egalitarian publication of full frontal fun. In its various guises -- Jaybird Happening, Jaybird Experiences, Jaybird International, Jaybird Nude/Image, even Jaydudes for gay readers, to name a few -- it got "nudism out of the camps and into everyday life." And Taschen's new erotic collection, Naked as a Jaybird by Dian Hanson, proves just how broadly they succeeded at making nudism fun while showing lots of pussy and dick. The collection is filled with the playful images of young American adults enjoying each other in clever photo stylings. Whether it's threesome tether ball, frolicsome all-girl leapfrog, or women gleefully oooh-ing and ah-ing male genitalia, one thing's certain: These people had a lot of fun. They may have been considered hippies in their day, but theybring to mind what everyone tells me when they claim they like amateur porn best: "They look natural, real, and like they're really enjoying themselves." Even better, Jaybird was largely sex positive as it celebrated comfortable and carefree sexuality. The nude male was as common in its pages as the nude female, and men showed off their dicks nearly as often women split wide for the camera. The magazines featured an admirable range of all-natural body types -- dicks, both cut and uncut, of various lengths and thicknesses; big, little tits; skin color most interracial; hairy pie and not-so-hairy pie. And, in grand nostalgic fashion, there's not a shaved pussy or a breast job in sight. But further evidence the times: Not a hard dick to be had. Considered too risky and likely to ruin the freedom nudist magazines had, cocks had to stay soft and sober. (Though I will note that one pushing-the-envelope oral sex scenes resulted in an erect cock in an inset photo on page 52.) Also lacking: people of size. Europe didn't hesitate in showing some occasional lush fat, but America defined attractive nudity narrowly then just as it does now. While Jaybird pleased most of its readers most of the time, it didn't sit well with traditional nudists. They saw the magazine as a hippie infringement on their tasteful way of life and detested its overt emphasis on beaver and sexual escapades. They weren't wholly wrong; Jaybird was an excuse to fly under the court-defined radar of obscenity. But still, looking at Hanson's book, you can't ignore the infectious nature of the fun those folks had back then. Jaybird was so playful, in fact, that I can't help but wonder how many couples back then poured over its pages as a prelude to their own foreplay (never a bad thing in my book). It's too bad that it all came to an end in 1972 when a Supreme Court decision relegated explicit erotica to adult bookstores. Once that happened, everything went "full commercial." In other words, hardcore. Nudist magazine died within a year's time and its playfulness went with it, not to be seen again until amateur porn came along. But the fun's back in Hanson's Naked as a Jaybird collection and its nostalgic feel might well be a balm to whatever erotic tedium ails you. Its bevy of tangled and teasing naked bodies retained its freshness over time. And even if you don't find yourself inspired by the fun, you owe it to yourself to see the little frog perched on the pubic-haired end of a penis. Really, you do. This article was meant for, but did not actually appear, at the now-defunct Yes Portal website as part of its news and entertainment coverage.