No Bush Commentary

 READ OUR LIPS by Nadette Stasa 2/7/03

I've just returned from Central Park (sanctified by the beauty of snowfall) where I was among 30 women who bared their bodies and lay in the snow at Bethesda Fountain using our naked bodies to spell out NO BUSH.

I can still feel the sting of my butt and lower back defrosting.

My friend Terry sent me an email about a nude photo shoot in NYC as part of a anti-war statement that was being shot as part of a larger global project being created in support of world peace.

As a veteran of Spencer Tunick's nude shoots, I thought "Hey posing nude for peace, that sounds right up my alley" and I have to say I liked that it was all women.

I arrived at the 3 Guys Diner at Madison and 75th (our designated meeting place) about 15 minutes before our designated meeting time of 6:40 AM. The exact location was still undisclosed, as to "prevent unwanted press onlookers". When I showed up, there was only one other women there, I figured she was with us. This was beginning to feel like an undercover mission (or rather an under "no cover" mission). It turns out Farrel was Wendy Tremayne's best friend from, like, grade school.

Wendy was organizing the shoot.

Farrel had ordered breakfast, so I decided to follow suit. I was surprised to hear that Farrel was very modest - she'd never done anything like this and certainly didn't relish the idea of baring it all, but for peace and her long-time friend, Wendy, she was in! We exchanged grueling stories about the early morning commute. She, with a car service from Red Hook, where the driver wanted to marry her and bring her back a baby from Jordan, and me, with a death defying taxi ride from the West Village where, the driver was swerving all over the snow covered road.

Wendy had referred to us models as "brave and courageous", but I didn't know that included verbal abuse from a man who wouldn't take no for an answer and a harrowing cab ride, or for that matter the risk of frost bite (I'm finally beginning to feel my toes).

Slowly more women showed, like a secret sorority, women with that look about them, women with "no war" buttons, official type looking people (press, body guards), the AP photographer who was working under a "no nipple" rule, the woman who came in exclaiming "WOOHOO" (it was an exciting morning), the Botanist with her American Flag blanket proclaiming "it's never too early to be ironic", and Wendy of course. She handed us waivers and a piece of paper with our position in the NO BUSH formation. Wow, I had my assignment! I was psyched to be the top of the first bar in the "N". I was in the "N", like "N" for Nadette. Yippee! Okay, so let's go, let's hit the street, people! Wendy said to Farrel, "what a great morning - don't get mornings like this often."

Yeah, what a great morning.

There was something magical about the snow, something exciting about being renegades (did you know it's illegal to have a group of more than 15 people in the park without a permit), something empowering about a group of naked women running in the snow to take their positions on the ground to spell out NO BUSH, to endure the cold by screaming, singing and shouting "Read our lips, BUSH!"

But will this help the peace movement?

I had my doubts, as did one young woman I spoke to, but on the way out the park, we spoke to an AP TV News producer who said he thought this would definitely make the news and perhaps more importantly he that it would certainly bring attention to the cause, that 30 naked women would bring more media attention to the peace movement than potentially thousands of demonstrators. The young woman seemed amused by the prospect of being on FOX5 that night.

Hey, ain't that always the way, haven't we learned anything from advertising, sex sells (especially on FOX). I wish we lived in a world where Peace didn't need marketing.

Wendy told us that morning that the Bethesda Fountain is apparently a gift in commemoration of all those who have died in World Wars. World Wars, so ominous a thought. And yet here we are on the brink of one.

The thought of this hideous looming war, lead by the shameful President Bush saddened me. Aren't we better than this? Can't we be better than this?? Sometimes it feels like a losing battle, but that morning I admired the beauty of a woman's naked body, her uniqueness, the different shapes, sizes and ages and I saw the snow fall in the winter oasis of Central Park, where we froze our butts off for Peace. It was magic. It gave me hope.

So will this help the peace movement?

I'm not sure, but we seemed to get a lot of coverage. And look for me. I'm the top of the first bar in the letter "N". Peace,

Nadette