Oh, the faded awesomeness of 1979, the year that Mother Jones ran a 12-page feature on America’s “psychic renaissance,” that string bikinis were in style, and that the California Parks and Recreation Department relaxed its policy on public nudity. It’s the 30th anniversary of 1979 this year–a year that this writer turned three–and California has a message for you folks who are still livin’ it: Hippie, put your clothes on.
Yesterday, a state appeals court ruled that California parks officials can prohibit nudity on any state beach. The state’s laissez faire nudity policy had been challenged last year when Parks Director Ruth Coleman imposed a booty ban at Southern California’s popular Onofre beach. Now of course, Onofre bathers will be using a little less suntan lotion.
Is the nudity fight a last gasp of California’s hippie heyday? Public perceptions of naked bathers probably haven’t changed much since the late ’70s, but Gen Xers with kids might not be keen to share the beach with a bunch of proudly shriveled senior citizens. Still, the ruling doesn’t apply to land owned by the National Park Service, which has preserved the freedom to bare it all. As the poet Emma Lazarous might say: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of hairy naked dudes, yearning to breathe free. . .
Above: Vintage Mojo cover. How sexy are these folks now?
