Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica

Craig Cormick

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

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Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica

Craig Cormick

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 3)

Received: 29 November 2020 Accepted: 11 December 2020 Published: 21 June 2021

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Abstract

Depictions of nakedness in Antarctica are rare, although there are many sub-cultures and traditions there that involve nakedness – often as an expression of the human body confronting or overcoming the extreme environment. An examination of some of the sub-cultures of nakedness, shows that there are markedly different attitudes to nakedness “off-station” and “on-station”, with official attitudes sanctioning nakedness as not appropriate behaviour “on-station”, but with less rigidity as to what happens “off-station”. There is also a strong sense that naked behaviours, or depictions of nakedness, from earlier eras having a sense of cultural heritage, which can be at odds with contemporary needs of stamping out sexism, as more and more women take up positions on Antarctic stations – often in roles of management. And while no longer condoned in contemporary practice, that such former depictions of nudity can be seen as worth preserving - demonstrated in the reaction to the destruction of the nude pinup pictures on the ceiling of a heritage hut in Australia’s Mawson Station (mainly due to their inherent sexism and objectification of women) shows that views of nakedness can be seen as both heretical or heritage, from different perspectives.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
Page(s)	119-124
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Antarctica, Naked, Nude, Feminism

References

[1]	Antarctic Service Code of Personal Behaviour. 2002. Australian Antarctic Division.
[2]	Buszek, M. E. 2006. Pin-up grrrls: feminism, sexuality, popular culture, Duke University Press, USA. p. 5-6.
[3]	Chandler, J.,(2010, Cold War relics frozen in Antarctic memory, The Age, January 6.
[4]	Collis. C. 2009. ‘The Australian Antarctic Territory: A Man’s World?’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 34, no. 3. P. 516-518.
[5]	Cormick. C. 2011. In Bed with Douglas Mawson, New Holland, Sydney. p. 48. 257, 265.
[6]	Della Costa, A. M. 2018. Think New England is Cold, try running naked in Antarctica, The Bulletin, New England.
[7]	DenitaLC, posted 12-06-2007, 09:04 PM. Accessed 22 July 2010.
[8]	Dodds, K. 2009. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 34, no. 3. P. 507.
[9]	Flannery. N. R. 2000. This Everlasting Silence: The Love Letters of Paquita Delprat and Douglas Mawson 1911–1914, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. p. 67.
[10]	Francis, M. 2007. A Flight from Commitment? Domesticity, Adventure and the Masculine Imaginary in Britain after the Second World War, Gender & History, Volume 19, Issue 1, pages 163–185.
[11]	Halliday. C. Pinup Proud of her part in the War Effort, The Age, November 8, 2009.
[12]	Hills, M. 2002. Fan Cultures, Routledge, London. p. 26.
[13]	http://hotgates.stanford.edu:3455/southpole/586. Accessed 10 December 2020.
[14]	http://www.barewitness.org/photoalbum/Antarctica3.htm. Accessed 31 October 2010.
[15]	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mdn7Mc1dRA. Accessed 10 December 2020.
[16]	Johnson. N. 2005. Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica, Feral House, Los Angeles.
[17]	Law, P. 1994. The all male expeditions 1947-66. In: K. Ed wards & R. Graham, Gender on ice: Proceedings of a Conference on Women in Antarctica, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
[18]	Life-long loving with a Sexbot, 13 September 2009, at www.Liveleak.com.
[19]	McNaught. M., Secret Habits of the Polar Bare, Mercury, 24 June 2010.
[20]	Mitchell. W. T. J. 2004. Pictures Want to be Kissed…, Iconic Turn Lecture Series, Burda Academy of the Third Millennium. http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/mitchell/interview_pictures_kissed.pdf Accessed 5 February 2011.
[21]	Noonan. R. J. 2004. ‘Outer Space and Antarctica: Sexuality Factors in Extreme Environments’, in Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, Continuum International Publishing Group.
[22]	AAP. 2007. Nude Romp gets NZ Student into Trouble, AAP, Sunday January 28, 2007. Accessed at https://www.smh.com.au/world/nude-romp-gets-nz-student-in-trouble-20070129-gdpcgc.html. Accessed 10 December 2020.
[23]	Otter recovery, 4 April 2004, at www.antarctica.ac.uk. Accessed 31 October 2010.
[24]	Russell, J., interviewed on George Negus Tonight, Life On The Ice, ABC, 18/08/2003.

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Craig Cormick. (2021). Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Social Sciences, 10(3), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

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ACS Style

Craig Cormick. Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(3), 119-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

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AMA Style

Craig Cormick. Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Soc Sci. 2021;10(3):119-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16,
  author = {Craig Cormick},
  title = {Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {10},
  number = {3},
  pages = {119-124},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20211003.16},
  abstract = {Depictions of nakedness in Antarctica are rare, although there are many sub-cultures and traditions there that involve nakedness – often as an expression of the human body confronting or overcoming the extreme environment. An examination of some of the sub-cultures of nakedness, shows that there are markedly different attitudes to nakedness “off-station” and “on-station”, with official attitudes sanctioning nakedness as not appropriate behaviour “on-station”, but with less rigidity as to what happens “off-station”. There is also a strong sense that naked behaviours, or depictions of nakedness, from earlier eras having a sense of cultural heritage, which can be at odds with contemporary needs of stamping out sexism, as more and more women take up positions on Antarctic stations – often in roles of management. And while no longer condoned in contemporary practice, that such former depictions of nudity can be seen as worth preserving - demonstrated in the reaction to the destruction of the nude pinup pictures on the ceiling of a heritage hut in Australia’s Mawson Station (mainly due to their inherent sexism and objectification of women) shows that views of nakedness can be seen as both heretical or heritage, from different perspectives.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica
AU  - Craig Cormick
Y1  - 2021/06/21
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
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AB  - Depictions of nakedness in Antarctica are rare, although there are many sub-cultures and traditions there that involve nakedness – often as an expression of the human body confronting or overcoming the extreme environment. An examination of some of the sub-cultures of nakedness, shows that there are markedly different attitudes to nakedness “off-station” and “on-station”, with official attitudes sanctioning nakedness as not appropriate behaviour “on-station”, but with less rigidity as to what happens “off-station”. There is also a strong sense that naked behaviours, or depictions of nakedness, from earlier eras having a sense of cultural heritage, which can be at odds with contemporary needs of stamping out sexism, as more and more women take up positions on Antarctic stations – often in roles of management. And while no longer condoned in contemporary practice, that such former depictions of nudity can be seen as worth preserving - demonstrated in the reaction to the destruction of the nude pinup pictures on the ceiling of a heritage hut in Australia’s Mawson Station (mainly due to their inherent sexism and objectification of women) shows that views of nakedness can be seen as both heretical or heritage, from different perspectives.
VL  - 10
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Author Information

Craig Cormick

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Alumni, Canberra, Australia

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APA Style

Craig Cormick. (2021). Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Social Sciences, 10(3), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Craig Cormick. Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(3), 119-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

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AMA Style

Craig Cormick. Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica. Soc Sci. 2021;10(3):119-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16,
  author = {Craig Cormick},
  title = {Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {10},
  number = {3},
  pages = {119-124},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20211003.16},
  abstract = {Depictions of nakedness in Antarctica are rare, although there are many sub-cultures and traditions there that involve nakedness – often as an expression of the human body confronting or overcoming the extreme environment. An examination of some of the sub-cultures of nakedness, shows that there are markedly different attitudes to nakedness “off-station” and “on-station”, with official attitudes sanctioning nakedness as not appropriate behaviour “on-station”, but with less rigidity as to what happens “off-station”. There is also a strong sense that naked behaviours, or depictions of nakedness, from earlier eras having a sense of cultural heritage, which can be at odds with contemporary needs of stamping out sexism, as more and more women take up positions on Antarctic stations – often in roles of management. And while no longer condoned in contemporary practice, that such former depictions of nudity can be seen as worth preserving - demonstrated in the reaction to the destruction of the nude pinup pictures on the ceiling of a heritage hut in Australia’s Mawson Station (mainly due to their inherent sexism and objectification of women) shows that views of nakedness can be seen as both heretical or heritage, from different perspectives.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Understanding the Culture and Subcultures of Nakedness in Antarctica
AU  - Craig Cormick
Y1  - 2021/06/21
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 119
EP  - 124
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211003.16
AB  - Depictions of nakedness in Antarctica are rare, although there are many sub-cultures and traditions there that involve nakedness – often as an expression of the human body confronting or overcoming the extreme environment. An examination of some of the sub-cultures of nakedness, shows that there are markedly different attitudes to nakedness “off-station” and “on-station”, with official attitudes sanctioning nakedness as not appropriate behaviour “on-station”, but with less rigidity as to what happens “off-station”. There is also a strong sense that naked behaviours, or depictions of nakedness, from earlier eras having a sense of cultural heritage, which can be at odds with contemporary needs of stamping out sexism, as more and more women take up positions on Antarctic stations – often in roles of management. And while no longer condoned in contemporary practice, that such former depictions of nudity can be seen as worth preserving - demonstrated in the reaction to the destruction of the nude pinup pictures on the ceiling of a heritage hut in Australia’s Mawson Station (mainly due to their inherent sexism and objectification of women) shows that views of nakedness can be seen as both heretical or heritage, from different perspectives.
VL  - 10
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download