So I was reading the various news reports that I can see now I have an RSS reader and I see one that catches my eye because it has the word nude in it.
Seems a nurse has been prosecuted for indecent exposure. She was in the habit of sunbathing in her back garden, presumably not that often in our climate, and her neighbour – wait for this – filmed her from his bedroom window. Now, here’s where it gets interesting: he then reported her to the police, as far as I can tell, and they reported her to CPS who decided to mount a prosecution. According to the papers, the prosecuting lawyer described the nurse as ‘not normal’.
By whose definition, I wonder? And in what way is filming someone, in their own back garden, a ‘normal’ activity which does not constitute voyeurism?
Dave Allen, the late Irish comedian, used to tell a joke about this situation. If a blonde sunbathes nude and the guy next door watches her he’s a peeping tom. If the guy next door sunbathes nude and the blonde watches him, he’s prosecuted for indecent exposure. That was in an era when gender roles and rights were less politically correct than today.
So how, in any circumstance, can it be right to film someone in their own garden, doing nothing more than enjoying the sunshine on the body God gave us? I mean really, is a naked woman such a threat to society that she has to be prosecuted? Couldn’t this guy just have looked the other way? And what about the people who so generously share their carcinogenic smoke with their neighbours? Smokers are the most generous people in the world because they blow their poison on everyone they can, even without being asked.
So, if my neighbour smokes his cancer stick and the second-hand poisonous cloud comes my way, is that not more of a real danger than the avoidable sight of a woman sunbathing?
I’m all for live and let live, including smokers although I hate smoking, but is there anyone who can seriously agree with the action of the police and the Crown Prosecution Service on this one? Forget the guy who had nothing better to do than film his neighbour while she was naked – he just needs a little more maturity in my view. Still, no doubt he’ll have the chance to make a few quid by selling his video if he feels like it…