HISTORICAL ACTS OF NUDITY AS A POLITICAL PROTEST:
Lydia Wardwell Perkins , 1663 (“May 5th, 1663. Lydia Wardwell on her presentment for coming naked into Newbury meeting house. The sentence of the court is, that she shall be severely whipt and pay the costs and fees to the marshall [sic] of Hampton for bringing her. Costs, ten shillings, fees two shillings and sixpence.”)
Sojourner Truth, 1858, (Addressing a congregation in northern Indiana in 1858, Sojourner Truth took on the hecklers who accused her, as many powerful women in her day were accused, of being a man. Jeering, they called for her to prove her sex. The Boston Liberator later reported that Ms. Truth deliberately "disrobed her bosom" -- no wardrobe malfunction for her -- "not to her shame ... but to their shame." She had "suckled many a white babe," she told the crowd, "to the exclusion of my own offspring." Ms. Truth, a gaunt 6-footer, proved her point that day with a bared breast, an image that we have discovered still shocks an audience.)
Zhuang Jinghui, 2011 (Desperate for justice, 77-year old Zhuang Jinghui knelt naked in front of a Shanghai courthouse on August 18 to protest the demolition of her home. As a result of massive urban renewal programs, forced evictions are frequent in China. These have infuriated home owners, who are often given only a few days’ notice before being thrown out of their homes. The so-called compensation is also far below the market rate.)