ADDY PITTENGER, Arts & Life Editor—
12:30 pm last Monday brought quite a shock to the visiting juniors with Denison students lined up along A-quad in anticipation for the kick-off of the long-standing tradition of “Naked Week.”
Hosted by Denison’s sexual health magazine, (It’s) My Pleasure, this year’s naked week was led and kicked off by Naked King, Henry Brooks ‘22. As the clock hit 12:30, the line of runners took off from the library steps, made their way across the quad, then back into the library, with a supportive crowd of students cheering them on the whole time.
The tradition continued each night for the rest of the week, each with their own theme in different areas of the campus, ending the week with the famous “splatter paint” theme on East Quad.
The Denisonian asked Brooks how the title “Naked King” is passed down from person to person each year to which he responded, “the queen or king is crowned on the last night of Naked Week the previous year, so they are responsible for setting up the following year’s runs.”
It might seem a little intimidating, let alone embarrassing for one to participate in such a bold student-led event, but it is the boldness in itself that helps to destigmatize the shame surrounding body images; therefore, the event promotes body positivity by letting one embrace and accept their own skin. It is always a fun event for first-comers as well, perhaps even leading to the week becoming more meaningful throughout one’s years at Denison.
“Naked Week” falls under the same week every year, the last week of February which aligns with NEDA’s (National Eating Disorders Association) awareness week. This week is chosen in particular to add to NEDA’s body positivity message towards eating disorders while also increasing student awareness on such issues. Brooks explained how Junior Week also falls under the same week, and there haven’t been any issues in the past at least to his knowledge.
“Denison’s administration isn’t necessarily supportive of the event, but they allow us [to do it] and they don’t stop us from doing it,” Brooks said.
Since the event is student run, the event doesn’t get money from CLIC or Student Development. But this still doesn’t stop the Naked Court from putting on the event with more and more students participating every year compared to years past.
The Naked Court respects those who choose not to participate in the event directly, but they still hope to get the word out about the event to the Denison community without being taken by surprise. It might be considered controversial how this event represents body positivity due to having the connotations of humiliation, but to those who participate in the event, they know what it feels like to be surrounded by a group of people who together all want to erase the stigma surrounding body image. Brooks added how it can feel empowering to some, leaving each participant a positive experience.
Having the courage to participate in such an event is a bold statement in itself and can make one feel uncomfortable, but with the huge support of the Denison students by your side, that uneasy feeling can disappear, leaving you nothing but adrenaline, and the excitement for the next run in the following year.