Streaking

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Streaking.jpg Definition: Streaking (verb): the non-sexual act of taking off one's clothes and running naked through a public place. (http://www.streaking.org/)

History of Streaking

Begining on college campuses in 1973 streaking has become a major tradition at many different colleges (historychannel.com). Streaking has also produced streaking teams(streakerama.com). A streaker will enter a hidden or out-of-the-way spot, undress when and where nobody is looking, and then will surprisingly and unexpectedly dart as fast as he or she can across streets, malls, sports stadiums and lawns completely naked, or, for female streakers, at least leaving the breasts and/or pubic area exposed. Streaking usually differs from naturism or nudism in that a streaker usually intends to be noticed and surprise people and will choose a place with a large audience for their act. Many Naturists or Nudists, on the otherhand, are just as happy not to be noticed.

Streaking first become popular on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida in 1974[1]. The fad soon became a symbol of the decade. Some streakers made it all the way back home without getting apprehended, but others would actually aim to see how long they could go about streaking before they got arrested (some jurisdictions would charge streakers with indecent exposure, but one Maine town voted to pass a law specifically targeted at streaking(Assoc. Press).

The record for the most streakers at one time is held by the University of Colorado at Boulder, with 1,200 streakers simultaneously. Athens, Georgia claims to have organised 1,000 streakers, with the University of Maryland ranking third at 553 naked students streaking three miles in March 1974. The previous record was held by the University of South Carolina of 508 streakers. Streaking has been around much longer than just the past 30 years, but it has only been refer to as streaking since the 1970's (streakarama.com).

Philosophy

The reason people streak is different among all, but most will agree that the main reason for there activity is the thrill that is involved, as well as just the pure excitment that is felt by so many of its participants (Streakerama.com).

Streaking's Place on College Campuses

In 1983, streaking started at the University of Chicago. It is a campus tradition and is held every year during there winterfest that the university calls Kuviasungnerk(Chicago Sun Times). There are more spectators than actual participants. The idea behind the streaking is to help the students kick the winter blues.

Starting in 1986, the streaking fad resulted in an annual event at the University of Michigan: the "Naked Mile" in which the last day of class was celebrated with a group streak across campus along an approximate one-mile path. At the height of its popularity in the late 1990s, between 500 and 800 students would participate. However, due to town and University enforcement of public indecency laws starting in 1998, as well as increasing spectator crowds, videotaping, photography, and Internet distribution of the results, participation plummeted. In 2001, a mere 24 students participated, with similar turnout in recent years. See also Ann Arbor events (http://www.goodspeedupdate.com/index-naked_mile.htm).

Princeton had a long tradition of streaking occuring on the campus. It began in 1970 and really took off in the year 1974. The first streaking incident was meant as a prank and it was never meant to be duplicated again. The students heard of this and wanted to repeat it. The sophomore class made it their tradition. The rules were that it will take place at the first snowfall, it would commence at midnight in Holder courtyard, and sophomores would run (Princetoniana). The tradition started to decline in the 1990's. Students were not the only ones participating in the streaking. The administration could not accept the tradition anymore because every year students were being taken to McCosh Infirmary or the Princeton Medical Center with various injuries (Princetoniana). The tradition came to an end in 1999, when the Board of Trustees voted to ban the practice because it was becoming too dangerous and too corrupt.

Pop Culture

This sign of the times was chronicled by Ray Stevens, who profited off the fad with his song "The Streak". His novelty hit about the guy who's "always making the news wearing just his tennis shoes" peaked at #1 on the sales charts(raystevens.com). Dialogue with a male witness, in a news interview format, was interspersed with lyrics about the exploits of a streaker. The song's catchphrase "Don't look, Ethel!" became a kitschy joke and an instantly recognized reference to streaking.

Late in the 1990s, streaking returned as a retro fad. Its popularity was given a big boost by Blink-182, big fans of the pastime who often appear topless in publicity shots and at concerts. Their proclivity for exposed genitalia was publicized in their 1999 music video for "What's My Age Again?", in which they tear across the pavement with their pubic and anal regions digitally blurred out. The band was perhaps inspired by alt rockers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who for years often played concerts wearing only strategically placed socks.

This prominent resurgence for the activity has led some to argue that streaking should be considered an art form in and of itself, with the activity undoubtedly inspiring many artists and free thinkers. Proponents of this theory have included the previously referenced Blink-182, and performance artist John Hassel, more popularly known as Bunboy.

Perhaps the most widely-seen streaker in history was in 1974 when 34-year-old Robert Opel 'streaked' across the stage naked on national US television at the 46th Academy Awards. Opal flashed a peace sign as he crossed the stage, seen on television only above the waist. Recovering quickly after the event, host David Niven quipped, "The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping... and showing his shortcomings." Later, some evidence arose suggesting that Opal's appearance was facilitated by the show's producer Jack Haley, Jr. as a stunt. David Niven's 1974 Academy Awards brush with a streaker was voted the top Oscars moment by film fans in 2001.

In 2003 streaking came to the forefront in New Zealand when former All Black Mark Ellis, now a television presenter, offered a monetary reward for anyone who streaked in front of Prime Minister Helen Clark. This is part of Ellis' National Nude Day. A TV program he presented, "Hyundai Sports Cafe", regularly promoted nudity and for people to send in nude exploits. Most memorable exploits included a "Lord of the Rings" parody by nude actors, and 30 naked piruette ballet (both male and female) dancers performing directly in front of the Otago University main building.

In 2004, a Nike commercial for their "Shox" shoes centered around someone streaking at a soccer match wearing nothing but said shoes, and commentators comment throughout.

Streaking in Sports

Hamilton College of New York has a "Varsity" Streaking Team, which claims an undefeated record, and received positive coverage in the New York Times in 2004.

Hamilton College was undefeated in their collegiate record until the Williams College[2] springstreakers soundly defeated Hamilton in the spring of 2005. Fifteen members of the Williams team made a full circuit of the Hamilton library the night before their final exams began, streaking about 200 people and giving the Hamilton team their first loss. It is unclear at this time if streaking will continue as a collegiate sport.

Streaking also has its fair share in sports, particularly in the sport of cricket, where it is not uncommon for a streaker to run out to the field purely for shock and entertainment value, or occasionally for political purposes. The most recent streaking was in the first test of the Australia versus I.C.C. World XI, when a rather drunken man darted out toward the field naked, shocking the Australian and World XI players, causing play to stop. He was speartackled to the ground by field personnel after trying to evade their trap and was apprehended. This is usually the method to capture unruly streakers in the sporting sector.

In 2005 German football club FC Hansa Rostock successfully sued three streakers who disrupted their 2003 match against Hertha Berlin, to recoup the €20,000 they were fined by the German Football Association for failing to maintain adequate security at their ground.

In the 2006 Olympics streaker Mark Roberts interrupted the men's bronze medal curling match between the US team and the UK team, wearing nothing but a strategically placed rubber chicken [1]. He was intending to advertise a website, GoldenPalace.com, which was written across his back and breast, but in the United States cameras cut away before viewers could see him. A Polish female streaker showed up at the closing ceremony [2], but was not on television either.

Special Streaking Sports

Members of the active forum at Streaking.org were gracious enough to post the special games that they have developed. Their favorite, Hide and Go Streak, is highlighted in this post: Hide and Seek Game - Basically, the point is to hide a person's clothes, and they have a time limit in which to find them. If they go longer than the time limit, there is a penalty time in which they must streak(http://www.streaking.org/phorum/read.php?f=1&i=8450&t=8450).

Laws and Penalties

In the state of Michigan there is the Michigan Penal Code, Act 328 of 1931, 750.355a Indecent Exposure; violation; penalty. It states that; “A person shall not knowingly make any open or indecent exposure of his or her person or of the person of another…the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or a fine of not more than 1,000.00 or both….If the person was at the time of the violation a sexually delinquent person, the violation is punishable by imprisonment for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which is 1 day and the maximum of which is life(http://www.legislature.mi.gov)." This is not an uncommon policy, indecent exposure laws are prevalent on both state and federal levels of government. Streaking, though less frequent now since the 1970’s, may or may not fall under the category of indecent exposure and even if it does, frequently these laws are not enforced.

Streaking is a verb which means, the non-sexual act of taking off one’s clothes and running naked through a public place (http://www.streaking.org/). This is exactly what two women from Maine did late one evening (Associated Press). However the court ruled that the pair did not violate the state’s indecent conduct law. The two women were apprehend jogging down the road in the buff. They proceed to go to trial, hiring no defense attorney and armed with one question to ask the prosecution’s only witness. One of the girls questioned the arresting officer if he saw her genitals on Nov. 1, the day he apprehended them. The officer had not. Maine law states that people are guilty of indecent conduct only when they “knowingly expose their genitals in public.” Therefore a woman naked in the street is not an indecent act under Maine law because a women’s genitals are primarily internal. This is the type of case that changes Legislature.

Similarly in Manteca, California public exposure laws have undergone change(http://www.mantecabulletin.com/article/2004/09/09/news/news2.txt). After the 70’s the Supreme Court ruled that general anti-nudity laws were unconstitutional(http://www.mantecabulletin.com/article/2004/09/09/news/news2.txt). In Manteca there are laws against being naked in places such as a restaurant or bus, but not simply walking around nude in public. Streaking today is not specifically outlawed by this city's ordinance since it is treated as simply nudity under state law. This behavior is known to disrupt traffic and pose hazards, but there is no nudity law is on the books. Public nudity in Manteca – as long as it isn’t sexual in nature or offensive to those opposed to it – is technically legal. However new law has been triggered by a woman who had been sun bathing in the nude in the Bay Meadows Park behind the Boys & Girls Club. When she was asked to cover up she complied. There were also other complaint of people changing clothes in park. The new ordinance, when it goes into effect, is very clear ans specific. It makes it illegal to expose “one’s genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, perineum, anus or anal region of any person or the breast below the areola of any female persons while on a public right of way or public land or any private property that is open to the public view from any public right of way or public land.(http://www.mantecabulletin.com/article/2004/09/09/news/news2.txt).” When police tried to cite nude bather state penal code did not prohibit nudity per se. Instead, it bars a person from “willfully and lewdly” exposing their self or private parts in public where another person is present who can be offended or annoyed.

Serious Streaking

In Sangertown Square, a bet between friends lands two males in trouble with the law (http://cgi.uticaod.com/cgi-bin/printpage/printpage.pl). Police responded to a complaint. They were charged with exposure of a person and disorderly conduct and issued appearance tickets. This sentencing carries with it fines or sentences of as much as 15 days in prison for each violation. The Officers who handled this case stated that streaking is not very common in their area, and it is taken very seriously.

Another case of streaking being taken seriously is the case of a high school student found himself suspended after his streaking incident. (http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/porter_county/d1631ce8a62a83d...) He had streaked at an out-of-district school football game. He was not on school grounds, it did not happen during school hours, it did not involve any of the corporation’s schools, yet East Porter County was well within its legal right to suspend the young man. The administration suspended him to show “professional courtesy” between corporations. Indian law allows a school corporation to punish a student in violation of a school policy anywhere at any time. Consequences typically stem from criminal charges being filed, like underage drinking or drug possession but in this case no police action was taken. Police provided security at the game and were notified of the incident, but charges were never filed because the parties involved decided to let the schools handle it. Even without criminal proceedings, schools can punish any “unlawful activity off school property that can reasonably be viewed as an interference with school purposes. The school of the young man intentially did not impose harshest punishment – expulsion or suspension for the rest of the year – to make the experience a learning one, said the administrate. He needed to understand that his actions have a greater impact on both the school’s reputation and environment. “They’re always representing the school and also their behavior outside of school can have an effect back at school."

Others Who Take Streaking Seriously

Shock value draws in these daredevils, despite the possible repercussions. They believe it is a freeing experience, as indicated from the personal accounts recorded in forums at both Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) and Streaking.org (http://www.streaking.org/phorum/list.php?f=1). These same forums have organized and collected to discuss their streaking experiences, and the members meet in chatrooms to discuss their latest adventures.

For people who are streakers, the act of streaking is a serious matter. The Springstreakers have some guidelines for how streaking should be conducted such as;

Only streak sober. Streaking is not a shameful act and therefore should not need the influence of substances to convince you into doing it.
Don’t streak little kids. Parents would get angry.
Don’t streak anything with an inordanitely high risk of getting caught.
Don’t streak anything unworthy of getting streaked. Such events include sparsely populated events, unpopular events, things that have been streaked before and things that are unimaginative, eg. Run-of-the-mill sporting events. The number of spectators should fall into the 150-200 range(Springstreakers, Willipedia).

For some groups this is not an off the cuff activity. Hamilition University spend spend hours studying the maps of the other college campuses that they plan to streak(for escape routes and well-populated areas. They will also study class schedules to streak more effectively. There is also a review of the fundamentals before every streak:

Know your route
Underwear only slows you down when you’re redressing
Getting caught is not an option(http://si.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SI.com+-+SI+On+Campus+-+SI...).

There is specific attire: "shoes, backpack stuffed with clothes, that which God gave us(SI.com http://si.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SI.com+-+SI+On+Campus+-+SI...)." Chorography is important. One must flap arms in birdlike form, cawing and shrieking while sticking to the route. There is a declothing point. When they begin the shout “Let’s rip it!” and they than begin flapping their limbs with megaphones blaring, “You have been struck by the Hamilton varsity streaking team(http://si.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SI.com+-+SI+On+Campus+-+SI...)!” Participates describe then 5 or 10 minutes event as feeling like 30 seconds. After the streak participates duck behind some bushes, extract pants and shirts from their bags, and mosey on along like nothing’s happened (http://si.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SI.com+-+SI+On+Campus+-+SI...).

Those Who Are Not So Serious About Streaking

The Nake Mile was begun by the Michigan Crew Team of the University in the 70's as a graduation celebration, but is now done simply for fun. “No body seemed to mind – not even the police (http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/may/05-07-97/news/news5.html).” This the attitude about streaking in according to the Michigan Daily which quotes an Ann Arbor Police Sgt. saying that although the event technically does not abide by all laws, AAPD does not increase police in the area during the run (http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/may/05-07-97/news/news5.html). The same police officer also stated that “We do not endorse (the Naked Mile,) but it’s good intended fun.

Influences Common reasons for spontanious streaking: Beer Friends (http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/may/05-07-97/news/news5.html)

See also