100 Naked Women Just Greeted Trump at the Republican Convention
There’s literally no better way to welcome Donald Trump into the arena for the Republican National Convention than 100 completely naked women in protest.
Donald Trump, who is now the presumptive Republican nominee, is notorious for his sexist and degrading comments about women, especially their bodies. His newly minted running mate, Governor Mike Pence from Indiana, seems to be almost as awful to women when it comes to legislation.
This week, the Republican National Convention is taking place in Cleveland, and it will basically be a celebration of Trump-minded people coming together.
So, in protest of the sexism perpetuated by Trump and others, artist and photographer Spencer Tunick organized the display of 100 nude women holding large round mirrors that shined light on the arena where the convention is taking place. The installation was originally planned out in May with a casting call, and more than 1,800 women applied to pose nude for the shoot.
Spencer says this about the purpose of the shoot and the mirrors on his website:
By holding mirrors, we hope to suggest that women are a reflection and embodiment of nature, the sun, the sky and the land. We want to express the belief that we will rely upon the strength, intuition and wisdom of progressive and enlightened women to find our place in nature and to regain the balance within it. The mirrors communicate that we are a reflection of ourselves, each other, and of, the world that surrounds us. The woman becomes the future and the future becomes the woman.
Preparation for the shoot started early Sunday morning. Spencer and his wife, Kristin, headed to the secret location, which the emailed to only 200 women of the 1,800 that signed up to participate. Despite all the prep work, Spencer was still anxious about “the possibility of Secret Service helicopters flying overhead or cops showing up,” according to Cosmo.
The women were all asked to bring sheets and other things to cover up just in case police were to arrive because technically public nudity is illegal in Ohio.
But even if that was going to be the worst case scenario, Spencer has already been arrested five times during shoots outdoors in New York. “It would just be me they’d arrest — not the women — and Kristin knows what to do if that happens,” he tells Cosmo.
Once the women took their clothes off and begin to get into place for the photos, cops actually did arrive to ask Spencer what was happening, and then the cops allegedly told him to keep them from marching, according to Cosmo. All in all, the shoot took less than 30 minutes, as many cops, firefighters and paramedics arrived on the scene to just watch.
Many women from all backgrounds, ages, shapes and races volunteered. Some were even willing to travel from as far as Belgium to have the opportunity to take a stand against Donald Trump, while others just wanted to proudly display their bodies.
But really, shout out to these incredible women for literally shedding light on the sexism of Trump. Stick it to the man!