Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
The First Lady of Nudism
Scandal erupted in 1972 when nude images of Jackie Kennedy Onassis were printed in newspaper headlines around the world. Caught sunbathing nude on the Greek island of Skorpios, Jackie O's reputation as Queen of Camelot took an abrupt turn as pornographers and sex-obsessed readers turned her innocent skinny dipping into a sick sexual joke. Reports indicate that even her children were teased and bullied over the matter.
Marrying into the Kennedy clan of nudists at age 24, it's not surprising that Jackie Kennedy became a nudist as well. Her husband, JFK, after becoming the 35th President of the United States, famously swam naked in the White House swimming pool. Her son, John-John, was a naturalist who posed naked in his magazine George. In another world, this would be seen as normal family naturism, but in 1972’s America, with it's hypocritical Nixonian morality, it was a shocker and disgrace for JKO to be seen without clothes.
While images of Jackie collecting her husband's brains after he was shot through the head is not considered obscene, the former First-Lady's naked body is. The photographers who stalked her and sold her photos are not the bad ones, but the naked one is. The viewing public who cast their judgments and scorn are not in the wrong, but the one who decided to go swimming without a bathing suit is.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis is a hero in so many ways. As the most significant nudist of the Twentieth Century she's deserving of a special honor in the Genisouls' Hall of Fame. She is a reminder that no matter how famous or powerful you are, there will be tremendous forces aligned against you if you decide that clothing is unnecessary. She is remembered as one of the most popular women in American history and one of the world’s most famous nudists. If she can do it, so can you.