A couple touring New Zealand climbed a mountain together. One was Playboy playmate Jaylene Cook, so naturally she had her photo taken in her birthday suit while up there.
Big whoop, right. Here in New Zealand however, someone was bound to have an opinion to do with it having a profound, culturally significant effect on their large group of friends and relatives who never would have known about it otherwise but when they do they’ll have some really strong feelings to share.
…It pissed some men off, in other words.
Playboy playmate Jaylene Cook has scaled Mt Taranaki in a nude photo shoot, but not everyone has taken kindly to the stunt. The glamour model, who is touring the country with her photographer boyfriend Josh Shaw, posted the photo to Instagram which has attracted more than 8000 likes.
But one Maori academic said the photo was culturally insensitive and disrespected the mountain.
“I also know cousins and relatives who will be quite upset about it. They would consider it as being disrespectful towards the mountain,” Maori academic Dennis Ngawhare told Fairfax.
He said he believes iwi and hapu in Taranaki share his thoughts.
Cook defended her decision to go nude, saying she and her partner did their research before hiking to the summit of Mt Taranaki. Playmate Jaylene Cook climbed Mt Taranaki, posing naked for images near the summit. She said the photo isn’t explicit and that being nude is a natural and powerful pleasure, something not to take offence to. According to Cook, she waited until other trampers had left before undressing and posing for the camera.
Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke weighed in on the issue, saying the stunt was unexpected and culturally insensitive.
Cook was given the title of Playmate after she was featured in Playboy Mexico in January.
Cook was originally from Waikato before moving to the Gold Coast in Australia.
– NZ Herald
Such is the case with basically every landmark in New Zealand. I’m not cynical towards cultural custom and beliefs by any stretch of the imagination, however, I believe nudity is not something people should be attacking especially if it is consensual and innocently naive (I don’t think their intentions were to anger people/the mountain). And in this case, I think it’s pathetic Cook’s naivety on matters of iwi and hapu is being used to make an example of a belief, however valid it may seem. Or invalid; how can that one photo be culturally insensitive when it’s so culturally unremarkable?
I could segue into the dangers of anthropomorphism, but I’m really not that invested in trying to understand human behavior beyond my own opinion on the matter at hand. Naked woman on a mountain. She’s a Kiwi. Sweet. End of story.
Plus, well, it’s kind of hilarious to me (but not in a surprising way how this is considered news worthy in this funny country) because there have been countless promiscuous harlots visiting our beautiful shores for reasons of both business and pleasure for years don’t cha know?
Those landmarks weren’t mainstream enough to make a big deal about I suppose #doublestandards
Posted in 📷 P H O T O G R A P H Y, 😂 F U N N Y : J U N K, 🥝 K I W I A N A
Tags: @jaylenecook_, Kiwi Born Playboy Playmate Poses Nude atop Mt Taranaki, New Zealand, NSFW, Playboy Playmates, rant, TITS or GTFO — My Thoughts on Amateur Nude Photographers & 'The Camera Club' by Chris Verene (NSFW) [rant]
