Such beguiling modesty among the painted ones! The JYT loves this BS, of course -- I guess some of you will, too. amerikan decadence is rotting Latin America FAST, and then it comes up here to hold up a mirror up to our Times Square selves -- NN
The Desnudas of Times Square, Topless but for the Paint
Mey Ovalles ignored the snickers of gawking boys and the smartphones snapping photos as she clutched her bra to her chest and her bare skin became an opaque shade of blue with white sparkles.
She shielded her nipples until they were cloaked with brush strokes, though her curvy, sun-kissed body — with the exception of a nylon thong — was exposed to hundreds of passers-by in Times Square. She felt naked until she became a canvas of red, white and blue.........
This was part of Ms. Ovalles’s daily routine as a desnuda, a Spanish word meaning naked that has been embraced by the women who strut around the Times Square pedestrian plaza topless and covered in body paint to pose for photos in exchange for tips.
Ms. Ovalles is one of the newest participants to join the parade of seminude performers contributing to the carnival-like atmosphere amid the sea of tourists. “Oh my God, it’s a lot of people who see me naked,” Ms. Ovalles, 27, said. “It’s too fun. It’s totally different.”
The earliest sighting of a desnuda seems to date to the summer of 2013, according to posts on social media. But this summer, on any given day, there are at least a dozen young women, primarily Latinas, of all heights and body shapes, strolling through the pedestrian plazas, trying to capitalize on this suggestive performance art.........