Miss February found 12 strangers to pose naked for Babes go Bare fundraising calendar

NANAIMO — Don't be surprised to see Joseph Caddy hawking calendars around town. After all, his pretty, vivacious daughter Trish is Miss February.

She's also naked as a jaybird, with just a cocked leg and strategically placed hand protecting her modesty. But that doesn't bother Joseph.

"There's nothing pornographic about it," he says. "She'll turn it into a learning experience."

He can say this with confidence because experiencing life is what Trish Caddy does best. The self-descibed "geek-of-all-trades optimist" graduated from John Barsby Community School when she was just 16, recently completed an undergraduate degree in biology and is pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. She also volunteers and -- just for fun -- decided to take on a social project. That project became the Babes Go Bare for Cancer calendar.

In just five months she found 12 women -- most of them strangers -- a photographer, designer and sponsors and completed the calendar.

It features 12 very different women with 12 very different reasons for posing. Their biographies provide a fascinating glimpse of the reasons why they chose to bare all.

Not everyone supports the project, but Caddy brushes off the criticism.

"There's nothing vulgar about the human body," she says. "As long as it's done in a modest way, like we've done, it's just an honest representation of a variety of women's bodies to raise money for a good cause."

In Babes Go Bare, what you see is what you get. The models' bruises, scars and stretchmarks are all on display, along with objects that are meaningful in their lives: a bicycle, guitar, newspapers, even a fish.

Caddy found her models by setting up a Facebook group and publicizing her effort in The Martlet, the University of Victoria's independent newspaper. The models are a diverse group, with many different reasons for taking part.

"Never did I imagine myself posing nude," writes Kassandra Marshall in her biography. "I am self-conscious about my entire body and want to change so much of it."

She chose to pose with her rescue dog Kyra to help her feel at ease.

Athletic "nerd" Brittany Sims, who poses with her surfboard, said the fear of stripping down in front of the camera was nothing compared to the fear she imagines people feel when they fight cancer. So off came the clothes.

From book-lover Sabrina, who muses on the nature of beauty, to lovely bartender Stephanie, who says she has never considered herself to be beautiful, all of the participants share their reasons for participating. Some want to challenge stereotypes while others want to challenge themselves. All wanted to support cancer research.

"These are real women," says Caddy in her calendar comment. "Each and every one of this is gutsy and gorgeous."

Not everyone sees it that way, of course. Caddy has already come across some critics crying out over her objectification of women's bodies for profit.

But she's quick to point out that the only profit from the calendar will be a cheque written out to the B.C. Cancer Foundation.

The photos don't objectify women, says Caddy. "You can look at the calendar and see that's it's not about sex or sexiness or raciness, not that there is anything wrong with sex," she says.

"But that is only one dimension people have of nudity. When you think about it from a perspective like me, from a health perspective, if you can't even look at yourself in the mirror without feeling shame or disgust, then how on Earth are you going to tell your doctor if something hurts or something is wrong?" she asks.

Caddy has already been deeply involved with the business of real life. She volunteers with the women's sexual assault centre in Victoria and helps medical students learn breast and pelvic exam techniques with the Island Medical program.

"It's like naked public speaking, except you have med school students coming at you with instruments they're not sure how to use yet," Caddy says with a laugh.

At first, the University of Victoria undergraduate was going to shave her head as part of a social experiment to see if people would treat her differently if she was bald.

Always one to bounce ideas off her parents, Caddy ran her proposal by her mom, who came up with a better solution.

If her daughter wanted to shave her head, at least do it for a good cause. From there the idea accelerated "Caddy-style" into the calendar project. If they sell all 1,250 calendars for $20 each they will raise $25,000 for the Cancer Foundation. All of the models have pledged to shave their heads if they reach that goal.

Joseph Caddy couldn't be prouder of his daughter and applauds the other calendar models as well.

"I figure they're a bunch of brave young women. If people can just realize what she's trying to say and do and support it, it's a little tiny part of the solution," he said.

Caddy will be at John Barsby on Tuesday from 6:30-9 p.m. to sell copies of her calendar. The calendar is available at the Coast Bastion Inn and online at www.babesgobareforcancer.ca.

KBryce@nanaimodailynews.com

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