To be human is to have a human body. To be ashamed of one’s body is to be ashamed of being human.
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| Photo copyright Nor-Cal Photography 2010. |
For longer than I can remember, I have preferred to be naked. There are photos of my siblings and me as children, in which they wear pajamas and I am naked. There is an old home movie of us splashing in a wading pool; they wear swimsuits and I am naked. Evidently, a sense of freedom and joy at feeling uninterrupted air or water all over my skin has always been a part of who I am.
As a young man, I sought out situations where nudity was readily accepted (nude beaches) or — even better — required (modeling for art classes, performing nude scenes in plays). I had a few close friends with whom I could be socially naked, but, for the most part, I needed permission or an excuse to get out of my clothes; “Hey, they’re paying me.”
My body has grown less pretty as I have aged. Well, so has my face. So has my hair. Does this mean I should cover my face, and wear a hat at all times? If anything, the changes in my body have deepened my understanding that nudity is not the exclusive domain of the young and beautiful. Nudity is the default setting for all of us. It’s wrong to let ourselves be bullied or shamed into taking the action of hiding behind clothing. A society in which individuals are free to be as dressed or undressed as they wish would be my ideal.
Having learned to be more honest and unabashed about my desire to be nude in daily life, I seize or create opportunities to be clothes-free regardless of what the expected “norm” might be. Because I think nakedness should be okay, I tend to push the envelope in the spirit of Be the Change. Most of my public nudity takes place where it is neither illegal nor unheard of…. but, yes, there’s some envelope-pushing going on there, too.
Whether among friends…
…or in a crowd of strangers…
… I believe that being non-sexually naked among clothed folk has the potential to nudge them toward body acceptance.
Many onlookers, in person and online seem to respond to nudity with strictly prurient interest or as if it were a freak show… and I can’t control that. I hope that eventually, through osmosis, SOME of them may come to think that a human body is a perfectly natural thing which doesn’t ALWAYS mean sex, and which need not be hidden from view.
I'm proud to be a guest blogger on iNAKED. My own blog is @ http://ihavenoprivateparts.tumblr.com/
~ Naked Andy
