I just clicked through on a quirky piece on a Second Life blog with a series of naturist photos and a compelling case about the normalcy of nudity – or at least, how that should be the case.
I’m not a Second Life guy, so I have only a vague understanding of that culture, but I find it particularly intriguing when people who “live” in an entire world of alternate identities speak to the inherent truth and honestly of social nudity. (Even a bit more peculiar when people take on the identity of a nude avatar, which to me, has always seemed a bit too close to animated pornography – but that’s another topic for another day.)
A few months ago, my blog crossed the threshold of a 500,000 hits. At the time, I considered writing some goofy post to the effect of, “A Half-Million Views of My Naked Ass,” but other than simply stating that some sort of strange “rite of passage” had occurred, I finally decided what’s the point?
Just to complete the loop, I also got a comment in response to one of my recent blog posts requesting – rather politely I will admit – that I offer “more male frontal nudity please.” I thought that to be particularly intriguing (and a bit irritating to be truthful) as there are a bazillion places on the internet these days where one can find full frontal nudity in all states of arousal or not. To be more specific, I have over 4000 followers through the various channels of my blog, and the realization that some of my readers are simply holding out for the opportunity to view my genitalia is flattering at best, but pretty creepy in reality.
And so it goes in a day and age where we can go to the cinema and see sex and violence in copious quantities, but full frontal nudity puts a film in a different class, creating a parallel universe in the naturist community that sends a clear message that female breasts and male genitalia are not for the weak of heart! (If someone would like to explain to me to mystery of female genitalia as obscured by pubic hair, have at it!) The bizarre part of the entire equation to me is the fact that devoid of imagination, nudity has little or no allure. None! Most of us feel more self conscious (e.g. less alluring) when we lack a protective layer of cotton or nylon, and even fewer of us feel we have the bodily characteristics to qualify as internet worthy in the category of sexual stimulation.
How did we… as a species (!)… get to this place? My dog runs around naked all the time, and he seems totally oblivious to the entire phenomenon!
I have often wondered where we would be with the social nudity thing without the overwhelmingly prudish aftermath of the Christian missionary conquest. Don’t get me wrong. I was raised in the Christian church, and I understand they mores they seek to espouse. Find a mate. Procreate. Don’t mess with genetics by making babies with your cousins. But in 2018??? With HBO, Pay-per-view, and Tommy Wiseau? Are you serious?
So after I finish this post, I’ll comb through my Twitter feed and block followers with auspicious names that are searching for God knows what, and I’ll look over the various blog posts I’ve published to date with one eye toward promoting body-positive advocacy and the other toward the “What on earth are you thinking?” crowd, knowing full well what they’re thinking, and wondering why they’re wasting time on the pages of my blog.
And so it goes. We live in an age where acceptance and tolerance is fully embraced by everyone, except by those who are neither tolerant nor accepting. I have often wondered about the pioneers who brought nudism to America, so fastidious to the merits of high fences and private mailings. Today, you can have just about anything you want delivered to your mailbox or your computer, but set foot in your backyard donning a flaccid penis or an uncovered breast and you might find yourself in the Municipal Court defending your “right to bare arms.” Crazy.
Perhaps I have grown tiresome in reiterating this in recent blog posts, but I’ll say it again here… Social nudity is a liberating and rejuvenating experience to those who are able to get beyond the dogma of it all, which is all pretty bizarre when you consider that very few humans look better wrapped in nylon or Lycra than they do wrapped in skin.
So there we are then. Naked and afraid. Yet I will continue to rally for the naturist cause in the most altruistic way I know how. Hoping that one more person out there might read this blog and say, “Why the hell not?” Life is too short to spend our days wrapped in wet nylon!
[Images in this post are believed, by the blogger, to be in the public domain. If you wish to have an image removed, please contact me and I will respond accordingly.]
Why the hell not? Life is too short to spend our days wrapped in wet nylon!
Truer words were never spoken!
Well said. The more time you live naked the more foolish the state of being dressed becomes especially in warm climates.
Our clothing compulsion is just social conditioning!
Free your body, free your mind, refresh your spirit.
I discovered an enjoyment of nudity when I lived in Japan: https://mrmatthewruddle.com/2017/10/02/naked-in-japan/
Wow! In Japan in Kibe right now. I hear the nearby springs are amazing!!
Would that being nude were but another fashion choice!
Since we don’t know each other, I am Joy Nelson, author of the blog Get Naked With Joy. I write about similar topics. As a female blogger who focuses on the topic of being “naked” I also get a lot of unwanted feedback and suggestions.
The most common suggestion I get is how to style my pubic hair. As an empowered woman it doesn’t bother me per se, I more find myself wondering what kind of person feels like it is an appropriate comment.
I happened across your blog because it was retweeted by someone I follow (can’t remember who in this moment). In direct response to the question you were asked I would say this:
If possible, try not to let your reader’s request influence you in any way. I personally know that some of the comments I get have made me feel less less comfortable sharing my naked images but I work to overcome my discomfort and continue being me.
Beyond the nudist/naturist movement, I think it is vital to the health of our society as a whole to view everyday people doing everyday things nude. I appreciate your effort (I will not claim to understand your deeper message and intention since I have only read this one article so far).
From my heart to yours,
Joy
Hi Joy. Thanks for your lovely comments, and for following my blog! 🙂 While clearly we’re coming at it from different gender perspectives, and I think our collective mission is quite confluent. Hoping you’ll dig around when you have a moment and read a few more of my commentary type pieces. This is primarily a travel blog, but I’m become a bit more outspoken in voicing personal opinions as the blog has evolved. As you know, you never know when someone will stumble into your musings and exactly how something might resonate at that particular moment.
As for “readers influencing what I do or do not post,” I have to say that ship has sailed quite a long time ago. (Sorry. Don’t know. Don’t care!) In fact, as a travel blogger, a recurring theme in my writing has been the inability to Americans to figure out the naturist thing on par with our friends in Europe. Pretty sure this has pissed off a good number of “card-carrying American nudists,” but in the same breath, I’d like to get the word out there that there is a higher standard for discerning people who enjoy clothing optional recreation. This all grew out of the time when our children were young, and we wanted them to grow up – at least – “naturist friendly.” That actually happened, but would it would have not turned out that way had it not been for a remarkable naturist place in France. Our now 28-year-old daughter just visited that place again on her own volition with a friend. Success. 🙂
Anyway, thanks. I look forward to more dialogue and discourse on our shared interest of humans being… well, human.
Thanks for digging deep and sharing! My four kids have all had numerous social nude experiences at clothing optional beaches, hot springs, and other social settings on Salt Spring Island where nudity is embraced more so than it is in many other North American communities.
Hope you have a glorious Sunday!
We are convinced it helped shaped them into the amazing human beings they each have become. Good for us! 🙂
And a glorious Sunday to you as well.
Reblogged this on The Discerning Nudist and commented:
Have enjoyed a lot of good airplay on this post that wrote last winter. Thought it would be worth adding to the discussion here on the Discerning Nudist.
Great blog.it seems to me that that I have read your work on another site that has recently kicked-a lot of people off of I. I have been looking for articles to read on naturism dispensations , point of views and such. It’s not easygoing, lots of nudity and no real content. I look forward to reading more of your work. It gives my ideas on how to correct wrong thinking on nudity, and ideas on what I write about
Thanks for your kind words. Have been at this for a long time, in an effort to address exactly what you’re talking about. Thanks for following.
A few thoughts on the request for more male frontal nudity. I’m not suggesting his request was appropriate, just that it might’ve been a response to something that actually exists outside his head. Yes, there are a bazillion places to find male full frontal nudity on the internet. The problem is that 90+% of the males are porn stars, were porn stars, or clearly could’ve been. Even the ‘average Joes’ are guys whose lives have given them the option of spending a couple of hours per day on their physical fitness. I.e. there’s still a dearth of guys with real world bodies. There’s even more of a dearth of guys with real world bodies going about their daily lives without clothing.
A guy whose body does NOT fit what society calls attractive and wants to break free of societal conditioning needs a lot – and i mean A LOT – of exposure to pics of guys with regular bodies drinking coffee, mowing the lawn, etc. in the buff to work up the nerve to try it himself. And if he’s trying to get up the nerve to go to a nude beach, he might need to see thousands of such pics to convince himself that we won’t get tarred, feathered, and run off the beach if he disrobes and reveals his present body. Please bear in mind that I’m talking about pics that wouldn’t get a first look, never mind a second if the guys in the pic were wearing the expected clothing. I’m talking about pics that could have a caption like “it’s too damn hot for clothing, so here’s me with my out of shape body doing my boring household chores in the buff.”
I maintain a couple of blogs on the famous tumbling one and on its offspring. As far as i can tell mine is one of a half dozen that could be called something like “no gym bunnies here”. Maybe one of every two dozen pics I scroll through meets my criteria of a guy with a real world body doing a real world activity in the buff. if I were to eliminate guys who clearly get some kind of regular exercise, it’d be one of every three to four dozen pics.
My response to these bazillion sites is rather like my response to cable tv. Yes, there might actually be 500+ channels, but there’s still nothing on.
I hope this made some sense.
Yes… that totally makes sense, and it’s a compelling argument. Interestingly, I just received a random inquiry as to whether I would consider posing nude for a photographer, to which I replied, “Sure, though I’m not the svelte 20-something I once was.” But like all body acceptance issues, I think we all struggle a bit with not looking like the super humans featured in travel and deodorant ads!
Thanks for following my blog, and taking the time to comment.
Thanks. I like your word choice “body acceptance”. If you google “body image” you’ll see that the focus is on the individuals psychological/emotional perception/response to what he sees in the mirror. The actual, objectively measurable attributes of the physical body are all but ignored.
This is useless to people like me whose bodies have physical/structural differences and medical dx’s to go with them. My body does not fit what mainstream media regards as attractive in a male. This is not my perception. This is fact.
It’s funny in a way; people’s insistence that my medically dx’d skeletal issues are my ‘perception’ has been a much larger obstacle to my accepting my body than the skeletal differences themselves.
So thanks again for avoiding the phrase “body Image” 🙂
“I have often wondered where we would be with the social nudity thing without the overwhelmingly prudish aftermath of the Christian missionary conquest. Don’t get me wrong. I was raised in the Christian church, and I understand they mores they seek to espouse. Find a mate. Procreate. Don’t mess with genetics by making babies with your cousins. But in 2018???”
We have come from the same types of backgrounds which intrigues me.
This is something that I have been thinking about alot lately myself. I think part of the problem may be that when we look at mainstream media\entertainment, all we can find are the requisite perfect bodies, and the only activity is sexual in nature (no pun intended), leading everyone to the conclusion that nudity\naturism is not a common, viable existence. The other thing that has been striking me a lot lately is how little we value human life when we can witness so many murders in so many movies, ala John Wick, Extraction, etc., Etc. This my question: what makes murder so much more acceptable and average activity as a nudist so unacceptable?
As Arsenio Hall used to say…”things that make you go ‘hmmm!”
Funny: I woke up this morning that I won’t really feel “liberated” until the day when I can open the front door and walk out to the mailbox without feeling obligated to put a pair of shorts on. And then I opened the front door to snow. But that’s a different scenario.
So your dog runs around naked around you … and is totally oblivious to whether or not you’re naked. Hmm … probably not oblivious to snow, though: but I bet the pooch still feels no need to put on an overcoat!