It's Naked Time!

Nudity. It’s quite the social taboo no matter who you are or what background you may have. It’s amazing how such a little thing as tossing off clothes can raise so many eyebrows and make a person a social outcast in an instant.

The basic problem with nudity in our society is there are only three occasions when it’s acceptable: 1) bathing, 2) changing clothes, and 3) sex. So the basic assumption is if you’re not stripping down for 1 or 2, then it must be for 3. Plus, since 1 and 2 are typically performed alone, if you’re nude with other people then it must be for item 3. I categorized this is as a problem because it closes off nudity, especially social nudity, for a selected case. When the truth is these three cases are really arbitrary social rules. There could be a limitless number of reasons why someone would want to be naked.

Take the case of children, for example. To child, especially someone who has been sheltered from pornography and anything sexual, sex doesn’t exist, at least until puberty hits. But when you live in a world without it, this leaves the only two “acceptable” occasions: 1) bathing and 2) changing clothes. But if you’ve any kids long enough or happen to remember being one yourself, you’d know that they quickly discover other reasons to be naked, most of which revolve around its free and unencumbered feeling and having one less thing to worry about.

For example, when I was in fifth grade I had a friend named Greg who was a bonafied nudist. In fact, my first memory of the kid was in third grade watching him dash through the halls of my elementary school stark naked and chased by a pack of teachers. When we became friends a couple years later, I went over his house to play and he immediately stripped and gallivanted around the house as if modesty never occurred to him. Over the course of several visits, he eventually talked me into stripping as well. What I found odd after we were both naked was nothing really changed. We’d play board games and cards and watch TV like any normal eleven-year-old; we just did it without clothes. But for some reason, all of these activities were just more fun naked.

I would argue that anyone in their adulthood who enjoys strolling through their living room or spending a good part of the morning in the buff has a child inside who remembers these hidden other reasons why nudity isn’t all so bad. Granted, I wouldn’t necessarily encourage you to rip off your outer wear and strut up and down the streets for the entire world to see. Unfortunately, despite whatever idealistic feelings you may have toward nudity, the sex thing will always get in the way for at least some people and consequently it’s unlikely such an act will ever be legalized. But, as long as there are curtains and slices of life that you can have for yourself, go at it! Spend some time, or perhaps the entire day, naked! Just be careful what you sit on.