One of the (many) aspects of becoming a nudist, is finding the ability to be comfortable with your nakedness, whether it’s while being alone, or in the company of others. Our society operates so heavily on the idea of the oppression of self, self-worth and self-identity that by the time we are young adults, it’ sometimes almost literally impossible to understand the idea of nakedness as anything but shameful, hidden and uncomfortable.
Indeed, even if people do eventually get past the initial reluctance and decide to try naturism, there is almost always a period where the fear and shame still exist in some manner. For men, they can be afraid of unwanted bodily reactions, such as erections or leaking of seminal fluid among other things. For women, there’s can be a fear of unwanted sexual gazing, menstruation issues, and body image issues. However, be you male, female, transgender or gender fluid, there can be some overlap in all of these issues and more as well.
For some people, becoming comfortable with nakedness is light hitting a switch. For others, it can take weeks, months or even years to eventually get to the point where stripping down is as natural as dressing up. It starts to become even more of an issue in mixed company, adults and children together, and a mix of clothed vs. unclothed.
For me, I’ve reached a point where there is almost no area where I’m uncomfortable being naked. I still keep a healthy respect for those around me that may not wish to see a naked person where one may (in our society) not reasonably expect to see one, but in places where there’s a thin line, or where nudity isn’t something that I’m doing while surrounded by regular society, I have no problem being nude. I feel no shame from it, and often actually feel sorry for those that can’t wrap their heads around the idea of our natural bodies being free from the constraints of clothing.
Yesterday, I got to hang out with a friend and their two young children. We’ve known each other for some time now and they and their kids have hung out with me on Wreck Beach on numerous occasions. So, being who I am, I asked my friend to ask the kids if it was OK if I could hang out in the nude when possible. The responses were akin to “Uh, duh. Of course” as if the idea of me NOT being naked was the weird one. That kind of comfortability, to my mind, is a hard fought victory against society’s stringent teachings (whether passive or active). For an entire evening I was utterly comfortably nude while hanging out. We watched a movie, goofed around, and none of it was one iota different than had I been clothed the entire time… except for the fact that I didn’t have to put up with the clothing irritating my skin or making me too hot. I was comfortable and natural and by the time I was heading home, I was wondering why ANYONE makes a big deal out of any of it.
But I feel I preach to the choir here. The words I say and lessons I try to impart and things I try to get people to wrap their heads around generally fall on deaf ears on anyone but the people that already either practice nudity or have been open to it from the start. It’s really rather frustrating sometimes to have found that level of comfort with the nude body, only to be repeatedly reminded time and time again that… well… the vast majority of people just have no time for it or are actively against it. So I have to take my small victories where I can, and enjoy the fact that I can still be myself, where possible.
So far.