Nudity: Un-covering a bashful American

A reader was kind enough to send me this story by Emily Prucha, an American woman transplanted in Prague, and how she overcame her Western aversion to nudity.

During the summer months, my cheeks got red when I passed the topless sun bathers at Prague’s large outdoor swimming pool in Podolí. Although I had seen them on the beaches in Nice and Cannes, I categorized it as something that locals did, but not someone like me. In my mind, sun bathing without your top was something you’d do only in your own backyard. Doing it in public seemed like exhibitionism. When I did a double take after seeing bare-breasted mothers chasing children on the beach in Croatia, I realized again how culturally ingrained my idea of nudity was.

It's a wonderful article. Emily eventually overcame her gymnophobia, and is now trying to raise her little girl to be less self-conscious about her own body.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked