On Modesty and Shame

I asked my wife one question with regard to my nudity: "Can you give me one good reason for wearing clothes in the privacy of our home?"

Of course there is no good reason. Going naked in the home is natural and comfortable. Both my wife and I have seen each other naked enough so that we know each other's bodies as our own, so what is the purpose of covering up? Aside from the obviously practical reasons, such as for protection from cold or other hazards (I'm not keen on doing woodworking in the buff), the only reasons for wearing clothing in the home is to appease our own mental needs for modesty, and the imagined shame that results from exposing our "dirty parts".

Shame in our own nakedness is not surprising in our present-day American culture, given the national trauma we all witnessed when Janet Jackson exposed a breast. It's impossible to explain logically why the female breast, the source of nourishment for babies and the penultimate symbol of motherhood and love, can cause mass hysteria and mental damage to millions at simply being seen, or why the male nipple is perfectly acceptable at being exposed in virtually every public place in America while a nursing mother must cover up her breast or feed her baby in private.

So we are taught over and over that the naked body is something bad, to be hidden away and viewed only behind closed doors, that personal nudity is only OK when bathing or having sex. Yet we are in the midst of an exploding, billion dollar pornography industry, we make icons out of women who have sex on camera, we celebrate the annual Sports Illustrated bathing suit issue, but we cannot ourselves go to the beach and swim naked in the surf without risking a fine or police arrest.

We are told that it's shameful to expose the body, you must be modest, you must cover up, it's dirty to show your private parts, it's bad, it's filthy, it's abnormal. It has gotten so bad that religiously conservative politicians are draping cloth over nude statues, schools are removing artwork from exhibits that show the naked body, and women who bare their breasts as a form of protest risk being tagged as sex offenders.

And all the while billions of dollars are being hauled in by the pornography industry. Even the Ipod is being targeted for porn - this form of graphic, impersonal and degrading sex will now be in our cars, at our workplace and in our schools.

And here I sit nude. I am not a pornographer, I am not an exhibitionist, I am not a molestor, or an adulterer, or a pervert - I merely believe that human beings deserve the right to live in the natural state, free of clothing.

If you have not read the 205 Arguments and Observations in Support of Naturism (pdf file), I suggest that you take the time to look it over and try and play devil's advocate with any of the logical and reasonable points made. It is clear that in these United States we are almost hopelessly behind the rest of the world when it comes to attitudes toward the human body, but at the same time there is a growing movement of thousands of people who are seeking a more natural and relaxed way of life. Shedding clothes is free of cost, liberating, comfortable, exhilarating, sensual, normal, healthy, natural, and more.

All it takes to be naked is to take off your clothes and set aside modesty and shame. Children are not born modest or ashamed, these are taught, and for some people it might take a lot of courage to overcome years of having this mental block. All I can say is that I really wish that I had made the decision to live nude many years ago. Waiting to the age of 51 to come to terms with my own body and natural state is by no means too late, but the epiphany should have come much sooner. Don't make the same mistake, shed the false modesty and stop being ashamed - you are beautiful just as you were made.