Naked Partying

It's encouraging to read an article like this one in the New York Times (registration required). At college campuses, naked partying is catching on, and apparently for all the right reasons.

“It’s one of those things people feel they need to do before they graduate,” says Megan Crandell, a senior who estimates that she has been to a half-dozen naked parties during her time at Yale. “The dynamic is completely different from a clothed party. People are so conscious of how they’re coming across that conversations end up being more sophisticated. You can’t talk about how hot that chick was the other night.”

This is right in line with what nudists and naturists have been saying for years, that nudism is not about the sex, it's about stripping away the layers of society and letting the true person emerge.

“With this whole 20-something party culture, getting dressed to go out is such a big deal,” says Kate Horning, a senior who went to the party. “But that whole part of the evening is purposely absent. My friends who didn’t go were like, ‘Oh, my God, were people just staring at each other’s bodies all night?’ And I said, ‘No, people were just kind of chatting and playing pool and playing piano.’ ”

Again, this is what you always read about nudist organizations and resorts, that people just tend to do what people do, they play games and socialize.

Katherine Worteck, another senior, says the party changed her idea of what an attractive body looks like. “We’re used to the naked bodies we see on movie screens,” she says, “not natural, typical bodies. I found that people who would have been considered heavy with their clothes on actually looked better naked. I’m not sure why. And definitely the gaunt look was a lot less attractive. Visible hip bones looked alarming. It was a nice reality check."

This is so refreshing to hear, definitely a slam at the fashion industry which uses emaciated models and peddles a look that normal human beings can never hope to achieve.

At Wellesley, administrators not only know that there’s a naked party every spring, they provide police security outside. A small feminist living cooperative named Instead is host of the party, a charity event; the money goes to organizations that promote healthy body image for women. Students are charged a dollar for every item of clothing they wear — a small proportion strip completely and enter free.

Poor body image is a growing American problem, and it's just wonderful that these kids recognize the root of the disease, that we have to shed what society has imposed upon us and become comfortable in our own skins.

“You find yourself accepting people in a completely different light. For me, there’s something totally captivating about it. It reinforces in a really profound way this common thread of humanity. Everyone is bared in all their glory, but it turns out no one is actually that glorious.”

The article goes on to explain that not all people are accepting of the naked parties, that some schools openly discourage them, and some students attend the parties hoping for a sexually charged atmosphere. Others just feel uncomfortable and cannot overcome their own hang-ups. One school reported a sexual assault, but there is no evidence that the naked parties are the cause, violence happens on college campuses sometimes.

In the 60s and 70s there was a sexual revolution, people were becoming more free and accepting of themselves and others, but the onset of AIDS and a reinvigorated conservative movement has set enlightened attitudes back a step or two. It's good to hear that the younger generation is beginning to rediscover its own humanity, and the world will be a better place because of it.

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