"One father, who works away from home during the week, comes back to his wife and four daughters on Friday night and feels hopelessly out of place. "He keeps asking, rather desperately, 'Is that appropriate?' because we're all wandering about naked," says his wife fondly. "But we don't take any notice of him.""
Pascal said:
I've watched very carefully the many documentaries made on populations that live naked. It seems EVERYBODY gets used to it as naturally as I got used to my cat being naked. :-)
Admittedly, few of them are located in the Arctic Circle...
But do you think the Eskimos sleep in pyjamas, or in anything else? Guess again! Just the collective family/clan's body heat under a very warm fur blanket.
It's all about how we've been educated, and some social taboos we've unnoticingly assimilated. In some countries (Saudi kingdom, Afghanistan...), for a woman to show her bare face in public, or her uncovered hair, is considered nearly as obscene as if she were stark naked.
When you consider it in a purely objective manner, removing from the equation your own society-based educated feelings & reflexes, it becomes astomishing how the protective function of clothes has turned in priority to protection from the gaze of others. How did we become so repressed about our very being?
The legend of Adam & Eve, no matter how naive, bears very deep revelations about the minds that came up with its symbolism. God creates Man and Woman. Creates them butt-nekkid [Gen 2:25] TO HIS IMAGE [Gen 1:27], and blesses them by saying: "Grow and multiply." [Gen 1:28] Translation: it is RECOMMENDED that they have sex to their heart's content. Reminds me of the very revered and fully naked statues or greek and roman gods & goddesses.
Then the humans do the one foolish thing, and all of a sudden they are ashamed of being naked, and they make loincloths with fig leaves. [Gen 3:7] If, like me, you've played with fig leaves as a child, you know the darn things are itchy and have quite an irritant juice. Out of mercy for his creation which can no longer bear to live in innocent nudity, God replaces their awful undies with very nice leather tunics. [Gen 3:21] Quite a kind gesture, from a Father that's just been bitterly disappointed by his offspring for the first time in history. I wonder how much a good leather tunic would cost even today?
Incidentally, there's something odd: in Genesis, Man is authorised to eat all the fruits of the Earth, except that single forbidden one. [Gen 1:29-30] It is only after the flood that the
Which means that, either those who came after Adam & Eve killed animals just to skin them, or that everybody else until Noah dressed with vegetal fibers and materials. "Holy Josephine Baker, Batman! That means... it means..." (Robin turns bright red, while the Caped Crusader slowly starts peeling a batanana from his utility belt.)
Even in monotheistic Europe, the uncovered human figure was the subject of fery little fuss until the gloomy austerity of Puritanism started spreading. We must face it, my fellow Earthlings: our current "fashion values" are merely an episode of a history where standards change a lot.
26 comments:
See, we never really ran around in the buff, and like most, behaved more modestly as the kids grew up.
Middle aged spread, and laminate wood floor on concrete slab foundation don't help either.
I was born into a Scandinavian-American family in Wisconsin 1943. Family nudity was common while I was growing up, until my sisters and I got into our teens and bashfulness set in. I remember seeing my grandparents naked and thinking nothing of it.
Self-respecting naturist resorts know perfectly well this is the "natural" exception to the rule: teenagers going through the bashful phase. They are allowed to cover up (a little) if they feel too self-conscious about their bodily changes.
Modesty should, ideally, come only from within, not be imposed from outside.
For my added two cents, my parents were neither prudes nor exhibitionists. Just sensible. Sometimes I forget how lucky I was as a child, war or no war. One less complaint for me to send to God. :-)
It's nice to have been given good parents. But a shrink would complain that I'm boring. ;-)
"But a shrink would complain that I'm boring."
Don't worry, a good shrink boring deep enough will find something to chew on. ;-)
I've never seen my parents naked. My dad flashed his willy once when he heard I was going through puberty, it was his rather messed up way of "reassuring" me.
Unlike my parents, I have no problem with nudity, and quite frankly, it bothers me that I'm not allowed to be naked wherever I damn well please.
It doesn't bother me. You shouldn't be allowed to be naked whenever you damn well please. Most nudists appear to have flabby, out-of-shape, pasty bodies that should be hidden away. I'd never want to visit the home of a nudist because even if they were at that time wearing clothes, you'd know that at least one naked ass has sat on all the furniture. No thanks!
Bert,
So is that what they mean by "I'm deeply bored"? :-)
Ouch, man.
Anon #2,
Clearly you don't know much about nudist lifestyle. One of the very first and main rules of etiquette, as mentioned in The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is "always have your towel with you".
Either to sit in places where people walk, or to sit on something clean like the furniture.
A serious nudist knows that there are some hygienic motives for wearing clothes.
Also, particularly for male rookies, to hold in front of you if you get an Involuntary Reaction.
Nudist colonies are everywhere these days. I'd love to go, but I can't get the wrinkles out of my birthday suit.
Joe, one word: STEAM. :-D
Right you are, Eolake. And yet, such an event is much less frequent than one might expect, according to "professional" nudists.
Oh, and they resent the term "colonies", which sounds like they're being assimililated to some exotic animals gathering for mating season. The "nudistically correct" term is resort.
From my comments, one might think I'm pretending very hard NOT to be one. :-) In reality, I just documented myself a lot. You don't really expect a Doctor in Lebanon to play Adam & Eve under the sun of a beach, eh?
And to think in some countries, there are nudist priests, that perform weddings and mass with everybody dressed solely in their innocence. I even saw a very cute French film about such a story: "Mon Curé chez les Nudistes" (My Priest visits the Nudists). Rated PG...
That very sincere AND SHY country priest is sent "undercover" to a nudist resort with the mission to bring them to mass within three days. Chain-reaction shenanigans ensue.
(If you want to web-search for it, the leading role was Paul Preboist. It's an old movie; the people are genuinely nekkid, but they always manage in one seemless way or another not to show any... "sensitive material".)
Call me a prude, but I don't want to see members of my family naked.
I can see an upside to an all-nudist world society, though. It seems every guy would like everyone to believe that he's got a giant elephant cock. If everyone were naked all the time, that at least would end.
Still, I can see nudism really only working in hot countries. In winter, I can't see going nude in -40 in a snowstorm. And even in a hot country, I'd have to spend even more on 60 sunscreen because I'd have to make sure my enormous wang was protected.
"In winter, I can't see going nude in -40 in a snowstorm."
Oh, it's possible. For at least twelve seconds.
I've watched very carefully the many documentaries made on populations that live naked. It seems EVERYBODY gets used to it as naturally as I got used to my cat being naked. :-)
Admittedly, few of them are located in the Arctic Circle...
But do you think the Eskimos sleep in pyjamas, or in anything else? Guess again! Just the collective family/clan's body heat under a very warm fur blanket.
It's all about how we've been educated, and some social taboos we've unnoticingly assimilated. In some countries (Saudi kingdom, Afghanistan...), for a woman to show her bare face in public, or her uncovered hair, is considered nearly as obscene as if she were stark naked.
When you consider it in a purely objective manner, removing from the equation your own society-based educated feelings & reflexes, it becomes astomishing how the protective function of clothes has turned in priority to protection from the gaze of others. How did we become so repressed about our very being?
The legend of Adam & Eve, no matter how naive, bears very deep revelations about the minds that came up with its symbolism. God creates Man and Woman. Creates them butt-nekkid [Gen 2:25] TO HIS IMAGE [Gen 1:27], and blesses them by saying: "Grow and multiply." [Gen 1:28] Translation: it is RECOMMENDED that they have sex to their heart's content. Reminds me of the very revered and fully naked statues or greek and roman gods & goddesses.
Then the humans do the one foolish thing, and all of a sudden they are ashamed of being naked, and they make loincloths with fig leaves. [Gen 3:7] If, like me, you've played with fig leaves as a child, you know the darn things are itchy and have quite an irritant juice. Out of mercy for his creation which can no longer bear to live in innocent nudity, God replaces their awful undies with very nice leather tunics. [Gen 3:21] Quite a kind gesture, from a Father that's just been bitterly disappointed by his offspring for the first time in history. I wonder how much a good leather tunic would cost even today?
Incidentally, there's something odd: in Genesis, Man is authorised to eat all the fruits of the Earth, except that single forbidden one. [Gen 1:29-30] It is only after the flood that the Book of Gusteau also mentions animal flesh. [Gen 9:2-3, 9:7], again advising for lots of sex along the way.
Which means that, either those who came after Adam & Eve killed animals just to skin them, or that everybody else until Noah dressed with vegetal fibers and materials. "Holy Josephine Baker, Batman! That means... it means..." (Robin turns bright red, while the Caped Crusader slowly starts peeling a batanana from his utility belt.)
Even in monotheistic Europe, the uncovered human figure was the subject of fery little fuss until the gloomy austerity of Puritanism started spreading. We must face it, my fellow Earthlings: our current "fashion values" are merely an episode of a history where standards change a lot.
But do you think the Eskimos sleep in pyjamas, or in anything else? Guess again! Just the collective family/clan's body heat under a very warm fur blanket.
They live in houses these days like everyone else, and probably do wear pajamas. They don't drive dogsleds anymore either.
Ron Coleman's very relevant nudist cartoon for this week:
http://www.netnude.com/main/rcimages/rc022508L.jpg
"Textiles" are non-nudists, generally anti-nudists.
Hah. Like fetish people call straight people "vanillas". :)
I wonder what the point of that would be in heaven, considering that in the old days churchies thought sex should be for procreation only. In Heaven there would be none of that, so what do you need sex organs for? Of course, "textiles" wouldn't mind it because no one would have a bad body anymore, we'd all look like supermodels. Our vile bodies would left behind, remember?
It's funny how freaks are allowed to put down those who don't share their lifestyle, but us Normals are supposed to be accepting of their Freak ways.
I understand the term "textile" much more easily than "vanilla". I mean, strictly speaking, "textile" is merely a literal designation for an un-naked person, wearing fabric. Buy ice-cream aromas? I mean, what's the deal with that, yo?
Maybe we should call nudists "skinjobs." :-)
"Wake up... time to die."
P4, surely you get the "vanilla" reference? As in "plain" or "boring".
Well, myself I like my vanilla with a twist of lemon. Equal parts is ideal for an ice-cream on a hot day, mmmmm! :-)
I've always known that vanilla stands for "plain" or "boring". I just never quite got the exact reason why. Not very obvious from a lebanese cultural point of view, you see.
Then again, recently the authorities decided that Satan worshiping was THE greatest threat to our country and society, and started arresting every youngster who had a visible tattoo, long hair or a vaguely gothic style under allegations of "reasonable presumption". Luckily, then came the car bombings as a welcome diversion!
It's a whole other world, sidi. I'm living on pistachio planet...
"Skinjobs" (^_^)
I hope they can bare your humour, Joe. Sometimes, acceptance of the naked truth hangs by a thread.
BTW, it's true that a majority of nudists aren't pretty to watch. Especially in a country like the USA, where 50% of the population are obese. But it's not about showing and some vanity. It's just about acceptance. Nudists/naturists have a philosophy about not being ashamed of oneself and the aesthetic standards of society. How many of us can claim to be genuinely and entirely photogenic-good-looking? A person in a wheelchair, or amputated, will often testify that they feel much more comfortable in a nudist place than at the beach. An autist girl testified the same in one or two Domai newsletters, I believe. Autism is by essence an extreme social handicap, and then she found natural acceptance.
As a doctor, who's seen it all, including some things too terrible for you to imagine (don't ask!), I can really understand that attitude of theirs. My eyes have been trained not to judge people, whom I regularly see in their undisguised truth. Sure, I do have beauty standards, and sometimes just before examining a beautiful young girl, I find myself thinking "wow, she's really pretty!". But even that has to be set aside in a second, because it has nothing to do with the patient I'm here to take care of. Such considerations of attractiveness are left for social context, which has its own time. And naturism leaves sexual attraction for its own time.
I wonder: what is it that bothers an ordinary person about, say, obese nudists? Is it the intimate parts, that aren't very different from everybody else's? Or the appearance of their uncovered body, which would change very little if they were in swimsuits? What is it exactly that is suddenly considered "too much to watch"? Worse than a sumo match, for instance?
Not claiming that I find it artistic or anything, but I'm eager to understand what sets the standards and the very subtle limit criteriae. Actually, someone very fat can retain much more modesty in nudity, thanks to the intimate parts being so much less visible.
;-)
Some bodies really do not feel pretty, to me like everybody else. But somehow, I'm much more bothered but the sight of a woman rendered as shapeless as a garbage bag in an all-encompassing burqa, or a niqab, or simply that horribly tasteles helmet-shaped chador. All traditional islamic coverers of the woman's body, no matter how she looks. (See here and here, funny cartoons by an iranian artist.)
Denying one's humanity, through their body or otherwise, THAT I find absolutely intolerable.
I'm completely willing to make do with a world where the ugly can freely show themselves in public, if it is the price for respect to all. A very small price, frankly. True ugliness, like true beauty, is not in the body: it's in the soul.
If only some obscenity law could spare me THAT daily sight on national TV...
"I've always known that vanilla stands for "plain" or "boring". I just never quite got the exact reason why."
I think it's because it's the oldest ice cream flavor, and because it's ubiquitous, and is relatively subtle.
BTW, "Skinjobs" is a slang term for androids, used in Bladerunner, in case you were unawares of it.
I like subtle. :-)
It's been more than 20 years since I watched Blade Runner, so I had forgotten about that detail. Should get me the DVD, classics are worth the expense.
Anyway, it's better than Bender's "meatbags" in terms of subtlety.
;-)
Wait and get Bladerunner in Blue-Ray (since HD-DVD died, it's bound to come out in Blue-Ray too). If one film is worth it, that's the one.
Post a Comment