Naked and proud!
My name is Nick, and I am proud to say that I am a nudist! Unless I have to go out for groceries, get the kids from school, or go to work, I live my life free of clothing.
Since I was a child, I have hated wearing clothes, the touch of cotton on my skin, the constraint of a belt or a shoelace, or, worst of all, the muggy sensation of underwear. On a hot, beautiful day, wrapping your body in layers of textiles is a matter of habit, a pointless tradition.
But what does it mean to be a nudist or a naturist? Is it all about sex? Gawking at privates? Shocking strangers with your dangly bits? Quite the opposite, actually. Most nudists I know are shy. If I had to sum up our beliefs in five simple words, those words would be: the human body is innocent. That’s it. We believe that men and women have the capacity to respect one another, with or without clothing, without succumbing to animal instinct. We believe there is no shame in being seen naked or in seeing others naked. Your penis, your vagina, your nipple, these are just parts and are no more indecent than an ear or an elbow. Feelings of embarrassment about your body are an illusion. Once we examine why we feel ashamed, we quickly realize how silly it is to feel that way. Baring yourself to the world isn’t harmful, and in fact, quite the opposite is true. We become obsessed with genitalia the more we keep it a mystery. Nudists see a naked body as a person, not a thing to lust after.
The human body is innocent
the human body is innocent
Human beings were never meant to wear clothes. We are born far more beautiful and can experience the world far more intimately, in nothing but our bare bodies. This philosophy is nothing new. We are all born free of shame. In Ancient Greece and Rome, in Celtic Europe, and throughout most native cultures, clothing was only customary, dependent more on the weather than any notion of decency. And for tens of thousands, if not more than a hundred thousand years, public nakedness was the norm. At around the time of the Ice Age, we adopted textiles to retain body heat, but what was once deemed a necessity became a global neurosis and a hatred for what we look like in just our skin. Conversely, we’ve come to fetishize the 1% who fit our very narrow definition of beauty.
Growing up, I never understood our obsession with sex and, paradoxically, our Puritanical attitude toward the human body. The United States of America is an insane place, where you can legally carry and conceal a gun but risk imprisonment should anyone see your genitals. We live in a world where, under the banner of free speech, YouTube permits videos calling for racism, sexism, and homophobia, but Facebook censors a mother breastfeeding; we live in a world where “Mature” video games like Grand Theft Auto entertain children with fantasies of murdering innocents, while a game showing a nipple earns a much stricter “Adult” rating; we live in a world where the Westboro Baptist Church can rally at a gay soldier’s funeral with signs that read “God Hates Fags” as police stand idly by, but should a man or woman show up in nothing but the body we are all born into, they would promptly get arrested for indecency.
But we are becoming a far more accepting society. No longer do we demonize people based on race, religion, or sexual orientation (not most of us, anyway) while the practice of objectifying women is steadily declining. More and more, humanity is seeing itself less apart from nature and more as part of nature. These ideals align perfectly with naturism, which is why athletes, actors, and singers pose shamelessly for magazines, TV shows, and on social media without the career-ending outrage of bygone eras.
I am not suggesting that going naked can solve society’s ills, and I am certainly not advocating for the banning of clothing. There is a time and place for everything. More than anything, nudism is about freedom, the freedom to wear what we want or nothing at all if we so choose. Without outdated taboos, we are free to live as we are. Without shame, we are free to be ourselves.
Nudism is an important part of who I am, but with so many negative stereotypes, misconceptions, and so much outright hostility directed at people like me, I am passionate about letting the world know who I am and what this lifestyle is all about, which is why I created Being and Nakedness!
If you’re new to nudism or naturism or just curious about it, I hope you’ll check out some of the pieces I’ve written over the years, which includes my personal journey into self-acceptance. Welcome.
Being and Nakedness 