"I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public."
When I started hiking naked on public trails and public lands I believed all the fear I had been taught as a child. Growing up in my family we were taught that some horrible fate worse than de…
"I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public."
When I started hiking naked on public trails and public lands I believed all the fear I had been taught as a child. Growing up in my family we were taught that some horrible fate worse than death would befall anyone who was ever seen naked by a person of the opposite sex. I had been taught that fear and body shame before I was old enough to realize I was being trained. When I first started hiking naked I would listen for approaching other hikers and then quickly hide until they passed by. It took me a few years and several nude encounters to realize that no horrible fate had happened. In fact, most people seemed to enjoy seeing a naked hiker.
Eventually I figured out that if I act "as if" nude is a "normal choice" when meeting clothed people, the people I meet accept my unclothed condition without question. I have gotten far more appreciative comments from other people than negative comments. "I wish I was brave enough to do that." Over half a century I've been seen by thousands of people, often at close range, without a single negative effect. Nobody of any age or sex has ever been harmed by seeing me, and I have never been harmed by being seen. The simple truth is that we are a very social species and we all hunger for the sight of other people. That is why nude art has been popular forever, and now nude image and "porn" sites are about half of all Internet use.
You are right, BOPBadger, the greatest enemies of nude acceptance is our own minds and our own fears. Hiding in hidden compounds, or in our homes behind covered windows has made us more and more separate. Basic behavioral psychology teaches us that which isn't seen rapidly become unseeable. And the reverse is also true, that which is seen even infrequently rapidly become normal. Our own fear and hiding continues to be the only real reason that nude in public is still unseeable. Thank you for this post. We have nothing to lose but our own fear.
"I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public."
When I started hiking naked on public trails and public lands I believed all the fear I had been taught as a child. Growing up in my family we were taught that some horrible fate worse than death would befall anyone who was ever seen naked by a person of the opposite sex. I had been taught that fear and body shame before I was old enough to realize I was being trained. When I first started hiking naked I would listen for approaching other hikers and then quickly hide until they passed by. It took me a few years and several nude encounters to realize that no horrible fate had happened. In fact, most people seemed to enjoy seeing a naked hiker.
Eventually I figured out that if I act "as if" nude is a "normal choice" when meeting clothed people, the people I meet accept my unclothed condition without question. I have gotten far more appreciative comments from other people than negative comments. "I wish I was brave enough to do that." Over half a century I've been seen by thousands of people, often at close range, without a single negative effect. Nobody of any age or sex has ever been harmed by seeing me, and I have never been harmed by being seen. The simple truth is that we are a very social species and we all hunger for the sight of other people. That is why nude art has been popular forever, and now nude image and "porn" sites are about half of all Internet use.
You are right, BOPBadger, the greatest enemies of nude acceptance is our own minds and our own fears. Hiding in hidden compounds, or in our homes behind covered windows has made us more and more separate. Basic behavioral psychology teaches us that which isn't seen rapidly become unseeable. And the reverse is also true, that which is seen even infrequently rapidly become normal. Our own fear and hiding continues to be the only real reason that nude in public is still unseeable. Thank you for this post. We have nothing to lose but our own fear.