International Young Naturists Organisation
Naturist Resources => Blogs, Videos, Articles about Naturism/Nudity => Topic started by: NudieDaniel on June 28, 2015, 01:29:44 am
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5 Body Shaming Comments Naturists Are Tired Of Hearing
Felicity Jones | June 26, 2015
Let’s Do Away With These 5 Body Shaming Comments
Inspired by body positive activist Virgie Tovar and this recent article on Mic, “5 Body Shaming Comments That Everyone Should Quit Saying This Summer” I decided to write my own list of body shaming comments that naturists are tired of hearing. This list is all about how people shame the naked body, especially the female body. It’s also about how naturists are shamed for daring to be naked and accept themselves as they are.
1. “Why are people at the nude beach never the people you want to see naked?”
I brought up this comment in our 10 common myths about naturism, but here it is again, as it has everything to do with body shaming.
Naturism is not about looking “pretty” for anyone. Nobody (unless they are exhibitionists) goes to the nude beach to be your eye candy. If you go to a nude beach or nudist resort just to look at bodies you find attractive, then your creepy behavior is called voyeurism.
For a long time, marketers have been using the idea of the “beach body” or “bikini body” to promote certain beauty standards and sell products. Those products are somehow supposed to make that specific body type seem attainable to consumers.
The female “beach body” is slim, toned and tanned with perky breasts and a curvy, firm butt. The male beach body equivalent is slim, tan and muscular.
The notion that people have to pursue and attain a certain body to visit and enjoy the beach is total bullshit.
While the “beach body” is all about looking attractive in a swimsuit, the media and advertising are just as effective at telling people what they need to look like to be naked in public. Whether it’s implied nudity or full-frontal, it’s usually a female model with the “perfect body” and flawless skin trying to sell us something or capture the male gaze.
Sexualized nudity is used to sell. But in advertising there’s only one version of “sexy” and once again, it’s nobody’s job or responsibility to fit someone else’s or society’s idea of sexy!
We all just want to enjoy the fucking beach.
2. “Nudists are overweight and thus promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.”
In a recent blog post, I explained how health concerns about strangers are really just another form of fat-shaming.
A person’s weight does not define health. Being fat does not suddenly require someone to disclose their health issues to anyone. Most naturists recognize and respect others’ right to privacy in regards to health as well as the right to do what you want with your own body.
Being fat or unhealthy is not a failure. Weight or size does not determine a person’s worth or whether they deserve to be accepted or loved as a human being.
3. “Pubic hair / armpit hair / body hair is gross or dirty” or any form of telling someone else what to do with body hair.
At some point, female beauty standards started dictating that women must be hairless. While men’s hair can be a sign of manliness or masculinity, female body hair is considered gross, dirty and unfeminine.
In the last few years there’s definitely been an increase in body-positive / feminist activism encouraging women to grow their hair out (IF they want to) and to not feel ashamed about it.
(http://youngnaturistsamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/body-shaming-pubic-hair-body-positive-young-naturists-america.jpg)
Still, some people feel the need to impose their own preferences or shame others for having hair.
This is the YNA naturist philosophy on body hair: Everyone has the right to do whatever the fuck they want with their body hair, whether it’s on their armpits, genitals, legs, arms, whatever.
Got a personal opinion on body hair? Great, keep it yourself and do what you want with your own body hair.
4. “Naked people? Genitals? Ew, I don’t want to see that.”
Body shame is still a big issue when it comes to certain body parts and their natural functions. We still have those old puritan religious values that declared the human body to be obscene.
This issue is also tied up with sexual shame. People are taught to hide their sex organs. In schools, most are still taught to ignore their sexual urges with abstinence-only sex education. Students learn about their sexual parts in school via anatomical drawings. They are left to guess what real naked bodies look like. Or they get a completely unrealistic idea from Internet porn.
And so, the disgust. The disgust people feel about their own bodies is projected onto others.
The “Ew, I don’t want to see that” comments often come up around public events like the World Naked Bike Ride when hundreds of cyclists flood the streets to protest against oil dependency.
There’s a simple solution for those who don’t want to see: Just. Don’t. Look.
5. “Women’s breasts are sexual, so women shouldn’t be walking around topless.”
Women’s breasts are not sex organs. Their primary function is to feed babies.
Do some people derive sexual pleasure from their breasts? Totally. A lot of people also derive sexual pleasure from their feet. And yet we have not banned feet from being seen in public.
Women’s breasts are continually sexualized and objectified for profit. Yet society shames the woman who dares to breastfeed her child in a public place. Cops arrest and shame women for trying to enjoy a park while topfree the same way men do. People sexualize and shame the bodies of little girls by making them cover up from a young age.
(http://youngnaturistsamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/body-shaming-breasts-breastfeeding-young-naturists-america.png)
The real reason women can’t walk around topfree like men, in most places, is pure sexism.
The Free the Nipple movement has drawn a massive amount of attention to this equality issue. However the law still lags behind, and attitudes still need to shift.
Here’s an insightful quote from Laura Dodsworth, author of Bare Reality, about the female body getting censored and shamed: “It’s not what we want to reveal of our bodies, but who gets to decide what may be revealed, in what way and where, that is ultimately revealing of women’s place in the world.”
So that’s my short list! Naturist or not, what body-shaming comment(s) are you tired of hearing? Please share in the comments.
http://youngnaturistsamerica.com/body-shaming-comments/
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#5 I hear alot..
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This could so be fixed if people just did a little research. It doesn't take long to understand that nudism isn't about flashing our nakedness around and that we are all proud of who and how we are.
Makes me wonder how different the world might be if clothes, and all materials to make any type of clothes, just up and vanished one day. hmmm :laughing
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This could so be fixed if people just did a little research. It doesn't take long to understand that nudism isn't about flashing our nakedness around and that we are all proud of who and how we are.
Makes me wonder how different the world might be if clothes, and all materials to make any type of clothes, just up and vanished one day. hmmm :laughing
Well not to go throwing religion or what not around but orginally when God the world was created,we were all supposed to be naked.
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Until shame was thrown into it, you are very correct. Don't know about other religions though. Might be something similar.
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Until shame was thrown into it, you are very correct. Don't know about other religions though. Might be something similar.
Yup yup. If shame wasn't throwing into it,there wouldn't be a lot of self conscious people(sad to admit I'm kinda a little self conscious about myself)
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Until shame was thrown into it, you are very correct. Don't know about other religions though. Might be something similar.
Yup yup. If shame wasn't throwing into it,there wouldn't be a lot of self conscious people(sad to admit I'm kinda a little self conscious about myself)
I'm a lot self conscious, lol. Going to a place in Oklahoma soon to try and try to lower that some. So don't feel sad about it. :)
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3. I've to add about the pubic hair, that it provides to genitals a natural barrier from bacteria, dirt and friction it also host friendly bacteria colonies which helps protecting from the harmful ones .
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This could so be fixed if people just did a little research. It doesn't take long to understand that nudism isn't about flashing our nakedness around and that we are all proud of who and how we are.
Makes me wonder how different the world might be if clothes, and all materials to make any type of clothes, just up and vanished one day. hmmm :laughing
Well not to go throwing religion or what not around but originally when God the world was created,we were all supposed to be naked.
This is what the Christian nudists and naturists believe. They think that because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice we are supposed to be returned to the same state that Adam & Eve had before the fall - naked and unashamed.
Nature has not and never will change. Humans are always brought into the world naked, so why should we be ashamed of nature and science?
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I somewhat disagree that breasts are not inherently sexual. Speaking as a medical student, we learn about secondary sexual characteristics. These include hair growth in the genital region and armpit, facial hair for the men, and the growth of breasts for the women. As most of you have personally experienced, these changes happen in puberty, and the timing coincides with the discovery of sexuality. Developed breasts are a sign that a woman has become fertile, and is an unique trait for women, so to say that they have no sexuality associated with them might be a little naive.
Just my 2 cents.
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I somewhat disagree that breasts are not inherently sexual. Speaking as a medical student, we learn about secondary sexual characteristics. These include hair growth in the genital region and armpit, facial hair for the men, and the growth of breasts for the women. As most of you have personally experienced, these changes happen in puberty, and the timing coincides with the discovery of sexuality. Developed breasts are a sign that a woman has become fertile, and is an unique trait for women, so to say that they have no sexuality associated with them might be a little naive.
Just my 2 cents.
The terminology certainly doesn't help since there are two different definitions of "sexual" working here. On the one hand we're talking about the traditional physical "maleness" or "femaleness" of a body, and on the other we're talking about physical attractiveness.
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Like all minority groups, it is the ignorance of it all that scares me...
Being Gay, when someone finds out or asks me if i am, and i say, yes, very often i hear " oh i couldn't do that "
My Answer is "What Love somebody " ?
Ignorance isn't always bliss lol
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Like all minority groups, it is the ignorance of it all that scares me...
Well said, it's our job to change and erase the ignorance.
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This is a great post.
People should see this who are considered trying this out for the first time.
We've met all kinds of nudists. There are still experienced nudists, going to nudist camps, who seem to only want to hang out with nudists that they consider attractive, or have a certain body type. I think this would be very confusing for a lot of people as to why we are going nude.
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Couple of quick comments:
People have different tastes as far as what they think is attractive. I have seen some people nude that I don't care to see nude. Some people don't take care of their bodies how they should for one. They can do what they want with their body however - that includes showing it off.
They hair thing is a preference. I don't like hair and find it unattractive and dirty. I have a lot of it and I shave it every day. This opinion goes back to the first comment. Everyone has different tastes.
Do you and enjoy what you want/like.
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Until shame was thrown into it, you are very correct. Don't know about other religions though. Might be something similar.
I'm a Christian and I have no truck with some (not all) Christians who say that nudity is 'shameful' because "God and the Bible says so". But take a closer look at it. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit at the insistence of Satan (in the guise of a serpent), they became ashamed and covered their genitals with fig leaves and hid when they heard God walking in the garden. When Adam tried making the excuse that he didn't want God to see him because he was naked, God asked "WHO told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree that I told you not to eat from?"
That is absolute proof that God is not offended by Man's nudity, it is Satan that causes us to. After Adam and Eve 'fessed up as to what they had done, God then gave them animal skins and drove them out of the garden. Non-nudist Christians argue that the skins were given to protect their 'modesty', but nudist Christians believe they were given for practical purposes only.
Indeed, clothing plays very little use to humans in a practical sense with the exception of warmth and protection.
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My favorite response to hate is “ugh, I can never unsee that, i’m scarred for life”. I still haven’t formulated a good response. First off, it’s a human body just like everyone else, second, that’s a real life person you’re talking about, third, you can make eye contact and communicate without your eyes wandering, fourth, you really let external events affect you that much? I could go on...
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I somewhat disagree that breasts are not inherently sexual. Speaking as a medical student, we learn about secondary sexual characteristics. These include hair growth in the genital region and armpit, facial hair for the men, and the growth of breasts for the women. As most of you have personally experienced, these changes happen in puberty, and the timing coincides with the discovery of sexuality. Developed breasts are a sign that a woman has become fertile, and is an unique trait for women, so to say that they have no sexuality associated with them might be a little naive.
Just my 2 cents.
I hear what you're saying. But, at the same time, that's almost like saying a beard/mustache is inherently sexual. A full beard generally signals that a man has developed sexually, and is a unique trait for men. So, yes, breasts and beards are both sex-related characteristics, but that does not mean that men should need to wear hairnets on their faces in public.
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Some people never learn
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Until shame was thrown into it, you are very correct. Don't know about other religions though. Might be something similar.
I'm a Christian and I have no truck with some (not all) Christians who say that nudity is 'shameful' because "God and the Bible says so". But take a closer look at it. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit at the insistence of Satan (in the guise of a serpent), they became ashamed and covered their genitals with fig leaves and hid when they heard God walking in the garden. When Adam tried making the excuse that he didn't want God to see him because he was naked, God asked "WHO told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree that I told you not to eat from?"
That is absolute proof that God is not offended by Man's nudity, it is Satan that causes us to. After Adam and Eve 'fessed up as to what they had done, God then gave them animal skins and drove them out of the garden. Non-nudist Christians argue that the skins were given to protect their 'modesty', but nudist Christians believe they were given for practical purposes only.
Indeed, clothing plays very little use to humans in a practical sense with the exception of warmth and protection.
I am also a believer and everyone in my church knows that I am a naturist and if they have a problem with that it is their problem not mine, for the same reasons you mentioned I believe the skins that God gave to them were for practical purposes and lets face it there are times no matter how much we like to be nude that practicality calls for clothing. As to them covering them up because they were ashamed I often ask myself was it because of their bodies that they were ashamed or was it because they knew they had disobeyed God and thus their minds were now naked instead of innocent.
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Well as much I believe anyone of us would want it to be different. Their views aren't changing soon. Nudity itself has already became sexualized a lot