Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – September 18, 2004
Nudity
Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – September 18, 2004 – Getting naked is a freeing experience and I usually welcome the opportunity. It doesn’t usually mean I’m about to have sex – although experience has taught me that if I happen to be naked with a man who is also without benefit of clothes, that sex may well be on the horizon.
Of course, there might be other reasons for my nudity such as a rousing game of strip poker, skinny dipping, the aftermath of a fall through winter ice or ridding myself of a surprise attack of fire ants (solenopis invicta) encountered on a camping trip in Texas. I digress here. Nudity occurs for numerous reasons and I’m still fairly comfortable with it.
If you’re three or twenty-three and it’s a sweltering summer day and someone has a garden hose, it can be cute as hell to be naked. If you’re sixty – it’s the same hot day – same garden hose – “cute” is not a word that initially comes to mind. Why is this? Perhaps because naked, nipper and nubile go well together, while starkers and sixty aren’t usually an attractive a match.
Society (and Cosmo) tell us that to be pleasingly naked you must be a veritable god or goddess. Sexy, sleek of body with ripped abs, marvellous midriff, firm butt, sculpted arms, shapely calfs, glowing skin and luxurious hair. Heavens that rules out about 95% of the world’s population. If I subscribed to this impossible standard, I’d want to be fully clothed most of the time. Even when alone it would be better to be dressed, and not in a state of deep despair at a glimpse of my imperfect body.
There are societies (and colonies) where nudity is natural. People are comfortable with their naked bodies, happy to be healthy, unencumbered by clothing and free to enjoy a natural state of being. Why on earth are we born in our birthday suits? It’s because God is way too busy for daily shopping trips to Baby Gap. We come into the world naked and new, and we’re enthralled with our little bodies. Then we’re told by society that we’re not perfect (oh absolute horror) and should therefore cover up. All of a sudden our nakedness makes us uncomfortable, an embarrassment, and the natural beauty of our bodies is shrouded in clothes and hidden away.
For lots of people – the act of disrobing – which should be a shared, sensual experience with a spouse or lover becomes fraught with stress and shyness. Our nakedness is humiliating. My lips are sealed, I’m not mentioning names, but I know people who only make love under the covers, in the dark. Women who won’t disrobe at the gym and couples who have stopped having sex because they’re ashamed of their bodies.
I’ve already discussed my menopausal pounds, and my once firm and flawless bod. I have visions (or perhaps it’s delusions) of returning to a taut and toned status. I don’t know if that will ever happen – but I do know that when the situation arises for me to be nude – I’m lovin’ it. Now don’t even think that I have loose lips. If you’re waiting for a juicy tidbit about my sex life – wait on. I might have been naked and screaming with wild, sexual abandon this very afternoon or perhaps it was two years ago. Never you mind.
But enough about me. The point is that nudity is a natural part of being human. Go on – summon up your courage and walk around the house with nothing on but the living room lamp. Take a risk and seduce your partner. Romp around the bedroom in some sexy negligee (alright, you have to buy it first), make love by candle light, wear a shorter skirt than you’re used to, buy a top with plunging neckline and start to get comfortable with your body again.
Age isn’t relevant. If you’re fifty you won’t look the same as you did when you were twenty, but so what? Your body is the home of your accumulated life experience and it’s bound to show a little wear and tear. If you’ve spent the last ten years hating your body (pay attention here women) – plan to spend the next ten years loving it. Remember how good it felt when you were a little kid, to shuck your clothes on a warm summer day and run around in the sunshine.
There are laws against that now that you’re an adult, so wait until you get home to strip off your jeans and tee-shirt. Remember, nobody can legislate the sublime sense of freedom you feel when you’re buck naked and don’t give a rat’s ass who sees you. That’s a feeling worth having!
