Nudity and society

Many people have been brought up and taught that nudity is immoral and we should never allow others to see our true bodies. It is alright to titillate with provocative clothing, or tiny beach wear, but not to show the natural beauty of our bodies, especially genitals or women's breasts."

This sense of shame is not inborn; it is learned. Babies have no shame and neither did many early Christians in Biblical times; as was evidenced by them conducting baptisms in the nude. [7]

"Naturism is commonly accepted in much of Europe, where it has been shown that sexual attitudes are much more healthy, with less sexual abuse and violence.”

[Naturism or nudism is a cultural and political movement advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public.] [6]

(A) Nude does not equal promiscuity

There is a belief that because a person chooses to pose nude it means that they are primarily promiscuous or lascivious by nature. This misconception is as a result of being guilty by association. Because nudity in our current time has become synonymous with pornography, an uneducated mind on the subject matter will automatically cast everything that’s nude into the “porn” basket.

I have found that people who choose to model nude are comfortable, appreciative and in love with their body and self image. They see no shame in themselves and as such have no problem expressing themselves as an extension of God’s beauty in His creation. On the other hand I have found that people who are most against nudity in art are generally dissatisfied with their body and ashamed of their self image and as such feel that others should be ashamed of their own bodies as well. They see the nude body as a shameful thing that should be hidden from the public eye and it is an abomination in God’s eye, if it is on public display. This kind of reaction is a psychological term known as projection.

Projection is a defense mechanism in which one attributes one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of these unwanted subconscious impulses or desires unto others without letting the conscious mind recognize them.

Obviously if God meant for us to be nude, we would have been born that way! Clearly God has no problem with nudity.

“The real problem is not that our bodies are obscene. The problem is the sexploitation of society that makes us look at the body as a sex object rather than the beautiful creation God intended it to be. Yet in a nurturing environment where trust and respect is given to the body, mere sexual attraction gives way to sincere love and respect for a person as a wonderful creation of God. We should never be tripped up by the puritanical perversion that our body is shameful and should be covered up at all times. Being unclothed is not immoral. Immorality lies in not respecting your body or the bodies of others.” [7]

(B) Lack of knowledge on a matter leads to the exploitation of that matter by those who have knowledge of it

"We are living in a society in which sexuality is very distorted. The interplay between sexuality and nudity is very confused. In our concern that any attraction has to be carried out sexually, we are repressing healthy sexual attitudes and meaningful loving interpersonal relationships. The blocking of these natural needs leads to strong cravings. This leaves us open to commercial exploiters with sexually titillating material which brings not emotional satisfaction, but only teasing.” [7]

Because those in the adult industry have acknowledged the beauty and importance of the nude form, they have taken what society has deemed irreverent and as an outcast and turned it into their monopoly. Since they are primarily the “sole” proprietors of such a natural commodity, they have altered its appearance and purpose to suit their benefit and as a result they have forced society as a whole to eat whatever they serve. Consequently the majority of these meals consist of eye candy and anything pertaining to visceral lusts.

This monolithic industry casts a huge shadow on those who are not in their flow of “nude” representation and this basically umbrellas everything that is nude to be perceived as pornographic.

"Here in the United States we are required, to a degree, to suffer through overly-sexualized, unrealistically-modified advertising on a ludicrous and unhealthy scale — a fact which distorts our perception of reality and can subsequently wreak havoc in almost all areas of our lives."
~ pNielsen [3]