I'm aware that a lot of people, especially those who know me, will not approve of me posting this article here. I struggle a lot with doing what I feel that I need to do and know is right for myself despite that it is outside of social norms in our society, or capitulating and doing what others would want me to do.
Contrary to the fact that I am a socially shy person and have an introverted personality, I enjoy being openly naked outdoors and online. Being openly naked is seen in such a negative way in our culture, yet I really do find that being openly naked can be very healing and it makes me happy to be alive.
I find it very sad and oppressive that our society has such a toxic outlook in regards to being openly naked. It’s not right that society shames and looks down on people simply for wanting to be seen as their true naked self. It’s a perfectly natural human inclination to want to be seen as the real you. It feels good to be naked and free.
I don’t like the feeling of having to always hide my body away out of shame or some false notion of decency. Yes, that includes my penis too! A penis is only offensive if you insist on seeing it that way, otherwise it’s just another part of the body. An erection isn't offensive either, it's what the male body is supposed to do. Men shouldn't be made to feel embarrassed or emasculated about it, or be expected to hide it. There's really no harm in just wearing it proudly.
A man’s body isn’t more offensive than a woman’s body, there’s nothing wrong with either one. It's sad that in our culture any kind of nudity is regarded as being pornographic, that we think the naked body is so taboo and obscene it should forever be hidden away. Being naked and allowing others to see your naked body is only pornographic if one is behaving in an overtly sexual way, non-sexual nudity is simply our human selves as we truly are. I find that it can be very joyful and healing to be naked and free outside on a sunny summer day in front of likeminded others.
That being said, without a doubt some bodies are so beautiful that it can be erotic simply to look at them in their natural form, but this is no reason to outlaw nudity. The same reaction can also happen when we see a beautiful person wearing certain clothing. As a gay man, I find a handsome man wearing a formal, well tailored suit can be just as erotic to look upon as a beautiful naked body, yet we don't outlaw formal clothing. If the man's suit happens to be made out of leather, such as a motorcyclist's outfit, then I would find it to be even more erotic yet we don't outlaw leather clothing. Spandex clothes such as cycling gear are also quite erotic, yet we don't outlaw spandex. Many heterosexual men have the same reaction to seeing a woman in a lavishly designed formal dress, but we don't outlaw lavishly made dresses. Today it's become a common fashion trend for women to wear yoga pants or tights as their casual clothes, which shows off the exact shape of their bodies as though they were naked, yet we don't outlaw yoga pants. Some people have a sexual fetish for certain types of clothing, such as shoes, or gloves, or underwear, or masks, or dog collars, or belts and harnesses but we don't outlaw those types of clothing either!
The fact that a beautiful person can be erotic to look at with or without clothing isn't, in any way, a logical or justifiable reason to ban such a vision of beauty from society. Yet we make an exception in regards to being naked? Why?
What is so bad about being human that we should shame our own naked bodies and make them illegal to be seen in public? There's really no justification for it. We all have a body, we all know the difference between men and women, therefore we all know more or less what to expect when someone is naked. It's only because society insists on being so prudish in creating laws to ban being naked that it has become such a shock to see a naked body, as such society has created it's own problem in this regard.
Yet, the absence of clothing does not automatically infer indecency or that one is a sexual deviant. Why then are we taught as children, from the moment that we can walk, to be ashamed of our bodies and that they are bad to be seen without clothing? Why can't we instead look at the naked human body as being wholesome and virtuous? Why is that so difficult for us to do? Why would that be so outrageous? Or is it the truth of the matter that our society is simply immature when it comes to the topic of nudity?
Sadly, most of the people who see this article will attribute some sort of negative meaning to the fact that I want to enjoy life being openly naked. Some will think that I'm pathetic for posting my naked selfies online, others may think that I'm desperate for attention or that I have no class. Many will assume that I have low self-esteem or the exact opposite, that my ego is out of control. Some people will regard me as having no social standing, power or value simply because I have voluntarily allowed myself to been seen while naked. Some will want to cancel me or blacklist me because certain parts of my body have been shown online. Others will say that I am a morally bankrupt sinner, dismiss me as being crazy, having lost my marbles, or that I am otherwise lacking in intelligence. Many will regard me as being an exhibitionist or a pervert. Most will resort to body shaming me for not having a "perfect body". People who know me may even feel disappointed in me simply for being openly naked.
This is how negatively we've come to think about our own naked bodies! We've lost the ability to think about our bodies as being virtuous and worthy of being seen, or celebrated and openly enjoyed. Only a small percentage of people will be able to think positively about being openly naked. Those are the people who will read this post and think that I'm being very brave for posting this online without hiding my identity. They think positively about the naked body and being their true authentic self, so they understand why others would want to do the same. There is an ever growing community of like-minded people all across North America, and the rest of the world, who prefer to be openly naked rather than to wear clothes.
I suspect and hope that there will also be a small group of people who, although they might have no desire to be openly naked, would be open minded enough not to think negatively about me for doing so.
The ideology "To each their own" is something that I try as much as possible to be mindful of in order to show my respect for others, yet there is a reasonable limit to how far that courtesy extends. I shouldn't have to give up the freedom and happiness of being openly naked in order to keep others from being offended due to their own negative thinking, that's expecting too much. I'm not responsible for how other people think, they make up their own minds. I'm also not here on this earth, living my life for their sake. How each one of us choses to live life, the clothing we want to wear or not wear, or how we each identify and express ourselves in order to feel our existence in the world is genuine... all of that stuff is our own business. Nobody has the right to tell someone else how they should live their life unless that someone else is actually interfering with and harming others.
A naked person doing yard work around their own house, or sitting on their own balcony reading a book, or laying on a lounge chair in the backyard to get a tan, or going for a swim at the public beach, or playing volleyball, or riding their bicycle, or going for a walk, does not in any way cause anyone harm. The naked person has done absolutely nothing to anybody. The only possible harm would be self inflicted by those who would look at the naked person and, in their own minds, interpret the naked person in a negative way. There is nothing bad that is happening to them other than their own negative thinking about the human body.
It’s quite an outrageous leap in logic that people should be arrested or fired from their jobs or not hired at all and cancelled simply for being openly naked! Why should people be punished simply for being in touch with their own humanity? That’s rather hypocritical and oppressive in my view. We accept public nudity when actors are seen naked in movies or TV shows, so why doesn’t everyone else have that same freedom? Having to be an actor in a movie in order to have permission to be seen openly naked in public is a pretty foolish and rather arbitrary standard. It’s most defiantly an elitist one.
People should have the right to be openly naked in public if they want to be. It’s very oppressive to insist that people wear clothing all of the time while outside. Obviously there is a time and place for everything. Nobody needs to be naked near a school or daycare, in a grocery store, or at a shopping mall. However, I feel very strongly that cities need to provide clothing optional spaces because being openly naked outdoors is a powerful and healthy way to connect with nature and your body. It teaches you to accept your body and love yourself just the way you are.
I have chronic depression and yet I can attest to the fact that shedding your clothes and freeing yourself from society's shame to be openly naked outdoors is a very liberating and invigorating experience. The first time I tried it was in 2019 at a gay men's clothing optional campgrounds which I've gone back to several times. I've also participated in the World Naked Bike Ride in Toronto in 2024. Being naked outdoors is so freeing and joyful that it obliterates my depression and makes me happy to be alive. Yet, I can only do so on very rare occasions, such as while I am at a clothing optional campsite, as once I return home to Ottawa I am prohibited from being naked outdoors including in my own backyard! Medicine isn’t the only way to cure people, sometimes all it takes is permission to stroll naked outdoors in nature. A lot of people will think this is crazy, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Frankly, the law has no business governing our bodies as simply being naked is not offensive. We know this from the history of art and sculpture where nudity is a central topic because the naked human form is so beautiful. Therefore, what the law should govern is our behaviour, as whether or not we are naked or wearing clothes it is our behaviour that can be offensive. This isn’t just my view this is common sense, but our society just doesn’t seem to have much common sense when it comes to the topic of being openly naked.
I sincerely do not mean any disrespect to anyone, yet I find society is quite immature and foolish in this regard. For example, it’s okay to have a naked male statue in a public square, and to see images of that naked male statue all throughout our culture, so it’s perfectly okay if a statue is naked, but it’s not okay for an actual naked male, which the statue is based on, to be naked in the public square or to see images of the naked male throughout our culture. One is seen as beautiful while the other is seen as offensive. That’s quite nonsensical to me.
Our society has a very toxic understanding of nudity and the human body which is in fact harmful to our collective well-being. Disconnecting from our bodies by keeping them out of sight and out of mind under our clothes allows us to ignore when we are overweight and out of shape, plus it prevents us from embracing the diversity of humanity, as bodies come in many beautiful shapes, sizes, colours, genders and ages.
If nudity was more common place in society it's likely that there would be a greater interest in healthy eating and exercising. We would be better educated in regards to the medical causes of obesity, rather than erroneously blaming those who are overweight for not being able to cure their own illness and calling them lazy which is simply cruel and heartless. There also wouldn't be one ideal male or female body type featured in the media as we would have a more acute understanding of how foolish that notion truly is.
Yet, instead of celebrating our bodies as being virtuous and embracing the true beauty of humanity, we allow the media’s perfectionist standards and overly sexualized use of nudity to serve as our understanding of what a naked human body must be. I find this very sad as we have lost the ability to accept non sexual nudity as simply being a part of our humanity, and an honest way of sharing our true selves with each other. We freak out and get offended by it instead.
Of course it goes without saying that as human beings we are inherently sexual by our very nature, but this does not mean that we are helpless to control ourselves whether or not we are wearing clothing. The fact that it can be sexually stimulating to see a naked body or to be seen while naked does not diminish the body from being beautiful or justify classifying nudity as immoral, it only elevates the natural beauty of humanity and makes it all the more wonderful to be alive. Frankly in my view, what is immoral is to hide such beauty forever, or to outlaw it and cast it away.
Personally, I think it is sinful and disrespectful to discourage people from being openly naked and sharing their true selves with the world. It's also sinful to rob people of the joy that being their true openly naked selves outdoors on a sunny summer day can bring, or to prohibit people from having that experience of freedom and liberty in their daily lives. What a stifled existence it is to be prevented from ever knowing the freedom of being naked at the beach or to feel the water caress your entire naked body while enjoying a relaxing naked swim. Why should such a wonderful human experience be outlawed and denied to us?
Some of you may be thinking, "What do you need to be naked for, if you're wearing a swimsuit it's the same thing?" Well, actually it's not, because if you're wearing a swimsuit of any kind then you're not naked! Only naked is naked, it's a completely different feeling. The very reason people wear swimsuits is so that they won't be naked. If being naked was the "same thing" then we wouldn't have needed swimsuits in the first place.
In fact, I suspect that a lot of people would be surprised to learn that there are family friendly "naturalist" (or nudist) campsites and resorts all across North America where families with children are free to be naked anywhere on the site. Clothing is actually forbidden at naturalist locations, with very few exceptions, you have to be naked at all times. By comparison, sites that are "clothing optional" allow you to keep some or all of your clothes on if you wish, while others at the same site may choose to be completely naked.
I don't have any doubt that many people will freak out in a negative way about family friendly naturist resorts and worry about adults being naked around children, though there really is no need for concern. Such resorts are a very safe place for children as everyone has to register to gain access, which is not always the case at clothing optional locations (such as public clothing optional beaches). In addition, parents and staff at naturalist sites are all collectively on guard at all times to make sure that rules of conduct are being strictly followed. I've never been to a naturist resort myself, but I wouldn't be opposed to going.
Naturists teach their children that there is nothing shameful about their bodies or being openly naked, which I think is a wonderful gift of confidence, acceptance and freedom for parents to give to their children, rather than shaming them and teaching them to feel embarrassed to be naked.
Quite frankly, it's simply abusive that our society would instill fear or shame in anyone by threatening to outcast them as a pervert and cancel them from society simply for wanting to be openly naked and to be seen for real as a human being. As a society, we need to get a grip on reality. We're no longer living in the Victorian Age so we no longer need to carry on with such prudish, harmful social norms. It's honestly okay to be our true naked selves! The sky is not going to fall!
It makes me happy to know that people are seeing my naked body online because in this way my true self is being seen. I'm no longer being forced to hide my body away as though I am some sort of hideous creature. Granted, posting photos online is certainly not the same as actually being naked outdoors so it's a compromise, yet it's still quite a liberating and freeing thing to do and I'm glad that I've done it.
In the meantime, the closest that I can get to actually being naked outdoors in my city is to wear a skimpy swimsuit at the beach. My outlook is "the less fabric the better", so I like to wear either a skimpy swim brief with one inch of fabric at the sides, or a men's backless swim thong. Yes it's true, I have worn a backless thong at the public beach in Ottawa several times. Currently I have a black one, a purple one and a blue one, and each thong has been worn at the beach at least once. The blue one is the one I like to wear most often.
I tried to post a photo of myself wearing my blue thong swimsuit, which shows my cute thong butt, however blogger wouldn't allow me to include it without blocking this post as "sensitive content". So I can wear my thong in public with no problem, I just can't post a photo of myself wearing it on my own blog! This is exactly the sort of prudish foolishness that makes me so sad, because it makes no sense at all! What is there to freak out about? Why does Blogger think that my butt has that much significance? As cute as it may be, it's just another bum! Perhaps if I made a statue of my thong butt it would be okay to show it here? What nonsense!
In any case, being almost naked at the public beach definitely does not feel as welcoming as being at the clothing optional campgrounds, the atmosphere at the beach is far more judgmental (very much like Blogger!). This is why I don't wear my thong every time I go to the beach even though I want to. It's also why a designated safe space for being openly naked is so urgently needed in the city. People shouldn't feel ostracized or unsafe just for wanting to be as naked as possible at the beach.
That being said, I received a rather kind compliment once about my thong, so that's what I choose to focus on. I wish more guys would wear thongs to swim in because they are super comfortable. Why can't we all just be happy to be alive and celebrate our bodies by letting them be seen? It's quite common to see women of all shapes and sizes wearing skimpy bikini swimsuits at the beach that show off their butt cheeks, so if women can do it then so can men. Of course, I would much prefer it if we could all just swim naked. These swimsuits are so small, we might as well be!
Quite honestly, I have been thinking about and wanting to be openly naked in public for a long time. Back in my early 30's shorty after I bought my first digital camera, I privately began taking naked photos of myself which I enjoyed doing for many years. It made me feel tuned in and connected to my body. Yet, it also made me feel badly that I could never share any of my naked photos openly with anyone without being judged negatively for doing so. Regretfully, that very same feeling of shame is what made me destroy my naked photos immediately after taking them, or within a few days. This happened every time after each photo session even though it was difficult for me to do because I felt that I had no choice but to destroy something that I thought was beautiful about myself.
Today I would have had hundreds of photos of my beautiful young body to show you, taken during my 30's, if not for that intense feeling of shame for taking the photos in the first place, and for wanting to let people see my naked body. Frankly, I could have been a model back then if I had tried to be one, but the stigma of shame for wanting to show off my body kept me from pursuing it. My inherent social shyness and introverted personality didn't help me very much either.
Fortunately, I didn't end up destroying all of the pictures. There are a few photos that I kept from my 30's, like the one shown above. As strange at it may be, one of them that I’m especially proud of is a photo of my penis, commonly known as a "dick pic", which I took in 2006 when I was 32. I think it's a beautiful photo, both artistically and sexually. I know that it sounds odd for me to say that, but that's the honest truth. I'm just an average guy in that department, but I genuinely feel that the photo has artistic merit due to the composition of the image. There are at least 15 triangles hidden in the photo which happened quite by serendipity. If it was simply a pornographic photo, I would not have been interested in the composition or counting how many triangles I could find. I have always wanted to let people look at this picture, and to be openly naked in this way, but was worried that people would think that I’m a pervert for wanting to do so.
Even now, I still feel shame about wanting to show this photo to people, but there's also the side of me that would honestly love for everyone to see it. I certainly don't think it's the world's greatest photo ever taken of a penis, so that's not what I'm saying at all, I'm just very proud of this image. Maybe it's just my artist's ego getting the better of me, none the less it's sad that society would be so offended by my naked body that I can't openly show this picture to anyone without all of this shame and anxiety. I can't even post it here to show you otherwise Blogger will block this post as being "sensitive content". Therefore, I've added a link to the photo at the bottom of the page, but it shouldn't be this way. I should be able to post it here and share my naked body without any shame.
We should be able to celebrate our bodies openly without any worry or bad feelings or awkwardness. The image of my penis is not a dirty photo just because it features the male anatomy, it's a beautiful one because it shows me as a young man being vulnerable, exposing the most delicate part of my body. It's also a sexy photo, it excites me when I see it, and the idea of people seeing it excites me as well. I'd have to be a robot for that not to be so, but that doesn't cancel out the fact that it's a beautiful photo. At least to me it is, and because I posted it online I now know that thousands of people agree with me!
I kept that photo hidden away for 18 years out of shame, it would be sad to hide it away forever. We shouldn't hide our bodies or say that certain parts of them are shameful, we should stay connected to our bodies and be proud of them, and let everyone see them, every beautiful part, because we are all one of a kind and unique. That's precisely why each one of us is so beautiful and special. We're all a natural miracle of nature, why would we ever want to shame that?
Like anyone else, I worry a lot about behaving the way that people think that I should behave, the way I'm expected to behave. But then I ask myself, what about how I want to behave, what if I just do what would make me the happiest? It goes without saying that nobody is expecting me to be openly naked, or expecting that I would voluntarily want to be seen while naked, or that it would make me so happy to go to a clothing optional campsite that it would essentially cure my chronic depression. But it does make me that happy, and I'm absolutely thrilled and greatful that I've been able to experience being openly naked, both online and in public. I can't wait to do it again!
The fact is, I can’t control what people will think about me, but I do know that it honestly feels awesome to have my "dick pic" and my naked selfies online for anyone to look at if they want to. I also love being openly naked outdoors. I’m tired of feeling shame about my body and denying myself from doing what I have always wanted to do, which is to be openly naked. This is something that I know for sure about myself.
Once upon a time it was no big deal to be openly naked, now it will get you thrown in jail and end your career... unless you're an actor or a statue! It's all quite silly!
To be clear, when I talk about being openly naked I’m certainly not advocating that it’s okay to send dick pics to people without consent, that’s just creepy and wrong for good reason. I would never do that. But there is certainly nothing wrong with a guy being proud of his penis or his naked body and wanting to show it off in a way that is not harmful to others. There's nothing unusual about wanting to be seen while naked, it's a perfectly normal way for anyone to feel about their body. Being proud of your body is a good thing.
Posting naked selfies on a website that welcomes such photos and allows people the choice to look at them or not, doesn’t harm anyone in any way. Not in the least. The only person that might be harmed by posting naked selfies is myself, the person posting them, should people decide to get all self righteous and mock me or cancel me for having the nerve to be openly naked. If you don’t want to see me naked then don’t look at my naked photos, it’s as simple as that, because if I can't be naked outdoors enjoying the sunshine then being naked online is the next best thing.
There are people who like to have a lot of tattoos, and some who only want a few, and some who don't like to have any. Same thing applies to clothing.
Due to my chronic depression I ended up gaining a lot of weight in my late 30's and early 40's, and became completely disconnected from my body. I withdrew from life and isolated myself because I didn't want anyone to see me. It felt very much like I was a slim person trapped in a chubby person's body. When I would dream at night, I would be my slim self in the dream, then wake up to realize that I was in my chubby body again.
However, after I lost 30 pounds in my late 40's, I felt good enough about my body to start taking naked selfies again. That's also when I went to the gay men's clothing optional campgrounds for the first time and had an extremely positive life changing experience being naked and free outdoors. I'm so glad that I took that brave leap!
By posting all of this here I'm making another one! I'm tired of the shame, so I'm letting go of it.
It’s my body so it’s my choice, and I absolutely love being openly naked. It makes me happy to be alive.
- Mikey
Click here to see my naked photos
(then scroll down past the text)
