(A ten minute read)
This selfie is from March 2020... which is not my birthday!
I know many people will think this is odd, but I am proud to be a part-time naturist, which means that sometimes I prefer not to wear clothing if possible. (A true naturist never wears clothes unless they absolutely have to, I'm not quite that specific about it.) I especially love clothing optional camping and swimming as there's nothing more freeing and liberating than being naked outside on a warm, sunny summer day. I tried naked camping for the first time in 2018 and found it to be an extremely positive life changing experience.
Being naked just makes me feel more grounded and happy to be me. I have chronic depression and find that being naked is the best antidote, it's the most liberating and freeing feeling that a person could possibly have. It teaches me to accept myself just the way I am and makes me feel happy to be alive!
Honestly, I wish that I could post the unedited version of the above naked selfie here. It makes me sad that I can't be openly naked in all aspects of my life as our society has a rather negative outlook about the human body, so I'm highly doubtful that posting the entire photo here would go over very well! If I did so people would think all sorts of negative things about me and cancel me or have me arrested and so on, although none of what they think would be true. Part of me wants to do it just in spite of people like that, but I don't want to be disrespectful so instead of posting it here I've posted it on my Quora page.
Unfortunately, people today generally don't understand the concept of non-sexual nudity because in our society the only time we see public nudity is when it's being portrayed in a sexual way by the media. We tend to only think of naked bodies as sex objects and get offended by nakedness. It's quite unfortunate that as a society we've lost the ability to see the virtue and humanity of our natural bodies.
We can't appreciate a naked body as being virtuous in our culture unless it's presented through art such as a painting or a statue, in which case public nudity is acceptable. Yet, seeing an actual real live naked person in public is automatically regarded as offensive. As a society, we no longer understand that being openly naked is a beautiful and honest, non-sexual way of sharing our true selves with each other. It's quite sad that our true human nature has become so unwelcome.
I'm going full Mikey!
It's so much healthier for the soul to shed our clothes and be free from society's shame, as well as to be seen for real instead of always hiding our true self. I don't like feeling as though any part of my body is so shameful or offensive that it needs to be kept hidden away. I find it very sad that in our society today we've lost that innocent connection to our bodies and our human spirt. As a community, we've also lost the willingness to accept each other openly exactly the way we are as human beings. Instead, we cringe at the idea of seeing each other naked.
Before and during the early 1900's, it was quite common for men, women, boys and girls to all swim or bathe naked outdoors together. Back then, society was carefree about nudity, it was not even remotely as sexualized as it is today. Being naked was simply a part of our human nature. Public bathes were just an everyday part of life because until the 1960's most people did not have a bathtub in their house. That's why one hundred years ago in the early 1920's, two public bath houses were built here in Ottawa. Both buildings are still standing today, having been converted into community swimming pools.
When swimsuits were first introduced people actually protested against wearing them. Women were made to wear them first for the sake of modesty (which frankly, was just a form of sexism towards women), while men and boys still swam naked. At indoor pools it was mandatory for males to swim naked as apparently lint from clothing would clog up the pool filters. (If that was the case, it becomes even more odd that women were forced to wear swimsuits!) Eventually, due to the negative influence of Christianity, swimming naked outdoors was banned outright and swimming was segregated by gender. Men and boys still swam naked at indoor pools as recently as the 1970's.
Considering such a history, it's ironic that today men are the ones who face sexism when they want to wear an actual swimsuit at the beach, such as a Speedo style swim brief or a backless swim thong, rather than long baggy shorts, yet it's common for women to wear skimpy string bikini's. So the situation has actually reversed itself! Men are now the ones who are expected to wear more clothing for modesty sake while women can be basically naked and wear as little as they want to!
A funny selfie from 2023.
I'm actually quite a shy person socially so I never thought that I would have the guts to do such a thing as being openly naked in front of others while camping, but I'm very glad that I did, and I highly recommend giving it a try if you've never done so. I've been back to that campsite several times since then. There are quite a few clothing optional campsites (where being naked is optional) or naturist campsites (where being naked is mandatory) throughout Ontario, most of which are family friendly.
Additionally, Toronto has Hanlan's Point Beach which is one of only two legally authorized clothing optional public beaches in Canada. The other is Wreck Beach in Vancouver. I wish that Ottawa had one too, I would be there every day of the summer! The simple fact is that naked bodies are beautiful, no matter the shape or size or age because we're all one of a kind. We should be celebrating the beauty of humanity, not shaming it and making it illegal to be seen. I find it so sad that we've done that to ourselves, that that's how poorly we think of our own bodies.
Of course, we all have our own comfort zone when it comes to being naked in front of others which needs to be respected. However, making it illegal to be openly naked in public and therefor suggesting that I'm a pervert for wanting to do so doesn't feel very respectful, it feels oppressive and toxic. It's quite illogical to arrest someone simply for being naked.
My naked manifesto!
All my life I've never really liked wearing clothes and have always found it oppressive that I can't go outside naked, yet society has always made me feel ashamed for wanting to shed my clothes and be openly naked so I never did much about it... until that wonderful camping trip in 2018!
Obviously, there's a time and place for everything, we don't need to be naked at a restaurant or in a grocery store, or while wandering around in a shopping mall, as much fun as that would be! I also certainly wouldn't want to cook food while naked, especially bacon! But why do we need to wear a swimsuit at the public beach, or wear clothes while out for a relaxing bike ride, or in our cars while driving, or outside around the house while gardening?
What harm would it really cause anyone to see their neighbour enjoying a beautiful sunny day while naked? People can simply turn their head or avert their eyes and look away if they don't like what they see. Many people don't even look where they're going anymore anyways because they're on their cellphones doing the zombie walk, they wouldn't even notice if someone was naked!
I truly believe there's nothing indecent about the human body, it's our behaviour that can be indecent whether we're wearing clothes or not. In my humble opinion, the law should only govern our behaviour and not our bodies. It's very sad that we've made our own bodies illegal to be seen for real in front of one another. For me, being naked outdoors is the most exhilarating and joyful way to experience the freedom of being alive.
-Mikey :)
