Danielle's Writings

Fabric? Who cares?

You know why I think we have so many individuals who are body conscious?  I think it's because society has made them that way.  Think about it  with me for a second.  Today we live in a society where everything is about  having the most recent designer labels and keeping up with the latest fashion  trends.  Each individual that is conscious about some aspect of their body  wasn't born being conscious of that aspect.  They became conscious of it  because they've either been bullied at school because of it, or if their adults  now, they probably were picked on about it at one point in their lives.

I think it's incredibly sad that so many of us are trapped in this "fabric prison" where the first thing almost anybody pays attention to is what you're  wearing or how you're dressed.  What ever happened to the idea of getting  to know a person for who they are and not the material things that they own?  Oh wait, did that ever exist?  Not that I can recall, at least not in  the way that I'm talking about.  Imagine with me for a second that the  fabric that we use to fit in, to be popular, to feel comfortable, no longer  existed.  What would happen then?  Would we all curl up into little  balls and stop living because the idea of not having fabric would be just too  much to handle?  Would there be some rebels who say, "fabric?  Who  cares?  I've got better things to worry about!"  It's possible, and I  would sure like to think that that's the way it would happen, but somehow I  sincerely doubt it.  It's too deeply ingrained in our brains that the only  reason to be nude is because you're going to have sex.  I'm here to tell  you that nudity represents much more than that to a handful of people, myself  included!  For us, it's about the freedom and lack of confinement that being nude  represents.

Let me tell you a little story: a dear dear friend of mine was at a nudist  resort many years ago, saw someone wearing a sarong, really liked it, and asked  the gentleman where he got it.  The gentleman said he couldn't remember.  My friend proceeded to ask him if he knew who made it.  Without  missing a beat or thinking twice, the gentleman quickly pulled it off and  started looking for the label.  In that moment, the fact that he was nude  while looking for the label didn't faze either of them at all.  It was  normal everyday conversation that neither of them thought twice about.

If mainstream society had more of that mentality, the mentality that teaches  children from a very young age that their bodies are nothing to be ashamed of  and that they're not just sex toys, I truly truly believe we would have a lot  less attempts at suicide and less suicides that actually happen.  Why?  It's simple in my mind: people wouldn't look at other people for how they  looked or didn't look and therefore fewer people would be uncomfortable with  their bodies and feel the need to escape that pain; the pain of not being  accepted just wouldn't exist because aesthetics and labels wouldn't matter. 

Remember, in my opinion, this is a societal issue, not an individual one.  With all that said, whether you're an open nudist now, or one that hasn't  quite gotten the courage to tell society what you think of the way they've made  you conform, know that I stand behind you 100% in wanting our bodies to be about  more than how they can be used for sex!  I too am not happy with the fact that  we're trapped in this textile world where labels and fabrics are everything!  Today, tonight, or whenever you read this I hope it gives you the courage and  inspiration to stand up and say, "fabric?  Who cares?  I've got better  things to worry about!"

For all of you who read this who are struggling with body image issues know  and remember two things as you reach the bottom of this post: first, you came  into the world nude and chances are your parent or parents thought you were  perfect just the way you were!  Second, if you're an adult now and you were  picked on earlier in your life for the way an aspect of your body looked, you're  beautiful just the way you are and I promise, promise, promise, promise that  there's someone out there who loves you for who and what you are, not what's on  the exterior, you just have to find them!  Whatever you do, try to keep holding  your head high and never give up hope!