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!