Category Archives: nudism

nudism, personal, thoughts

Figleaves or Not?

There’s another sensible item on nudity, especially as relating to one’s children, over on The Political Naturist. Here’s a taster …

For many parents, allowing a child to run around naked at home is perfectly natural, an expression of physical freedom that represents the essence of childhood, especially in the summer. But for others, unclad bodies are an affront to civility, a source of discomfort and a potentially dangerous attraction for pedophiles. […]

There is no rational reason for ordering a toddler to put on clothes. People will always tell you that it’s “indecent”, or “inappropriate”, but they cannot tell you why. It’s transference of adult shame, built up over years of cultural mores and religious teachings. […]

Around the age of 3 or 4, children begin to differentiate between what’s private and what’s public, experts say, and they usually begin to feel modesty soon after. But parents’ attitudes play the largest role in determining whether children are comfortable being naked at home … If someone has what appears to be an overly strong reaction to seeing young children running around naked, it tells us about their own hang-ups, their own inner conflicts […]

What is it about the sight of naked children which causes people to bristle and turn away? I would think most people would smile, or laugh, at the sight of children at play, clothed or unclothed. Bottling up the natural instincts of children to shed their clothes only teaches them body shame, that there is something wrong and repulsive about their flesh. Adults should not be transferring their own guilt, false modesty and irrational fears to their children. We are all born with nude bodies, we all see ourselves when we change clothes or bathe, so why is it so shocking when we see someone else’s nude body? […]

Thanks heaven for another dose of common sense. More please!

arts, beliefs, current affairs, nudism, thoughts

Nudity Does Us All Good

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Picture: BBC

I’ve written before about my attitudes to nudity and our bodies (see for instance here, here and here) and I return to the subject quite unashamedly especially as Channel 4 TV’s “Life Class” (which I admit I have not been watching) has created a bit of a backlash in certain circles. So it was good to see a couple of articles last week coming out in favour of nudity and trying, quietly and sanely, to redress the balance.

The first was written for BBC News’s online magazine by life model Sarah Snee (who is herself also an artist). The piece went under a banner Starkers for Art; here are some snippets of what she has to say:

As a student strapped for cash the allure of making money modelling for art was too much to resist. But there was another motivation – self exploration.

“I was intrigued by the idea of being naked in front of strangers,” says Sarah. “Especially at the age of 20 when you’re still getting to know your own body and developing your own sexuality. It was a very romantic idea, a bohemian idea […] My first time was daunting. I was wondering what people thought of my body. Was I attractive enough? Did my bum look big? The things most people would be concerned with.”

Despite being under the intense scrutiny of a room full of pupils, male and female, Sarah found she quickly became used to being under the artist’s gaze. “It made me feel more confident about my body. I felt liberated. I feel more self-conscious wearing a bikini on holiday with friends than I did when I was naked in front of strangers.”

“People say to me isn’t life modelling really weird? Isn’t it a bit sexual? Of course there are men who have this idea they’re all going to draw these naked women and it’s going to be thrilling […] But the artists don’t view you sexually. They see the body as a series of lines and shadows, a piece of art.”

The second piece, titled Nudity does us all good, was by Jemima Lewis in last Saturday’s Daily Telegraph. Again Jemima Lewis has a refreshingly down to earth view of nudity, and echos my view that nudity is not only normal but we would all be better adjusted if we grew up with nudity and understanding our bodies. This is (part of) what she has to say:

[…] who are these children who have never seen a naked body before? And more importantly, why not?

Going naked in front of your offspring is one of the duties of parenthood. Studies show – and common sense suggests – that children from households where nudity is commonplace grow up to feel more comfortable in their own skin. We need the background scenery of other people’s bodies – dumpy, scrawny, dimpled or lean – in order to be reassured that our own peculiarities are normal.

Especially now, when most public images of the human form are airbrushed into a preposterous lie, children ought to know what actual people look like under their clothes.

Some of my favourite memories of school feature middle-aged men and women disporting themselves in the buff. Our A-level teacher, like many artists, preferred her life models on the well-fed side, their rolls of fat allowing for plentiful chiaroscuro.

Although it is a long time since I picked up a sketchpad, those life classes, combined with the tireless domestic nudity of my parents, are proving more useful to me now than ever.

As my wife’s uncle used to say: “If you see anything God didn’t make, heave a brick at it.”

food+drink, medical, memes, music, nudism, personal, photography, science, sexuality
3 Comments

Katyboo posted this meme the other day, and as she didn’t tag people, preferring us to elect or not, I’ll take the bait. Well it’s better than doing whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing.

The rules of the meme are: Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Then tag eight people.

What are your current obsessions? Depression. I don’t know why I’m so depressed at the moment (I’ll blame work, it’s as good a scapegoat as any, but it almost certainly isn’t the only factor) but it is taking over and stopping me doing things.

Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often? The Emperor’s new suit. Nudity and getting fresh, cooling, air to the body is actually good for you; it stops you getting all sticky and sweaty in places you don’t want to. I do wear a pair of shorts or jeans (more if I need to) during the week, if only so I can get to the front door quickly. Otherwise I follow the maxim “Nude when possible, clothed when necessary”.

What’s for dinner? Vegetable Crumble, I think. Well we are trying to be good and reduce our meat intake for the sake of our health and the planet. And Noreen does a mean veggie crumble with mushroom, onion or cheese sauce. Yum, yum!

Last thing you bought? In a shop? Not a clue; I hardly ever got to shops these days. Online? Some scented geraniums.

What are you listening to? The hum of my PC. I can’t take continual background music (let alone talk) these days. I suspect that’s related to the depression.

Do you have a pet and if not, why not? Yes, two cats and lots of fish (both tropical and in the pond). And no, the cats take no interest whatsoever in the fish.

Favourite holiday spots? Dorset and South Devon, by the sea. Well anywhere quiet by the sea really.

Reading right now? My PC screen, stoopid! 🙂

Four words to describe yourself? Fat, grey, snotty, depressed.

Guilty pleasure? Why do pleasures always have to be guilty? Erotica. Yes and I’m unashamed about it. In the words of Jean-Luc Goddard, “Eroticism … is consenting to live.” If no-one ever found anything erotic we’d none of us be here!

Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak? edartr at Flickr‘s photographs of his hilarious two dogs; see here for example.

First spring thing? Zebedee

Planning to travel to next? Norwich to see my mother. Don’t know when yet, but it should be soon.

Best thing you ate or drank lately? East Green

Do you have any weird phobias? No. There are things I dislike intensely, like maggots, but nothing which turns me into a complete gibbering wreck.

Favourite ever film? As I don’t do films I’ll change this one. My question is: What time is it now, and what time would you like it to be? It’s currently 1150 hrs, and thus fast approaching lunchtime. What time would I like? The time I can drink beer freely again.

Care to share some wisdom? “It’ll pass, Sir, like other days in the Army.”

Favourite song? Pink Floyd, Learning to Fly. Well that’s one of them anyway.

What’s your favourite meal you make without sticking to a recipe? Curry. But then I almost never use a recipe for anything except cake – and I never make cake.

Who would play you in a movie of your life? Who would be stupid enough to even consider it? Maybe Harpo Marx? Actually Woody Allen probably suits my personality better. 🙁

Facebook or Twitter? Other or Neither? For preference neither. I do dabble on Facebook from time to time, mainly as a way of not quite losing touch with people. But as far as I can see Twitter is a complete waste of time and everything else; no-one has yet managed to explain the point to me. The same goes for Second Life and YouTube.

What is your favourite word? What do you mean I’m not allowed that one? It’s a perfectly good Anglo-Saxon word. Oh OK, let’s have something boring then, like corvid.

OK, so here’s the question I’ve added: If you were to have one piece of luck this week, what would it be? To win the lottery so I can afford to retire.

Like Katyboo I don’t like tagging people – although I’m always happy to be tagged – so you can all choose to take part or not. If you do, just leave a message and a link in the comments, please. Enjoy!

arts, history, nudism, personal, photography

OMG Aren't They Horrible!

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There seems recently to be a trend for displaying photos of oneself in youth, and as is traditional adding the refrain of “OMG aren’t they horrible”. Far be it from me not to join a sinking bandwagon when I see one, so here are a selection of the pix I’ve so far found of me.

First off, on the right, here I am aged 7 (in 1958) with our dog, Suzie (Sue for short). This is clearly taken in our back garden during the summer, probably by my father with his Box Brownie.

And next a couple of years later (I’m guessing I was 9 or 10) while on holiday camping at a nudist club somewhere in Essex. It was a hot summer and in this I’m pouring cold water over my mother. This would have been taken by my father on his Box Brownie.

Next we have some from when I was in the Scouts.

Here I am (in the centre) at the age of about 12 (so 1963) preparing to take part in the Scouts annual St George’s Day Parade, which our troop led with drum band. I can roughly date this as Vic, the guy with the “leopard skin”, was our troop leader and left a year or so later at 16; the big gormless-looking lad helping him is Eric Castle who was (I think a year) younger than me, so he must have been 11 to be in the Scouts. Apart from being somewhere around Cheshunt I’ve no clue where this was. Again probably taken by my father on his Box Brownie.


In these two I must be about 14 (so 1965) as I’m the one leading the drum band at the St George’s Day parade. I definitely remember this as I know we did this route at least two years running; I suspect this was the first year we used this route and the first year I was “drum major”as I think it is still Vic with the bass drum. Again probably taken by my father on his Box Brownie, although it must have been around this time he started using 35mm.

Now we’ve jumped to summer 1971 and a professionally taken photograph of the University of York Cricket Tour at the end of the Summer Term (so the end of my second year as an undergraduate). We spent a short week playing around Ipswich and Cambridge; this was taken outside the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge pavilion before a match. I’m in the back row, third from right and badly in need of a haircut. And no, I can’t name all the other guys; except I know the guy front right is Eddie Pratt who was doing Chemistry with me.

Finally we’ve jumped to 1984. I don’t know who took this, but it’s in my family history collection. This is me (centre, with hands in pockets and gold-rimmed glasses) with my parents at the opening of Noreen’s blockbusting exhibition “Jolly Hockey Sticks” at Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood (now V&A MoC). I was (almost) down to weight in those days as I had not long recovered from glandular fever. I was 33 and we’d been married not quite 5 years. Eeek; that’s a lifetime ago! I wasn’t grey then either.

I’m sure I have other photos but they aren’t to hand. I’ll have to raid my mother’s files next time I go to see her; there should be some more of me in my teens and maybe twenties although I doubt there’ll be any of me under about 5 as I don’t think my father had a camera then; and of course, yes, there are wedding photos somewhere.

Are they horrible? Well actually, apart from the one of me as a student (horrible glasses and in need of a serious haircut), no I don’t think they are horrible. Photos of me now are far worse: very unfit, seriously overweight and going down hill rapidly into senility. I wish I was as fit now as I was in that nude photo of me at 9 or 10! But that, as they say, is life.

nudism, thoughts

The Right Balance

It sounds to me that model, novelist and actress Sara Stockbridge has the balance about right. In a curious piece in The Herald, she admits to having no problem with her body and once having walked the catwalk nude (except for her boots):

“I’ve never had a problem with my body. I went down the catwalk naked once. There was an encore and I’d already gone off and started taking all my clothes off and I was naked, and they were like, come on, come on, there’s an encore’, and so I ran back on in just boots with nothing on. I have no problem with being naked. There are much more scary things than being naked. Like singing karaoke.”

Why is it that everyone isn’t so well balanced? After all we all know, give or take the odd scar, what’s underneath our clothes.

Hat-tip Diary of a Nudist

nudism, sexuality, thoughts

Don't Fear Nudity: Embrace It!

There’s an interestingly refreshing take on nudity in an short article in the Johns Hopkins Newsletter, especially given that it is all American! Here is an edited version of the opening paragraphs.

America loves nudity. Cannot get enough. At the same time, America hates nudity. It makes us nervous … Nudity draws attention to our insecurities …

One insecurity is that of being inadequate. It makes us feel bad to think that we are unattractive …

We would rather live without the possibility of being denied our ignorance/illusion than live truthfully, in a world with breasts and penises everywhere …

But what if we were comfortable enough that we could deal? What if seeing one’s privies was commonplace? Firstly, big dicks and voluptuous breasts would no longer be as large a deal as they are body parts. Following this, skill comes into frame. One’s abilities in the sack are just as important to attraction as one’s appearance, but the more comfortable we are with nudity, the more our intellect catches up to the emotional reality of this. In business terms, transparency increases competition, and competition increases the possibility that you are just as desirable as the next …

What a refreshing change to have some commonsense!

[Hat-tip Diary of a Nudist]

beliefs, food+drink, memes, nudism, photography, pleasures, topographical

New 12 Days of Christmas Meme!


New 12 Days of Christmas Meme!, originally uploaded by kcm76.

An extra Flickr PhotoMeme this week: A New Twelve Days of Christmas …

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Christmas carol which enumerates a series of increasingly grandiose gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. It has been one of the most popular and most-recorded Christmas songs in America and Europe throughout the past century. [Wikipedia]

Create your own series of 12 gifts you would want …

One true love
£2M
Three ravishing concubines
Four miles of my own private sunny, sandy shoreline with nudist beach
Five stone less weight
Six winning lottery numbers
Seven days a week, every week, of warm summer sunshine
Eight hours good sleep every night
Nine percent interest on our savings
Ten green bottles of wine a week
Eleven acres of natural ancient woodland
Twelve month-long holidays a year

1. Mon Amie la Rose – IMG_1165a,** 2. Red Head, 3. Heart,** 4. Morning Light,** 5. 5-peace-stones, 6. lottery, 7. Too good to eat?, 8. tsukareta nya~,** 9. leon’s nine lives,** 10. wine bottles-10, 11. Buche bei Oberbantenberg,** 12. Wintery Temple**

As always these are not my photos but please follow the links to enjoy the work of the photographers who did take them!
(The starred ** photographs are from my Flickr favourites.)

And it is worth viewing this on black to bring out the colours!

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

memes, nudism, photography, thoughts

Clothing Mini-Meme


Clothing Mini-Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Here’s a mid-week Flickr mini-meme I did some while back. Why post it now? Because I feel like it! 🙂

1. Painted on Jeans… 17/366, 2. Swimwear, by TBA Clothing-250, 3. i’m crazy, but you already knew that, 4. ruby fishing in the emperor’s new clothes on the dock up at camp, 5. naked feet, 6. Nudity

A mid-week mini-meme!
As usual the questions and answers and my usual tongue in cheek (but still semi-serious) take:
1. What do you wear to work? Jeans; just jeans mostly as I now work from home most days, and that’s really only so I can go quickly to the door; a t-shirt and sox only if I’m very cold, like today
2. Who is your favorite designer? You mean someone designs clothes? Oh dear!
3. Where do you get most of your clothes? From my wardrobe of non-clothing, of course
4. Where do you wish you could buy more often? The Emperor’s new clothes store
5. What is your favorite type of shoe? Naked feet; I’m sure barefoot is actually much better for the feet
6. What is your favorite around the house outfit? Nude when possible; clothed when necessary

As always these are not my photos but please follow the links to enjoy the work of the photographers who did take them!

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

books, food+drink, memes, nudism, personal, photography, pleasures, sexuality, thoughts

Happiness Meme


Happiness Meme, originally uploaded by kcm76.

1. Meet the cat: VIC, 2. Sand Sea Sun – Snorkel!, 3. The meaning of Photography, 4. Happy Nude Recreation Week!!!, 5. my wine and Brad’s beer, 6. My wife’s hairy cunt, 7. 8×6 frosty morning railroad, 8. day one hundred five, 9. Longing for Spring, 10. ordinary pic, but really tasty salad, 11. Reading A Buyer’s Market, 12. Katsuo-ji Temple bells

This week’s question: Just tell us 12 things which make you happy, and a picture for each.

Answers:
1. Cats – because they’re magic
2. Sun, sea and sand
3. Photography – it’s about the only creativity I have
4. Warm sunshine on my skin
5. Beer and wine – two of the essentials of a contented life
6. Noreen, my wife (perhaps I should not say explicitly what I was going to!) and that after almost 30 years of marriage we still have great sex
7. Bright frosty mornings
8. Nudity – it’s normal and it’s comfortable
9. Spring green and blossom on trees
10. Good, tasty, fresh salad
11. Books, especially Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time
12. Bells

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

food+drink, memes, nudism, personal, thoughts

Friday Five: When Did You Last …?

OK so it’s a day late, but after I don’t know how many weeks I feel like doing this week’s Friday Five. So here we go …

When did you last…
1. Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
I don’t recall ever having done so, even as a student. Guess I’m probably lucky.

2. Visit a dentist?
Monday 4 August 2008, 0830 hrs.

3. Make a needed change to your life?
I don’t do big, life threatening changes — unless you count marriage or moving house, and I don’t have a habit of doing them since I’ve done neither for getting on for 30 years! I do lots of small incremental changes — fine tuning if you like.

4. Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
Don’t make a habit of doing this either, so I don’t know when it last was. We may have a sketchy idea of what we’re going to eat 24 hours in advance, but it remains flexible until the last minute: eat what we fancy built around what we have available.

5. Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
I was going to say yesterday. But maybe I’ll say today instead, although I will be out for a chunk of the day. If I’m at home I’m usually nude unless I’m very cold or we have visitors. And as I work from home a lot that is quite a few days a week. “Nude when possible; clothed when necessary.”

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Five.]