Against Nudism

Sympathize and Never Waver

A great number of people are super-adament about not wanting to become nudists. The thought petrifies them like a Triassic forest. They are repulsed, sickened, and outraged. It would be abuse to pursue the matter and impossible to convince them to give it a go. Their response comes from the gut, it’s a bodily response that makes them sick, anxious, and fills them with guilt. It’s a self-manufactured terror, which is so unhealthy, because if they are ever faced with being nude in society it would be permanently scarring and psychologically traumatic-- like forcing roast beef on a vegetarian or bourbon to a teetotaler. Nudism isn’t just something they’d prefer not to do, it’s something that’s impossible for them to do. Just thinking about it can be paralyzing and debilitating. People react to the subject like they’re being lowered into a shark tank, so it’s understandable that with all this going on in their emotionally swirling heads, they flee to the safety of the shallow end of public opinion and condemn it all as heretical blasphemy.

I’d like to say this is a rare response, something shared by only the backward and mentally fragile, but it’s actually the normal response from most of the people I talk to. It’s not like these modern, highly-educated people haven’t thought about it. They are usually experts on nudism and have established firmly held opinions about why it is sick or unhealthy and should be banned for everyone, like black tar heroin or underage prostitution. The problem is they can’t talk rationally about the subject without working themselves into a frenzy. Nudism dredges up every demon and fear they’ve repressed over a lifetime of accumulating guilt and shame. Anti-nudism has been seared into their brains, they’ve been branded with a hot iron so possessive and destructive that they run from even discussing the matter.

The reasons are many. They may not want to show their bodies to anyone because of poor body image. They may have been sexually abused. They have legitimate fears of being exploited or of sexual assault. Their religious training might make them intensely against nudism. Fear of being laughed at, of having their friends and neighbors think differently about them, even being scared of losing their job could be part of it. Most likely, it’s a combination of these things-- a house against nudism built from bricks and mortar of psychological issues, upbringing, negative experiences, and societal forces. All these can make nudism so harmful to their life and delicate mental balance that it’s impossible for them to even consider it. Naturally, with so much at stake, they’ve shut nudism out as a possible life choice.

An important reminder is to never force anyone to go faster than they’re ready on their personal nudist journey. Overcoming fear of being naked is a lot like big wave surfing-- you have to work up to it at your own pace. Many are so afraid of drowning, they’ll never go near the ocean, and that’s okay, it would be like forcing a nudist into clothing-- it’s cruel and unnecessary.

It’s easy to sympathize, but many times anti-nudists project their personal distaste and life choices upon others. With the iron bit of perceived goodness and holiness between their teeth, they whip up a similar hysteria to nudism in general. Many claim they have nothing against other people being nudists, it’s just not for them, meanwhile they do everything possible to ban it for everyone else. The nudist may think these people are wrong, but they would never stop them from expressing their opinion. That’s not the case with people who are so against nudism. These people want to ban nudism for everyone. They want to imprison nudists, ruin their lives, get them fired from their job, put them in the town stocks and subject them to public mockery and humiliation. They will label nudists as deviants, associate them with mental disorders, criminals and predators, libel them in the worst way. All the baggage they personally hold, they wantonly spread through the countryside like Johnny Appleseed planting an orchard of disgust and condemnation. Their backward views are heralded and waved about like Joan of Arc leading the French army, making nudism a practical impossibility for anyone who disagrees.

This Black Plague of judgement infects everyone, spreading anti-nudism postules throughout society. Suddenly, the internal psychosis of an anti-nudist becomes group-think with everyone harboring similar backward views. A mob comes together waving Bibles and whips, out for the throats of anybody who dare challenge the idea that the human body must remain covered, that it isn’t shameful and perverted. What happens when these people all reinforce the same kind of paranoid ideas, backing up each other with nonsensical arguments, and going about isolating and persecuting dissenters? Ask Galileo. It can be hopeless. Moving people away from internal impulses, gut feelings, emotional beliefs, artificial strictures and implausible rhetoric is like stopping a wildfire with a garden hose.

Nudists should be understanding, but unwavering. It was hard enough to overcome all the bullshit and brainwashing we had to endure, so we shouldn’t expect others to come along easily. But we need to understand that people so set against nudism are deeply troubled people. We can all try and help children who are abused, but we shouldn’t forget that most abusers were abused as children. There comes a time when anti-nudism becomes a danger and not a victim-less crime.