Clearly Inexplicable

the post where i talk about being naked

i get that most people don’t really give this much thought. everyone is naked under their clothes after all. there’s a plethora of reasons why people have hang ups, or don’t, about being naked. i just got done cruising deviant art and i always find people being naked on there. i went to art school and personally i never cared for the photo people who did naked stuff to supposedly be a “real artist” (usually they were also self-absorbed exhibitionists too … so much for being “artsy”). i can admit that the human form (both male and female) can be a great piece of art, but so much of it is either naked for the sake of being naked, exhibitionism passed off as art, or just not a very well thought-out piece (i was going to type “utter crap” but that’s a little too judgmental). for instance, this is obviously more of a concept piece of art … while this is blatant exhibitionism. there also seems to be an epic ton of dudes that like to show off their junk on deviant art.

about a month ago, mostly because i was bored and wanted to do something totally out of character, i took some naked pics. they were definitely arty but looking at them on my computer afterward was even crazier than me doing the pics in the first place. i actually had trouble looking at them. it’s hard to describe the feeling actually. it was like each picture took something away from me. they didn’t last more than a half hour on that memory card before the whole lot was deleted. i’m just not cut out to be that type of “artist”.

some may say that nudity is a human’s most natural state. that’s how we come in to the world, yes, but society and practicality clothe us. i remember when i was back in art school there was a dude that claimed to be a nudist and that society forcing him to put clothing on was stifling him as a human being. he proposed a “project” where he would come to school naked, with just a backpack. the art department was like, whatever dude, just don’t go outside the art department and if we hear any complaints your “project” is over. so day one this dude walks onto the art campus balls out with his backpack and within three hours he’d busted a boner in front of two chicks, they reported him and the “project” was over. saw that coming a mile away, no pun intended.

i’m sure there are legit nudists. people who can sit around their house naked, not caring if their ass cheeks stick to their vinyl recliners and be a-ok with it. i am the polar opposite of that. once when my other half was away for a few days i thought i’d give that a shot. i woke up, took a shower and then walked right out into the kitchen to make some coffee in my birthday suit. even the cat looked at me funny. i felt funny. i couldn’t even be walking around naked in my own house with no other eyes upon me except the cat’s.

as far as i can tell it’s simply experience that leads to a personal belief system about many things - including baring what you got for all to see. i was never one of those kids who threw off all their clothes and ran around. doors were always closed in my house. so i guess from the start i wasn’t taught to feel “normal”, for lack of a better word, about not having clothes on. i don’t think it even occurred to me that there were people out there who actually slept without pajamas on until i was a teenager. it’s kind of fascinating and horrifying all at the same time.

and today, because of the magic of the internet, people really are letting it all hang out. i keep hearing about this chatroulette.com thing. some of my friends have been on it and come across people actually doing (by way of video cam) all those things people on the old aol chat rooms used to just say they were doing. and then we’ve got open porn sites like xtube.com. i’ve been there. it’s like a sociological experiment gone horrible wrong. tons of people won’t show their face in their video but they have no problem at all sticking a light bulb up their ass and posting it for the world to see. by the way, that’s probably the guy that sits next to your cubical at work or the guy who rings up your groceries at the store or makes your hamburger when you go out for lunch. think about that one. one thing i do on that site is punch in random search phrases like “plastic wrap” or “banana” just to see what comes up - and more times than not, something does. do i watch the videos? only sometimes. there’s some lines i don’t cross, even for sociological or entertainment value. the point is, it exists and it’s out there for anyone to look at. i know as a whole, humans are a sick bunch. if something can be thought of, we have thought of it, and many more have done it. it’s just that it’s so easy-access now. anyone with a video camera can film their most private, twisted moment and within minutes it’s out there for the whole world to see. i think that alone fundamentally changes our society. to what? i have no idea, but shit is different now than it was 20 years ago.

i’ve had people tell me i was up my ass about having issues about taking my clothes off … that i should just “get over it”. i’ve also had people ask me how i’m so “pure”. perspective is a funny thing and each person has a unique perspective. mine is that there are only a few select times where i’m down for being naked (and people can probably guess what those are), but that’s just me. i’ve tried to explore other perspectives and it just doesn’t feel comfortable. obviously, there’s a shit ton of people out there who are perfectly fine with it (or make some great excuses why they are). it just makes me wonder where we’re all headed as a society. how are we all going to teach our kids and introduce them to this world “wild” web and still keep some semblance of innocence or values or morals or whatever? are the next generations not even going to ever know what it was like before? as open-minded as i am, i do feel that kids should remain kids as long as possible, but how does one accomplish that now? eesh those are pretty deep questions for a post that started out talking about nakedness …