Having been a part time nudist, and supporter of nudism rights, the hang-ups society has about nudity always baffle me. I get that for a lot of people, they automatically associate nudity with sexuality. I can assure you, they are completely separate! Some people think I'm joking when I talk about going to nude beaches, but I'm completely serious. It's certainly a way to step out of your comfort zone, particularly for those of us with body image issues. However soon you realize everyone is naked, and every body has it's own "flaws". Then you realize they're not flaws at all, they're simply our individual characteristics. Some are indomitable, others we can change in various ways. I highly recommend experiencing it at least once to just about everyone!
If it seems like too big of a jump to start with, try sharing nudes with some close friends, obviously with consent! Please DON'T ever send your nudes to someone without asking and receiving explicit consent first! (On a related note, if someone sends you nudes of themselves, DO NOT SHARE them with anyone else! I think this might need it's own follow-up topic as there's too much to cover.)
Anyway, getting back to the hang-ups part, the association of nudity with sexuality seems to be the primary reason behind the social taboos of being naked. That of course will directly link into a "Hang-ups: Sexuality" topic I can write later. For now examine this from a cultural perspective, where did this adversity to naked bodies come from?
I think a lot came directly from religion, and that a lot of the religious taboos against nudity AND sexuality came not from any rational or logical source, but from the desire to control people. The largest portion of this power trip is of course focused on women, since in the minds of many religious folks, women are the property of their fathers, then their husbands. A lot of these beliefs make me roll my eyes. How the heck did this ever become a thing? Why is it still a thing thousands of years later? What the hell is wrong with people?!
Ugh, I think I should probably wrap this up pretty soon, as I'm already squirreling, and I don't want this to get too winding. In the next part, we're going to shift from nudity in general, to a subtopic that is another of those bizarre cultural artefacts that makes my brain hurt: the hang-ups around women's nipples!
Tune in in a few days for my next stream-of-consciousness, kind of planned, but also kind of off the cuff posts. In the meme time (sic, hehe), expect more jokes and random shares. Cheers!