Why Be a Naturist Anyway? Part 2: The Great Equalizer

My most prominent scars

Yesterday, I discussed a few points about why one would want to be a nudist/naturist in the first place. I talked about how it makes one feel free and invigorated and how it helps body image.

Today I'd like to talk about how nudism equalizes it's participants.

To put it simply: when everyone is nude, no one has status.

To understand this we have to ask ourselves why people wear clothes in the first place. Mostly, people wear clothing to protect us from the elements. This is completely understandable during this time of year in the northern hemisphere. But what about when it's warm? Or in the protection of a climate-controlled structure? In these cases it's obvious that clothing is worn to denote one's status or to protect us from "embarrassing" features of our bodies.

In the work world, our jobs frequently require us to wear "uniforms", whether they be actual uniforms or just a figurative uniform of a business suit or protective gear. These uniforms often display to the world what we do (and therefore what we make monetarily) and what our rank is within the field.

In the recreational and personal world, we can choose labels to display our ability to buy a certain image. What we wear demonstrates to the world what we are "worth" in terms of money. Fancy clothes display wealth, thrift store clothes display any number of things. Sometimes the lines are blurred and clothing becomes an ambiguous signal. We dress to fit in with our social surroundings, sometimes we dress above our status, sometimes below, both communicate a message to those around us about how we view ourselves and them.

Clothing worn for reasons other than protection becomes a form of self-expression. I value self expression, which is why I don't despise clothing as much as many nudists do. While I prefer to be nude and feel my nudity expresses my person better than any clothing could, I can understand others who feel differently. But that's another topic for another day.

Nudism removes all artificial constructs. When everyone is nude, no one can tell your job, your tastes, or your wealth just by looking at you. They may be able to tell your diet, your exercise habits, and what surgeries you've had, but those aren't often the things we judge people's value by.

Communal nudity forces everyone to see everyone else as equals. If any more value is to be ascribed to someone, conversations must be had. You'll see a guy over there and he'll just be another tan butt in the crowd. It's only after you have a conversation with him that you will have any idea what he does for a living. He could be a lawyer, an early bitcoin investor, a trash collector, an engineer, a retail employee, a waiter, a pastor, a nurse, a chef, or a dumpster diving hippie who is homeless by choice. There is no uniform to tell you this, no label that he has chosen to display his position, so you either have to stop caring about such things, or you have to be social and inquire. More frequently it's the former, you stop caring about the labels because you're too relaxed to worry about them.

Used under a Wikipedia Commons License

To a certain extent, nudity also makes us vulnerable. Nobody is hiding under layers, there is no "protection" from the eyes of others. All of our scars, all of our imperfections, every freckle is on display. This can be scary. But when everyone else is in the same position of vulnerability, it becomes a great equalizer. We can all be scared together, and as such, we can all chill out together and make our relationships about way more than the superficial.

I hope I make sense here. I think what I have written is pretty much familiar to anyone who has done a little bit of research into the lifestyle. It is the ideal, what nudism should be. I will get around in a few posts to explaining why I think the ideal I explained above may not be the most accurate to describe current nudism. But first we start with ideals.