My first issue I want to tackle since rebooting my blog is NUDITY (given the title of the blog and all). I am just going to say it: I enjoy being naked. I don't really hide this, my close friends know it, but it's something I joke about more than take super seriously. But it's part of the genuine me. I'm not an exhibitionist, I don't have an urge for people to see me naked, but I think it is A) comfortable and B) keeps my mind healthy.
A) Why is being naked comfortable, even in non sexual contexts? Well, try it. It's the way you feel the air on the parts of your body that are normally suffocated all day. It's the way tight garments aren't constantly hugging your skin. I like clothes, they are very useful and make social situations less awkward and they keep me warm from colder climates. But frankly, if I've had a stressful day, the first thing I want to do when I walk in the door is shed my clothes and relax. Nothing sexual about it, just freedom.
B) What do I mean by "keep my mind healthy"? As a young man, of course I have a sex drive. But that doesn't mean it can't be controlled. It's merely classical conditioning. I'm attracted to female bodies, and for a long time I only saw the naked body in sexual situations. Naturally in time I associated nudity with sex, just seeing a Victoria Secret commercial would make me think about sex. And then seeing a girl wearing a swimsuit or a low cut dress would make me think about sex. But the more I accept my own body as a natural thing, holding meaning and value apart from its sexuality, the more I view others the same way. I can look at a naked woman without thinking about her as a potential sexual partner. It doesn't mean I'm not attracted to the female form any more, it just means I can see that human bodies serve greater purposes outside the realm of my penis.
B cont.) With this desexualization of the body comes good body image, too. If you see your naked body simply as a vehicle for sex, every imperfection is going to be shaming. You will think you are too fat, skinny, ugly, pimply, etc. And this is really damaging to your psyche. Your naked body is biologically who you are, how can you truly love yourself if you are ashamed of your body?
I heard a lot about modesty this year in church, and saw a lot of blame being shifted towards women to cover up. But this is wrong, the problem isn't bodies, the problem is our mindset. And if you are a Christian, how are we are going to treat woman's outfits as a scapegoat for our own iniquities and then claim that we are following Jesus? Didn't Jesus say "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell (Mark 9.47 NIV)?" Our instructions are not to change the person triggering our sin, but rather to change ourselves. Pluck out your own damn eyes. We are to take responsibility for our sins, not pawn the responsibility on to others. And on top of that, this seems to me to be obvious hyperbole to draw attention to our often misled concept of sin. An eye or a hand can't cause you to sin. It's in your heart/mind. It's how you think about things, which in turn affects how you act on things. Changing your heart protects you from sin. Not plucking out your eye, and not shaming people to cover up their bodies. How are we to take control of our sinful attitudes towards human bodies? I can't tell you a universal 10 step program, not everyone is me. I would suggest reflection and prayer; really think about how you are viewing the human body and women in general. But I can say a great step for me was getting comfortable with my own body, and respecting it as more than a sex machine.
