Do you think we live in a civilised society?
A while ago I listened to the podcast of the Dutch naturist foundation NFN, called ‘Blootgewoon‘ (note, link is Dutch), which means something like ‘nudely normal’.
I love that podcast. Too bad you need to know Dutch to understand it.
The statement that triggered this post was:
To be nude among each other, you need to be civilised.
Blootgewoon podcast
How did this sentence pop up? It was in an interview with the former proprietor of one of the most famous restaurant/bars at the Zandvoort nude beach, the Adam and Eve beach pavilion. The man said that, one day, a sales rep was there to talk business. As they were talking, an older man with a body that showed ‘the good life’ and also several signs of a hard life, came to thank the establishment’s owner for a wonderful day.
After the man had left, the sales rep said: ‘Well, you really need a good stomach for that.’
It was at that point, the interviewer made the comment about being nude and civilised.
He is right.
Making a comment about someone’s appearance is rude. Uncivilised. And guess what, that is probably the reason so many people dress up, pimp their outside, make their flabs and flaws ‘disappear’ under layers of pretty and expensive. That way, no one has “a reason” to make a comment about their appearance.
At a nude beach, there is no covering up of said flabs and flaws. People are real there. With marks and scars and hanging bellies and uneven bits. The works. You name it and you can probably find it at a decent nude beach / resort / etc. If you find a pin-up model person there, it’s something for the diary.
And no one makes comments or rude remarks there. Because when everyone has some kind of flaw, no one has a flaw. No one stands out then, and that is where the civilised bit comes into play.
Drop your clothes and we are all equal. We treat each other with respect.
We’re nude. And civilised.
It seems some people, well, many people find a need to elevate their ego by stepping on the souls of others. I learned that technique from religion. (“We are superior. We are the chosen” – blah, blah, blah).
Even when “dress to the finest”, people will find fault. Until they peek into the looking glass and truely see.
Yes, it’s extremely common. I got a lot of that directed at me until I stopped going to textile beaches, pools, etc.. What fascinated me in a train-wreck sort of way was how important my kyphosis was to so many people. The behavior was so over-the-top that if you had no idea what kyphosis was, you’d think it were some kind of activity I chose to engage in for the sole purpose of interfering with their enjoyment of the beach. In reality, nothing of the sort was happening. Kyphosis is simply curvature of the spine.
Similarly, this older man’s body did not affect the sales rep in any way, shape, or form. Yet, he chose to respond as if it did. Unless the sales rep had some sort of cognitive/psychiatric/psychological condition, he was well aware that fact and of the fact that he had no business commenting on it. Therefore, I suggest his behavior was not only rude but an act of unprovoked aggression.
I’ve pretty much lost faith in the civility of civilisation.
And it’s not just the usual suspects, aka the Taliban and other extremist groups from “non-western” religions. The “highly civilised” western Christian based culture is little better when it comes to civility, ESPECIALLY when it comes to being civil towards anyone who is different from “the norm” (whatever “the norm” is according to any specific group.
The political left is extremely rude and aggressive to the political right, who reciprocate.
Everyone displays extreme aggression and intolerance towards outsiders of their group in general (and I admit, I sometimes am as well, even though I try not to I am part of a tribe as is everyone and tribalism is a very natural human behaviour which “civilisation” can only partially suppress. And there are good reasons for that).
From being “fat shamed” by my family doctor for a decade (yes, really) to a new HR manager saying to my face he was going to “get rid of you” because I wasn’t “corporate enough” to getting insults screamed at me in the supermarket parking lot because of me being transgender (and thus wearing female clothes), it’s everywhere.
The intensity may be low where I live, but it’s grating.
That sounds awful. Yes, the world is overly sensitive in every way conceivable. 🙁
No no no. Clothing is a product of civilization. Paleolithic man didn’t have any such concerns. Civilization can be nice, as when it invents antibiotics, but some of the time it is merely an exercise in enforcing conformity.
True. We’d be better off with a bunch of decent, smart people.
I think so Instead of civilizing nudity, it would be naked to show everyone your innocence.
Nakedness should be common sense.
And common sense is, unfortunately, more present in the universe than hydrogen…
i think you meant less common xD common sense is sadly uncommon
True. I was wrong, I was halfway thinking about stupidity. Common sense is a rare good these days.