A brilliant observation on Body Image:
I was hanging out on the deck with a female friend this past weekend. It was hot, about 75F, and my friend had shed all her clothes.
“I don’t mind being nude here,” she told me. “Nobody can see us. But I wouldn’t want to be naked at a beach — I don’t have a nice body . . .”
And that in a nutshell is why some people fear social nudism, I suspect. Body image. They are self-conscious about their bodies because they don’t have the ideal model look (read: skinny).
I assured my friend that there is nothing wrong with her body, that she looks just fine, and that nudism is, in part, about liberating ourselves from unrealistic body images and just accepting and celebrating people as they are. I also explained that few people will be looking her body up and down.
I know how it is: we are our worst critics when it comes to our appearance. Yet I also know that when it comes to interactions with people, their appearance is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter whether they are fat, skinny or in-between. It doesn’t matter whether they look like Cinderella or The Phantom of the Opera. And it doesn’t matter whether they are dressed in the most fashionable clothes or clothes from a second-hand shop. What matters to most people is the soul reflection in their eyes and the love in their hearts.
There is more, go here to read the entire article as posted on Jillian’s page.
