My cousin's realization.

Recently my cousin called me. She was going through some of her childhood photos with her husband. And suddenly he points at one of the pictures and asks, "What is going on in this photo?!?!"

She tells me that she looked at the photo and replied, "I'm getting my hair cut."

"But you're naked?"

"Yeah?"

"But you're like 10 or 11?"

"Yeah?"

"But your brothers are in the same room?"

"So?"

It was just normal for us, growing up, to not think about being nude at home. We knew to get dressed when we went out and we knew to be dressed when others came over. And we weren't nudists in the sense that we intentionally got naked as soon as possible when at home... but we never had any rush to get dressed if we happened to be naked. There was just no thought about it.

For my cousin, being naked in front of her brothers at 11 wasn't something to worry about. As she said, "I was probably wearing a towel after a bath and it fell off and I didn't think about it. But Jim [her husband] couldn't believe it and worried about exposing my brothers to that. But you can tell from the picture that they're not even paying attention to it and are playing with their toys on the floor."

I am grateful to my family for being brought up like that during my formative years. Unlike my aunt, my mother found extreme religion by the time I was a teen, so eventually the message changed. But the message changed on the outside but not on the inside because I was brought up with a very good perspective on being nude. It never really left me.

Sure, it wasn't a nudist upbringing. But it was a healthy view of nudism and I am happy that I was brought up with it. My cousin, sharing her story with me, reminded me of how lucky we were.

 

You and your cousin had it good, eric. My mother is a scholar of Victorian literature. When I was growing up, it often seemed to me that she drew her standards of modesty straight from George Eliot. If I dared to walk through the house without a shirt, she'd make a face. I had more sense than to leave my room wearing less.

For that reason, even though I love being nude, and being in the company of nude people, I can never manage to be truly casual about either one. To me, getting naked is something daring and a little naughty, and demands at least a little commentary. Whenever I do it myself, I feel the need to explain, apologize, or ask for feedback. ("You don't mind, do you?") Whenever someone else does it, I find it hard to refrain from gaping or offering praise. ("Wow, I think that's really brave.")

I can't help noticing that this sense of wonder doesn't go over particularly well with anyone. People who are still iffy on nudity don't want to be consulted on the subject, since that forces them to express thoughts they haven't really had the chance to form. True free spirits are fine with simply experiencing nudity. Being asked to discuss or analyze it just takes away the fun.

I guess it's too late to swap childhoods, huh?

 

My brother told me that i might get all the parent’s family photo albums some day. I asked him why and he told me that he wouldn’t like to have his friends look ‚accidently‘ to child photos showing him playing naked in the garden etc.

So the attitude towards photos of (happy) naked childhood is manifold …

 

What A Sad Outlook On Life He Has..

Is There Anything More Natural, Than A Kid Running Naked In A Garden..?


Cheers Glen.

 

Hi Glen,

my brother did develop a narrow minded attitude as an adult, maybe also through his job and his spouse. I guess he is afraid some 'important persons' could think he comes from a freak family or something like this.

During our childhood and youth he was open towards nudity, sometimes even a bit lightheaded. I have some memories that we was often the first putting off clothes or the last still running around naked in the evening while i was already cold and going to put something on again (maybe also because he was the 'strong' big brother ..).

So our childhood was ok, we had our freedom.

 

My family wasn't really nudist, but when I was younger (up until when I was around 12) my parents would sometimes walk around the house nude (and I would too)-it seems like they had kind of open minded ideas back then, which seem stange now, because now they seem so stiff and stuck up. But I think it made me more open to nudity, which is a good thing.

 

my family aren't nudists, but me and my siblings were always in the nud, we'd play in the streets naked ..it only ever embarrassed you if you were 14 and your friends are over and your little sister is running around outside naked. but yeah, we'd be in the nud til we were 10 as much as we liked.. why not. i know my little blessings will be in the nude as much as they like