I stumbled across a rather fair and balanced discussion about Nudity in the Home that has just the right amount of humor for my tastes. Interestingly enough it was in the education part of that newspaper. Having just watched V is for Vendetta for the first time and listening to the religious-right republicans (remember, I’m a preacher’s kid), it struck me that there are many joys in life that are labeled as evil or wrong.
My fav two quotes:
Telegraph, UK: "It’s hard to rise above direct comments about a Rubenesque shape. "Mummy," said a friend’s five-year-old admiringly as her mother left the bath, "what a big bottom!" "I think I cover up more now that the children are teenagers," says another mum, "but that’s more for their sake than mine.
and
"What’s most important is to pass on the idea that ‘My body is OK’ and ‘Whatever I am is fine’, because the opposite message is so very harmful." In these days of cosmetic surgery and airbrushed pictures, you can’t emphasise too much that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. But don’t feel you have to strip off to prove it. After all, as TS Eliot once nearly said, your children might not be able to bear that much reality."
Growing up I saw my siblings and parents in various states of undress periodically. But we didn’t walk around the home very much that way. Now, unless it’s really hot, clothing is very comforting. And we have air conditioning. :o)
This part of the article just made me laugh:
The bare essentials
Reasons to go nude:
• It’s natural
• It’s the best way to clean the shower
• Fake tan dries more easily
• You don’t need to buy dressing-gowns
Reasons to cover up:
• It saves on heating bills
• You might embarrass the children
• Clothes express personality
• Mobile phones take pictures these days
The Bis Key Chronicles 
That last reason to cover up was a HOOT!
That was fun. Thanks!! And…thank you for the info on the poem. My mother was a very church oriented person and now I suspect that may have been how she came in contact with the poem.
It’s not just the religious right that are conservatives though…America in general is conservative when it comes to nudity. You know I went to St.Martin last year on vacation, almost all the women topless at the beach. Mom’s in the water playing with children, women of all shapes and sizes and cultures, topless. Sitting in their lounge chair talking to the couple next to them and the women are topless. Don’t even ask me your next question ;-)I’ve been to various locations in Mexico 4 times….my 5th coming up in 2 weeks for Playa del Carmen….each time women were topless. Women from Europe, Russia and all over the world unbarring their breasts and completely natural about doing so. There I sat (my first time there) like the prude from America. All I can say is, it’s very refreshing to see such ease with the human body. Women of all ages, shapes and sizes. It really made me re-think the amount of negativity I put on myself because I’m getting older…not as firm as I use to be blah blah blah.
Hello Gandalfe,
I’m Nooner. I blog walked from Elaine’s Place. Nice to stop and visit you.
I’m one of those American conservatives that even on the hottest days of the year will have something on in the comfort of my own home, even if no one else is around. A pair of boxers and a golf shirt is about the minimum I get down to. Yet, I grew up with many first cousins coming from central america, and they are much freer with the exposure of sexuality and the human body, it seems.
Reading Elaine’s comment about the many places visited that have topless beaches reminds me of the several I have been to that were not only topless, but bottomless as well. But this whole topic for some reason reminds me of none of those, but instead a resort where bathing suits are common: Rio de Janeiro. In the 1970’s I had occasion to go to Rio many times on business, and their beaches were always an eye opener for me. I recall how I was easily identified as being an American whilst walking the beaches of, say Ipanema. I’d be the one in a pair of "trunk" bathing shorts, while all Brazilian men, no matter what the age or shape, all seemed to favor Speedo type suits. The string bikinis common today most probably had their start in a place like Rio. Three decades ago the women’s suits in Rio were called tangas — essentially a sting or two or three. On the beaches you might spot generations of families together, i.e. kids, their parents, and the grandparents — all in tangas or speedos. I vividly recollect one pregnant woman, perhaps 8 months along, wearing a tanga, but with a flap that fell from the bra and covered her tummy. I was just amazed at the natural freedom of expression of the brazilian culture and remember wondering why I was, as many of us Americans are, so concious of covering up.
Well, it was nice to visit. I laughed at one item here thinking to myself "I resemble that remark" when I read, under "reasons to go nude": "it’s the best way to clean the shower". HaHaHa. Yep, I’ve done that many-a-time that way. Why get your clothes wet, I guess is why.
~Nooner~
Hey, so funny each side has very valid points, hmm wonder which one I like more.
Enjoyed the blog and the comments.
For me, even in my hippie years, and pre-Christian times…I tended towards being modest. Wasn’t because of not having a good figure or being prudish or having overly zealous parents. Must be in my DNA.
I get so serious…wondering about things in other cultures like:
What is the percentage of child molestation, rape, and how are the women usually treated in other cultures? Does what women wear or don’t wear affect that? Or not? But then you could go the other way… …all covered up, Shiria Law and often treated like cattle.
it is funny. thank you for your sharing here. then it is impossible in China. we are shy to nudity even we wear underwear in family.
Coco, I wouldn’t have expected that from China.
Pinkie, too funny. We humans are just plain silly sometimes.
Beth, a lot of what you talk about is the worst that the human race has to offer. To me a lot of it can be attributed to education, or the lack thereof.
Andrea, you are so outgoing I have my suspicions. :o)
Nooner, I read you on a lot of sites.
Elaine, you’ve traveled so you have more insight than most Americans.
Beth, my father was a Presbyterian minister which made me a PK.
I mostly posted this because it was a humorous look at something most of us won’t talk about in public, even to our friends.