Part Two: The Nude
I’ll tell you when I lost all sense of shame.
One of the traditions of Renn Fayre, Reed’s end of the year celebration, involves perhaps two dozen students who opt to strip completely bare and cover themselves in blue paint, run around campus, and cheer a lot. This tradition’s known as picting, as it is somewhat reminiscent of the Scottish folk who painted themselves blue to be more terrifying in battle (think: Braveheart).
Anyway, it’s a tradition. I’m not a big fan of traditions in general, and the specifics of this one didn’t immediately appeal to me. My friends, however, felt differently; for two weeks leading up to Renn Fayre I heard constantly about the event and how excited they were to participate in it. I listened to them but brushed their words aside, not quite understanding their enthusiasm. I wasn’t going to participate in this crazy tradition, I declared to them. No way. After all, a naked body was something precious; although I respected that some people felt comfortable exposing theirs to all of school, I didn’t feel the same way. My body was too special to me for it to be seen by just anyone.
But instead, I awoke that Saturday morning and noticed that my logic from the previous week no longer convinced me. The idea that my body was different from anyone else’s and thus should not be shown off (in such a harmless way) made me laugh. I got naked, got blue, and reveled in the fact that I no longer cared.
It’s only gone downhill from there. Shirtless on the front lawn? Well, why not? Okay, sure, I can think of a reason why I shouldn’t: I don’t want to make others feel uncomfortable due to conflicting interpretations of public nudity. Luckily, though, such nudity is generally accepted here at school. Beyond the bubble, however, the likelihood of someone taking offense would be greater.
The social stigma on nudity is twofold. There are those who believe that The Nude is quite obscene, and to display it in public is even more of a scandal than the mini-skirt. On the other side, there are those who think naked=SEXY! and The Nude is obviously there for their own, implicitly sexual, benefit (see Part One).
I think that wearing revealing clothing in public is more sexual than being in a complete state of undress in the identical situation. While in the first, a perceived subtext is “my exposed shoulders and thighs are just a taste of what’s beneath my slinky dress”, the same cannot be said for the latter. Here I am; I’m naked; get over it. But mixed in to this is the issue of intent: are girls wearing tank-tops because they want to attract attention or because they’re comfortable with themselves? I know it’s a combination of both reasons, but how can one tell the difference? and does the difference even matter?
I would be naked more often if I could.
One of the guys in the kitchen (at the place of my former employment) once asked me (with no serious intentions) to take my shirt off. I hesitated before laughing it off, not because I was offended by his remark, but because it took me a moment to remember that many people still see nudity as inherently sexual. I apparently don’t see it like that. What matters most to me is context- is The Nude located inside an adult magazine or lying in your bed? Or is The Nude sitting on the grass while reading a book and wishing her tan lines would disappear? I feel there’s a difference; not everything in the world is sexual in nature.
But not everyone can (or cares to) distinguish one context from another. And with the help of the media, the line just blurs even more and the world eventually turns into one, big, double entendre.
part one | part two | part three