"It's like 2 separate worlds - the world of nature and the world of man. And its pretty apparent that the two just don't usually mix. There is even a fence there, but I wonder, what is this boundary for? Is it to keep the world of man from encroaching on nature? Or... is it to keep nature from encroaching on the world of man? Nude as the day I was born, I clearly side on the world of nature. But throw some clothing on, a few consumer labels, and suddenly I can rejoin the world of men. Do I dare cast away my nature so easily? Most of us do, without even knowing." -http://matthewfritzell.deviantart.com/
Clothes is a part of more or less every persons' life. Many of us love to go shopping for new clothes, express ourselves with our style, and we need clothes to protect our bodies. If you asked a random person if they thought clothes were something good, or something bad, the answer you'd probably get is something like "We need clothes, it protects us, so it's good." But have you ever thought about the negative aspects of clothing?
The History of clothing is quite simple; We started wearing clothes to protect our bodies from the environment such as cold weather. Clothes has also been there for us in our working lifes; No one would like to go mountainbiking or renovating a house without the protection of clothes.
But clothes aren't only a good thing, and here's why; clothes has divided us for centuries; apart from being protective they were a way to show differences between people, as well as difference between other animals and humans. I am quite certain Christianity, and maybe other religions, were a big part in the question. Humans were not considered animals; we were better than them and we had to show it. That means: no natural behaviour, nor natural looks, and the more unnatural you were, the higher position you had.
This way of thinking has left it's mark on society. We are so afraid of what others will think of us. We have to have the right style at the right time, express ourselves in the right way and so on.... I've never liked the idea of brands. I doubt there's such a big difference in quality today as it were about 100 years ago. But still we buy expensive clothes and bags, or maybe even copies. Why? -Because we want to show how valuable we are. You are still considered a more valuable person if you have money than if you don't, and you have to show it. You have to be a part of the pack.
I even have a real life example of this; in 2006 I started wearing makeup. I wore mascara to school most days, maybe som lipgloss, but that was it. I didn't want or need more makeup that that at the time; still my classmates tried to make me wear red lipstick, because "it would look so great on you." I never wore it. A couple of years later, in 2008, I started to wear red lipstick. I thought i was pretty, but the very same people that wanted me to wear it in 2006, now said "You can't wear red lipstick, it's ugly because it's not fashionable anymore."
Meanwhile, my sister were also accused for not being fashionable enough. She had a very special and pretty style, but due to all the bullying from her classmates, she felt the need to change it. Soon she followed fashion like no one else. She was always the first to have the latest iphone, jacket or boots.... She now have 200 "friends" while I have about 10. That's the curse of capitalism and our way of thinking.
What's even worse? Clothes have become such an inevitable matter that they've also changed the way we look at our bodies. With the loss of real nudity we loose the picture of what a body looks like. And back to capitalism -we look at the products and the people in the adverts, we want to be like them, or even be them, and forget ourselves and our origin. It wouldnt be such a big secret that nudity = better confidence, if it werent so well hidden behind greedy companies. In fact, they've hid it so well they don't even know it themselves.
But what whould happen then, if we decided to go out naked, or even partilly naked. (more or less-)No matter where you lived it would be a tragedy, sadly. And to clarify it to you, let me post this discussion between me and an acquaintance from deviantArt:
Matthew: I see what you mean and agree about pushing people's tolerance slowly. You are right, if they are suddenly faced with the most shocking or jarring aspect of a philosophy, many people will close their minds and hearts for any other ideas within that philosophy. Well stated.
Me: Just like with portrait photography we want to bring out the most beautiful things with our bodies. We have to base our pictures not of what we think is beautiful, but what other people think is beautiful, as a start.
To take a really crazy example: A man gets a new girldfriend. He is fine in the beginning, then he starts to cut her off from her friends, then her family, then he drags her self esteem down to make her accept the fact that she's useless. After a while he starts hitting her, and she accepts it, thinks that's all she's worth.. The reson she accepts it is that he has manipulated her for a quite long time, and with one step after another, very slowly.
Just think of the opposite tactic. A man meets a new girlfriend, flirts a bit and then hits her with his fist that very same night they met, most girld would reject him immediately.
Sad truth, but that's how people work. That's one reason we don't go out nude. That's the reason why I like harder and harder music, and it's the reason we buy stuff we THINK we need.
Matthew: Can I point something out though? Unfortunately if we always go off of what others consider beautiful and cover up the things we think others would find 'unflattering' things will unfortunately never change. I feel that this is the biggest thing that keeps nudity illegal and unacceptable; The "I don't wanna see that" mentality. Can we take my friend XXX for example? I think many people would find his appearance borderline appalling. The poor guy has a disability though, and if I can be completely honest even I shudder slightly at some of his images. But he is a wonderful person, and as a living being in my opinion he has every right to go fully nude. How dare I, as some other random person, claim that he should be clothed simply because "I don't wanna see that" ? That good hearted man has a yearning to be in his natural state - nude- and it in my opinion it is far outside of fair or ethical for me to impose clothing on him because of my own insecurities about what I see upon viewing him. I believe a lot of people don't want nudity to be legal - not because they don't want to be faced with the sexuality of the beautiful (I agree with you that many people unfortunately see an inherent sexuality in nudity despite there being no such thing), but because they don't want to be suddenly faced with the ugly and the homely without clothing. I think growing a tolerance and even appreciation for what would usually be considered off-putting is important. The way I see it, I'm not a model and never could be. I don't want to change myself - I'm happy and accepting of my natural form. But, even if you take the most flattering and beautiful image from my gallery and put it on display, someone somewhere will view it, be made uncomfortable or be off-put by it, and wish that I had clothing on. Its my opinion that this is the point where my philosophy differs from many others. I don't think it should be up to those who have to look at a person to determine what that person should or shouldn't wear. It should be up to that person what they wear, or if they go naked. There are some people out there that have horribly ugly or disfigured faces, but to me a ban and lack of acceptance of nudity is no better than a law that says ugly people must wear masks.
Me: Well, thats why we have to push the limits but never cross them. An example:
A few years ago I had a friend who didn't like amusement parks at all. Then a small Tivoli came to our town and we went to look at it. I convinced her to try a carousel that was for children, and then another one, and another one.... and in the end she had gone in every single carousel with me. She never thought she would even ride one, but ended up going to a big amusementpark with me the next year, in Stockholm.
It's the same with pictures, we have to build a tolerance step by step, pushing people's limits further and further away. If we ever cross them, they will draw back.
Clothes is a part of more or less every persons' life. Many of us love to go shopping for new clothes, express ourselves with our style, and we need clothes to protect our bodies. If you asked a random person if they thought clothes were something good, or something bad, the answer you'd probably get is something like "We need clothes, it protects us, so it's good." But have you ever thought about the negative aspects of clothing?
The History of clothing is quite simple; We started wearing clothes to protect our bodies from the environment such as cold weather. Clothes has also been there for us in our working lifes; No one would like to go mountainbiking or renovating a house without the protection of clothes.
But clothes aren't only a good thing, and here's why; clothes has divided us for centuries; apart from being protective they were a way to show differences between people, as well as difference between other animals and humans. I am quite certain Christianity, and maybe other religions, were a big part in the question. Humans were not considered animals; we were better than them and we had to show it. That means: no natural behaviour, nor natural looks, and the more unnatural you were, the higher position you had.
This way of thinking has left it's mark on society. We are so afraid of what others will think of us. We have to have the right style at the right time, express ourselves in the right way and so on.... I've never liked the idea of brands. I doubt there's such a big difference in quality today as it were about 100 years ago. But still we buy expensive clothes and bags, or maybe even copies. Why? -Because we want to show how valuable we are. You are still considered a more valuable person if you have money than if you don't, and you have to show it. You have to be a part of the pack.
I even have a real life example of this; in 2006 I started wearing makeup. I wore mascara to school most days, maybe som lipgloss, but that was it. I didn't want or need more makeup that that at the time; still my classmates tried to make me wear red lipstick, because "it would look so great on you." I never wore it. A couple of years later, in 2008, I started to wear red lipstick. I thought i was pretty, but the very same people that wanted me to wear it in 2006, now said "You can't wear red lipstick, it's ugly because it's not fashionable anymore."
Meanwhile, my sister were also accused for not being fashionable enough. She had a very special and pretty style, but due to all the bullying from her classmates, she felt the need to change it. Soon she followed fashion like no one else. She was always the first to have the latest iphone, jacket or boots.... She now have 200 "friends" while I have about 10. That's the curse of capitalism and our way of thinking.
What's even worse? Clothes have become such an inevitable matter that they've also changed the way we look at our bodies. With the loss of real nudity we loose the picture of what a body looks like. And back to capitalism -we look at the products and the people in the adverts, we want to be like them, or even be them, and forget ourselves and our origin. It wouldnt be such a big secret that nudity = better confidence, if it werent so well hidden behind greedy companies. In fact, they've hid it so well they don't even know it themselves.
But what whould happen then, if we decided to go out naked, or even partilly naked. (more or less-)No matter where you lived it would be a tragedy, sadly. And to clarify it to you, let me post this discussion between me and an acquaintance from deviantArt:
..........................................................................................
Matthew: I see what you mean and agree about pushing people's tolerance slowly. You are right, if they are suddenly faced with the most shocking or jarring aspect of a philosophy, many people will close their minds and hearts for any other ideas within that philosophy. Well stated.
Me: Just like with portrait photography we want to bring out the most beautiful things with our bodies. We have to base our pictures not of what we think is beautiful, but what other people think is beautiful, as a start.
To take a really crazy example: A man gets a new girldfriend. He is fine in the beginning, then he starts to cut her off from her friends, then her family, then he drags her self esteem down to make her accept the fact that she's useless. After a while he starts hitting her, and she accepts it, thinks that's all she's worth.. The reson she accepts it is that he has manipulated her for a quite long time, and with one step after another, very slowly.
Just think of the opposite tactic. A man meets a new girlfriend, flirts a bit and then hits her with his fist that very same night they met, most girld would reject him immediately.
Sad truth, but that's how people work. That's one reason we don't go out nude. That's the reason why I like harder and harder music, and it's the reason we buy stuff we THINK we need.
Matthew: Can I point something out though? Unfortunately if we always go off of what others consider beautiful and cover up the things we think others would find 'unflattering' things will unfortunately never change. I feel that this is the biggest thing that keeps nudity illegal and unacceptable; The "I don't wanna see that" mentality. Can we take my friend XXX for example? I think many people would find his appearance borderline appalling. The poor guy has a disability though, and if I can be completely honest even I shudder slightly at some of his images. But he is a wonderful person, and as a living being in my opinion he has every right to go fully nude. How dare I, as some other random person, claim that he should be clothed simply because "I don't wanna see that" ? That good hearted man has a yearning to be in his natural state - nude- and it in my opinion it is far outside of fair or ethical for me to impose clothing on him because of my own insecurities about what I see upon viewing him. I believe a lot of people don't want nudity to be legal - not because they don't want to be faced with the sexuality of the beautiful (I agree with you that many people unfortunately see an inherent sexuality in nudity despite there being no such thing), but because they don't want to be suddenly faced with the ugly and the homely without clothing. I think growing a tolerance and even appreciation for what would usually be considered off-putting is important. The way I see it, I'm not a model and never could be. I don't want to change myself - I'm happy and accepting of my natural form. But, even if you take the most flattering and beautiful image from my gallery and put it on display, someone somewhere will view it, be made uncomfortable or be off-put by it, and wish that I had clothing on. Its my opinion that this is the point where my philosophy differs from many others. I don't think it should be up to those who have to look at a person to determine what that person should or shouldn't wear. It should be up to that person what they wear, or if they go naked. There are some people out there that have horribly ugly or disfigured faces, but to me a ban and lack of acceptance of nudity is no better than a law that says ugly people must wear masks.
Me: Well, thats why we have to push the limits but never cross them. An example:
A few years ago I had a friend who didn't like amusement parks at all. Then a small Tivoli came to our town and we went to look at it. I convinced her to try a carousel that was for children, and then another one, and another one.... and in the end she had gone in every single carousel with me. She never thought she would even ride one, but ended up going to a big amusementpark with me the next year, in Stockholm.
It's the same with pictures, we have to build a tolerance step by step, pushing people's limits further and further away. If we ever cross them, they will draw back.
Jag slukar det du skriver. Och vad skönt att du verkar komma igång igen. Hoppas på att få höra mer ifrån dig. >Och förhoppningen är att du även visar mer härliga bilder på din naturliga loke. du har verkligen en fantastisk kropp och brilliant hjärna. // Marcus
ReplyDeleteI don't think that cloths are the problem, brands are, and capitalism and pride and envy. Even if people didn't wear cloths, we'd probably find something else to act all proud aobut. If it wasn't cloths, it'd be jewlary or anything else. But yeah, I agree with you on some of these points ^^
ReplyDeleteWell, ofc it's also the brands... but even if we wouldn't have brands, we still wouldn't know what normal bodies look like = thinking our bodies are ugly and deformed in comparision to others.
ReplyDelete