I’m sure the title of this article is going to attract a lot of people. Why wouldn’t it? I’m going to talk about naked bodies, it’s tempting to sneak a tiny little peek at what this article is about. I assure you, it’s not what you think it is! It’s funny to see how things like nude pictures and naked bodies have the capability to get real attention from people. Things like that are treated very differently in our society, when we know that they’re as normal as they could be. But that’s not where the complications begin. Things get really messy when nudity is used against women to judge their characters and personalities or when it’s used as an excuse for rape and other forms of sexual violence.It is also a problem when nudity is considered as a means of welcoming unwanted stares and comments from people in public places or when little girls at schools are encouraged to push down the bottoms of their skirts when their thighs begin to show.
Why doesn’t a naked man in his boxers gets as much attention as a woman in a bikini? Why doesn’t a man with body hair on him doesn’t get as much attention as a woman with unshaved armpits or legs? Why doesn’t a man in a transparent shirt doesn’t get as much attention as a woman in that same transparent shirt? Why are women’s bodies treated so weirdly? Sarah Silverman pointed out that, “The female nudity in movies is always sexualized”. That is not very surprising! Nudity is not always meant to be sexual. It’s also about personal choice and freedom. Of course, you can’t walk naked on the streets in the middle of the day, that’s a criminal activity and is against the law. What I am pointing out is in a completely different context. The thing we need to realize is that it’s okay to not shy away from nudity because it’s as natural as menstruation, pregnancy, and even intercourse. It’s okay to talk openly about it and embrace it with open hands, without having any biases holding us back.
I read a feminist’s post on Instagram that said, “Nudity is not obscene! The only thing that is obscene is what you make of it in your own closed, discriminating, and prejudiced mind”. And I totally agree! What we think about bodies depends on our own interpretations of them. But that does not give us any right to judge someone’s character based on how they decide to dress themselves. Neither does that give us any permission to take advantage of it without asking for consent. We need to stop treating it like it’s something not acceptable. But more importantly, we need to stop using it as an excuse for sexualizing women and for any kind of sexual or verbal violence. Nudity shouldn’t be a reason for inequalities between men and women. It shouldn’t be associated with pornography and should be viewed in a respectable manner by everyone. Because after all, it’s all about perspectives isn’t it?!