Students at Brown University responded to Fox News’s critical reporting of the week-long “Nudity in the Upspace” series. Of course, the otherwise normal plethora of intramural awareness activities were set apart by their fulfillment in the buff. In the video, one can witness the parochialism of self-appointed elites in action. There’s nothing like a bunch of smooth-talking male students parroting off such deliciously drab cliches as “pretty offensive and exploitative,” “misogynistic,” smart empowered women “who are making decisions intentionally,” “negative stereotypes,” and (my personal favorite) “bringing their dads into it is totally inappropriate.” Yeah buddy, I’ll bet. Notice how they are cynical about what their parents and elders think about them, doubly so if critics were “middle-aged men” talking to college women (considering these men have daughters who are of the same age).
When forced to justify their decision, students seem put off-guard, as if no one had challenged them on the blatant impropriety of their behavior. Soon, a river of self-referential psychiatric tripe flowed forth as an apologetic for nude week. Maybe if they kept repeating key words from gender studies class, critics would finally ignore the fact that students were traipsing around au naturel–critical thought, this was not. “It’s meant to be productive”–of course! If only my undergraduate institution had allowed study sessions in the buff, focusing of “self-love” and “consensual sex!” I’d bet a lot of good studying would’ve gotten done with that in place.
The other student responses employed what I’ll call the “Look, a squirrel!” technique. This means deflecting attention from your problem to a supposedly worse scenario. “I don’t understand why they’re reporting this when there’s a government shutdown,” one student complained. Perhaps she doesn’t realize there is significant news outside the Beltway, especially if it has to do with the education and formation of the next generation of Americans. Of course, it’s really embarrassing to be caught with your pants down, figuratively and literally.
The saddest part is that these young over/under-educated elites don’t recognize the truism that it’s indecent for nekked folks to run around in public. Welcome to the brave new world.
H/T to Luke for the article and Rob for insights regarding elitism in higher education
Comment by Marco Bell on October 14, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Bart, and staff of the IRD,
Your article succumbed to the same giddiness as that of Fox News.
Why is it that you find nudity (on campus, or anywhere else) so amusing?
God created us, and man shamed us, and it’s taking far too long to shed the guilt of being human, or in this case, of being naturally unclothed. Society has for centuries been oppressive to the Natural World, and the cultures that don’t make a fuss over being naked, seem to be a lot less violent and prurient.
Before you judge whether being nude is wrong, perhaps you should experience it first-hand. I’m not willing to accept the Religious precepts in this discussion, because religion has been counter to Nature on this subject for purely patriarchal reasons. Being naked in itself is not a sin.
What one does while being naked might be, but people can behave quite well without the disguise of clothing.
My life as a nudist has proven to me, and my family, that the world would be a better place if people didn’t think that nudity equals sex. Rather than judging people for their body type, size, proportion, color or any other identifier, letting go of clothing is cathartic and healthy for the planet as a whole.
Question: For how long a period of time, have you spent totally nude? One hour? Twenty-four hours? One week? A month? Time matters, as you’ll discover when you’ve experienced it. My sincere belief is that you would think differently if you did.
Naturally yours,
Marco
Comment by Greg Paley on October 16, 2013 at 11:35 am
Your basic left-winger with the basic message – Christians are repressed prudes.
Heard it all before, Mark. You can keep spewing the cliches, but they don’t impress Christians any, we are accustomed to the bashing.
Comment by Marco Bell on October 17, 2013 at 10:36 am
Greg, I never called you, or any other Christian a prude for their position on nudity. That’s your assessment.
And you didn’t answer my question about the duration of (your) being nude.
BTW, I know many Christians, Conservatives, Pastors, Priests and Liberals that are nudists.
And the Nudist communities are far more sophisticated than just CAMPS. They are simply another form of “gated community”.
Comment by James T. on October 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm
True, the feeling that physical nakedness is shameful is not universal–in some societies people don’t wear clothes. But Genesis 3:7-9 tries to convey a spiritual truth (i.e., being ashamed of one’s SELF because of sin) using an analogy most readers can easily understand.
Comment by Ben Welliver on October 16, 2013 at 1:32 pm
The dirty little secret about social nudism is that the mantra “it’s not about sex” is a boldfaced lie. I have an acquaintance who has worked for three different nudist camps, and when I asked him if “it’s not about sex” was really true, he just rolled his eyes and proceeded to give me the lowdown (in great detail, which I will not supply here). Nudists know that if they admit they are promiscuous degenerates many people will frown on them, so they parrot the familiar lines – nudism breaks down social barriers, it’s about being “natural,” it’s healthier, etc etc. No, it’s about sex, as any male knows, for there is a connection between eye and groin that no amount of nudist PR can override. For PR purposes, the nudist line is “Well, maybe YOU connect nudity with sex, but WE are so modern and progressive and enlightened . . .” Bosh.
The other dirty little secret is: Most human beings just don’t look that good naked (and, according to my friend who worked at the nudist camps, the worst specimens tend to gravitate toward nudism). Clothes can’t make a really ugly person beautiful, but they sure do hide a lot of things that are better left unseen, plus they do force us to focus on what should be the most important part of any human, the face. The human male, surrounded by a sea of naked bodies, is most definitely not going to be focusing on faces.
In short, nudism is a hypocritical farce, an attempt at hiding degeneracy inside a wrapper of “nature.” God knew what he was doing when he gave the fallen Adam and Eve animal skins to wear. Humans don’t recover our primal innocence by going nude – quite the opposite.
Comment by Marco Bell on October 17, 2013 at 10:49 am
Ben,
I can’t qualify your acquaintance’s credibility of character, but I can assure you that there is probably no more, or no less sex going on behind closed doors in a nudist environment.
Having been raised as a nudist, and having known dozens of others who also grew up in that environment, I stand to defend their honor and integrity against those like yourself who find any number of reasons for not accepting the lifestyle.
As you pointed out, some bodies don’t look good naked…well, that’s exactly the point of body acceptance. My friend who weighs three hundred pounds, said she feels much less FAT within the walls of our community because nudists don’t share the same physical/psychological hang ups that the general (ignorant) population do.
No one is trying to convert you, and I’m comforted knowing that you’re not trying to convert me!
May we all continue in good health!
Are you vitamin D deficient?
Comment by Ben Welliver on October 18, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Am I vitamin D deficient? No, I’m not. I tan quite well, but don’t feel any compulsion to expose myself to other human beings.
Since you spit out the familiar PR rubbish about nudism (big surprise), I’ll add a little more detail from my acquaintance who worked at those “innocent and natural” places you enjoy so much: according to him, “natural” is about the last word that would apply to nudists. Most wear jewelry, which is not even remotely natural, and take advantage of their condition to wear it in places that aren’t normally visible (thank God). He worked at one high-end camp where the typical nudist arrived in a late-model BMW or Volvo, and while they were quick to shuck the clothes, they wore enough jewelry to set off metal detectors in the next county. So much for “breaks down social barriers.” Then, tattoos – almost 100 percent of the people, he says. Tattoos, “natural”? I think not. Oh, and shaving – pretty much everything. Like most married guys, I appreciate women shaving their legs – but adult men, shaving – well, everything? That’s about as UNnatural as it gets, and according to the employees, the men shave “there” because it gives more exposure to “the stuff.” So, in short, nudism is about as fake as people of the 18th century in their powdered wigs and high collars. Artificial. Phoney. And definitely sexual. The fact that clergymen go to nudist camps proves nothing, as we all know plenty of apostate (i.e., left-wing, secularized) clergy.
I’m not a meddler by nature, so I couldn’t care less if consenting adults wish to gather together and “socialize” (wink) in the nude. Live and let live, I say. But I hate hypocrisy and deceit. I trust a guy who worked at several different nudist camps to be honest more than I do some self-identified nudist. I cannot imagine any true Christian choosing to put themselves in a situation where they are either participating in or watching promiscuity. That’s just plain trashy, and it’s also wrong to cover up trashy behavior with the claim to “honor and integrity.” Please stop assuming that Christians are naive and gullible. We live in the real world, we meet people who aren’t Christians, and we get the straight story on what goes on among the sons of Adam. You call it a “hang-up” not to run around exposing one’s privates, I call it having a basic sense of decency that our guttery culture is quickly losing. Maybe you’re looking forward to the day you can swagger into Target with only your wallet, but I hardly think that will be some great advance for civilization. Even in the New Testament period Christians were mocked for their “hang-ups” (e.g., 1 Peter 4:3). Christians are called to live as moral people in an immoral society. Maybe you can imagine Jesus giving you a thumbs up for people who call themselves Christian engaging in debauchery, but that isn’t the Jesus I know from the Bible. God called us out of the sewer, he didn’t tell us to jump in and enjoy it. When Christians behave like pagans, the obvious conclusion is: they’re pagans, not Christians.