And What's Wrong With That, Anyway?

I don't even waste my time on the soul-sucking website that is Reddit anymore, but after an exhilarating month of vacations, I was exhausted and resting at home, bored and apparently starved for drama, because I decided to skim /r/nudism for the first time in forever. (The truth is, I miss having discussions with people about nudism, but nudists can be cloisteringly dogmatic sometimes). And there was one thing that stood out, and that I felt like addressing, that echoes some things I've heard elsewere in the news and on social media lately, on the subject of public nudity, in the context of such activities as naked bike rides and pride parades.

So, in response to a query about nude protesters marching in a pride parade, one seasoned debater and cunning linguist remarked, "U wanted to show ur pp and nothing else." [The entire quotation is copied sic erat scriptum for effect - honestly, I can't help reading it and hearing a petulant five year old's voice in my head]. I wanted to address that criticism, because it seems to me that we expend so much effort these days trying to bypass a straightforward reading of reality in order to fall back on the most politically correct stance available (example: restricting adults' access to porn because we don't want curious teenagers to seek it out).

Thus, the typical response is, "it has nothing to do with showing my penis", when the more accurate response would be, "yes, I do want to show my penis; what of it?" Instead of trying to convince the other side of our different approach, we bend over backwards to make it seem like we're already in agreement. But this doesn't work, because it's not genuine. Of course, it's very unlikely to convince someone with the more straightforward approach, either, but at least you maintain your honesty and integrity that way.

The tragedy is that we live in a culture that hypocritically abhors freedom of choice, and has learned to grasp legitimacy by couching its criticism in moralistic concerns over "the greater good" of society (or, often, children). Ironically, it's the same strategy whether the conservatives are trying to codify the Bible into law, or complaining about the liberals enacting a nanny state (oh, you mean the type that takes health care choices away from women, and wants to make self-expression of a sexual nature illegal?).

Before you close the loop of your own chains by accusing me of advocating public acceptance of something so universally (well, almost - few things are truly universal; let's not creatively interpret the facts) reviled as adults sexually exhibiting themselves in front of children, understand that by doing so you would be leaping right to the conclusion the prejudiced malcontent quoted above so perfectly teed up for you. I'm not (necessarily) advocating for men to expose themselves in public for sexual gratification. I'm just saying, wanting to "show ur pp" doesn't imply a sexual motive, and can be backed up by a lot of beneficial arguments. You've been led hand in hand to assume a negative interpretation, and you're walking right into the trap.

"Showing ur pp" in public, to strangers (yes, including children), entails a lot of health benefits. And not just to you (although it is very freeing), but to the people you're showing it to. It promotes body acceptance and positivity, while combatting shame and body image disorders. It helps resolve hangups and unhealthy curiosity that can lead to poor sexual development. It supports the tenet of freedom that our country was founded on, and demonstrates diversity while simultaneously emphasizing our shared humanity. And it contributes to our artistic freedom of expression, through which our individual identities can flourish. And if you are doing it primarily for pleasure? I guess I missed class the day they taught us that pleasure is a bad thing.

These are all the same principles that are propped up by nudism and the LGBT community alike. But just because the argument sounds unseemly (due to prejudiced assumptions), and is capable of being hijacked by unscrupulous agents (what argument isn't - including the argument this one is countering?), does that mean we aren't allowed to make it? If nudism is anything more than a farce (and I believe it is much more than that), then we should not shy away from the argument that society would benefit from more penises (along with the rest of the bodies of both sexes) being shown in public.

It's not an easy stance to market, but it's the truth, and isn't that what we believe? We should spend time figuring out how to convince the rest of the world of what we already know, instead of molding our position so far that it becomes accepted by the mainstream, at the cost of being unrecognizable from the counterculture ideology it started from. And what even is the point of that?

In short, a world where everyone is used to seeing human anatomy (as opposed to being frightened by it) would be a healthier and more productive world, and that's the world we should be working toward creating, no matter how the argument sounds on paper. All these people who freak out when exposed to a penis in public? They just need to see more penises in public. They'll get over it, and we'll all be better off for it. Let's stop catering to their neurotic delusions, to the detriment of us all.