The Naked Eye

One of the big attractions of naturism and social nudism is the exhilaration of moving naked through space. It’s all that “frolicking” that nudists seem to be universally known for. One of my earliest memories as a toddler was shimmying my clothes off to run naked around my room, jumping on and off the bed. But just a year or so after that, my first-grade teacher discovered that I needed glasses, and that was the beginning of many years of corrective eyewear for me. Wearing glasses or lenses, probably not just for me but for a lot of people, puts a damper on being physically active. It thwarts both your willingness and your ability. I remember running cross country and playing basketball while wearing one of those safety bands around my head to keep my glasses from flying off or from slipping down my sweaty nose. It made the glasses really tight, so the result was that I associated that unpleasantness with sports. When I started using contact lenses I discovered they aren’t really much better for physical activities, at least not the “hard” / semipermeable ones I used. Many times I lost or broke glasses or lenses. Of course there was always the option of simply not wearing any eyewear when swimming or at the beach, but in my case, anything beyond two feet in front of me was an incomprehensible blur. And I didn’t like the fact that my almost nude body could be clearly scrutinized by others, while I could not see theirs clearly at all.

In my mid-thirties I decided to pay for a LASIK procedure. That was ten years ago, and I’m very glad I did it, for many reasons, almost all of which do affect my love for being naked outdoors. It’s so much easier to swim, to go to the beach, to play volleyball, to run, to dance, anything. And, in comparison to wearing lenses, when I’m naked I literally am naked, right down to my eyes. Plus, it’s important to qualify that social nudism does indeed have to do with seeing and being seen, in the same way that any social activity among sighted people usually does. But seeing clearly at a naturist venue does not mean staring. What it means is that we see we are naked together, and we appreciate and celebrate our nudity both in its commonality and in its variety. We learn the range of human anatomy and physical ability in a way that is quite literally natural.

The kind of LASIK ad that speaks to nude (or might-as-well-be-nude) movement in nature.
woolfsoneye.com

Now, LASIK isn’t for everybody, and this post is not meant to be a blanket endorsement for it. Not even everyone who would like to have the procedure can “qualify,” in the sense that first an opthamologist has to thoroughly examine your eyes to measure thickness of the cornea, degree of stigmatism, etc. and then determine if a LASIK procedure could correct your particular condition. Then there’s the expense… and the nerves. They gave me a valium, so I didn’t feel a thing, and it was over in ten minutes. My family, however, got to watch the procedure from another room on a closed-circuit TV, and were left somewhere between amazed and disgusted! Another drawback is that some folks have serious problems afterwards, like halo vision at night, or extreme dryness of the eyes.

But it’s definitely something to consider if you’re a naturist 21 or older who uses corrective eyewear and qualifies for LASIK. In my case, after the procedure I was told that I’d still probably need to start wearing reading glasses at 40. I’m five years past that age without that need. And even though I’ll no doubt have to start wearing reading glasses at some point in the not-too-distant future, the need for reading glasses is a much smaller need than what I had before.

Final score: Years of lens-free nudity: 10, Regrets: 0.

Phenotype Dreams

One of the great liberal and liberating messages of our time is that we should not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Thanks to social revolutions of many types, we can add sex and sexual orientation to the list of what not to be judged by. Naturism, in harmony with these fundamental assertions, offers the great liberal and liberating message that all bodies are good–all phenotypes are good–and that we should celebrate body acceptance and body freedom in health, diet, exercise, and respect for nature.

You can’t choose your biological parents, which means you can’t choose your genotype or phenotype either (although it’s true that some phenotypical aspects can be changed through exercise, surgical procedure, etc.). I happen to have the phenotype of a male with northern European ancestors. But I also happen to have had dreams in which that phenotype is changed. 
I used to have a recurring dream that my phenotype was African. Everything else was the same–nobody else in the dream had changed appearance, and even though I looked other than I do in “real life,” no one in the dream reacted to that fact, and everything else about me was the same. Pretty boring dream, really, except that I would wake up and only then realize, somehow (a dream scene with a mirror? I don’t remember), that my appearance in the dream had been black. 
Then there was the one time years ago that I dreamed I was a woman. It was similar to the earlier recurring dream in the sense that everybody else appeared unchanged, and my personality or general life circumstances had not changed. Other than having the secondary sex characteristics of a female, nothing else about my appearance had changed (skin color, height, hair color) – except my hair was longer. And once again I only realized in waking up that I had dreamed myself to be me, and yet physically other.
Julian Baker, “Inflate,” Skintone Series (www.julianbaker.com)

I don’t quite know what to make of these dreams, but I like their inclusiveness, and I like that in neither case did the phenotypical transformation reflect any kind of change in the essence of who I am or who I was in the dream. Similar dreams, I suppose, could include imagining yourself to have a very different weight or age or physical condition. As a naturist, I cherish the way that naturism and/or social nudism allows for a greater appreciation of humanity’s range of phenotypes – and not just skin color or biological sex, but also the full range of body types, ages, and all manners of corporeal detail and condition. In fact, I think this is one of naturism’s great benefits – the benevolent exhibitionism of us all, that we may best recognize ourselves in our others, even as we marvel at the biological diversity of human variety.

Abricó Beach, Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro’s Praia do Abricó nude beach lies far away from the famous Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain, but it is well worth the effort to get there. Abricó is located just to the east of Grumarí beach, a favorite surfing spot in the extreme southwest of the Rio metro area, a long drive through heavy traffic beyond more well-known parts of the city. While located within the official city limits, both Grumarí and Abricó are lined by rural, forested stretches of road, not highrises and shopping malls like the textile beaches at Ipanema and Copacabana. When you arrive, there is a cozy seafood restaurant – highly recommended – just down from the road on the beach access path, close to the huge boulders that visually separate textile Grumarí from nude Abricó.

The nude beach’s clever welcome sign. It spells out the rules in great detail!

I’ve been to Abricó four times now over the years, and even though it’s always pleasant, the beach’s size varies greatly due to the wind and tides. Last year (2012), on a Saturday in late April, it was a skinny, straggly strip with very few people there, but this year, on a Saturday in early May, it was back to the wide swath I knew from previous years, and there were easily some 70-80 people coming and going throughout the afternoon. The nude beach area extends about 150 or 200 yards from the Grumarí border to a rocky area that cuts off the sandbank.

Classic view of the twin islands from Abricó.

This time, I was able to meet up with Abricó guardian and Brazilian naturist pioneer Pedro Ribeiro, editor of Jornal Olho Nu and one of the key leaders of the beach’s organization. We spoke for a while about the efficiency of the beach’s nude security patrol. That day there were two security personnel–one man and one woman, identified by their red caps–who were patrolling the beach up and down. There was also a general meeting area for the Abricó beach group, set up with a small tent and some food, and at least one nude popsicle vendor plying his wares.

There were definitely more men than women, as is frequently the case at nude beaches, but it was refreshing that among people obviously paired in couples, there seemed to be equal likelihood of male-female and male-male couples. I’ve always observed it to be a diverse and tolerant place. And generally people are quick to lose their clothes once passing from Grumarí into the Abricó nude area, with the occasional exception of evidently accustomed fisherman, who don’t bother to disrobe while traversing the relatively short beach to get from one prime fishing spot to another.

The Abricó Beach backdrop is a high, scrubby cliff.

Abricó is one of Brazil’s signature naturist locales, and Ribeiro is one of the country’s heroes in the constant battle for legal recognition and protection of naturism. The beach is regularly featured in the Brazilian media as a representative example of the country’s naturist offerings. At the end of the day, Abricó is a lush, tranquil, tropical nude beach in one of the most beautiful cities in the world – definitely a place that should make it onto your “bucket list”! If you want more information on how to get there and where to stay, the ANABRICO site has FAQs and general information.

Out/Fit

Your outfit was outsourced. I found out.

Folks packed in a factory, many more than should fit, were making your outfit. Then a fire broke out, but they were locked in. Making your outfit they couldn’t get out. They died without saying, they died without even getting close to thinking, “I’d just die if she walked in wearing the same outfit.”

This is no less than an outrage.

And you, you’ve been outsmarted, outwitted, outfitted by the textile industry the detergent industry the washing machine industry the dry cleaning industry the clothes hanger industry the wardrobe industry the footwear industry the fashion industry the sportswear industry the industry insiders.

What’s gotten into you? Don’t get taken in by the ins and outs of inseams, insoles, innerwear and outerwear. Get out of those wasteful get-ups. Get out of debt. Don’t get locked in. Get independent… and get out of your clothes. Strip the “out” and just go “fit.”

What’s the outfit to wear if you want to fit in?
Don’t get psyched out. Just wear your skin.

Nude Physics 4: Vibrations

I believe that our bodies interact with the space around them in ways that are more complex than simply “taking up space.” I don’t think these interactions are mysterious, necessarily, just little known or poorly understood. One of these spatial interactions, for example, would be the release of pheromones or other hormones that send amorous cues to lovers or fright signals to dogs or wasps.

In keeping with the nude physics theme, what I’m exploring here, among these little-known bodily interactions, is vibrations. Our natural body vibration–our pulse–is muffled or restricted by clothing. Textiles also impede the ionic flow across the membrane of our skin as electrical field. We all know clothes are necessary when it’s cold, yet instead of wrapping ourselves in a practical way–in loose cloaks, shawls, capes, robes, or the like–we tend to wear, to our detriment, clothes that pinch us at the waist, the neck, the ankles and wrists, the groin, and the underarm area. These textile designs are harmful because they obstruct both pulse and ion flow precisely at weaker areas of our body’s articulation.

In this way, clothing restricts the everyday vibrational energy of our bodies. This oscillating energy is often identified with the Chinese concept of qi (or chi), though there are many similar terms for it. In an acupuncture experiment in Australia, clothing reduced the stimulation of this vibrational energy flow from the 100% control condition (nude) by 20% (wearing cotton) to 60% (wearing nylon) [link here – very interesting article; for acupuncture experiment see page 8]. The author of this study, John Veltheim, goes on to state: “From a bioenergetic point of view, clothing builds up stress in the body with an accumulative effect” (8-9).

Intensities of vibration

These kinds of textile restrictions are particularly unhealthy in the case of natural swelling, which produces an increased vibrational intensity. I don’t mean the body’s swelling to fight infection–a separate issue–but rather the swelling of erectile tissue, and of the pregnant womb. This is speculation on my part, but I propose that the throbbing of an erection is comparable to a cat’s purring – an increased vibration over and above the body’s baseline hum. Like purring, erections can be voluntary or involuntary; are not exclusively the result of physical stimulation; can be detected by touch; and usually are strong indicators of pleasure. No one would take offense to a cat’s purring, constricting its midsection or making it go for a swim in attempts to quell the condition, yet this is sometimes what is advocated regarding erections at naturist venues. Unlike the auditory manifestation of purring, however, erections manifest visually, and this is what provokes offense in some. But what suffers the consequences of this “erection exile” is the intensified throbbing that, like purring for cats, seems to function as a recharging of the metabolism.

Swelling fertility unbound

Vastly different in duration, scope, and outcome, yet still related to this phenomenon of corporeal vibrations, are the swellings of abdomen and breasts in pregnancy. Celebrated since time immemorial as fulsome fetishes of fertility (again, like the erect penis), these turgid organs significantly alter the mother’s metabolic baseline and can begin to take on a throbbing of their own that finds its best relief unbound and exposed. But once again, what is unfortunately advocated (by textile society, not by naturist venues) is the binding of these perfectly natural swellings in special bras, pants, and other “maternity wear.” Although these outfits are looser than what passes for normal clothing, they still rely on elastic and other synthetic materials, and are not as practical to manipulate–nor as adjustable for purposes of changing support needs–as wraps spun or sewn from ancient, more healthful, natural and “breathable” materials. These wraps, such as Mesoamerican rebozos or South Asian saris, are also ideal for supporting breastfeeding babies when needed.

My purpose in these four posts on nude physics has been to attempt considerations of the simple mechanics of nudity from a more objective standpoint, independent of moral or religious argument of any kind. Secular, scientific perspectives reveal the many practical advantages of nudity that religious and superstitious traditions, with frequent and misguided zeal in assuming an ethical high ground, seek to shroud in shame.

Nude Physics 3: Luminosity

I’m neither physicist nor physician, so it’s only with a bit of creative license that I’m exploring, in this series of posts, certain physical properties of our bodies when nude. The first two posts in the series have featured concepts from physics that are perhaps more obviously applicable to our bodies: surface area to volume ratio, and torque. For the final two posts, I’m stretching the creative applicability a bit further without abandoning physical concepts.

Luminosity is a way of measuring brightness or intensity of light. There are many factors that enter into such a measurement, but one way it can be understood is as the “total luminous flux incident on a surface,” referred to as illuminance. The surface that interests me here is, of course, our skin, which we sometimes say “glows.” Whether in air or water, and accounting for a range of possibilities of reflection and refraction of light, our skin–in all of its available colors!–has a more intimate illuminant interaction with the sun than do our clothes.

Reflection, refraction, illuminance

Compared to other mammals, the relative hairlessness of humans literally highlights the sun’s touch. The fur or hide of a bear, moose, or even a wet otter, for instance, does not reflect light the way human skin does. Our simian cousins are much hairier than we are, with thinner skin. Animals such as rhinoceroses or elephants have little hair, but their hides are so tough and thick that they do not shine in the light the way human skin can. Only dolphins and whales–less so seals, and perhaps also some of the smoother-scaled reptiles–have body surfaces that reflect like human skin, but these surfaces lack the level of pigmentation in human skin that reacts to exposure by darkening. 

What might be the evolutionary relationship among greater surface of exposed skin, larger brains, levels of vitamin D production, and our fluctuating pigmentations? If we think of our bodies as extensions of our brains, then it only makes sense that so many of us recognize that we do our most creative and insightful thinking while naked outdoors. That’s when we’re producing vitamin D all over, we’re stimulated by the natural light and heat, and hopefully we’re developing a sun-kissed glow without burning–a healthy glow, we say–all while exposing the outermost reaches of our body/brain to the light.

Luminosity

There is something particularly powerful about the interplay of air and water in our skin’s illuminance. Whether from sea, stream, or sweat, the water on our skin intensifies absorption of sunlight while causing a glimmering optical effect that enhances the shine or glow. For many tropical indigenous peoples, the hypnotic effect of shimmering sunlight on rippling water formed part of a trance-like communication with the divine. To participate bodily in the effect, in other words to add the shine of the nude skin’s surface to the luminous interaction of light and water, was an ideal practice that gave rise to rituals such as the one made famous by the legend of El Dorado. In this kind of bathing ritual–like a transcendent skinny dipping–what is re-enacted is the resplendent birth of the creation of the Lake Mother and the Sun Father: glistening nude humanity.  

Nude Physics 2: Torque

When we move our nude bodies, we experience a range of motion greater than when we are clothed. It might be a difference of just a few millimeters in the range you can rotate your shoulder when not restricted by your shirt, or the way you can spread out your toes when you take off your shoes. But, inch by inch, a big difference is made if it’s a motion you’re repeating. Example: you’re hiking down the trail, and your nudity allows for a slightly longer stride and a more efficiently coordinated back-and-forth between the swaying of arms and the swinging of legs–not to mention the greater evaporation of sweat that’s facilitated by the unrestricted air passage over the entire body in motion.

Torque has to do with this swinging and swaying through a range of motion. It’s defined as “the moment of a force, a measure of its tendency to produce torsion and rotation about an axis” (American Heritage Dictionary). The image below cleverly uses Photoshop for an illustration of torque that shows how Tarzan is supposed to be depicted, sans loincloth!

Restrictive clothing severely reduces or eliminates the torque of those fleshy, boneless parts of ourselves–breasts, genitals, buttocks–that continue to swing or sway beyond the moment we’ve used our muscles to stop the core movement. If you’ve ever beaten eggs while unclothed, you know that this kind of torque can present itself in even the smallest of movements, and it can be startling at first, but also pleasant.

The original German FKK understanding of social nudity promoted movement through exercise as a big part of what being nude socially was all about. Black-and-white, silent videos from the early twentieth century show groups of nudists extending their full range of torque as they perform coordinated motions somewhere in between dance, martial art, and calisthenics. Unfortunately, these sorts of group activities are less popular now, although the recent growing popularity of nude yoga classes is at least one example of a contemporary equivalent for healthy stretching, focused breathing, and flow of force in a group setting unimpeded by fabric.

Volleyball, a general favorite for nude recreation today, is another activity that demonstrates the best of torque’s naked power unleashed, as players propel themselves by their legs, and send the ball over the net with coordination from swinging back, chest, and arms. Among nude enthusiasts, perhaps even more popular than volleyball on land is water volleyball, since for many participants the greater resistance of water (compared to air), along with the effects of buoyancy, mitigate the torsion of fleshy parts all while keeping the players cool and wet.

 

In all cases, the extended torque of this greater clothesfree range of motion is part of the beloved freedom so essential to all of us who celebrate being nude. 

Nude Physics 1: Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Naturism and social nudism involve the exposure of voluminous parts of our bodies that are obsessively covered by the norms of Western society. No matter what size your breasts, genitals, or buttocks, you are uncovering some expansive corporeal real estate when you undress, and this is one of the most celebrated aspects of naturism, that we can feel the elements all over our bodies. We don’t artificially set up “No Trespassing” signs for the sun, wind, waves, or grass to “keep off” certain areas of our bodies.

What we do when we completely uncover our largest organ is that we set up a much greater surface area to volume ratio (SA:V). If you’ve ever painted a wall then you know about the surface area to volume ratio. Theoretically, you could save paint by leaving all the pictures hanging in their places on the wall, and the bookcase against the wall, and the filing cabinet, etc. and just paint around them. You’d have to be extra careful along the edges, and the edges might even end up a darker color as a result. But you know that the moment you want to move the furniture around or change the pictures, you’ll regret not having painted the wall one uniform color. Something similar happens to our bodies in the sun. If you’re wearing clothes, even if it’s just a swimsuit, you’re going to have large patches of your skin that get “painted” by the sun – and there is a tendency to burn darker along the edges of your textile covering. But if you want that uniform sun-soaked look and its health benefits, you’ve got to expose every little nook and cranny of yourself to the sun over the course of the day, the week, the month, the summer… your life. *Use sunscreen and avoid sunburn!*

Creases, volumes, surface area

Our bodies’ production of Vitamin D, of course, depends on exposure to the sun. Some claim that sun exposure limited to our arms or legs or face is enough, although there are plenty of health reasons to expose the entire body, ranging from studies claiming that direct sunlight on the chest or on the genitals is very beneficial for hormone production, to the benefits of direct sunlight on a range of skin conditions such as eczema, to the more psychological benefits that accrue around improved sense of body image and body acceptance, and staving off seasonal affective disorder.

The greater surface area to volume ratio that nudity embodies has other physical consequences, too. It affects our buoyancy, because unrestrained breasts and penises are free to float out in extension from the body’s core. This may be more inefficient, perhaps, for swimming races, but is a delicious sensation, universally appreciated through skinny-dipping, that exhilarates us and makes us feel more alive.

Maximized surface area to volume ratio underwater

There’s also the matter of heat transfer. I remember learning, in a middle-school camping/hiking/hunting safety course, that if you’re out in the woods and it’s cold, and someone is experiencing hypothermia, one option is to remove all that person’s clothing and get him or her into a sleeping bag, then remove all your clothes too and get into the same sleeping bag. This maximizes heat transfer because of the maximized surface area contact. Of course, all the middle schoolers in the class giggled nervously, and the instructor himself struggled to maintain a matter-of-fact demeanor. But there you have it: the power of our skin to transfer heat. Nudity’s maximization of the surface area to volume ratio can have many benefits.

Don and Doff

Don and Doff were leprechauns
who lived beyond the rainbow’s end.
Don scrubbed his shoes and cleaned his coat:
Saint Patrick’s Day was ’round the bend.

“Hey Doff! Get off your duff and wash
your clothes! Today is March the 12th!”
“So what?” said Doff. “I’m ready. Just…”
“Just what?,” asked Don, impatient elf.

“I’d rather not wear clothes,” said Doff.
“Say what?” said Don, who scratched his head.
“I can’t conceive of what you mean.
No clothes? I’d sooner off be dead!”

“My friend,” said Doff, “you’re misinformed.
It’s not of death I speak, but life.
Why ride the rainbow dressed for cold?
Dip skinny in the sunshine’s light.”

With that, Doff jumped up out of bed,
as naked as when he was born.
Don showed his friend a shamrock, like
a fig leaf. Asked his friend, “What for?”

“You’re mad!” cried Don. “I can’t believe
you’re sane. What would the children do?
What would their parents say, to see
a leprechaun cavorting nude?”

“I do not care, my friend,” said Doff.
“Do rabbits, lambs, or frogs wear clothes?”
“Well, no,” said Don. “They’re animals.
‘Clothes make the man,’ the saying goes.”

“Don, we’re not men. We’re leprechauns.
And even though we’re like mankind,
it isn’t clothes that make the man,
but rather how he spends his time.

Don’t live in fear. Our clothes are shields.
Lay down your arms and live in peace.
Go on, Don, doff your duds! You’ll feel
your worries wane and cares decrease.”

And so Don doffed his hat, at first,
and then his coat, his belt, and shoes,
then doffed on down to nudity.
“Good job, Don! There’s no time to lose!”

cried Doff, who led Don down the way
and past the brimming pot of gold
to climb the rainbow with his friends –
nude leprechauns both young and old.

If gold you wish, or luck, or both,
this Paddy’s Day, then doff your kit!
No four-leaf clover lucky charm
can bring you cheer. Dis-cover it!

Benevolent Exhibitionism

A couple of well-written and fair-minded recent articles in the Montreal Gazette have brought renewed attention to the intersections between nudism and exhibitionism. The latter term, most of the time, has a negative connotation except for people who enjoy it. But I think there is also a “benevolent exhibitionism” of the kind in which many naturists and/or nudists are proud to engage. It means showing your body as a matter of pride, as a way of philanthropically contributing to our shared understanding of humanity, and demonstrating that you have not body shame but body acceptance.

This is also the kind of “exhibitionism” (being on exhibit) that would characterize the work of most life drawing and photography models, dancers, and actors who go nude in the name of art. And there’s a spectrum of this kind of benevolent exhibitionism that would encompass, at least in part, the motives of many participants in public nudity events ranging from protests to the World Naked Bike Ride.  


Ages, sizes, colors, sexes

The Internet is a terrific font of information about naturism and the practice of social nudity, and often the range of this information includes simple depictions of the variety of human phenotypes, as in the photo above. Photos or videos that depict nude folks swimming, skiing, hiking, surfing, or simply reading a book can help others understand that they don’t need to, or shouldn’t have to, wear clothes to do these and so many other activities. Many viewers will be motivated to go nude! Perhaps the majority will not be able to act on their motivations, for whatever reason, but they will at least have been exposed to the benevolent exhibitionism of human possibilities, of tolerance, of body acceptance.