Selected Topic for this week's Weekend Engagement round:
Would you, or have you, ever sent nude images of yourself to someone? Explain.
To start, I wonder how many will write and publish a contribution on this topic this weekend. I didn't want to see a zero, therefore this entry 😉
As far as I remember, I never sent a complete nude picture of myself to anyone. I can even imagine I didn't send a half-nude as well. Rarely do I take photographs at the beach. Never take them while in a bathtub, shower or other locations in or outside the home where the body cover isn't applied. And I think I was able to avoid others making such nude photographs of myself as well. The half-nude, the beech one, not sure about that. Those may be resting in private catalogues and/or albums, who knows. Uhm, perhaps my mother has some edje-in-the-nude images when I was young. I shall ask her. Uhm, I may not even have to, since some images start to appear in my mind, right now, while writing these words. Fortunately, shot and made available in old-style photographs on paper. Knowing my mother, she would not have distributed them to others. Pfffew: I am safe 😆
Although I like to believe in freedom - which should include showing oneself in the nude - I think I may be a bit 'old-fashioned' in terms of showing flesh to the outside world.
But what is old-fashioned? While this topic was hugely debated in the 60s and 70s of the last century, when hippies started to show their bodies in public spaces and nude beaches emerged - after a period where showing nudity was socially unacceptable - in the more distant past, nudity was more common than it ever was. The painter Rubens showed that nudity was much more common when he created his 'photographs'. The Roman Empire period was also about showing the body nude, as so many statues show us still today. And who didn't hear or read about the big orgies back in the day? And what about the time when we lived in caves, when we hardly knew how to sew, or we didn't even have something to create some form of clothing from?
But but but, I guess I am somehow prude. Perhaps a better explanation is that I do not necessarily like to view (strange) people without some form of clothing. To me, a body, a person appeals more when dressed. And preferably in clothing I like to look at, although I never rarely ask someone what they should wear. With clothing, one has such a variety! The variety I like very much. If all of us were to walk around nude, the world would become quite uniform, in my opinion. Who likes uniformity? I for sure do not!
Now, back to my own nude body and pictures, and sending them out to others.
edje in the nude
Even if I had images of my own nude body (which I don't have), I would not send them to others. I am somewhat prudish. I know society is as well. Perhaps because society is, I am.
Sending such photographs to others increases the chance that this may bite me in the butt at some point in life. I don't know how, and why I bother - I just need 15-odd years of work before pension and have enough professional credentials, some nudity out in the open should not harm getting positions I like to fulfil. Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, this - likely - has to do with me being somewhat prudish, whether or not society is.
Interestingly, these days people have become more prudish again compared to the last century. While many women hung out on beaches topless a few decades ago, this seems to be - almost - entirely gone. At least, that is the situation in the country I reside in. The Netherlands. That tiny ass country far below sea level in the northwestern part of what we call Europe. The paria continent to the sitting leaders across the Atlantic. The country where freedom is - or better said 'was' - darn high on how the society was classified in a not too distant past. The country that likes to show off the orange colour whenever sportspeople try to conquer the world and try the best in sports such as speed skating, long-distance skating, snowboarding, soccer (European football), darts and many more. The country that tries to get other countries to adopt an equivalent to the 'Heineken House' usually seen at international, global, events like the Olympics, World Cups and such: "We shall party our ass off after we've done what we came for!" A great motto, right?
Uhm, diverting edje! Why are you doing so?
It is quite funny to see how nudity on screen, in film and on television has changed so much over time. When I was a teenager, the most progressive state TV station started a series on sex education, showing nudity, including everything. Not in a pornographic way, but still. Quite a few people found this going across the line back then. Since then, more and more nudity is shown in films, series, in cinemas, on screen. But we hide our bodies on the beach more than we used to. What is happening? I have no idea since I wasn't realising this. Need a bit of research, I suppose. No clue right now.
