Easier for girls?

One thing I’ve discovered visiting nudist websites and message boards is that when teenagers discover nudism and decide that it’s something that they wanna do more of, it’s often the girls that have a much easier time getting their family and friends to accept the idea that they like to go around nude. A lot of guys in their first time stories say how they are still closet nudists, but many girls have already told their parents and got their permission to go nude at home whenever they like. That’s certainly how my story works out and it’s the same for a lot of other girls too I think.

More than that, I think that generally nudity for girls is more acceptable for most people than for guys. For example, if I was sunbathing nude in my back yard and the neighbours happened to look out of their window and see me, I very much doubt that they would complain about it. My female neighbours would probably not be bothered by it, and my male neigbours would probably be delighted! But somehow I think that if I was a guy, both male and female neighbours might get a bit offended at the sight of me naked.

Not that it really matters, my view would be that they shouldn’t be looking in the first place, wether they like what they see or not! But its still seems really strange to me that that would probably be what would happen, I mean, why is a naked guy a problem but not a naked girl?

Well, I think there are a few possible explanations for what I think. As far as families go, they really do seem to have a much easier job accepting that their daughter or sister wants to walk around naked. I asked my mum what she thought about me for liking to be nude and she said that it just showed that I was confident and free-spirited. That’s it, for her, anyway; a girl who enjoys being nude is just a hippyish nature child with no hang-ups or embarrassment. I think that might be how a lot of families see girl children who want to be nude, and so they are able to deal with it in their minds. But when a teenage boy starts walking round the house naked in front of other people, it seems they might find that harder to accept. Maybe they read a sexual meaning into that, even though there isn’t one there – maybe cuz teenage boys are supposed to be always thinking about sex and masturbating a lot, they think that wanting to be nude has something to do with that.

Maybe it’s also to do with what’s on display, as well. Basically, a penis is much more obvious than a vagina! If you’re a parent and your daughter starts wanting to be nude at home then you’re going to have to get over your hang-ups about seeing her breasts and pubic hair, but anything really intimate is gonna stay that way (so long as she sits “like a lady”!). But if its your son who starts going nude then you’re gonna end up seeing his penis, and that’s probably a much bigger deal for a lot of parents and brothers and sisters.

I think a lot of that applies to friends as well. Until recently I thought that girls were much more open about nudity than guys; in school none of us girls were very shy about changing and showering together for P.E, we grow up having sleepovers where we all sleep in the same room so usually end up getting dressed and undressed in front of each other, and when we go clothes shopping we often share cubicles in the fitting rooms and change in front of each other (well, you need someone there to tell you wether what you’ve chosen looks good or not!). Some clothes shops even have communal fitting areas for women now cuz of this! So I always assumed that girls were more comfortable about seeing other girls bodies and that was why the female friends I told about my nudism were okay with seeing me nude. But I spoke to some guys who confirmed that in male changing rooms at gyms and sports clubs no-one is particularly shy there either and that growing up they and their friends were pretty comfortable with seeing each others bodies as well.

But it’s still a big step to go from being okay with seeing a friend changing for sports and being okay with them being nude around you all the time, and that seems to be a big problem for a lot of guys. One guy doesn’t want to see another guy naked all the time, it seems to me, and the main reason for that seems to be that they are worried that it’s “gay” for a man to be casually naked with another man. Of course, that’s ridiculous, not to mention homophobic, but it does seem to be a big worry for a lot of guys and it might affect the way that a guy thinks of a friend if he’s constantly naked around him.

It’s not fair to put all the blame on guys themselves for this way of thinking. A lot of it has to do with how nudity comes across in the media: in movies and on TV, in magazines and adverts. If you think about it, probably a fair number of movies contain female nudity. Lots of actresses are quite happy to do nude scenes and lots of directors are quite happy to include them in their films! They’re usually quite sexy scenes and it’s probably fair to say that a lot of guys enjoy seeing them, and most women aren’t too bothered if an actress in the movie they’re watching takes her clothes off, and probably enjoy them quite a bit too. Full-frontal nudity is still a bit of a big deal, but seeing a woman’s boobs or bare bottom in an appropriate movie isn’t unusual these days.

But compare that with male nudity, especially full-frontal. Sure, it happens, it’s not like it’s never been done, but there’s a lot less of it. It seems to me that while a lot of women aren’t at all bothered about seeing another woman naked in a film, there are probably quite a few hetero men who really don’t want to see that sort of thing, and it makes them quite uncomfortable. There are, I’m sure, women who don’t like seeing female nudity on-screen either, but there’s probably a lot more men than women who feel that way. It’s the same with adverts; female nudity, and sexy women in general, is often used to sell products, but male nudity is considered more of a turn-off than a turn on, so isn’t used anywhere near as often. And if you walk into any newsagents in the country you’ll see magazines like FHM and Zoo, with some attractive woman celebrity on the front in her bra and pants or less, but there are certainly a lot fewer magazines with hunky half-dressed male celebrities on the front!

All of which gives the impression that female nudity is acceptable in society, encouraged, sexy, nice to look at and also a great way to further your career if you’re a woman, but that male nudity is unpleasant, to be embarrassed about, a turn off, not the done thing at all. This is all really silly and most people in society probably don’t feel this way at all: I certainly don’t mind seeing good-looking men with their clothes off! But that’s the message that the media seems to give out.

This means that in our society we view male and female nudity differently. It’s an example I often give, but imagine I went into town, took off all my clothes and walked up the high street? Although I might quite likely get arrested, the reactions I would get would probably be a lot different to if I was a guy. People seem to view female nudity as being done for the benefit of others; if I did that in town, most people, certainly most men, would think I was doing it cuz I wanted to attract men, cuz I wanted sex. The thought that I might be doing it for my own enjoyment certainly wouldn’t come to many people’ minds. And if I was arrested, it would probably be seen as being more for my own safety than to protect the public.

But if I was a man… people would be a lot more shocked, and might even feel a bit threatened by this naked man. They would certainly think he was a pervert and was doing it for his own thrills. And he’d almost certainly be arrested and charged with indecent exposure.

That kinda shows, to me, the double-standard that we have in our society towards nudity; that female nudity is alright, because everyone likes to see a naked woman, right, and she’s only doing it so we can get a good look? But male nudity is seen as obscene and disgusting, and so I think that is one of the reasons why it’s a lot easier for girls to get family and friends to accept them as nudists than for guys. It’s not always that simple, a lot of parents are down on nudity whatever the sex of their child and there’s a really strong view also that girls should be modest when it comes to their bodies, which guys don’t get so much But basically, wether society’s attitude to nudity is healthy or not, it does seem at the moment like being a nudist teenager is definitely easier for girls.