Stark Naked

Stark Naked. How do those words make you feel? Chances are, it depends on your gender, and where you are from. Here in America we are still pretty uptight about it compared to some countries. But at least we don't make women cover up everything but their eyes.

When it comes to being naked, Buck Naked, Bare Naked, In the Raw, In Your Birthday Suit, Nude, or whatever you like to call it, I've never understood why men are so much more comfortable with it than most women are. Men will drop trou at any time for almost any reason. And it seems like if they are in doubt as to rather they should do it or not, they almost always chose to do it. What is particularly fascinating to me is how totally unconcerned they seem about it. 

Women on the other hand are concerned about every last little bit of it. No matter how good we really look, there is usually at least one thing about our bodies that either we don't like - or we are not sure about. Example : If you have big breasts, are you supposed to have big nipples? I don't know.  I'll bet most women don't know. As a matter of fact I wonder what is preferred, big nipples or little ones? 

When I was young and too skinny, I worried if my hip bones were ugly, or my shoulder blades were too noticeable. And the fact that I didn't have, uh, junk in the trunk, was mortifying to me. Those are probably things men don't even care about, well, except for the trunk part. I'm not sure what we are allowed to say and which words we can really use here.

At some point between being too skinny and not skinny enough, there were some years when I knew I looked pretty good, but I never knew when I looked just right. Even when my measurement were 36-22-34, I knew that wasn't perfect. I still didn't have enough of a bottom.

Do men EVER care how their bottoms look? I think not.

However, I was happy to hear on TV today that 56% of American women sleep nude. Good for them, okay actually, good for us. I did even when I was big and pregnant  : )  I can just see the men cringing when they read that part. But don't think that even for a minute that I don't grab the nearby robe anytime I need to get out of bed.

With all of this said, doesn't it strike you as strange that it is way more common to see a nude women in a movie than a full frontal nude man? If women are more self-conscious about their bodies than most men are, why aren't they the exposed ones in the media? However I think statistics would show that when it comes to streaking, it's usually men.

American's may be more shy about nudity than other countries, but we have come a long way. Remember when NYPD Blue first debuted? People were shocked that they were planning to be a bit risqué. Usually a quick flash of a naked derrière, and later maybe the side of a female breast. And all of a sudden commercials on TV showed women in their Bra, and later even in their panties. I didn't know if I should let my young sons watch it. Now it's very common. 

I have always tried to tell my sons that God made human bodies and that they are all beautiful in their own ways. However when they were little they would still giggle at old works of art that depicted naked women. Ahh, the mysteries of the human mind.

Drive Safely,

KT