Thoughts on personal nudity
I had an interesting conversation recently with a friend:
We were talking about how quickly the kids are growing up and how we both wished we could hold those tiny bundles in our arms again.
Then, the subject turned to puberty and she happened to say;
‘I haven’t seen my son naked since he was 7 years old.’
Aghast, I looked at her and said but how do you know if everything is all ok ‘down there?’
I see my daughter naked all the time, coming out of the shower, on the loo, sneaking both hands in the biscuit tin and getting dressed in the morning.
There is nothing more natural than her seeing me naked too, granted I am not an exhibitionist nor will you see me parading in front of the car cleaner or stripping off running free spirited into the sea. (Well I do do this!)
I’m not ashamed to say that ‘nakedness rules in our house.’
Following that conversation with my friend, I asked my 11 years old daughter what she thought about seeing me naked and how she felt about me seeing her.
She was quick to retort: “Mum it just doesn’t bother me, so what if I see you butt naked it doesn’t really register that my mum’s naked. I dont see what the big deal is.”
I thought about my childhood, shared with an older brother, my cousins and I wondered if ‘nakedness’ has anything to do with mixed siblings in the household?
I do remember that from about 13-14 years I thought I wanted privacy and I didn’t walk around in the nude especially not in front of my grandfather.
There was seemingly an unwritten rule that said you are a teenager so going naked is probably alright to do, if you wanted to.
I freely admit that whilst I can sunbathe topless in front of strangers and friends I could never have a problem showing my top half to my own father, because he is one half of me.
Do you go naked in front of your children?
My upbringing has fostered a good sense of self worth and yet this is a contradiction because when I look at my body it is with a reluctant acceptance of ageing.
I do recall my mother promoting a good body image, a body is a body and that was it.
As a gymnast I trained as hard as I could and my body was fit and strong but there were constant reminders from coaches about the importance of weight.
I remember on one occasion a coach saying to me how strong I was and that I was very tall and and not the perfect gymnastic physique.
In my head I have always been glad to be tall, lean and skinny and so his comments cut me like a knife.
Not only were they way off base but he single handedly made me foster an unrealistic body image of myself that has stayed with me.
In reality I had a fantastic physique and recently when my mother showed photos of me when I was 14, it came as a surprise that she wasn’t proud I had become so familiar tall and beautiful.
How a few inapproriate words can change the perception of your own body image!
I believe that might be why I’ve never made any rules about Chiara being naked or made her feel uncomfortable.
Nudity is healthy and very natural and growing up unashamed of being seen naked with all your bodily imperfections raises uninhibited children who have a realistic body image.
When I researched the idea for this post opinions made by people, posted on forums, blogs and articles all had a view on nudity ranging from it being perverted to being ‘au naturale’.
I am sure that at some point my children will cover up and will lock the bathroom door for feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed.
Likewise, they may ask me to do the same, but until then I see no need to close the door whilst I undress or cover up when I walk along the upstairs landing to put my clothes in the linen basket.
As far as I’m concerned they will make that decision, not me.
What do you think?
We were talking about how quickly the kids are growing up and how we both wished we could hold those tiny bundles in our arms again.
Then, the subject turned to puberty and she happened to say;
‘I haven’t seen my son naked since he was 7 years old.’
Aghast, I looked at her and said but how do you know if everything is all ok ‘down there?’
I see my daughter naked all the time, coming out of the shower, on the loo, sneaking both hands in the biscuit tin and getting dressed in the morning.
There is nothing more natural than her seeing me naked too, granted I am not an exhibitionist nor will you see me parading in front of the car cleaner or stripping off running free spirited into the sea. (Well I do do this!)
I’m not ashamed to say that ‘nakedness rules in our house.’
Following that conversation with my friend, I asked my 11 years old daughter what she thought about seeing me naked and how she felt about me seeing her.
She was quick to retort: “Mum it just doesn’t bother me, so what if I see you butt naked it doesn’t really register that my mum’s naked. I dont see what the big deal is.”
I thought about my childhood, shared with an older brother, my cousins and I wondered if ‘nakedness’ has anything to do with mixed siblings in the household?
I do remember that from about 13-14 years I thought I wanted privacy and I didn’t walk around in the nude especially not in front of my grandfather.
There was seemingly an unwritten rule that said you are a teenager so going naked is probably alright to do, if you wanted to.
I freely admit that whilst I can sunbathe topless in front of strangers and friends I could never have a problem showing my top half to my own father, because he is one half of me.
Do you go naked in front of your children?
My upbringing has fostered a good sense of self worth and yet this is a contradiction because when I look at my body it is with a reluctant acceptance of ageing.
I do recall my mother promoting a good body image, a body is a body and that was it.
As a gymnast I trained as hard as I could and my body was fit and strong but there were constant reminders from coaches about the importance of weight.
I remember on one occasion a coach saying to me how strong I was and that I was very tall and and not the perfect gymnastic physique.
In my head I have always been glad to be tall, lean and skinny and so his comments cut me like a knife.
Not only were they way off base but he single handedly made me foster an unrealistic body image of myself that has stayed with me.
In reality I had a fantastic physique and recently when my mother showed photos of me when I was 14, it came as a surprise that she wasn’t proud I had become so familiar tall and beautiful.
How a few inapproriate words can change the perception of your own body image!
I believe that might be why I’ve never made any rules about Chiara being naked or made her feel uncomfortable.
Nudity is healthy and very natural and growing up unashamed of being seen naked with all your bodily imperfections raises uninhibited children who have a realistic body image.
When I researched the idea for this post opinions made by people, posted on forums, blogs and articles all had a view on nudity ranging from it being perverted to being ‘au naturale’.
I am sure that at some point my children will cover up and will lock the bathroom door for feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed.
Likewise, they may ask me to do the same, but until then I see no need to close the door whilst I undress or cover up when I walk along the upstairs landing to put my clothes in the linen basket.
As far as I’m concerned they will make that decision, not me.
What do you think?
26-30, F
