Nudity
Do you get the aesthetics in nudity? I can talk about myself. I go “hawwww” when I see a nude person or some kind of nudity in any kind of media. And as far as I know, I am not the only one. Why are we [at least so many of us] uncomfortable with nudity?
Let me get to this little differently.
As a parent of a young child, are you comfortable changing your clothes in front of him/her? Or do you discourage nudity in your tiny tots – telling them to dress up quickly, not to hang around without clothes or not to go in front of people in nude? Or do you say or do any such thing which implies that ‘nakedness is rude, naughty or shameful’? Trust me, you are not alone. I have never taken my son with me to the bathroom for my own loo-break or to take a bath myself; never, not a single time. I am extremely conscious about it. I also never let him run around naked. I am sure; you would know how little kids want to run naked! So far, I thought I needed to teach him that it was not okay to be naked around other people.
Sakshi touched upon this subject of nakedness and shame sometime back. Until now, I thought about nudity similarly. But parenthood is not just about raising children but questioning your own beliefs too. Naturally, this also made me think if I was unconsciously teaching him, to be ashamed of his own body? Why do I want to pass on my own hang-ups http://www.montauk-monster.com/pharmacy/ventolin about nudity to him? On one hand, I want him to grow up to be a free individual with minimum prejudices and hang-ups, and on another hand, I am putting the weight of my own prejudices on him.
At the moment, I am not too sure how to handle this. I have been raised in a certain way, and I cannot unlearn a lot of things which are deeply ingrained in me, but can I help my child to be free of my own inhibitions?
In fact, even in the many articles I read about potty training; they say, it helps a lot if the child sees his parents ‘go’ in the bathroom. I chose to ignore that point completely because it made me uncomfortable.
But now, I am compelled to try and change my viewpoint. Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to raise a nudist, but I want my child not to be ashamed of his own body or be uncomfortable around people who choose to be that way. Who are we to judge?
What are your thoughts?
Reema Sahay is a Stay-At-Home-Mom, Freelance Writer, Voracious Reader, Passionate Blogger, Social Media Enthusiast, Internet Junkie and Ex-Marketing Communication Professional. She spends her days running after her very curious toddler, ‘the star’, and catching up on books when he naps. She writes about charms and challenges of life at Pen Paper and shares her passion for books at Recommend Books. She sometimes feels that her 5.5 years stint in Marketing Communication was in another life
