N U D I T Y.

(Disclaimers: All opinions are my personal point of view on the subject, I do not own the photos attached to the article but I stand 100% behind their statements.)

Taboo: Something that is viewed as forbidden by society's standards and therefore is rarely talked about openly (source: urban dictionary); Nudity fits perfectly in that definition, and so happens to be one of the most misunderstood subjects ever. In a few simple words nudity is the state of not wearing any clothes. Being the way you are born, your so called "birthday suit". Only wearing your own skin. Being the most vulnerable yet powerful you can ever be. 

Nudity isn't about the nude pictures you sent someone, nudity is art at its finest yet most raw form. Nudity is a state of mind, a lifestyle. I'm not talking about going fully nude out in public, not even at the beach. Boundaries are there to remind us we should always respect others around us in order for society to function properly and peacefully. 

Nude photography: I've personally done it twice with a professional photographer who's also a friend of mine. It was the most liberating thing I had ever done in my life, exposing yourself in front of someone other than a lover is a different kind of freedom; let alone letting that other person capture parts or your whole body.

If you want to fully embrace the idea of nudity you need to be 100% comfortable in your own skin. Understand that we all have imperfections that exist only to remind us that no one is flawless and that's exactly what makes us unique. This is where our beauty lies, in all our scars, stretch marks, marks from stitches, beauty marks, you name it. They're all part of who you are. Start by accepting them and slowly you'll start loving them.

Nudity isn't sex. READ THAT AGAIN. Feeling sexy when naked is perfectly fine. Sexualizing nudity on the other hand, isn't. More often than not, wearing underwear makes someone's body look way sexier than when they're not wearing anything at all. Again loving your body and feeling confident and sexy in underwear is amazing. Anything that makes you feel good about yourself is great for you even if it means being fully clothed head to toe. What's wrong is assuming that just because someone likes showing parts of their body, they're seeking attention or crave having any type of sexual intercourse. As long as they're not doing anything illegal, you have absolutely no right to make any sort of offensive comments.

Believing that seeing others body parts gives you the right to become rude and vulgar makes you a pervert to say the least. Making love is in the human nature and in order to do so you have to be naked but that's a whole different story.

Nudity is the most natural thing there is. Stop throwing dirt all over it and incriminating something completely innocent and normal. It's all inside your head, it's your thoughts and your mental state that makes you view a naked human body as anything other than what it truly is. A body without clothes. That's it.

Society judges people to the point that they start to feel insecure and embarrassed for loving, celebrating themselves and wanting to share that with the world. All these standards often lead people to extreme solutions that can cause them deadly health issues (mental or physical). 

What the world needs more of is people willing to accept, hype and encourage others to appreciate everything they were born with. Of course you have the option to improve something you might not like on you but by always having in mind to stay true to who you are and know that everything you do is for your own good.

It all starts and ends in your own head, period. Nudity equals honesty, we all have a body, it's the most common thing among human beings. We often seem to forget that. We take it for granted and underestimate it. 

To sum it up, if we could all realise how beneficial nudity is, whether we decide to follow it or not, we'd appreciate the gift we were given without worrying about the opinion  of others. And others wouldn't feel the need to make us feel uncomfortable for being fearlessly ourselves.

Open your mind,

Athina, x.