Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Eureka Moment #2

I spent the last four days camping in the wilderness in Pennsylvania. It was beautiful. I learned numerous things while on my trip, but one new understanding stands out. Upon arriving at the campground, I was greeted by naked people. Not half naked, or sort of naked, but fully naked people. I was disgusted, startled, angry, and uncomfortable. Having the Judeo-Christian understanding of nudity post-fall of Adam and Eve, I thought these people to be horrendous for deciding to walk around naked. I thought they were removing the sacredness from something that was beautiful and meant to be shared only with their lover. Though I still believe that there is something special about reserving nakedness for the our significant others, I became to see nudity as something else. I began to see it as simple, and natural, and did not connect the normal words of "whores" to the site of flesh. This made me think of how I view women who show a lot of skin, whether it be cleavage at the work place, or all or most of their butts in shorts during the summer. I realized that I would automatically think these women were loose or gross, simply because they liked to show off their bodies. That is because the understanding of physical beauty is usually linked to sexuality. Though some forms of dress may seem trashy, it does not give me enough proof of who someone truly is.

4 comments:

  1. Maria,

    I think it is very interesting how women label each other simply on the way we dress. I do it in my mind too, but then I try to fight the forces of evil and see a different side to it. But why is it that a women would be a "slut" for showing cleavage? Is this something women learned from men? To put each other down? It seems so sad that we cannot respect each other enough to have more insight into each other. Just because a woman wants to bear skin doesn't mean she is anything or deserves anything. Some people think that if she is ridiculed or gets unwanted attention then that's what she gets. Why can't she just be expressing herself? It's a shame how society leads us to be so negative.
    On another note, nudist colonies will definitely give you a different perspective on the body! I was tricked into exploring one as a high-schooler and I remember the shock of it all lasted for about 30 minutes, then you get use to it. And you realize that your the only one feeling wierd about it so you start accepting it. It's a different world that is definitely free of certain rules enforced by society so it's an interesting experience.

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  2. Maria,
    I am glad you are taking a new perspective on the human body. As a student in college, there have definitely been nights where I will go out with my friends and dress a little racier than normal. It's not that I am a whore, or a slut, because I am not by any means. But sometimes it's exciting to go out of your normal comfort zone and wear something you wouldn't usually wear. However I understand where you are coming from. There are times where I will look at a girl and say, wow, shes really not leaving anything to the imagination is she.. but then I realize that hey, if I could pull something like that off, I would probably wear it too! If you've got it, flaunt it!
    As for your camping experience, what an awkward situation to be put in! I am not against nudists, but I really can't think of what I would have done in that situation!

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  3. Maria, I give you credit for even wanting to go camping in the wilderness and I'm glade that it was a learning experience. You experienced first hand nonverbal communication at first glance. And I guess you soon realized that gender and culture was present, and that this was the norm being demonstrated by the people who participated. By you being able to see past the obvious says that you are receptive and open to new ideas. You avoided stereotying and jumped right into the understanding mode. I think there should be more people like you willing to learn new things. I believe people are doing better understanding that you can't judge a book by it's cover,and you must consider the source, the background and the origin of the situation. I know sometimes time does't allow this to happen and that's when people are prejudged by what they see in front of them. I must commend you, you did a very good job with what was presented to you without a warning. Your responsiveness followed the book to the letter by your description and your recovery.Through your responsiveness by definition you showed "attentiveness through your understanding to others and interest, to use the facts presented and analyze them and most importantly, eye contact with the situation" You proved that the research is correct in their findings, "that women are generally more responsive communicators than men" as stated on (page 141)

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  4. Maria,

    I personally would have no clue what to do a saw a person or group of people completely nude in public; I would most likely be speechless and scared they might come up and try to start a conversation. These people must have an extremely high level of beliefs and self-awareness of what they feel because they have to know thay people stare constantly. I actually have respect for them, but they still freak me out a little

    As far as labeling levels of clothing with a woman's sexuality, I used to think the same way about females; maybe I still do a little. However, I actually know a couple of ladies who dress more raunchy than most other females I know, but they happen to be virgins. One of them is also waiting for marriage before she has sex. I think it's all in being comfortable, just like most men like to wear what makes them feel comfortable.

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