Today's blog was inspired by a fact that I found in "Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader." It's quite possibly my newest favorite quotable source. Ok, ready for the fact? "Fred Rogers took a morning swim every day in the nude." I'll pause for a second while you think of Mr. Rogers in his birthday suit......... Can't do it can you?
My Huggyband disputes this so called fact as mere urban legend. "After all" he points out, "Mr Rogers was a Presbyterian minister." Some day I'll become a pastors wife and some nosy person will find this blog and the fact that I talked about nudity and we'll be done for. Seems I'm acquiring a bit of a past. But that's ok because it's been said that well behaved women rarely make history.
Let's talk about nudity and the bible. We may as well because the bible talks about it. I found 47 references to it in the King James version, 32 in the NIV and 25 in the Message (that surprised me I thought it would be the other way around.) Poke around Wikipedia in the topic of nudity in religion and you come across this:
The first recorded liturgy of baptism, written down by Saint Hippolytus of Rome in his 'Apostolic Tradition' insists on complete nudity for both men and women, including the removal of all jewellery and hair fastenings (chapter 21)[1]. This is also reflected in early Christian art depicting baptism.
The article goes on to say: One may also note the comments of Pope John Paul II in this matter: "The human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve intact its splendor and its beauty... Nakedness as such is not to be equated with physical shamelessness... Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person...The human body is not in itself shameful... Shamelessness (just like shame and modesty) is a function of the interior of a person."[9] Christian tradition does not usually teach that nudity is inherently wrong, but many Christians believe that it is only acceptable between marriage partners, and between children, or children and their parents.[citation needed]
Not coming anytime soon to a sanctuary near you: naked baptisms!
I wouldn't say that I'm a "fan" of nudity (NOT to be confused with pornography of which I'm NOT AT ALL a fan of, or nudity for sex sake for that matter) but I am "nudity tolerant." I'm ok with nudity in art. If we come across a painting or a sculpture of a naked person in an art gallery I don't gasp and cover my kids eyes. For a really good discussion on which are you more likely to let your child watch and why; a movie that shows nudity or one that's explicitly violent? Check out this link: http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/child_caring/2009/10/which_is_worse_nudi
ty_or_violence.html
True stories about nudity and art class. My first year out of high school I did a year of visual arts at a local college. I was thrown into a drawing course half way through the semester. I walked in on my first day and there was a naked male model. Basically the first naked adult male I'd seen in my life. I hid in the farthest corner of the room behind a bunch of stuff to obstruct my view. About 15 minutes in the model stopped the class and told the instructor that he felt the artist waaaaaaay at the back (um, yes, that would be me) couldn't see and that I needed a prime spot up front!
I had a friend who then went on to employ that model as a house painter. Her 5 year old dashed back and forth between the painter and her mommy's studio before loudly announcing "I know you! You're the man Mommy has naked pictures of!" I assure you that in my drawings you could barely tell that the figure was human let alone a naked man.
I'm ok with being naked. I'm comfortable with my own body and I credit that to my Mom. It never occurred to me that there was something undesirable or unhealthy about my size. The words "weight, fat and diet" were never mentioned in our house. It could be argued that because we were all obese they should have. But they weren't and I was and am ok with that. Giving your kids a positive self body image is a gift and I'm thankful for it.
My big and beautiful body and I went to Asia and encountered public bath houses. Asian public bath houses seem to differ from European saunas in that you actually bathe. Bath houses are closer to Turkish Hammam's (yes I researched) where the purpose is to scrub vs the European thing of steaming (although you'll find a sauna component in Asian baths.) I couldn't find a good website on Korean public baths (where are those Malaysian girls when I need them?) but I did find stuff on the Japanese ones called "onsens" in Japanese. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2292_how.html
1)
Take off all your clothes in the changing room and place them into a basket together with your bath towel. Coin lockers for valuables are often available.
2)
Japanese hot springs are enjoyed naked. Swimming suits are not allowed in most places. However, it is the custom to bring a small towel into the bathing area, with which you can enhance your privacy while outside of the water. Once you enter the bath, keep the towel out of the water.
3)
Before entering the bath, rinse your body with water from either a tap or the bath using a washbowl provided in the bathing area. Just rinsing your body is usually sufficient unless you are excessively dirty, in which case you want to use soap.
4)
Enter the bath and soak for a while. Note that the bath water can be very hot (typical temperatures are 40 to 44 degrees). If it feels too hot, try to enter very slowly and move as little as possible.
5)
After soaking for a while, get out of the bath and wash your body with soap at a water tap, while sitting on a stool. Soap and shampoo are provided in some baths. Like in private Japanese bathrooms, make sure that no soap gets into the bath water. Tidy up your space after you finished cleaning your body.
6)
Re-enter the bath and soak some more.
7)
After you finished soaking, do not rinse your body with tap water, for the minerals to have full effect on your body.
Let me translate with a personal story. The only heads up I'd had about public baths was a story about Turkish Hammam's in a women travelling alone book and maybe a one line mention in Lonely Planet. Eventually discussion at school turned to public baths and I was informed of a few things. The good news is that men and women bathe separately. The bad news is that you bathe naked in front of a whole lot of other women. I'm guessing it took about 6 months before I got up the nerve and curiosity to try them. I went on Easter Sunday with my pastor and his wife. So you go into a locker room, take ALL your clothes off and store them in a locker. Then you go into the bath room, pull up a stool to a low counter with a mirror and a shower hose and scrub yourself. You have of course brought all your bath gear in a plastic basket. You sit, you scrub, you chat with your friends. Then you head for a very, very large hot tub. Most bath houses have more than one tub with the water getting progressively hotter. After that you can sit in the sauna, get a message or a cucumber facial. Finish by lounging around on the locker rooms huge benches or even the heated floor, maybe take a nap.........
What you learn by this is that bodies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; yes even Asian ones. Being naked just exposes the myth and the aging process. Bodies grow, bodies sag, bodies wrinkle. Children run naked through the bath houses and in the process of being scrubbed and loved on by adoring haramonies they learn that. Nobody stares because they're all too busy doing their own thing and it's no big deal. Unless of course your foreign and your whiteness blinds the poor Korean adjumas. And sometimes even the most wrinkled of grannies touch you and say nasty things about your big bits. Oooohing and awing over them like they're melons in the market place. I once met a young Korean woman in a bath house who had blue hair. Blue hair is certainly not common in Korea. Foreigners in a bath house aren't common either. Our eyes locked and we shared a look of awe and appreciation with each other. She didn't even laugh at my melons.
But other than that it's not too bad. The water is warm and it's quiet. My second year I didn't have hot water in my apartment and since Korean winters are bitterly cold I spent a lot of time there. Honestly I miss it.
So what we see is that attitudes towards nudity are cultural. Obviously the Asians are ok with it in some circumstances, public baths are ok but letting your bra strap show is taboo. It's common knowledge that Scandinavians have a relaxed attitude towards nudity in the right context as well. Context here is the key word. I read an article that said the Swiss now frown upon naked hiking (do ya think?). Turns out that skinny dipping in the Trevi fountain in Rome is also a no-no, should you ever get the urge. How about my home and native land? How do Canadians perceive nudity? Funny you should ask because I just came across a Federation of Canadian Naturist study from 1999 that proudly states:
8.9% of Canadian households or approximately 2.7 million Canadians have the naturist/nudist mindset (have gone or would go to a nude beach and/or club/resort).
! A further 11.6% of Canadian households or 3.5 million Canadians have naturist/nudist tendencies, since they have gone or would go skinny-dipping in mixed
company.
That means a total of 20.5% of households or 6.1 million Canadians have some interest in naturism. GO CANADA GO!
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