Why Nudity?
A picture from the Rocky Mountain National Park Album
There are a lot of naked people on this website, and I’m one of them. So why all of the nudity? If you have read our About page, you know we do not want to be associated with pornography. Also, if you have read anything on the site, you’ll have seen that our goals for the future do not include nudity. This then could leave a person wondering, why nudity in the first place? Today we will discuss that naked truth.
To truly understand the reason for the nudity, you need to know how the idea started (a nice full account can be found on the About page). You see, we are three guys who love hiking, and we love that liberating feeling that comes from accomplishing a big hike or summit. We noticed that our female friends who were into hiking were doing topless photos when they reached a beautiful vista during their hiking. It seemed to us that this was their way of showing how liberating it is to get deep into nature, and we wanted to express our own feelings of liberation. Of course, half the time we hiked to the destination already topless—because a female nipple is sexual, but a male’s isn’t, somehow that is supposed to make sense—so we had to kick things up a notch and get completely naked.
One of the first NaturalNatures
A simple beginning, but all things begin simply, it is the evolution following that really matters. Strangely enough, pornography does have something to do with that evolution. It is not that we ever thought to turn our art pornographic, but solely the fact that a naked body is so quickly labeled as pornographic. Somehow Western culture (and especially American culture) has managed to make the human body into some sexual object. I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I would say that sex accounts for less than 1% of the activities I do with my body. Why then does the human body get categorized as a sexual thing?
This was our struggle. It was more real for us, because the male psyche is more likely to be drawn in with visible mediums, and so the rampant sexualization of the human body had seeped into our own ability to see the world. We are not the kind of people to stand idly by and allow someone else to shape our perceptions, and so we began to craft an art using naked bodies that were purposefully kept from being sexualized. You’ll also notice that (at least for now) the only nudity in our photos is from behind. Everyone has a butt you see, and sometimes it is even difficult to gender an individual if you are just seeing that person from behind. Still, it is beautiful. We use our asses, legs, backs, arms, necks, and heads to get us up to or in to the places where we take the photographs. We are showcasing that body not as a sexual object, but as a beautiful tool that can transport us to beautiful places.
Using our miraculous bodies to climb to the top of Seneca Rocks in West Virginia
Another important thing to us is one that I have already dropped hints at earlier. The culture has construed this vast difference between the male and the female, and this enters into how it portrays those bodies as well. Any woman can tell you multiple stories of having her own body sexualized in public without any provocation. This is because our society has decided to portray the female body as a sexual thing, which is inappropriate for reasons already mentioned (that female body is capable of running, yoga, hiking, swimming, relaxing, and even holding life and bringing it into existence along with much much more, why not see it in that light?). The male body is constructed in a much different way by the culture.
In the United States, a man can be labeled as a sexual predator just for having his body naked in public. The strange thing is: that would never happen to a woman. The male body is figured as some malicious object that is abject and horrifying to behold. Personally, I never cringe when I see my naked body in the mirror or while I’m taking NaturalNatures of other guys. Not only that, but humans are one of the least sexually dimorphic land mammals on planet earth. Our bodies look surprisingly alike between the sexes, just so happens that a woman has her reproductive organs inside her body, and carries mammary glands to feed young in her breasts, while males have their reproductive organs on the outside, and don’t have to worry about feeding babies with their bodies.
All of this is to say that we need greater equality in how we view human bodies. A female should not immediately be sexualized, and a male should not be demonized. Instead, we believe that the naked human body should be appreciated, applauded, and admired. For why should it ever be wrong and frowned upon to be natural?
We are natural beings. This Earth is what gave us the material for our genetics and our day to day lives. It is this obsession with the natural and viewing Mother Nature as the preeminent adjudicator of the mortal realm that has led us to want to acquaint others with Her through NaturalNatures Tours and why we want to create a Farm based solely on living in closer harmony with her. The obsession with the natural also happens to be another reason why we like to get naked in nature, and why we would encourage others to do the same. The naked human body is not all that different from nature itself. It is both weak and strong, capable of doing amazing things on its own, but also something that needs help and assistance from time to time. It’s this natural part of ourselves and the world that we love so much, and so we figured we’d showcase both at the same time.
That is why there is the nudity. It is not somehow separate from the ideals we espouse, but rather a very good visual representation. That is not to say that our Tours or Farm will be places of constant nudity, but we also don’t believe that any person has the right to say that the naked body is offensive, so we certainly won’t tell someone to go put clothes on if they decide to be naked. It is a principle that goes for the day to day life as well, and for our pictures. We always encourage others to take NaturalNatures, no matter the shape or size or color of the individual. If you would like to help us diversify our portfolio, contact us on our Help Us page. It’s always nice to see others falling in love with the natural side of themselves and this world.
We'd love for you to share your own body affirmations below in the comments. We’ll see you on the trail!