"I Went to a Nude-beach, and Saw ~GASP!~ I Saw My Grandma!

Naked Chicks. Not Always As Hot as You Think., a photo by JOn's ~=:-) view on Flickr.

I went to a nude-beach and saw ~GASP!!~
I Saw My Grandma!
I always get a kick out of statements such as this. For some odd reason people have the impression that Nude beaches are nothing but sexy, hot, super-models frolicking in the surf, sun, and sand. This is what happens when people shelter themselves from the real world. TV, magazines, and Movies tend to make people believe the only time people are naked is when they are somehow unrealistic.

Humans have a way of ignoring what is real-life, and come to believe the media portrays an ideal portrait. For some reason everyone associates a clothing-optional beach as a place where no imperfect bodies could exist. Yet, they seem to think their own imperfect body is the exception. They screw up the courage to finally venture down to one, with high hopes.

Then the horror of reality hits them hard. They are horrified to see people there, fully naked, and not hiding a thing. They see people from every walk of life, and people they never in their wildest imagination could have imagined naked. All around, all they see is ~Gasp! Their own Grandma!! …. Or at least a human that bears a very similar resemblance. This is an image that for some reason most have until faced with it full-on, tried to deny exists. What is that resemblance? It is the image of a real woman. A woman who has given birth to many children, and has the stretch marks, and extra curves to show for it. They see a woman whose breasts have nourished many hungry babies, and are not firm, high, and perky. They hang unevenly, have stretch marks, and even the nipples are oddly-shaped. They see a woman who has plenty of curves, yet those curves are not where they had hoped to see them. They see the region where those babies came out of, and are horrified that this area is no longer pleasing to view. They see a woman who has long-since given-up the vanity of shaving, having long, sparse, even wild, gray hair in regions they never imagined they would see. They see reality. They are horrified.

I use the example above, only because that is the most vivid example, and most true, realistic, picture I can portray, that most in our world can identify with. Of Course, there are men who no longer look like the male-models, but you hear more often from people who had expected to see women of super-model status.
I learned long, long ago, that all humans are beautiful. To me, these humans one sees at a clothing-optional place ARE Indeed Beautiful, and I would never wince, flinch, or feel horrified to have seen them. Perhaps I was fortunate to have grown-up around people who cherish humans for who they are, not how they appear. That is a key reason I started to frequent clothing-optional beaches. The people who are there, are just like you and me. They are not there to judge another, or to go and gawk at unrealistic bodies. Most of the time, the people at a nude beach would not even care if anyone else there was clothed, or fully naked. The whole purpose of these places is freedom. Freedom from social stigmas, from being judged, from somebody saying inappropriate things about your body. Clothing-optional beaches are not about sex, or how much you can see of another human’s body. They are simply about being able to relax, without being gawked-at, sized-up, or having to worry about how a bathing suit fits. There are plenty of regular beaches where that sort of activity is not only common, but encouraged. At a clothing-optional beach, you will see a greater mix, and variety of humans who do not fit the pre-determined social scene at regular beaches. People who visit clothing-optional beaches may not feel comfortable where people think appearance is the most important quality on a beach. Or have what some in our society would call abnormalities visible on their body.
It would not be uncommon to see a man covered head to toe in warts. Yet, he is welcome here. On a regular beach, people would freak-out, and run him off. It is not uncommon to see an amputee, a breast-cancer-survivor (with one, or both breasts removed), or someone with scars from some sort of massive burns. These people would be stared-at endlessly on a regular beach. It would not be uncommon to see an extremely skinny person, whose bones you could easily see, or an extremely obese person who is just as happy, and free as you could imagine. Heck, even with your own low esteem, and how you view your own self… You would be accepted, and welcome, even feel comfortable on a clothing-optional beach. They accepted me, didn’t they?

In addition to the most-common “horror” of seeing “your grandma naked”, I often hear some other, rather funny remarks from people who finally got the courage to visit a nude beach. Many often exclaim, “There are children! I can’t be naked in front of child! Isn’t that illegal??” It takes a while to teach some people that simply naked is not illegal, and unless you have sexual intentions, there is nothing harmful to a child about nudity. You can simply point-out that the children are more comfortable than the person who is freaking-out. If it was illegal, or in any way harmful, children would not be there. Often, to illustrate this point, we simply just point to The Sheriff, who happens to regularly patrol the beaches. At that point the newbie will often cover themselves up, because they somehow feel they are doing something illegal. It takes a while to explain to most that simply naked is in no way illegal. For it to be illegal, it must also be lewd, and/or obscene. Simply naked is neither of those.

Some other things that people are amazed at, and often quite interested in are the elaborate artwork that often adorns a human body. These artworks can be in the form of tattoos, purposeful scarring, piercings, body hair (you’d have to see it to understand), unique scarves, wraps, or other accessories. The piercings are, by far, the most elaborate, and often mind-boggling. “How did they get THAT pierced?” What is that chain attached to?” and other humorous inquiries. It is also humorous to watch as people discover that at a nude beach, there is not just one type of person that belongs there. You will see people of every race, ethnicity, religion (you might be surprised how many religions encourage nudity), political, of every class (poor all the way to rich), of every age (newborns all the way to 100-year-old), of every work environment (laborers, and blue collar, mixing with white collar workers…there is no division between management, and laborors), every sexual-orientation (you name it, it gathers here… and nobody feels threatened, or vulnerable), all types of body hair (the furry person to the completely bare person, and every variation in between…and even that is not limited to any specific gender).

Once the illusion of clothing is removed, it is easy to notice one common trait we all share: WE ARE ALL HUMAN. It is surprisingly easy to relax once one realizes they are AMONG HUMANS.
Thinking of visiting a nude beach? I have one simple suggestion that will make it easier for you to know what to expect. Look around your neighborhood, your grocery store, your bank, post office, work place, the gas station, your kid’s school, the hospital, and even the nursing home. What you see here, in everyday life, is what you will see at the nude beach. Now, with that in mind, go, relax, enjoy!

Who knows, you might finally meet your neighbor! Heck, you might even see your Grandma!