We cannot bear to bare it all: Why is nakedness a taboo?

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When we come into this world, we are bare, free of clothing, of all of our societal rules, cultures, and education. We are naked. As soon as we are in this world we are rushed to be cleaned and wrapped in ‘warm clothing’ by well meaning doctors, midwives and other medical personnel. From that moment on our natural state of nakedness is hidden forever, taboo. We become forever ashamed of our very nature. We cannot bear to bare it all; it would be too much for society to handle.

So we have created dress codes which instruct us to cover our bodies and on how to cover them. They tell us how much of our bodies we can expose at any one point in time. As we grow up, we learn these rules and most importantly we accept these rules with little or no questions asked.  We become obsessed with covering our bodies.

When did it become so important to cover up, to hide? This is certainly not a thing of today, for humans have covered themselves in one way or another since time immemorial but surely this would have started from somewhere. The Bible tells us it was after Adam and Eve disobeyed God that humans hid themselves for the first time, but there are many who can argue that this is not so as not everyone subscribes to the teachings of the Bible.

Although I personally do not know how clothes became a basic need, I believe that when humans first started wearing clothes it may have been out of necessity. Maybe the climate was too harsh or the environment required that the body be covered in one way or the other. But in today’s world there are times when there is little or no environmental need to cover up. There are days when the weather is perfect for just being naked and even in these times we hide our bodies. There are times when clothes are actually burdensome. I mean it sometimes gets so hot in the summer that I have a strong urge to take off all clothes but I don’t, I can’t, I’m not allowed to, it is called public indecency.

For a long time, I criticized many artists, actors and others in the entertainment industry and basically just anyone who did not cover up enough for bombarding the world with too much nakedness, and people who adopted the nudist culture confused me. I did not get it at all. I felt like humans especially women needed to cover up as much of our bodies, to preserve our dignities. However, now that I really think about it, I do not see any non-arbitrary relationship between how covered up a person is and their dignity? I think I felt so uncomfortable being exposed to another’s nakedness because of my obsession with covering up, with hiding. Why are we hiding, what are we hiding and from who? If we entered this world in a state of nakedness why don’t we exist in that same state? Why am I only allowed to be naked, in private. Why is it a taboo?

I am in no way saying that there is anything wrong with the clothes themselves. I am merely questioning the importance and many meanings attached to the clothes we wear. I am trying to understand why it is not okay to be without them. I am very keen to hearing what you all have to say about this so do leave a comment.