I once again find myself writing here, wondering at the same time, why do I do this? Why do I write a blog post, especially on a site that is really not one that has a significant readership? Why do I place photos of myself in these posts? Obviously, it can’t be mostly about being an exhibitionist, though there is a bit of that in every blog post written by most people regardless of whether they are naturists, nudists, or folk that find comfort and safety in their clothing. With an average of about 12 visitors each day over the past two weeks, it is also, obviously, not about feeding my fan base. Okay, I’ll admit that the past two weeks have been an anomaly when it comes to my visitor count – December has its other demands from us. But the point remains, writing here does not seem to be about “others.” I guess that means that whatever is prompting me to keep writing on the blog site is about “self” – me, moi.
This photo, for example, is one taken this morning for me. The unedited version was placed in my personal journal which I maintain with more effort than I do this blog site. The photo was taken because of my attempt to be transparent with myself. It serves as a record of my physical state while the words serve as a record of my psychological state of being. The journal can’t really be called a diary as it doesn’t record much of what happened in my world. Now, I assume that simply knowing that I keep such a journal, one would wonder what the purpose of using some of my journal photos in this blog site is all about.
I took this photo because I had just trimmed off most of my body hair, something I will do again in two weeks time before we fly off to Ecuador. The photo then becomes a record; that’s it, an objective record of my physical self for December 19th, 2019. After writing my journal entry, I wondered about this whole thing regarding body hair and naturism. I’m seventy years old and no one cares if I have body hair or not. In the world of social naturism, especially in the online version of that collective, body hair sparks a never-ending debate. It seems absurd when you thing about it, especially when the body hair on one’s head is rarely questioned.
One neighbour commented to me that in her opinion, I look better and younger when I shave off my beard. That might be true, but it would never be an opinion that would persuade me to shave. She has often seen me nude and has never commented on my lack of pubic hair, or about the occasional appearance of hair on my back. Others, typically in the naturist community, have no comments to make about my beard or hair on my head, yet they do have something to say about the “pubes.” The responses fall into two camps, those for the smooth look and those for the “natural” look. Both sides try to influence “others” do do what they do, actions which are more about their need for validation that anything else. The truth is, it doesn’t matter one way or the other. My friend, Dan Carlson has written an excellent post on this, here.
The word “natural” has nothing to do with how we look and present ourselves. We are, each and every one one us, conscious and unconscious works of art in progress. If one was to strive to be as “natural” as possible, there would be no shaving, no haircuts, no nail trimming, no body-sculpting, and next-to-no plastic surgery. In a “natural” state, as far as body hair goes, I would be covered from head-to-toe with thick, coarse, very dark, body hair. Think of a black bear and you’ll have a good idea of just how hairy that would be. I found this image online to give you a good idea.
Now, there is nothing wrong with being this hairy. It is what it is. It is what we do with our body hair that becomes the question. Should we do anything? Purists say no. And of course, like all proselytizers, they get loud. It doesn’t matter what any self-proclaimed purist says. One makes decisions about body hair – haircuts, beard trims and styling, shaving off facial hair, trimming eyebrows or not, legs, backs, butts, and pubic region hair – for a variety of reasons. If a person does anything with regards to any body hair, then the “natural” argument goes away. It’s that simple.
Ah, there. Now I know why I decided to write a post today. Now, I open up the discourse to have you give your opinions about removal or modification of any and/or all body hair.