In Defense Of Naked Babies
We’re all for small children running around naked. Quite frankly, we’re all for people running around naked (it’s more comfortable!), but we understand that that can get a little complicated (what with the sex bits and all). But small children — pre-prepubescent children, who are naked on TV all the time — shouldn’t they, at the very least, be free to be a nudey?
We’d like to think so, but as Ellen Friedrichs points out in her excellent essay, letting your kid run around without clothes can often lead to opposition: from other parents, from random passersby, even from police (well, park security). What’s so wrong with a little naked baby, we ask? Why can’t we just let children be children… and be naked?
[Photo by bruin]
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Comments
Ah, so true Lux!
When my elder daughter (now 7) was an infant – no more than two weeks old actually – she and her father were hanging out in downtown Austin. My daughter was naked. It was July in Austin, TX, what other way was there for a baby to be? Anyway, a random passer-by came over to admire the baby and was shocked – shocked! – to see that she was naked. She said to my husband: “She’s naked!” He said: “Yes.” She said: “Can you DO that?”
I’m still not even sure what she was attempting to ask.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:16 pmWhen I was a wee lad, I ran about naked all the time. It didn’t do me any harm at all, and no one complained. It’s good for you.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:20 pmnude kids are a constant source of humor also, though i suppose part of it is that they are nude, and that’s taboo for adults.
man, i don’t think nudity is sexy. nudity can be sexy for sure, but so can almost anything. i don’t appreciate that the general consensus is that if i’m naked, that’s a sexual act in itself. and if we could get over that idea, no one would ever have trouble with naked kids.
also, i’m glad you wrote ‘nudey’ though i would write it ‘nudie’.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:57 pmWow.. reading your article made me extremely sad. I had no idea people were like this these days. I used to love running freely and unclad as a young boy. At some point I became completely embarrassed about nudity until finally overcoming it in early adulthood. Those years spent in fear were really horrible, and I wish we could all be free from having to experience that.
Child molesters are like terrorists. Firstly, there are far less of them than the media would like us to believe, and secondly, by letting the fear of them interfere with your kids’ childhood by forcing them into an unnatural modesty is letting them win, in a way – just like living in fear of terrorists is exactly what they wanted in the first place.
Or something. My point is, don’t live in fear!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:10 am*Sad face* I had the sort of parents who thought child nudity was WRONG. If I took my clothing off, I got yelled at. Maybe that is the reason why I take off my clothing at the drop of a hat now?
September 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pmMy two younger sisters and I ran around nude all the time when we were little. It was so liberating not having any constricting clothes around my waist or over my joints. To this day, we all really REALLY dislike uncomfortable clothing.
My youngest sister enjoyed her nudity the most. As she got older, and started to understand that people generally remain clothed when around strangers, she would put on leotards and bathing suits. I guess it was like a second skin to her. It really doesn’t surprise me that out of all three of us, she has the best self-body image.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:51 pmHow right you are!
We don’t need any silly prudery over a nude toddler or a topless little girl.
Which, coming to think of it, is a related issue.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:52 pmSince a little girl is exactly the same above the waist as a little boy, her being topless is no more inappropriate than a litle boy’s being topless.
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