There’s an adage that says, “All the world’s problems could be solved if our leaders held their meetings in the nude.” After all, what best quells the nervousness of a public speaker? Imagining your audience naked! These images may be humorous, but you can’t miss the powerful connection between accepting our bodies and accepting each other.

What we believe about our bodies, is what we believe about ourselves. That’s why the joke about people who seem to always go naked on a nude beach are the people who should keep their clothes on, is ultimately a statement about body-phobia. If we can’t see the beauty in others, especially in the body’s natural state, then we’re doomed to hate ourselves, because sooner or later we will have less and less control of our body’s look, not to mention it’s function. You might think that this is nothing new because you already feel that your body is far from how you’d like it to look. After all, America’s consumerism has succeeded in not only making us the most obese population in the world, but also the most unrealistic body conscious population in the world. Is that a lose/lose situation or what? But there are ways out of this no-win scenario and believe it or not, the key is actually your body.

When streaking was a fashionable mode of activism, the naked body had the shock value to disrupt and attract attention, regardless of what cause the runners were trying to advance (the sexual revolution, antiwar demonstrations, etc...). A few celebrities don’t give a damn about who sees their naked beauty, like Madonna. When she was cornered by the tongue-wagging media regarding her first nudes being published, she simply yanked the bang out of their buck by responding with, “So what?” (Hey! look, I am a fag! I just made a Madonna reference!)

These examples point out the power that is the unobstructed body. It seems this strength of nakedness is present regardless of body type. It does not matter if a “gym bunny,” or a “troll,” walked down the street naked, they would, without a doubt, stop traffic. Furthermore, if you were to witness this event, below your shock would be some configuration of awe, as if to think, “That takes guts!” Nudity can be described as one of the most natural forms of honesty — physical vulnerability. I believe that the innate sense of belonging infers an innate desire to be known — to be accepted as you are. Therefore, nudity, to a great degree becomes a recipe for more fully accepting yourself and others.

So am I suggesting we all doff our clothes any chance we get? In some respects, it is already happening. Photographic and video imaging across the internet is now so easy, that showing explicit and sexy self portraits is becoming as commonplace as revealing your astrological sign. Hundreds of websites are solely devoted to sharing thousands of explicit self-photos and videos of everyday people. There’s a reason that the Amateur Genre was estimated to occupy 20 percent of the sex video industry’s revenue. It’s a sense that this kind of cyber exhibitionism and voyeurism is a revolutionary act of freedom, titillation, and sexual self acceptance, which flies in the face of the prudish negativity that is so pervasively degrading our society. Obviously, an integral part of internet exposure lies in the fact that the sexual activity can occur in the safety and privacy of one’s home. Yet, I predict that if people experience pleasure, freedom, and empowerment from this type of semi-anonymous enjoyment, more public forms of this kind of natural expression are only a pant zipper away.

Wouldn’t it solve a lot of the problems in the world if everyone felt comfortable enough with their unique sexuality, behavior and body shape that explicit photography and video would be as commonplace as recording a person’s birthday party? The, um... naked truth is that the majority of us have perfectly healthy and beautiful bodies, and we look nothing like the enormously unrealistic ideal body type. And for that I say, “Thank goodness!”