Is the nude body still radical?
In this #UndressedThread, we’re asking whether simple nudity still has the power to challenge the status quo
Not long ago, a bare body could stop traffic—literally and culturally. But in an age of OnlyFans, AI-generated nudes, and hyper-curated social media, has nudity lost its edge? Or is the unfiltered, unretouched, uncommodified human body more radical now than ever? If nudity is too normalized to shock, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
Whether it’s an act of protest, a quiet form of self-acceptance, or a refusal to conform, nudity still makes a statement. But what kind of statement? That might depend on who’s looking—and why.
In this #UndressedThread, we’re asking:
Do you think nudity still disrupts cultural norms—or is it too familiar to shock?
Where do you see nudity making the biggest cultural impact right now?
Let’s unpack this together—drop your thoughts in the comments. 🪐
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A young beautiful woman is still treated differently than a naked man, no matter how attractive he may be.
What status quo?
I don't mean to be dismissive, but dialogue in the naturist and nudists worlds in America often frames itself as being in opposition to a puritanical WASP establishment which realistically hasn't existed for a generation. The mainline protestant denominations have completely bled away any social power they once had. The evangelical movement that's replaced them is now more of a political movement than a religious one, and a political movement that has demonstrated time again that it has little concern for notions of traditional morality or decency. If the status quo you're looking to stand in opposition to is a sour-faced Mrs. Grundy looking down her nose at the shamelessness, well, I just read the obituary of the guy who wrote her obituary twenty years ago.
Radicalism has long been not only subsumed by capitalism, it has become the chief message of capitalism. The let it all hang out ethos of the hippie movement was transformed into the creative destruction of Silicon Valley. The self-actualization movement long ago discovered that the easiest way to actualize is to acquire. We have, quite frankly, been so thoroughly sold on the idea that society is something we must be in opposition to that we've become blinded to the fact that there's now very little society left to oppose. We are not in a place where we need to challenge the status quo, we are in a place where we need a status quo.
The thing is, nudism does have a lot to offer whatever comes next, if whatever comes next is to be at all a good thing.
For years, being photographed naked was something of an initiation ritual for Ivy League students. In the brobdingnagian summer camp for the ultra-rich and ultra-powerful that is Bohemian Grove, we're told that top-tier plutocrats, Supreme Court justices, and all of the other specially selected representatives of the Great and The Good routinely walk around completely naked. Nudity can be an excellent source of social bonding. The rich and the powerful have never forgotten this.
On the other end of the social spectrum, opportunities for shared social nudity that came with things like public bathhouses, group showers after hard physical labor, and, yes, military service, have all but disappeared. The opportunities for social bonding that these moments have produced have also all but disappeared. Nudism and social nudity may not be the solution to all of society's problems, but they do have something to offer in the way of what a solution might look like
There's a quote from The Hitch-Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, "we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway." A nudist twist on this would be that we will be normalizing nudity just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway.
If we think about what society could look like for the next generation, rebuilding some sense of social cohesion has to be a strong priority in making that less of a nightmare. Building out clothing optional spaces, such as saunas or pools, in places where amenities are otherwise lacking, could be a great step to assisting with building that cohesion. Making these spaces where absolutely no phones are allowed would be another great step in assisting with building that cohesion. Maybe nudists should take a cue from some immigrant and religious communities and form free loan investment pools to enable nudist entrepreneurship to bring this about.
We've had sixty years of radicalism promoted as an ideal in American culture, and maybe it's time to recognize that it's an idea whose time has far outlived its usefulness. Because it now seems like the task ahead is not to tear down the present but to build for the future.
Anyway, sorry about the overly lengthy rant here. Remember, I'm just a mediocre cartoonist whose words should be viewed with extreme skepticism.