Re-blogged from https://writersdisease.net/2013/10/21/why-the-nudity-taboo-is-unethical-and-must-go/
I have always believed in the fundamental right to be naked. Outside
of protection from the elements, from cold and physical hazards like
thorns and broken beer bottles, clothing is entirely unnecessary, a
matter of custom, of adornment, nothing more. I see no reason to wear
clothes at home, at the pool, on the beach or at the park. Wherever
bathing suits are acceptable, nudity should be also. Clothing has
nothing to do with morality. Anyone who believes that society cannot
function should people expose their genitals has only to look at the
Bororo, Pataxo, and Xerente tribes of the Amazon,
where complete nudity is customary. Going natural was practiced in
Ancient Sparta, among Celtic tribes, and remains a common form of
recreation for many Americans. Just visit
NudeState.
The image collection of families and friends sharing “naked time”
together is simply beautiful. This is why it breaks my heart to hear
about Christian Adamek:
“Christian Adamek, from Huntsville, Alabama, hanged himself
on October 2, a week after he was arrested for running naked across the
Sparkman High football field during a game. The teenager died two days
later from his injuries and on Wednesday, friends and family gathered at
a memorial service as they struggled to comprehend the beloved
student’s death. A video of Adamek streaking during a game against a
rival team was posted on YouTube hours after the event and students took
to Twitter to call him a ‘legend.’ ‘Sparkman’s new slogan is gonna be
“Welcome to Sparkman High School, Home of Christian Adamek,”‘ one
student wrote. But school staff did not treat the situation so lightly.
Sparkman High Principal Michael Campbell told WHNT a day before the
suicide attempt that the teen could face major repercussions because of
his actions. ‘There’s the legal complications,’ Campbell said. ‘Public
lewdness and court consequences outside of school with the legal system,
as well as the school consequences that the school system has set up.’
In Alabama, indecent exposure is linked to the state’s sex offender
laws, meaning that he could have found himself on the sex offenders
register due to the streaking. Campbell added that that the incident
was not just a prank and needed to be treated seriously. Sparkman High
administrators even recommended that Adamek face a hearing in the
Madison County court system to determine if formal charges would be
filed, WHNT reported. Adamek had also been disciplined by the school
district but the details had not been made public.
The day before the suicide attempt, the principal had confirmed
that Adamek was not at school and the teenager’s sister suggested on
Twitter that Adamek faced expulsion, AL.com reported.
Campbell declined to comment on Adamek’s death but the Madison
County school district issued a statement saying it had ‘received word
that a Sparkman High School student has passed away.’Our prayers and
thoughts are with the family during this time of bereavement,’ the
statement read. The messages on Twitter have now turned from
congratulatory to somber. ’Praying for the Adamek family. Christian was
so funny and nice. He will be missed by so many,’ one girl wrote. ‘He
was one that brightened the room when he walked in. That’s what I’ll
always remember about Christian.’” —-”Boy,
15, kills himself after ‘facing expulsion and being put on sex offender
registry’ for streaking prank at high school football game” by Lydia Warren, The Daily Mail
I would never go so far as to suggest that the reason for Adamek’s
suicide was the shame of nudity, or even the extreme punishment he was
threatened with, placement on the Sex Offender Registry List, where he
would forever be associated with the worst of sexual deviants. More than
likely, Adamek suffered from some form of depression. One does not
choose suicide on a whim. But I do believe his streaking was a way for
him to cope. I often find nudity to be cathartic and more than once have
contemplated freeing my body about the neighborhood. Perhaps Adamek
felt the need to draw attention to his existence. Whatever the case may
be, his actions should have been celebrated. Incriminating him could
only have damaged his already fragile psyche, and this is the shame of
this story, the intolerance of those who cling to outdated and
meaningless taboos. If we continue to treat people who choose body
freedom like rapists and child molesters, we pervert the very meaning of
what it is to be a sex offender, and by association, belittle the evils
of rape and molestation. People who commit sex crimes cause lasting
psychological wounds. Nobody who sees a human body has ever been harmed
by it.
Anti-nudity laws are unethical in that they criminalize a state of
being. There is no precedent, no comparable law, and worse, no rationale
for it. It is entirely rooted in archaic religious traditions. But
while we no longer justify beating our wives or stoning adulterers, we
must also accept that the human body is not an object of sin, nor can it
be considered lewd, indecent or obscene. Unlike public sex or
masturbation, nakedness is not an act, and for children innocent to sex,
does not arouse. While some people unused to what humans look like may
feel awkward, the feeling stems not from some fundamental aspect of
nature, but a society that teaches children that their bodies are
something to hide, which can often have devastating consequences. When I
was twelve, I needed surgery around my “private” parts, but what had
been so very private went on display for nurses, doctors, surgeons and
family members. At the time, I felt violated, but realizing it had to be
done for my health, my rage turned toward society. If raised among the
Bororo, Pataxo or Xerente people, or as my great Spartan ancestors were,
I would have never felt violated (although I probably wouldn’t have had
the surgery either!).
The only case anyone can make against social nudity is that it is
offensive. While this may be the case for some people, and honestly I
cannot imagine how something so common to us all can be, it is
irrelevant when it comes to what is legal. At the risk of sounding like a
Fox News pundit, the First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of
expression. No matter how offended I am (and often am) by people driving
around with giant Confederate flags on the back of their trucks, I know
that it is their right to do so, and that it would be unethical of me
to criminalize their expression, however racist and hurtful it may be. I
can legally burn a Bible, a Koran, even an American flag. I can hold a
sign at a gay man’s funeral that reads, “God Hates Fags”; I can tattoo
myself with a swastika and wear a T-shirt with Hitler’s face on it; and I
can put a bumper sticker on my car comparing the president to a
terrorist. And yet, the one thing I am never free to express is that of
my humanity, my belief that the body is an inherent good and innocent
thing, and that the only real shame is to hide it, or to fear that some
neighbor might peer over a fence and be offended by it. I have only to
take one step beyond my front door, and should I feel the sun on my
surgical scar, I become a criminal. For the remainder of my life, I am
barred from schools and playgrounds and anywhere children gather. In
essence, I am treated worse than a Nazi, because a penis is a greater
offence than a swastika. This is what Christian Adamek was faced with.
No doubt, he was hurting inside, more than his friends and family could
imagine, and our society failed him. A society that treats streakers as
criminals, that bases a legal system upon outdated religious taboos,
fails us all.
