In human relationships, there are different kinds of nakedness. Sometimes, we just get physically naked. Other times, we get emotionally naked as well. Whatever your situation or inclination, this chapter talks about taking your clothes off, and suggests a kind of nakedness that has emotional as well as physical grit. It also talks about different ways of getting naked, and the things we cover ourselves with that entice but keep us just this side of wearing nothing.
For some people, getting naked in front of a lover is as easy and natural as drinking a glass of water. Some even send naked picutures of themselves over their cellphones. For others, getting naked can cause distress or embarrassment. Some people even engineer situations where they can get it on without taking their clothes off in front of a partner. Perhaps this gives you an idea of how powerful getting naked can be, and how vulnerable we can feel about our bodies.
As a culture, we are so uptight about nakedness that we don't have street-corner fountains with fat marble cherubs peeing into large pools of water or public paintings of naked Botticelli babes. A bare crotch on network television is about as common as a snowstorm in Siam, and even the suggestion of body parts beneath a person's blue jeans on the public airwaves can result in a massive fine from the FCC. No wonder why a free-for-all of nakedness has evolved over the Internet!
No matter what our culture's public stance, we are clearly interested in nakedness, given how so many ads and images in our society drip with prurient fury. Perhaps we have learned to cope with all of the mixed messages by becoming more aroused by near-naked images than by actual nakedness. Or near-nakedness might simply allow more space for our fantasies to imagine what's under the skimpy wrappers. Whatever the case, with their suggestion of impending nakedness, the pictures in this chapter may have more intrigue than if the couples in them were buck naked.
