There are two types of people in this world: The ones who are totally comfortable being totally naked, and the ones who'd rather jump into a burlap onesie than go streaking. I've always been a little envious of friends who are uninhibited about things like skinny dipping, which I started thinking about while working on our February issue — the theme of which is "The New Naked." I read studies, interviewed researchers, and wrote this story on what it means — like really, truly means — to be a naked person. There are lots of ways you could define what it means to be a naked person, but these are my six favorites:
1. The most obvious, most basic definition: Someone who doesn’t like wearing clothes.
They read the Sunday paper in the buff, cook in the nude, occasionally shock the mailman, and might as well donate all of their pajamas to Goodwill. The first to share a dressing room, they take a clothing-optional approach to life whenever they can.
2. Someone who is sensitive.
A naked person might be someone with a deep and sensitive soul — at least, that’s how other people see them, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. When 527 participants looked at pictures of the same people naked and clothed, they rated the naked people as more capable of experiencing all kinds of feelings, including pain, desire, and pleasure. When they saw the exact same person in clothing, things changed — the individual was viewed as more intelligent but less in tune with their emotions.
3. An erudite, highbrow individual.
Imagine an art collector who sails through crosswords and is asking Alexa to play Don Giovanni — again — and you’re on the right track. According to research, people who love lounging around naked tend to have more cerebral personalities. “These are people who are cultured — they go to gallery openings, the opera, and read poetry,” says Benjamin Chapman, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester. We won’t go so far as to say they’re smarter, per se, but these people “may be more interested in intellectual pursuits.” Chapman surveyed 765 participants to research the ways in which personality traits predict behaviors and published his findings in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. “The point of the study was not to research nudity, so we were surprised that this link — between being naked at home and scoring higher on a trait psychologists call openness — was one of the strongest we found,” he says. “We think it’s because these personalities are also the most open to new experiences, nonconformist, and unconventional.”
4. An individual who buys organic food.
According to Chapman’s study, if you kick it in your birthday suit, you also may be more likely to buy organic. That could be because naked people are more enlightened, or maybe it’s because “there’s a crunchy, bohemian thing going on,” says Chapman. You could also be more likely to put Tabasco on your eggs and to daydream while you eat them. Go figure!
5. A happy person.
The more often you’re naked in public places, like topless beaches, the “happier you are with your body, yourself, and your life overall,” says Keon West, a senior lecturer in social psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. This, according to a survey of 850 men and women (of all different ages, ethnicities, and religions). In other words, these are the people who never miss an opportunity to skinny-dip, love the feel of the breeze, are the first to suggest strip poker, and have a master’s degree in joie de vivre.
6. A thrill seeker.
“There’s a pure element of eros — that sense of physical vitality — in nudity,” says Jeremy Adam Smith, the editor of the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center magazine. “It shocks the system and makes you aware of yourself in your body.” And we will leave you with this: “That can be so empowering.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of Allure. To get your copy, head to newsstands or subscribe now.
Let's keep this naked thing going:
Pick the Perfect Nude Nail for You
0 Response to "What Being a Naked Person Really Means in 2018"
Post a Comment