Nudism, a deviance?
In the beginning naturism was considered a deviance. Now days it might not be seen like that any more, but in some respects, as in the practise of bare life, it still is.The psychoanalysis for ‘deviance’ is people who deviate from the standards of conduct, from the majority of people, in an ethical and religious way, etc...
People who deviate from what is the norm in society, or the dominant group, can face great difficulties in their daily life.But, as always, psychoanalysis teaches us, that there are not only negative deviations, but also those who are positive. These are the ones that can be usefull and suffice the two preliminary conditions: That the diviation is not in conflict with the law and that it does not harm others.
An example of positive deviance refers to a theory of sorts after the end of the Vietnam War, which, because of the enormous destruction suffered, was in a serious crisis. Following this, the population was found to live in terrible conditions of undernourishment, due to deficiency of essential foodstuffs.
The daily amount of food was, in fact, two rations of rice a day. An amount that was obviously insufficient to feed a family, especially the kids who were always hungry.There was one woman in a Vietnamese villagewho subdivided the two rations of rice in five or six rations and mixed them with small shellfish and she then distributed it to her children. This very personal choice proved to be succesfull. Her children were better nourished, and, more importantly, they were not starving.
This ‘deviation’from the general behavior of the people in the village was picked up by the other villagers, because they saw the positive outcome n her children. It then spread like wild fire across the entire country and became the new norm.It is needless to say that this principle is now applied on a large scale in the food industry by the staff of humanitarian organizations working in hospitals in the countries of the third world,. This is contributing in a largely positive way to solve many problems of malnutrition. This particular case of deviance shows us how it can contribute to a better society.
Naturism would only be a deviance if the practice of nudity were in circumstances of life where it was not expressly required (cleaning staff, medical appointments, illness, etc..).But the fact is that nudity is a natural condition of mankind and not a deviance.Not only us naturists are parry too the procedure, but also the nudistst. Recently British researchers did studies in nudist camps where modesty simply does not exist.
The researchers wanted to do an expiriment on nudity .They recruited a group of volenteers, excisting out of men and women from all ages and all levels of society.These people had never practiced nudism and were now ‘forced’ to live like nudists for one week in a specially equipped apartment.
After the inevitable teething problems that had caused a state of stress at different levels in the volunteers, the group was so much accustomed to the condition of nakedness taht they were not aware of their nakedness anymore.
They were now so accustomed to living this way everyday, talk, eat, sleep, ect….that at the end of the expiriment they walked out of the apartment and were now naked on the street, without being any account of their own condition. It should be noted that in this situation of public nudity,the stress levels measured by the researchers in the subjects were found to be equal to zero.
That proves unequivocally that nudism is unhistorical cosidered to be a ‘deviance ‘or that those who practice it are ‘deviant’. Naturism, counted among the positive deviance, would not only be proper to be recognized as a healthy lifestyle, but also one that is respectful of natureand that its application, there where it is possible, would ensure better living conditions for humanity.
An example of positive deviance refers to a theory of sorts after the end of the Vietnam War, which, because of the enormous destruction suffered, was in a serious crisis. Following this, the population was found to live in terrible conditions of undernourishment, due to deficiency of essential foodstuffs.
The daily amount of food was, in fact, two rations of rice a day. An amount that was obviously insufficient to feed a family, especially the kids who were always hungry.There was one woman in a Vietnamese villagewho subdivided the two rations of rice in five or six rations and mixed them with small shellfish and she then distributed it to her children. This very personal choice proved to be succesfull. Her children were better nourished, and, more importantly, they were not starving.
This ‘deviation’from the general behavior of the people in the village was picked up by the other villagers, because they saw the positive outcome n her children. It then spread like wild fire across the entire country and became the new norm.It is needless to say that this principle is now applied on a large scale in the food industry by the staff of humanitarian organizations working in hospitals in the countries of the third world,. This is contributing in a largely positive way to solve many problems of malnutrition. This particular case of deviance shows us how it can contribute to a better society.
Naturism would only be a deviance if the practice of nudity were in circumstances of life where it was not expressly required (cleaning staff, medical appointments, illness, etc..).But the fact is that nudity is a natural condition of mankind and not a deviance.Not only us naturists are parry too the procedure, but also the nudistst. Recently British researchers did studies in nudist camps where modesty simply does not exist.
The researchers wanted to do an expiriment on nudity .They recruited a group of volenteers, excisting out of men and women from all ages and all levels of society.These people had never practiced nudism and were now ‘forced’ to live like nudists for one week in a specially equipped apartment.
After the inevitable teething problems that had caused a state of stress at different levels in the volunteers, the group was so much accustomed to the condition of nakedness taht they were not aware of their nakedness anymore.
They were now so accustomed to living this way everyday, talk, eat, sleep, ect….that at the end of the expiriment they walked out of the apartment and were now naked on the street, without being any account of their own condition. It should be noted that in this situation of public nudity,the stress levels measured by the researchers in the subjects were found to be equal to zero.
That proves unequivocally that nudism is unhistorical cosidered to be a ‘deviance ‘or that those who practice it are ‘deviant’. Naturism, counted among the positive deviance, would not only be proper to be recognized as a healthy lifestyle, but also one that is respectful of natureand that its application, there where it is possible, would ensure better living conditions for humanity.
