All posts tagged: of color

wow: i’m here, i’m me

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August 19-21, 2016 I found myself running around the hills and trees of Camp Ramblewood stark naked during Field Festival 2016. I was one of very few women who had opted to go nude at this clothing optional event. What’s more is that I was the only black woman who chose to bare much of anything. Black women wore the most clothing of all women present at that festival, even as other women of color experimented with going bare chested or completely nude. I find nothing wrong with one choosing to wear clothes. I believe that we all should have the right to choose how much or how little we want to wear and to be respected. And I should also note that I did not poll the women at the festival to ask them why they chose to wear what they wore. In fact, many people took this festival as an opportunity to use clothing etc. to express themselves in ways they might not normally get to do in la vie quotidienne. However, this …

barely in the family

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Two weeks ago, my mother, aunt, brother and I went up to Manhattan for the day. As we ventured through Times Square, we came across a group of bare chested women body painted in red, white and blue who permitted tourists to stand with them and take a picture. I paused in my steps and, after a few deep breaths, shared that I wanted to take a bare chested picture with the women. This would be my first time telling my brother and aunt about my bare-chested and clothes free life. My mom was over the moon and shouted ecstatically, “My daughter’s a naturist and she’s going to take a topless picture with these women!” in the middle of Times Square as she snatched my phone to capture the moment. It was heart-warming to see her excitement. I pranced over to the women and informed them of my request, and they expressed some excitement given that I, too, would be standing bare chested, enjoying the right to be. The moment I freed my chest, the breeze brought a refreshing breath to my skin, and I felt like …

Outside IN – mom

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Outside IN is a new series on clothesfreelife.com consisting of interviews with various people who do not practice naturism or clothes free living. The purpose of these chats is to hear individual personal shares about people’s history, experiences and perspectives regarding nudity. Most interviews will take place with people I know, as some questions might become quite personal. First interview: Mom.

Artist uses nude images to raise consciousness about race

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Woman Poses Nude in the Middle of Wall Street Visual artist Nona Faustine, a Brooklyn native, has published a series of provocative photos to underscore New York’s role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The photo series, titled “White Shoes,” features Faustine posing nude on Wall Street, at City Hall, in a Brooklyn cemetery, and at various other New York landmarks where African slaves arrived, lived, and died in America. A graduate of NYU’s School of Visual Arts, Faustine cites enslaved African “model” Saartjie Baartman and black American photographer Carrie Mae Weems as major influences and inspirations for her “White Shoes” project. “Through self-portraiture,” Faustine explains, “I explore issues about the black body within photography and history.“   read more from Complex see photos in the “white shoes series”

creating my clothes free life

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 From time to time, I come across discussions about what to do with young people when it comes to naturism? How do we keep it from dying with older age groups that seem to be most heavily involved? Is the end of naturism upon us? What to do? I have no magic answers for these big questions, and I won’t speak on behalf of all young people. I can only say that these discussions prompted me to take some time and reflect on my first year of clothes free life. 

Being With My Mom

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I recently arrived back home after visiting my mother. It feels strange to call this place home after having spent my first ever clothes free time with my mom as an adult. The time we had together made for a special kind of bond in a beautiful atmosphere of simply being. I had taken vacation time to go visit her down. Over the course of several conversations prior, we decided to try my being clothes free in her presence during my visit. We also committed to going to a clothing optional outdoor space. I got to her late on a Monday night. As always, there was an immeasurable amount of excitement in the air for the reconnection. We always scream and jump in each others’ arms when we first see each other at the airport. We grab arms and pinch cheeks just to make sure it’s real: Yes, we are both here. We arrived at her apartment and chatted into the wee hours of the morning. Part of that chat involved discussing some clothes free things. She …

Now that I’ve been clothes free on the beach how do I go back? Haulover beach first time report

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Guest post by @tallandnaturallyfree  I finally did it. Now, it doesn’t matter whether it came off of mg Bucket list, my How Stella Gets Her Grove Back list or my Path to Self Acceptance  list because I DID IT. I went to a nude beach and got NAKED. I was more excited than nervous. I think it is easier taking clothes off amongst strangers as opposed to friends. You can read reviews to get the low down on what Haulover Beach is like. I want to tell you how it felt. I did my research on nude beach etiquette and protocol to prevent my committing faux pas but no one mentions, do you set up your personal space first or take your clothes off? Do you take your clothes off one article at a time, or slide your underwear off with your bottoms? Way too much pressure here…

Identifiable Naked Hearts

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Recently I have come across some discussions in the clothes free community about whether to post identifiable full frontal pictures of self on the internet. Some say it is necessary to do so, that blurry or unidentifiable self-portrayal does a disservice to the cause. Some believe it is perfectly fine, perhaps necessary, to shield their identity, because repercussions could be catastrophic. Personally, I don’t feel it my place to say what is a “must” for others. The discussions, however, moved to reflect and share what has resonated with me in my own short journey to date.