Normalizing Nudity

by Michelle Montoro

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I love quotes. I love sharing quotes that inspire and empower. I love looking to quotes when I am at loss for words to properly convey my own thoughts on a topic.

I was a bit stumped on the topic of normalizing nudity, so I went searching for quotes to inspire me. I typed a Google search for “quotes about nudity” and I was quite astonished by the results.

Perhaps I should have searched “normalizing nudity” rather than just “nudity” because I was met with a whole plethora of quotes that call nudity shameful, gratuitous, terrible, and disgusting. Quotes that praised women as sexy when they wear clothing that “leaves something to the imagination.” Quotes about covering up rather than revealing anything. Quotes that talk about only certain people should dare to be nude…only the ones with “perfect bodies” and all others should hide away in shame.

Where and why and how did we get here? To this point where our naked bodies are subjects of nothing but shame and disgust?

Then I found this quote…

“Until I became human, nobody ever told me there was something wrong with my body.” -Christina Henry, The Mermaid

We have no shame. No shame in our appearance, in our bodies, in our nakedness. Until we become human.