Would You Dare To Be Bare? / 你敢裸体么？

One of the strangest situations I've ever been in has to be the moment I set foot on the beautiful beach of Es Cavallet. Literally some of the best scenic eye candy anyone could ever wish for. Fast forward a few seconds later and then it finally dawned on me. Everybody here has nothing on, and I mean nothing! From head to toe, everything that was once "invisible" is now completely "visible" for the world to see. I turned a bright shade of red pretty quickly as well as felt more than a little uncomfortable. This environment was totally new to me.

曾经让我很难忘的经历是在Es Cavallet 沙滩。乍眼看去，那是我见过最美丽的海滩之一，海滩无比宁静，水蓝得甚至有点儿耀眼。短短几秒钟，我感觉有什么地方不对劲儿，然后才恍然大悟: 原来海滩里的每个人都是全裸，从头到脚，什么都没穿! 受传统教育的我顿时感觉有点儿尴尬，这对于我来说可是全新的体验!

But after the initial shock wore off and I relaxed up a little, it made me wonder what the big deal was? It was all in my head, my social conditioning telling me that this was an unnatural way to exhibit oneself, but nothing could be further from the truth. Families, couples, people of all shapes and sizes dotted the beach without a care in the world and no hint of shyness about them. I was the odd one out here, lol. That moment made me see things from a totally different point of view (literally as well, lol).

最初的震撼过后，我放松了一些，想想其实也没什么大不了的， 对吧？只是我所受的教育和社会经历告诉我，裸体并不是展现个人的自然表达方式。但事实也许并非如此。家庭，情侣，各种形态的人布满了整个海滩，他们并不羞涩也不在乎世人的眼光，自由自在享受着大自然的美景。而我倒显得有点儿鹤立鸡群了，呵呵。那一刻我学会了从另一个角度来看待事情。

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The Lands of Conservatism / 保守主义的领域

England has to be one of the most conservative countries in the world. The general consensus here of everyone towing the same line is very evident, which in practice has its good and bad points. But in the context of nudity, there seems to be zero tolerance. If a television programme shows so much as a woman's side breast at the wrong time (In the UK, that's before 9pm), the complaints start flooding in even though scenes of disaster and violence are rife across the news channels all day. If a mother breast feeds in a public area, which is actually a very rare sight in itself, she is hounded as indecent. 

英格兰也许是世界上最保守的国家之一。在这里每个人有着相似的社会价值观，当然这是有利有弊的。但关于裸露这个话题，这里几乎是零容忍度。如果电视节目在错误时段（即英国晚上9点以前）播出女性胸部，即使只是侧胸，电视台会受到大量观众投诉。如果一位母亲在公共场所母乳喂婴，她会被指责不雅观。

There is even the extraordinary case of "The Naked Rambler" Stephen Gough, who to this day refuses to wear any clothes. He feels he literally does not want to and can uphold his human right not to. This has got him thrown into jails numerous times, only to be let out and put straight back in again on the grounds of public indecency. This issue alone has divided the nation on how this man should be treated.

甚至有极端案例，如Stephen Gough。他是英国小有名气的“裸奔男”，直到今天他仍然拒绝穿衣，并坚持这是他的人权。他已被扔进监狱无数次，每次出狱，马上又以在公共场所公然猥亵为由被捕入狱。人们对于应该怎样处理Stephen有所争议。

(Mr. Stephen Gough)

Now I'm not saying we should all go around naked roaming the streets and not caring about societal values, but at the same time I don't think demonising the human body to the point of it being a taboo subject and something not to be discussed or displayed is the right way either.   

在这儿，我并不提倡大家都应该不顾社会价值观去裸奔街头，同时我并不认为完全禁忌谈论裸体相关话题是正确的处事态度。

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The Virtues of Religion / 宗教美德

Religion plays an integral part of millions of people’s lives across the globe and for the most part teaches peace, love and social morality. However, most religions condemn nudity. See it as a thing of embarrassment and guilt. This representation of the human form has been passed down countless generations to how we perceive it today. 

宗教是世界各地数百万人生活中不可缺少的一部分，它以教育人们热爱和平，相亲相爱和社会价值观为主题。然而，大多数的宗教谴责裸体行为，把它看作是尴尬和羞愧的事情。人们穿衣展现自己的方式，这是我们所受的教育，也是代代相传的真理。

For example topics involving sex, although a biologically natural act, can be commonly referred to as "dirty" or being "filthy minded". The irony though is that "dirty, filthy minded act" is what got us all here in the first place! We are pre-conditioned from infancy to adulthood to view sexual organs as something that must be hidden and not spoken of.

例如性爱，虽然是自然的生理行为，却通常被称为“ 肮脏”。很讽刺的是，正是这所谓“ 肮脏”的行为，才把我们所有人带到这个世界上的! 从幼儿时期到成年，我们一直被教育着：性器官必须隐藏，不能公开谈论。

(The forbidden fruit that changed everything)

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The Positivity of Being Free / 裸体的好处

There also seem to be a surprising amount of health benefits for those of us who prefer to be in the buff. 

我们很多人也许会觉得惊讶，可裸体的健康益处还真不少哦。

1) Clothes cause us to sweat more, which in turn leads to a breeding ground for bacteria. This leads to us being more prone to infections. Because of that "missing element" concerning nudists, they obviously don't have this problem thereby reducing many health related risks. Blood circulation is also improved due to not being restrained by tight fitting clothing and letting it all hang out like nature intended! 

衣服让我们出汗多，导致细菌滋生，从而也是我们更容易受感染。裸体者显然没有这个问题，这降低了他们生病的机率。由于没有受到紧身衣服的约束，人体血液循环也得到改善！

2) People who prefer to be in the nude tend to have more self-confidence! Seems implausible but I see that as being true. On the beach that day, as I mentioned there were people of all shapes and sizes, however everyone being as bare as they were would find it hard to pass judgement on someone else. 

裸体的人往往更有自信。这似乎令人难以置信，但我认为这是真的。那天在海边，正如我所说有着各种体型的人，每个人都全裸但并没有任何人对其他人指手画脚，品头评足。

Clothes and fashion ironically are actually the symbols of separatism and exclusion in our "civilised" society. Designer labels, latest trends, they all play a part in making people desperate to fit in with the everybody else and feel insecure. Strip all these away and we all more or less have the same attire. Psychologically, this breaks down those limiting social barriers we city dwellers contend with day to day.

衣服和饰品其实是把人们分开和排斥的符号。什么设计师品牌和最新流行服饰等，人们想通过这些外表包装把自己融入其他群体，以此产生安全感。把外在衣物去掉，大家其实有着相同的身体。在心理上，裸体打破了我们城市居民每天面对的社交局限性。

3) Research conducted in Florida, USA showed that nudist children grow up with overall better communication skills and social acceptance of others. I put this down to them being brought up in a freer environment without many of the social restrictions and peer pressures in life that we are all so used to by now.

美国佛罗里达州的一项研究表明，裸体长大的小孩显示出比我们一般小孩更好的沟通和社交能力。我认为这是因为他们没有我们习以为常的社会约束以及同行的压力，在一个更加自由的环境下长大。

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So, have I convinced you to start stripping off and live the best lifestyle in existence? Lol, I know this topic can be quite a divisive one but I was trying to looking at this from a more neutral perspective. The human body is nothing to be ashamed of or some deep dark secret nobody dare talk about. That day at Es Cavallet Beach taught me a valuable lesson about judging others based on nothing but stereotype. 

说了这么多以后，我有没有说服你开始裸体的健康生活呢？哈哈。我知道这个话题是非常有争议的，但我试图从更客观的角度来看待它。展示人的身体是没有什么好羞耻的，也不是什么别人不应该知道的秘密。在Es Cavallet海滩的那一天给我上了人生宝贵的一课。

We live each day hidden in our protective clothing, shielding our true selves away from the glaze of others thinking we are so different, when in truth, we all just look exactly the same underneath.

我们每天都生活在自己防护衣下，在别人面前把自己严实地隐藏起来，感觉自己真的与众不同。其实真相是，衣服底下的我们有同样的身体。

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(Sources: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)