Madison blogs - Clothing optional ...

Have you ever thought about posing naked? Nude. No clothes. Just you, your birthday suit and a camera. Cringing yet? Freaking out much?

Yes, me too. There is something so completely terrifying about the whole No Clothes On. For Posterity. On Celluloid. Forever. I can’t imagine ever being that confident or connected enough to my self-esteem. And that’s a shame because I think more women should be. And more women should feel less scared of the experience. Because naked ladies are a great thing.

Before we go any further, best I clarify the kinda naked I’m talking about. There are some women who take their clothes off for a living. Or for sex. Or for the type of magazine that you buy in a brown paper bag. And hey, zero judgement about these choices, but
that’s not the kind of nude I’m discussing here.
My heroes are those who disrobe for women’s magazines, television and other media, knowing their audience is predominantly women. This is true bravery. Men love looking at naked women. Any naked woman. All naked women. But women, well, we’re brutal, aren’t we? About our own bodies and others. From celebrities to the lady at the bus stop, we’ve turned watching into a pastime.

In my mind, posing nude would be similar to that feeling you get when you’re in a change room with no clothes on and the sales assistant walks in. Suddenly, you’re on the floor clutching your handbag
over your boobs. Scared she’s going to see you. Nude (there’s that word again). And that she’s going to think you are too thin/curvy/white/brown/old/young … STUPID.

Women who can shrug off this toxic style of thinking are the ones whose self-esteem we all need to be aspiring to. Four of this amazing breed did exactly that for us this month in The Naked Truth CLICK HERE.
Embracing the skin they’re in and talking honestly about their body’s journey and the wisdom and peace they picked up along the way. It’s a real gift to be able to look at women’s bodies as they truly are, and refreshing to see an accurate depiction of what we see each day in the locker room at the gym. Or at home in the mirror. How we all look before the smoke and mirrors start. Before the tummy-flattening control undies, the lift and separate bra and the butt-firming jeans.

It’s vital for us to see such representations of the everyday in the same places we visit for inspiration, yes, fashion magazines. Because beauty doesn’t only lie in a photo of a gorgeous model wearing an amazing dress. You can find it in the unlikeliest of places – another woman’s freckles, her thighs, a caesarean scar. Vulnerability is every girl’s secret beauty weapon.
I’m never going to pose nude. I’m just not. I am a chicken. And regardless of whether it is on your bucket list, I hope you’ll join me in applauding the women in our story. Clothing optional.