Today, was the first day when it got properly warm. By which I mean over 30. I don't consider it properly warm if it's under 30.
And since I spent the day working from my home computer, I decided to whip my shirt off rather than pull the fan out and waste power.
When I was a youngster, we lived in places where the temperature regularly got over 40, and the nearest neighbours were miles away. Also, Dad had been in the army and had no shame whatsoever, and maybe that set the tone a bit too. Basically, we went naked or mostly-naked a lot.
As a young adult, it wasn't uncommon for people to strip off when they were on the piss. Of course, nobody had phones or fucking Facebook in those days.
If the world has changed, I don't think the family's has much over the years. My brother put up a high fence so he could garden naked. None of my nieces and nephews would think twice about playing naked in front of people, at least until the age of ten or so. About a quarter of the photos in my Mum's albums are of naked kids, which in this day and age, might be worrisome from a legal perspective. But I doubt anyone in the family's even given it a second thought.
I was thinking about all this while I looked out the window and wondered if any of the neighbours could see in. I suppose I should've been concerned about it, but I wasn't really. If anyone could see in, hopefully they weren't filming it on their fucking phone and uploading it to the net.
How was your day/weekend/week? Has it been warm where you are? Do you go topless/nude? What're your thoughts on the subject?
10 comments :
Hey finished my week's work, am tired, and heading to bed to read BUT thought I'd pop back in here to comment.
Growing up, we were pretty relaxed about nudity in the house. My parents would walk from bathroom to bedroom naked, we were allowed in the bathroom when they were washing, or my mum anyway, but I remember having a bath with dad when I was little, two kids and a man squeezed in the tub. But then my parents split and he moved out and so I don't know whether it would have continued. As we became teenagers we became more modest, but me and my sister and my mother have always been naked easily in front of each other, gone to the toilet in front of each other, that sort of thing. One person's in the shower, the other's on the loo, or doing makeup or whatever. It's the same with my daughter and me now, but not with Clokes and his kids (obvs) BUT I reckon even if the kids were all from me and Clokes, I'd be the naked one and he wouldn't. He just private and was brought up in a different way. He's prob never seen his parents naked, even when he was little. Just different families.
As for nuding up as an adult, I've done it when skinny dipping a few times but when at home, wouldn't strip off for heat or comfort simply because of stepchildren. Even going from bedroom to bathroom I make sure I'm in a robe. It is something I notice, cause I'd be running around the house in bra and undies otherwise, sprawled on the couch etc but it's not a big deal to not do it.
I have a friend who said once she was up in the centre with another friend, a guy, they weren't in a sexual relationship, they were seriously friends, and she said one day they just stripped off and were naked for the whole day. Just to see what it would be like. They were working around the campsite, loading the car etc etc, all nude. I found it hard to understand, how she/they could do that. But they did.
My mum tells a story of Pixie Skase at school being a very 'racy' teenager, and telling stories about 'driving down the coast' in her 'boyfriend's convertible' with her top off sunbaking topless. Cool.
My thoughts really are that people should suit themselves. Other people's nudity wouldn't bother me as long as it's not 'aggressive' if you know what I mean.
It hasn't been hot here yet. It's been quite cool, I prefer it a bit warmer.
And my week, BUSY. TGIF. x
It's interesting that, on this one, your upbringing doesn't sound very different to mine at all, despite you being urban and me rural. I thought that might have been the big factor, but I guess not. I also find it interesting that your family segregated along gender lines at some point (you mentioned you, your sister, and mum, but not your brother). That never really happened with us. Maybe it would've been different if it was all girls and one boy. Maybe not.
Also interesting about your current arrangement. I know you've said before that it's like two families sharing a house, but I think I'm only now starting to fully grasp what you mean. Even at home, you have to maintain a certain degree of reserve and formality with the people you're not directly related to. I thought that sort of thing would go out the window pretty quickly, but I guess not for everyone.
I do get your friends out in the centre though. I think I could fall into that pretty easily. However, unless I was extremely dark-skinned, I don't think I'd wanna be walking around the Tanami with nothing on. You can get seriously burned.
I like the Pixie Skase story. I'm trying to imagine the looks she would have been getting from other motorists. I'll bet your mum has a tonne of neat stories.
I think I know what you mean by "aggressive nudity". I went to a New Year's thing a few years ago where a couple of blokes stripped off and started sticking their dicks in people's faces and so forth. Not fun at all.
Like two families sharing a house, yes. Things don't go out the window, because they aren't my children, and my daughter isn't my husband's child, so the potentially relaxing of things don't happen. I wonder if they happen with any step families, I suspect not and I think they shouldn't. There are different sensibilities, for want of a better word, and the children need to be protected even more from step-parents overstepping boundaries. Even more than in bio families, but of course it can be an issue in bio families too, also in bio families, not everyone is relaxed, some a v conservative re nudity and what they talk about and how they behave.
My friend who went naked for a whole day had/has big boobs but slender everywhere else. And is extremely beautiful, and I saw pics (clothed) of the dude and he was a hunk so I guess I found it hard to understand, with so much gorgeous flesh on display, how it could have stayed platonic, or how it could have been anything other than 'suggestive' but that just reveals my small mind I guess. She had/has the skin to go really brown, unlike me with my fair Celtic skin.
I suppose, with the way I am now, it's easier to imagine that kind of platonic relationship. I guess it gets harder when I think back to what it was like when I was younger. Maybe when you've been really close friends for a really long time, maybe you stop finding them attractive and start thinking of them as more of a sibling? I don't know. I've moved around a lot and never had long-term close friends. Can you shed any light? Maybe if they'd been out there alone for months on end things would have been different.
In the past, I've looked at docos on nudist colonies and thought, surely people must get aroused from time to time; what happens then? I don't think I've ever heard it discussed frankly, just laughed off, which is a bit annoying.
I wonder if they happen with any step families
They do. I've seen it amongst my own clan*. I guess it gets harder as the kids get older. Assuming parental responsibilities for an infant is different than for a teenager, for example. I guess it depends on the adult too. Maybe people who've spent time in boarding school, orphanages, the military, prison, etc, tend to be a bit more relaxed about stuff in general, and more open to, I dunno, "communal living". Or maybe it's got something to do with coming from small, tight-knit communities where there aren't any "outsiders", so to speak. In some areas of the family, maybe there's still the residual influence of a more traditional tribal lifestyle. And maybe, as you say, it's not always such a good thing; boundaries can get crossed and so forth; but I don't know how much of a relationship there is between those two elements. I wouldn't be surprised if misbehaviour is just as prevalent in very strict, conservative families where everyone is clothed all the time. In fact, without giving it too much thought, I'd say that maybe the bigger differnce amongst my lot, is how much better the conservative portions are at keeping things under wraps for long periods of time (like 40+ years).
Of course, I've seen how step families can be fraught with all sorts of other problems, too. I think I mentioned the bloke who cut ties with his own biological parents because they wouldn't accept his step kids as grandchildren.
My friend and the guy didn't know each other well, they were newish acquaintances - another reason why I found it hard to understand. As far as I know they weren't in the 'such old friends as to be sibling-like' category. And they only spent about a week together, from memory.
I can understand how different step families might be, especially if 'merged' when kids were very little and step parents were involved in bathing and toileting - that would break down barriers for sure. And I didn't mean to imply that families/groups with relaxed attitudes to nudity would be any more likely to cross boundaries, you're quite right to say that it happens just as much in the more conservative, 'uptight' families, but just in terms of step parents, to me it would be weird for there to be nudity and it would be a boundary crossed, and possibly then would make it easier to cross other boundaries. As I type I realise that's probably a load of bullshit so I don't really know what I think.
I don't remember you mentioning the bloke who cut ties. WOW. So what, was he possibly expecting too much (eg wanting them to inherit equally with biological grandkids) or were they like really really dismissive of the kids and didn't acknowledge them or something?
So ... two attractive young people who've known each other a week and get along like a house on fire, who are both presumably single and sexually active, but neither of whom have experience with a nudist lifestyle, spend a day together, alone and naked in the outback, and neither of them experiences any kind of sexual impulse?
I have to admit that even I'm finding this story more and more amazing as the details get filled in.
It sounds like you've found a comfortable place within your own step family, and really, that's the only important bit. All the rest is academic.
The bloke who stopped talking to his parents, I don't think their relationship was super great to start with, and it might've just been the straw that broke the camel; but the version of the story I heard was that the grandparents basically didn't want anything to do with the step kids. Resented looking after them or taking them places, wouldn't buy them birthday cards, continuously roused on them, etc, etc.
On the other end of the spectrum, on one side of my family, when there's troubles, sometimes kids will just go and get raised by a grandparent, uncle, or auntie (terms used loosely). For years now, I've had a bit of a fear that at some point I might get tapped on the shoulder; especially since some of the oldies are not well pleased with my apparent inability to reproduce of my own accord. Thankfully, so far, nothing's come of it.
Yeah I know I never understood it. Maybe they did fuck and she didn't tell me that bit?
The parents of the bloke, they sound a bit mean. It's not that hard to acknowledge birthdays but if they were being expected to do lots of taking the kids places, and looking after them; well I probably get that. The connection is not there when it's not a blood thing, for some people. I'm one of those people.
Your last example though, is not really on the same spectrum, it's a different spectrum. People within a larger family circle, stepping in to help out, I do get that. But I can understand not wanting to have that responsibility either; especially Auntie Alex who might have her life just as she wants it... So did you once say you have Islander origins on one side? Indigenous or TSI? I don't understand the distinctions but when people say Islander in Australia does it mean TSI? And are TSI people what I would think of as aboriginal, or are we talking Samoan or other? And it's different to Islander say in NZ?
Sorry, lots of direct questions there, but I'm sure you've mentioned it a few times in the past, and now kind of again in your comment above. You've also said we (you and I) have very different backgrounds. The advantage you have is you know my real name and you know what I look like... How anglo I am. So I'm really just curious. I like to know things, I'm nosey.
Well, you do know my first name, right? Also, I'd say I look ~pretty~ anglo, apart from the nose maybe. I have more Scots ancestry than anything else. But yeah, there's a bit of Aboriginal and Islander mixed in there, along with at least one Chinese bloke who came over looking for gold. There's also some Irish, Italian, German, Sri Lankan, and other odds and sods amidst the morass. But not that I'm directly descended from. That I know of. Of course, you can rarely be 100% certain of your biological makeup. I think most family trees will yield a surprise or two if you start peeling off the bark.
As far as "Islander" goes, I use it as a catch-all term for people from any of the islands in the Oceanic region. But no, TSI are generally considered different from Australian Aborigines. I believe anthropologists class them as Melanesians, along with the native peoples of Fiji, Solomon Islands, and PNG. Maoris, Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, Hawaiians, etc are all classified as Polynesians. The native peoples of both NZ and Cook Islands are Maoris. The Islander branch of the family has both Melanesians and Polynesians in it. A lot of Kiwis have come into the family, and many cousins have moved to or spent time living in NZ, so I can probably almost call it the Kiwi branch of the family these days. The aunties and that I'm closest to are predominantly Cook Islanders.
Not that it matters much. I'm not a great believer in the concept of distinct "races" or inherited identity. I think most of what makes us who we are is learned, and most of the rest is window-dressing; so real differences are just as likely to fall along geographical and economic lines as they are racial ones. I'm guessing that when I said we had different backgrounds, I was talking more about family/environment than genetics. I don't tend to think of myself as being anything other than "Australian" -- but that's plenty, right? Not that I really think I need to say any of this; We covered a lot of it when we talked about Princess and the notion of "mixed race", didn't we?
Yeah, we have talked about it before, I do remember, and you're right, racial background doesn't matter, it's more environment that can count (not always) so I'm sorry if I seemed impertinent or nosey.
I'd like to know more about my family tree/ancestors etc but can't be fucked putting the time in, not at the moment anyway. My maternal gfather did a bit of work on his side and printed out and bound copies for people, so I have that. But it's pretty dull. I suspect my father's side might have more interesting gems tucked away but that might be more hopeful than real. As far as I know, there are no convicts, nothing very interesting, but on my father's mother's side are the Scots and I would love to know where in Scotland they came from. I hope for the Highlands but probably they ran an inn in Glasgow or something dull.
I'm sorry if I seemed impertinent or nosey.
I've looked back at my last comment, and I think it reads more defensive than it was meant to. It's hard (for me) to convey tone in text sometimes. When I said "Not that I really think I need to say any of this", I meant, "I think at this point I'm repeating stuff you already know", rather than, "Don't ask me about this stuff, I don't have to explain myself to you." Being nosey is good. It's how we learn about each other.
it's more environment that can count (not always)
What did you have in mind when you said "not always"?
If you do ever research your family tree, just don't do what my bloody aunt did and make a publicly viewable website that list every intimate detail of every living family member.
And interesting isn't always good. You know Craster from Game Of Thrones? We had a Craster. I think I would have preferred a boring inn-keeper.
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