Does Who You Are Naked Around Affect Your Level of Comfort?

[Arthur]

I thought maybe this is a potentially controversial question but does the group dynamics of who you are naked around affect how comfortable you feel with being naked.

I feel that I would feel embarrassed and uncomfortable and clearly be blushing regardless of who it was that was seeing me naked, but if it was a group of dressed women obviously that would be a lot more intimidating.

But the controversial aspect that I brought up is that I have chatted about things such as CFNM with large numbers of people and one of the interesting findings on fetlife is that a lot of the people I have found into it the most seem to be African-American women. And after talking with numerous people on fetlife around it I thought that maybe it has something to do with sort of a power dynamic situation.

We still live in a racist society, so I think to be in a situation where you have a bunch of African-Americans who are dressed stylishly and you have a naked white guy there it somehow is often like them taking back the power and somehow that makes it even more intense, or it could just be because I am attracted to women of color. But to me that seems to add like an added dynamic to it that not only are you naked but you are sort of the only guy or the only white guy there who is completely naked.

So I do think that there is something to that. Which is why sometimes I think when we see a woman naked around dressed men we see it like almost like the guys are being perverted and exploiting the woman, where as we see the opposite where a naked guy is embarrassed by dressed women it is sort of a funny thing, because the women are sort of getting to be in the empowered position where is the guy is the one being made vulnerable.

And I think that applies in the case of other situations such as a bunch of women of color and you are like the only naked white guy it sort of adds an added dimension of flipping the power dynamic that is usual in society, and seems like it would be even more empowering to those who get to stay dressed because clothing really is sort of a symbol of status and power, and to be deprived of your clothing is to humble yourself. There is an entire group on fetlife called Clothed Blacks Naked whites with 523 members based on this, so I’m not the first one who has considered this.

Maybe as ridiculous as it sounds if people of all different races, sexes and backgrounds got together where some of the more privileged of society were naked it might go a long way towards bringing about more equality in the world! Whatever the color of your skin when we can see all of it, we are all more equal when naked!

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[Gary]

You might be onto something there.  As sort of power-game for those who are clothed while the “submissive” person is from a different group that the clothed group would normally consider as “against” them.

Personally I would be more than happy to be the Naked Male part of the group, but almost certainly still feel embarrassed.

Ed likes this

[Arthur]

Yeah, I was kind of what I was getting at the nudity and clothedness implies sort of a power dynamic but that also goes along with power dynamics of race and gender and other things along those lines. I don’t necessarily it means you have to be against that group, I mean you can be against sexism and racism but still feel uncomfortable with a power imbalance like that. Sort of like when you are the only one you stand out more. So if you are like the only white guy in a group of black women you feel you stand out more, but when you are the only one naked on top of that where everyone else is of a different sex, different race and also wearing clothing that makes you really stand out and make you really feel naked and exposed! Also when you are pale skinned it is even more obvious when you are blushing!

Gary likes this

[Gary]

Yes – totally agree.  I wasn’t necessarily implying racism/sexism was involved from a conscious perspective but given that being Afro-Caribbean and Female puts you at a disadvantage (but shouldn’t) I wonder if this isn’t where the feeling of power imbalance originates.  If it gives a feeling of “returning some power” then I’m all for it.

Ed likes this

[Arthur]

Yes that is what sort of what I was getting at, being embarrassed being naked in front of women of color isn’t racist or sexist, but there is sort of that power dynamic. Like CFNM is supposed to reverse the dynamic where it’s usually women who are naked and men who were dressed, and it changes the dynamic where the men are the ones who are exposed and vulnerable and the women who are getting to stay dressed in the power position. Likewise I think you can look at a situation where people of color are often not in a situation of power and where they get to stay dressed in other people are naked it sort of makes them empowering, which is a good thing.

Still being the only white guy in a group of colored women who are also nicely dressed and everything like that is still going to be very embarrassing, and almost doubly so since my pale skin will make it very obvious that I’m blushing profusely!

But I do think that it sort of flips the dynamic doubly in the favor of the groups that are more marginalized in society. In society white men are in the positions of power and authority and everything like that and somehow you lose that sense of power and authority you are standing there naked covering yourself blushing and everybody else is comfortably dressed and smirking! I think that that can be part of why it might appeal more to women of color especially. It really would let them feel in charge of the situation.

[Diana]

I think generally who you are around does impact your comfort level. If I was around a group of men with erections or a group of women that were lesbians I would feel a lot more intimidated than if I was in a ‘woman nudity’ group that was not sexual or surrounded by people I love and trust. The race aspect in an interesting analysis, I think I would be ashamed to be caught naked by any race, but, given how certain racial situations are here presently in America I would be terrified to be ‘caught/captured’ naked by members of another ethnic group. The reason being that in some parts of the US, there is really a ‘race war’ going on and if you are not one ‘of them’ you are nothing but a target. Not to be racist, just trying to be honest.

Arthur, Ed and Paul like this

[Arthur]

@Diana

I would think a woman surrounded by guys with erections would always been intimidating. I would probably feel uncomfortable being the only naked man in a group of dressed men but I think that with a group full of dressed women while I wouldn’t fear that anything was going to happen that was going to bring harm to me, I would definitely not regard the situation as neutrally, as I would feel like it was a sexual situation simply because I am a member of the opposite sex, and I am the only one who is naked, and I think that the average heterosexual person seeing a person of the opposite sex, regardless of how attractive they were, probably would feel that there was a sexual charge to the situation.

Diana and Ed like this

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