How much of a factor is audience size when naked in front of others?

[Ed]

I’ve had some people say they are fine naked in front 2 or 3 people but a room full of people or more they could not cope with. Others have told me the being naked is the all-consuming thing and the size of the audience doesn’t make much difference.

Then there are those with a stronger exhibitionist streak who say the more people who see them, the better it is.

Where are you on that scale? And how do you feel about it?

[Arthur]

Having just being seen naked by anyone, even just a small group, would be pretty intense, but I think the larger the audiences the more intense and more humiliating it is. I mean imagine being naked in front of an entire auditorium, as that’s a very public experience. There’s a big difference between two or three people seeing you naked and 200 or 300 people seeing you naked! Two or 3 people is a dirty little secret, 200 or 300 is scandalous, a very public impossible to keep secret situation.

Ed and Joseph like this

[Joseph]

That’s a good question. Being naked with one other person is enough for me lol. Multiple people I think, unless there is some really special circumstance or really good group of people. I think even a handful would be too much. I think the thing with more and more people, especially strangers, is because you don’t know their motive or. Thoughts. If I was to skinny dip with a friend, I know them, I know they aren’t going to hurt me or have bad malicious thoughts about me and my nudity, but who knows who exactly is in a big crowd of onlookers! What their intentions and thoughts might be! And maybe, they would act on those thoughts!

Arthur and Ed like this

[Ed]

I think you have to treat the entire audience as a group. Actors face a similar problem on stage. If they start thinking about what individual people think of their performance, it can break their nerve. As long as most people are fine, then the actor will be fine.

Joseph likes this

[Joseph]

That’s definitely  a good way to think about it!

Ed likes this

[Anonymous]

I’m OK with a small group of friends. That’s the limit of my experience. I think I’d also be happy with a large audience. It would be like a theatre performance where the audience is a bit separated from the performer. Also, thinking of another discussion thread, being the “performer” would give me permission to be completely naked and fully exposed in front of dozens of people. I can definitely imagine being in a play where my character happened to be naked at some point.

Thinking of situations where the group was in between small and large, I’d like to do some nude modelling one day, and I like the idea (but probably not the practicality) of taking part in an experiment.

So I think overall the number of people doesn’t change my willingness to take part, but it would be a very different experience in a small, medium or large group, and also different with people I knew and strangers. I’m not sure I’d want to be naked on stage in a theatrical performance, taking place at work, put on for workmates.

Ed and Steve like this

[Arthur]

I think that’s a very good point, with a small group of people that you know well you kind of know how they are going to respond, but a large group of strangers you don’t know how they are going to behave when you get naked, and that makes the whole situation much more intimidating, although that also makes it more exciting is the paradox. The more uncertain the situation and the more intimidating the more intense the entire experience will be.

Ed and Joseph like this

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think the amount of unexpectedness and intimidation also depends on the kind of activity. Sitting in a large circle with many other people playing a stripgame would be harmless fun because everyone is equally involved. If, as the loser, I then had to walk slowly round the room so everyone can have a good look at me naked, I’d be worried about their reactions if they were strangers, which many of them would be.

Once long ago and once (much more surprisingly) recently, I’ve been in a holiday nightclub/bar/family entertainment venue where the games have included some clothes coming off to get points. The one I remember from years ago was things like “first woman on the stage with her knickers on her head”, and the more recent one was things like “bring me a sock” and, as things went on, “bring me a bra”. Nobody ended up stark naked but plenty of quick flashes of all body parts. They worked as simple fun because of the atmosphere in the room, and probably because there were all generations of people there. There was no particular focus on the people doing the dares, they were just part of the total experience (and I assume one or two of them were plants).

On the other hand, take the same situation (though definitely with an exclusively adult audience) but have members of the audience stripping me naked, that would be scary in a large group of strangers but fun with a smaller group of people I knew.

Ed likes this

[Gary]

I’m not sure if the group size would make a difference, I’ve never experienced it though.  There would only be extra humiliation if there were activities designed to cause that feeling (other than just being naked).  I think just having 2 or 3 would be more personal/intimate and therefore harder.  It would be nice to have the opportunity to try it and see.

, Joseph and Ed like this

[Anonymous]

Humiliation is interesting. In a small group of friends, the feeling can be quite gentle, the sort of thing where someone would say, with a happy smile, “I can’t believe what you had me doing yesterday!” The group know and respect each other’s limits, like how spreadeagled can someone be, and then push the boundary a bit. One of our little group took a lot of persuading just to get naked sitting down, so getting her to stand up was a big deal and she saw having to stand naked as something humiliating. I didn’t like being tied up at first so they used to just wrap the rope around my wrists a few times, until one day I realised I really couldn’t cover myself up by shaking the rope off. They’d pushed my boundary but in a really safe setting and I discovered I enjoyed it the sense of helplessness. It was humiliating in a good way, if that makes sense.

In a big group, it might feel as if there is more risk, including the chance that someone might feel humiliated in a way that makes them permanently annoyed about what happened. Being spreadeagled amongst friends is one thing, but I wouldn’t want bits of me filmed and displayed on a big screen. It would be humiliating in a bad way. I read on a Wiccan website a complaint from a woman who had been initiated (answering questions and reciting sentences whilst naked, tied and blindfolded) without realising she was the only one naked. I don’t know how she managed to get to initiation without knowing what would happen, but she said she was humiliated and she meant it in a bad way. (She, and I suspect her group, clearly didn’t know much about Wicca but that’s not today’s topic!)

[Neil]

Hm… For me, it depends on whether the audience is also nude, I suppose. I’ve modelled (they’re taking anyone these days! haha) for an art class, and that was six students plus one instructor. Obviously, I was naked and they were all fully dressed. That was alright. Not sure how I would’ve felt if the group had been larger. Maybe then the ratio will start to get weird, I don’t know.

On nude beaches, campsites and at wellness resorts, I don’t mind how many people are there – but most of them would be naked, too. The occasional employee there isn’t, but that feels different.

So, I suppose, if the others are not also naked, I’d prefer the audience to not be too big. If everyone or a decent percentage of the other are nude like me, heck, bring on the whole world. 🙂

Gary, Arthur, Joseph and 1 more person like this

[Arthur]

That is also a factor if you are in a large group of people who are also naked you don’t stand out, if you are in a large group of people and you are the only one naked the larger the group and the more dressed they are versus you completely naked the more you stand out and the more the focus of attention is on your every little move, so it’s very hard to hide in a crowd when you are the only one naked, a concept that I hope to explore at novel length numerous times LOL.

[Author]

Posts