CAMPUS MAGAZINE: WHAT IF … WE HAD A NUDE BEACH IN EGYPT

This article was triggered by three thoughts;

1) I wanted to look up the difference between nude and naked
2) I was thinking of the origin of inhibitions
3) I wish there would be a nude beach in Egypt.

Wikipedia satisfied my first query; "a "nude" person is unclad by choice and is generally shameless; a "naked" person is involuntarily caught undressed and is generally embarrassed". I agree! Nude celebrities are famous people who posed without clothes on and were not ashamed. Photos of naked celebrities imply that they were caught off guard with no clothes on … and they were violated.

Inhibitions … how I hate them and loathe their suffocating effect! I used to breed birds when I was 12. I loved the first couple I got the most. I named them Tootie and Sweetie. I loved looking at them, listening to them, and by time I grew a certain addiction to the scent and feel of their feathers (I know this sounds sick!). I would sneak a finger every now and then between the bars in an attempt to touch their colorful feathers. I had an unstoppable urge to hold them in my hands and caress them but my father said they were scared and they might fly away.

Tootie and Sweetie "got married" – that was what my mom said to justify the egg in the nest. Sweetie laid one egg and when the egg hatched, Fruitie was born. He had blue feathers like his parents but his feathers were shinier, fuller, and way more tempting for me to touch. I opened the door and reached inside the cage, Tootie and Sweetie hid in their nest while Fruitie just stood there. I caressed his back and he stood there! I patted his head and he stood there! I touched his beak and he stood there! I curled my fingers around him and took him out of the cage and he did not struggle! I put him on my stretched forefinger and he stood there and looked at me! I kissed his head and he did not fly! He was so uninhibited!

A week later, I wanted to show a friend how my baby bird loved me so I put my hand in the cage but Tootie, Sweetie, and Fruitie hid in the nest and my experiment failed. Where did he get this fear from when he was born fearless? I can understand fearing fire when you get burnt or fearing pain when you get hurt but is it possible to fear things that we were told to fear? Is it possible to fear something that exists only in our head?

Is that how it works with society?

We were told by our parents who were told by their parents who were told by their parents that we should fear people and their opinions of us, that we should fear our bodies and where they could lead us, that we should fear anyone or anything that looks, sounds, or feels different because we do not know what harm it could do, and that we should just fear the unknown.

I think of Fruitie a lot! I like the original form he was born into! I like the original form I was born into and today, I am striving for utter and complete nudity! In my writings I am nude and the more I expose of myself the more my readers connect with me! Whether they agree with my ideas or not, they respect my nudity. There is a sweet sense of liberation that comes with shedding off inhibitions. I no longer make love to words in the dark … I no longer insist on keeping the cover … I no longer feel ashamed of myself … my scars no longer embarrass me … We were all born nude … not just physically nude … mentally and emotional nude … then we deteriorated!!

This is where my third thought comes in – the nude beach! A friend of mine once asked me to name a dream and I told him that I wished there was a nude beach in Egypt. He laughed. He understood. I am not advocating vice or sin now, but look at it this way: having a nude beach in Egypt is the optimum exemplification of tolerance and acceptance of the other.

If such a beach existed it would mean the following:

1) Muslim Brothers finally understood that Islam is not about judging people and pointing fingers at those who differ – Live and let live!

2) Mulsims and Christians will have no issues because we have all developed something called tolerance!

3) The government, by approving this idea, will have finally grasped the true essence of democracy!

4) Opposition will have no case to argue for or against – We have tolerance and democracy, what more could they demand?

5) People – us Egyptians – will realize that we all have a choice; a choice in what to hide and what to expose – and I am not just talking physically!

6) Relationships will grow beyond lust – maybe people will realize that getting married is not more related to sharing a life not just a bed!

7) Women will finally come to terms with their bodies because nudity is an acceptance of our inner and outer deformities – No more I want a bigger this or a smaller that!

8) Beauty will have a new definition; a more realistic one that brings self esteem and inner peace to the foreground!

9) Men will know that being "a good girl" is not a matter of dress code but rather a matter of a whole attitude!

10) After people are done criticizing the nude beach and condemning me of immorality, they might get some work done!