Imperfection is the new perfection

This World Mental Health Day, Madhuri Ramesh writes about how the struggle to look perfect has plagued the minds of young people, giving rise to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression

Did you know that body dissatisfaction is one of the top mental health issues that people are struggling with in today’s world? Needless to say, we are living in the era of social media where the content that we view online tends to influence us at alarmingly deep levels. Unrealistic standards of beauty glorified on social media through photo-shopped images have been constantly pushing teenagers and young adults into following unhealthy dieting routines, thus giving rise to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The introduction of Instagram and Snapchat filters have further created an illusion of perfection which is practically impossible to achieve in real life. With the passage of time, the struggle to look ‘perfect’ has plagued the minds of young people, giving rise to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, while eventually lowering an individual’s overall quality of life.

Popular playwright, performer and activist Eve Ensler once said, “Stop trying to fix your body. It was never broken.” Self-acceptance begins by being able to understand, appreciate and embrace your body in its truest form and naturists are one community of people who seem to understand this the best.

Naturism, also referred to as nudism, is a culture involving non-sexual nudity where individuals choose to stay natural by going without clothes, for the simple reason that they were born without them. This popular practice has been around for centuries. However, in a world where clothes speak the language of society, this culture seems to be gradually dying out rather than thriving. Naturism, in fact, has a lot to offer, although a majority of individuals cannot see themselves fitting into this lifestyle. Well, you can still learn to love your body ‘like’ a naturist without actually ‘becoming’ one!

“Our culture teaches us to respect and worship the body. It is a house for so many energies,” says Yogesh Divekar, a businessman from Pune who has been an active member of the nudist community for years. His interest in nudism began in childhood, long before he came to know what the term even meant. “Nudism is nothing but a clothes-free natural life, living your life the way you were born in your birthday suit. It means respecting bodies of all types, shapes and sizes. It means loving yourself, your body and accepting the way you are,” he adds. Naturism is indeed associated with increased body satisfaction. A research paper published in 2017 exhibited a handful of studies that showed a possible correlation between naturism and greater life satisfaction which could be gathered from individuals who reported experiencing higher self-esteem and body image positivity as a result of engaging in naturist activities. People engaging in communal nudity also reported a noticeable decrease in social physique anxiety, which meant that individuals felt less anxious about how others viewed their bodies, which in turn helped them appreciate their bodies more.

Moreover, results from another study showed that participants reported a considerable increase in body image positivity by merely looking at other individuals who typically had non-idealised bodies.

“We set up an unrealistic standard of comparison for ourselves and also for our lovers,” says Cassius, a circus performer from London who recently appeared as a contestant on the British TV show Naked Attraction. “People who aren’t ‘capitalism pretty’ (i.e. almost everyone) can end up only seeing flaws when they look in the mirror. And frankly, that’s really sad. Being naked, seeing other people naked face-to-face, becoming comfortable with our own bodies can help retrain our brains out of these bad habits,” he adds.

Also, as Yogesh earlier mentioned, nudism teaches you self-confidence and helps you to appreciate not only your own body but others’ too. As we are aware, feelings of isolation, depression and low self-esteem can arise at a very young age through body shaming. “Nudism makes you free mentally, the person is then stress free,” mentions Yogesh.

“Basically everyone loves to have a perfect body shape. But most have not learnt about their own body. Nudists don’t have to worry about body shaming, they know their bodies very well, they love it as it is. They know their flaws and are positive about them. Nudists don’t hide their imperfections, they rather flaunt it.”

While naturism isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, the biggest takeaway from this lifestyle is being able to spend quality time with yourself, while being fully aware of your physical imperfections and readily embracing them. The strength here lies in being able to confidently stand in front of a mirror and genuinely appreciate what you see without being judgemental or comparing yourself to another.