These days i am much more free and i very rarely will swim with clothing on , though i do live in a paradise area of NZ . Sexual energy is not a bad thing the question for us is where would we like to channel that energy. There is a myriad of ancient techniques from many cultures that recognise the importance of utilizing sexual energy in order to maintain a healthy body, mind and creative ability. We can lend our sexual energy to the density of physical sensation or encourage it to move inward and and circulate through our spine as vital energy. The practice of such energy control is central in yoga philosophy. This kind of awareness is relevant for children as well and can help them understand themselves physically and otherwise.
I encourage the freedom of nudity and would prefer that nakedness was never restricted by governments and societal preferences, when i was a teenager i lived by a river with a group of friends and we were all naked always , after a while the novelty wore off and it was normalized this experience helped me greatly in seeing the human body for what it is and not having it sexualized in my mind by my vulnerability to media projections.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what really is sexualizing children. It started for me with the controversy a few months ago about the 9yos doing the dance routine with their stomachs showing and gyrating. So many people were upset about it, even a lot of AP parents. To me it wasn’t a big deal. It was the adults that were thinking of their dance moves and outfits as sexual, not the kids. To them they were just dancing. But, so many people I trust and respect were upset about it, it’s got me thinking about it. Was it inappropriate? I tend to lean towards not worrying about it and putting our adult puritan hang-ups on them.

This has also lead me to wondering about what kind of revealing clothing is age appropriate as girls enter the tween and teen ages. Are we making too big a deal about young girls showing their bodies, or are we teaching them respect for their bodies by expecting them to dress “age appropriate?”

I know this is a bit beyond the scope of this article, but I think it leads to it as the kids get older.

What do you all think?

I let my kids run around naked until they were six but even when I encouraged modesty I didn’t care if they were playing ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’.

I think people are ‘over-scared’ about phedophiles.
When my kids were little we lived in the country with just one neighbour for about two miles. They lived next door and weren’t offended by a nude body (when letting my kids run around in their birthday suits I did check for peoplevwho might be offended because of religion ect.) but anyway this couple were in their ealry 50′s and had moved out, grow-up children so I alway let the kids run around naked. I was explaining this to a lady at a playgroup and she warned me that they were probably phedophiles. What the…? I just told her naked toddlers were beautiful and if they wanted a picture I wouldn’t blame them. P.S. A phedophile gets just as much pleasure from a child in a bathing suit so why not let the child have more fun with no extra risks?

Once again brilliant piece of writing

Leah