My Naked Body as a Festering Wound

I was reading this <a href="https://www.artdependence.com/articles/symbolism-of-the-naked-form-in-schiele/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">wonderful article</a> discussing the symbolism of nakedness in the work of Austrian artist Egon Schiele, who was rather well known for his very vivid, very raw depictions of the nude body. Nudity has long been a fascination of mine, as most things forbidden, and this quote and my own musings in the gym locker room sent me down a bit of a rabbit-hole. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/0*Dolr_pYmUgrEiALD.jpg" style="height:662px; width:700px" /> ‘The Family’ by Egon Schiele | Photo: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_%28Schiele%29#/media/File:Egon_Schiele_-_Kauerndes_Menschenpaar_(Die_Familie)_-_4277_-_%C3%96sterreichische_Galerie_Belvedere.jpg" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> <h1>Have we always been afraid of the naked physique?</h1> Clearly, no. As art and histories of ancient times attest, our culture hasn’t always held to this crisp, rigid view of nudity. Quite the contrary. There was a time when nudity was embraced, though not in the orgiastic, purely hedonistic sense we might assume. There was a time, rather, when nudity was… well, the norm. It is a common misconception of our culture that nudity became taboo once organized religion got under way, in order to curb sexual exploration, adultery, and so on. Except that theory doesn’t hold water, when explored in depth. After all, it is not the nakedness itself that arouses us, it’s the taboo nature of the naked body. Seeing someone naked is illicit, and as most illicit things, it sparks a thrill, is pleasurable. I’m sure other factors come into play, since the naked human body can be quite aesthetically pleasing. But I’m quite certain the reason we find naked people so “sexy” isn’t inane, rather it’s the fact we only see naked people very rarely. <a href="https://catrinaprager.medium.com/my-naked-body-as-a-festering-wound-f7209a652996">Learn More</a>