BEAUTY | CULTURE | MENTAL HEALTH

Does My Naked Body Make You Look Away or Look Closer?

Looking at nudity in American culture after living in Europe

KL Simmons
Taking Off
Published in
5 min readOct 7, 2024

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Women with her head thrown back, eyes closed, and arms wide open in a pond of water surrounded by lily pads and lotus flowers.
My first nude photo shoot in Lake Washington, Seattle, 1997. Photo by author.

There were exotic dancers in my family, which I’ve known about since I was a child. I used to overhear the adults talk about all kinds of things that children generally are not supposed to hear, such as how well, or not, a man’s penis fit into a G-string.

My grandmother used to crochet entire outfits for some of these dancers, G-strings included, while I watched. I didn’t realize just how abnormal that was until I was in my teens.

The funny thing is, before puberty, I did not associate naked bodies with sex or anything sexual beyond kissing. But when I played with my dolls, I always found it odd that their genitalia were non-existent.

Where was Ken’s penis and testicles? Where was Barbie’s vagina?

I remember staying the night at a friend’s house one day when I was in high school. She had an older, attractive brother whom I had a crush on. When I went to go to the bathroom, I opened the door and saw him standing there buck naked, shaving, while staring into the mirror. He didn’t even notice me.

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KL Simmons
Taking Off

Seeking improvement as a writer and human. Email: KLSimmons.medium@gmail.com. Owner of the publications: Taking Off, Pure Fiction and Interracial Relations.