As one of the very few Asian naturists (and even then, many of the few are closet naturists), I always find it hard for my community to accept that naturism has a place among Asians, as it has for all humanity. Confucian scholars disapprove of naturism as being contrary to Oriental "decency" and they view all naturists as having no sense of shame which was a huge thing to Confucius but they forget that Confucius lived hundreds of years before Christ at a time when not wearing the ugly scholar's hat would probably have been considered indecent.
Even my own brother once told me, no doubt with an oblique reference to me, that he could not understand how some men could bear to be seen naked when they obviously hadn't worked out in the gym. In this regard, I have to tread carefully because there is a cultural difference. I come from a culture where "Mind Your Language" is a hilarious comedy but in the West, it's viewed as racist and anti-Asian. It's hugely popular in Asia and most of us were disappointed when it was discontinued in Britain because of perceived racism. I was told that India even produced a similar version of the comedy.
But if I may speak for my own community, I know of many people who are reluctant to go openly naked for fear of being compared unfavourably with people from other communities. A friend of mine once told me very sincerely that if he had my body, he would be ashamed just to take off his shirt outside Asia. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that my body, especially my upper torso, lacks muscular development but then, it is not uncommon to see many other Asian men with the same kind of muscular deficiency. Of course many people do work out in the gym these days and they have a great deal of muscular bulk but by and large, my kind of body is not uncommon in my community.
You may think that is the kind of mindset you would expect of a typical non-naturist. But it's affecting potential naturists in Asia. We have all read that naturism is not about comparing oneself with others and naturism is not a bodybuilding competition or a beauty pageant. But there are many in Asia who are unable to separate the concept of nudity from their need to compare themselves with others. It's the same with some Asian women. A few women have told me that they would not mind going naked all that much if they were more "well-endowed". I have heard the same excuse from some Asian men as to why they are more self-conscious as if a naturist gathering is an audition for the porn industry.
I am by no means belittling our need for exercise; nor am I rubbishing the hard work put in by bodybuilders. We all should exercise and I have a lot of respect for bodybuilders. I have tried to do workouts at home and even in the gym. But I hate doing gym workouts. The only exercise I truly enjoy doing is running which I do every day. Anything else is a disagreeable chore. When I took this photo a few days ago, I really thought of doing a short work-out. But the flesh is weak (literally) and after taking a few pics, I decided to go for a run instead.
When a group in a local university wanted to film a documentary on naturism, they had a tough time getting willing "actors" who were not afraid to be filmed nude with their faces seen. After months of searching, I was the only naturist they could get. That's how pathetic the situation is in many countries in Asia.
This obsession with how we look must stop somewhere. There will always be physical differences in the different ethnic groups, whether it's colour, physical features, musculature or bone structure. These differences are what makes the human species so attractive in our diversity. Hollywood may have given the world a skewed standard of what the norm should be for the average man or woman but it is only applicable to the fictitious world of movies.
