This weekend I did something that could have been thought of as rather silly. In fact my husband just shook his head when I told him.
I asked people to send me nudes.
Yep, sounds daft – especially in an online world where you’re only seconds away from an unwanted dick pic, or someone asking you to talk dirty to them. But there was very good reason for it. 18 April was National Send Nudes day – so people could (consensually obviously) send nudes to someone. Given I’m pretty used to posing in my pants (or less than that) at almost any opportunity, I wondered what would happen if I turned the tables.
So I asked.
I asked for nudes, if people wanted to send me them. Dick pics weren’t allowed (I mean, that’s just cheating). I was offering an opportunity for someone to send me a nude picture of themselves, no judgement, no sharing anywhere else, just the opportunity to share. If they wanted.
At first glance, no wonder my husband all but put his head in his hands.
But it turned out people did. Men and women, some totally nude, some half naked. Some filtered, some not. Some spoke at the freedom of being able to do it when the only person they’d every shared their body with was their partner. Some shared stories of trauma, and of trying to rebuild the acceptance of their bodies. Some were scared, even as they pressed send. Some said how relieved they felt afterwards, and how freeing they found the experience – it put a spring in their step.
And it gave them back a little bit of control over their bodies.
For me, it was so lovely. Far from the sleazy images I was half expecting, what I got was a lot of openness, and love, and I felt so damned privileged to be able to share that with people. There were conversations about body positivity, tattoos, changing sizes and shapes. We talked about bits of our bodies we loved, and bits we didn’t so much.
And no, not one unwanted dick!
So, I’m going to keep this open. And if people want to send nudes (still, no dick pics ta) then I’ll still accept them. I mean, I’d appreciate a heads up before it lands in my inbox, but I’ve loved being able to share people’s stories and make them feel a little better about themselves.
It was an unexpectedly positive experience. And one I’m happy to repeat.