Re-establishing healthy attitudes - non-sexual nudes and recovery?

[lightseeker]

:"> thanks, not sure what i said there but that means a lot.

tb be honest i dont think i deserve anyone while i still have this addiciton, i cannot be with anyone until i get this under wraps and that is my main motivation!

[little_wife]

Affection - yes!

Maybe its because i am a sensitive guy, maybe i missed out on some love somewhere whilst growing up but i wanted more of that in my past relationship-

-I want to be loved i want to love, i want affection and i love to hug!-

^ this above, and the fact that you are committed to improving yourself before even getting into a relationship. You just seem to be wise to what a real relationship is going to take---though I can guarentee there'll still be a few surprises thrown in.

[Sonomette]

I wanted to resurrect this thread because there are a lot of new people here who I am certain have valuable thoughts and insights about the issue of nonsexual nudity.

Full frontal nudity CAN be P, of course... but it is also part of Michelangelo's David... and I'd hardly call Michelangelo a smut peddler, you know?

History is full of tons of examples of artistic nudes. Should we avoid them, or can we view them differently than we do the P nudity?

I have the same questions about medical nudity. There are videos available about how to perform a breast self examinations to detect cancer. It's definitely medically necessary to have this knowledge, but it does contain nudity.

So... PAs, do you find these images to be sexual to you, even though they are not intended to be pornographic?

SOs, how do you feel about artistic or medical nudity?

I personally feel that there is a huge difference between P and fine art... or P and a video about cancer detection. It's not an issue in this house-- for me or for sonoma. For example, I have a calendar that does have some nudity in it, as painted by Manet. I see no problem with this, but I'd have a huge problem with a men's magazine calendar. The two are just so separate in my mind.

I am very curious about what all of you think-- let's hear it!

[hurting2BhisFantasyAgain]

I am a Massage Therapist so it is very easy for me to see the naked body as beautiful, not always sexual. In some ways I think that that fuels my anger towards SO for not being able to see that. He has been doing amazing lately, but he never had any artistic or biologic education about the body, from the age of 3 on it was always about F*cking.
I would love to have some nude art in our home, but he is not @ this point yet. As hard as this whole situation has been, I'm so thankful that I now know to educate my kids about their body starting in toddlerhood so that by the time they have any exposure to sex they know about the beauty of the body first.

[Edge]

Addiction is a wily beast! Part of me craves the notion that exposing myself to non-sexual nudes, and even non-porn sex scenes, might somehow, someday re-train my brain. I've repeated these 'experiments' many a time, and in each case, I eventually found my way back to active addiction.

This part of me craves normality, wanting to view nudity and sexuality the way a civilian (non-addict) does. Much as it pains me to admit, kicking and screaming, it just ain't gonna happen. For everyone, in these days of homemade porn and Internet exhibitionism, there's a fine line indeed between 'art' and 'smut'. I can no longer kid myself that I'll ever be in a position to judge where that line runs.

[Jon Doe 109]

Seems to me if a human is MB'ing to any nude pictures - it's a form of porn. A non addict may see a nude and appreciate beauty - a PA gets horny and sees something to MB too... It's just like drink, some people can have one glass of wine every week or so, others can't without getting drunk every time. In any case, I have no moral objection to nudity.

[Zachary]

I don't think this is a good idea at all. P warps the mind of the user so much that oftentimes a PA will turn fully clothed people into P images for themselves, nudes whether artistic or otherwise are just more fodder. PA's have to be diligent, and understand that their perceptions are warped. Artistic nudes are just another form of objectification for the most part anyways, in my opinion. Anything where a human being is turned into an object is a no-no.