https://twitter.com/EmyEisenach/status/1283100191499984896?s=20
If you’re seeing unsolicited raunchy photos on your timelines today, don’t worry: It’s just National Nude Day.
While the trending hashtag #NationalNudeDay on Twitter was filled with people exposing their bodies or promoting their OnlyFans accounts, some users found humor in the day.
https://twitter.com/HumpDayHashTags/status/1283049497485090822?s=20
Others posted iconic scenes from their favorite television shows, and the state of New Jersey even joined in on the fun, while promoting public safety in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.
Clothing: Optional
Mask: Mandatory#NationalNudeDay #MaskUpNJ pic.twitter.com/5W98jFhDy9— New Jersey (@NJGov) July 14, 2020
But the laughs and displays of bodies completely in the buff are not just an excuse to post a censored snap or get an extra like on social media: It’s also about self-love.
Skin-care brand True Botanicals, which promotes natural, clean products to empower their customers, joined in on the day of stripped-down celebration to kick off their new “Love Yourself, Gorgeous Mama” campaign, directed toward helping mothers feel good in their skin.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCoJhE_jkFS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Their Instagram promotion video featured Jasmin Steiner, an Oregon-based blogger and self-named “passionate self-love advocate,” whose health and fitness journey revolves around postpartum body positivity and dismantling societal ideals.
In addition to body-positive brands, activists say days like these are about honoring the natural bodies they’re in and breaking social norms.
Emily — a 19-year-old from Munich, Germany, who is avid about self-acceptance — said posting nude photos is a form of autonomy, giving her power over who sees her body in what ways and expressing herself creatively.
“I get self-conscious quite a lot, especially when people make assumptions about me or comment on my body, but I actively choose to not listen to those voices,” she told The Post via Twitter. “Posting them was the only thing that made me ever like my body.”
https://twitter.com/EmyEisenach/status/1283102128681123841?s=20
Emily, who preferred to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, said that she believes everyone’s body is beautiful and hopes that celebrating National Nude Day helps people accept their own bodies and “promotes not only one type of body, but a multitude.”
Grace, an 18-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin, who also preferred to use her first name only, also took to social media to publish photos for National Nude Day. To her, she said that being naked is something that can be taken offensively or as a joke, but that isn’t how she sees it.
“Our bodies are a beautiful thing that should be embraced and cherished,” she told The Post via Twitter. “Nudity doesn’t have to be sexual — it can be empowering and a symbol of confidence.”
I am enough #NationalNudeDay #womenempowerment #bodypositivity #WomenSupportingWomen pic.twitter.com/NryIbgOVNp
— Grace Will (@gracelwill6) July 14, 2020
Clothing is restrictive, especially for women, Grace said, and by embracing nakedness people can break free and “start to lose all those stigmas you label yourself with.”
She said she’s spent much of her life not accepting her body and trying to conform to women’s beauty standards. Grace said she tried to hide her body behind clothing and appealing camera angles because she thought her body could be offensive to people — or that something was wrong with it. But once she took these photos, she saw her own beauty.
“That’s what this day is about: being enough in your own skin,” Grace said. “Loving yourself is truly one of the best things in life.”
