As a jaybird?

[iambren]

I love the series Naked and Afraid,the dynamics of the couple's interaction,their overcoming with survival techniques and stamina.

How many of you,assuming you were fit with survival skills,would be at ease walking up to an unknown person of opposite gender totally naked? Do you think it would bother you only initially? Would you feel like you were sinning to participate on such a program?

 

[dayhiker]

I'd not heard of the show. The naked part wouldn't be a big deal, the part that would bother me is no shoes and biting bugs. I'm hoping I could figure out the food, fire etc parts.

 

[alistair clark]

Depends on how the other person looks, actually it would depend on how bad I look naked. The bare feet would not be a big problem I don't like shoes.

 

[blackribbon]

As a nurse, I am totally comfortable with a naked body but honestly, wouldn't want to see it that much. Clothing serves a purpose and that is to protect the largest organ of our body, our skin. Skin is designed to protect the rest of the of the body and every time we allow it to break as in a cut or a scratch, we expose our bodies to things that are not supposed to be on the inside. By taking people to an area where they have no exposure or antibodies built up to the local bacteria, viruses, or other microbial infective agents and then telling them to shed their clothing so they can get scratched and cut sounds pretty idiotic to me. I have flipped by the show but find it kind of a stupid premise. Survivial shows have kind of run their course of interest and doing it nude is just some vain attempt to try something new. Honestly, do we really feel the need to watch a woman in menses without clothes on? Can I say GROSS? I don't know if it is sinful but it is stupid.

Why does it need to be a person of the opposite sex? That requirement makes your really wonder about the shows motives?

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

I can't stand the site of my own nakedness so I would definitely not feel comfortable walking up to someone else of the opposite sex that is also naked. Ain't nobody got time for dat!

 

[iambren]

Lol,I notice that there isn't a big bear-hug when they meet! But soon into the program they become inventive in ways to cover their bits. I wouldn't be all that shy to present myself but would be shy for the letdown if the other person expected a buff beach-boy.

No doubt the nakedness provides some zing to the series and yet it does give an immediate hurdle to deal with which I find positive. Other issues come up later such as how much spooning they do to prevent hypothermia(and whether a spouse has forbidden it's happening). It's neat to see the personality and gender issues worked out and how they mold each other to become a survival unit. Ok,I'll stop, I'm a fan. (But my mother won't watch the show because shhh...their naked!)

 

[blackribbon]

couldn't they do the same thing WITH clothes...and like I said, what happens during the "once a month" time? Do you watch it with your kids?

 

[iambren]

There was a couple gals that had to deal with the monthly issues,one that had cramping to the point of tears, but somehow they found a way to deal with it.

The nakedness concept is intriguing: is it the relational nakedness they have to tackle or is it a statement of ultra-vulnerability in the wild that they must overcome. Would LOVE to be in the boardroom when they put this all together. They have NO scarcity of people who want to take on this 21-day survival. I've noticed sex being way down the priority list especially when they get down to eating anything for protein.

There are also displayed some ways NOT to be a team member--I found myself irked by the arrogance of this one guy who just would not let her into ANY emotional/volitional space. Yuck.

 

[dayhiker]

I have always found that in the most extreme situations, or closest to the edge situations that I've been in It was the most clear what my motives were. Now living a normal American life I've only occasionally been that close to the edge a handful of times.
But a test like this one I think one would really get a feeling of what they were like. What one has on the inside. What resources one could pull from to get thru that extreme of a time.

I just remembered that when I was about 13 I had a dream of could I live without clothes. Being in Maine I knew I'd want to get south before cold weather set in. I figured I'd have to find gardens to raid for food. But with what I know now, that would be one tough thing to pull off.

 

[blackribbon]

There was a couple gals that had to deal with the monthly issues,one that had cramping to the point of tears, but somehow they found a way to deal with it.

I am not talking about the uncomfortable side of menses...I am talking about the practical side...what do they do about the blood? Does she just walk around with it running down her legs? (like I said, gross) naked is naked...there are no naturally occurring tampons growing anywhere that I know of.... is it 'pick and choose' survival .... we give you what you need when it become important to us, otherwise you are on your own?

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

Given the broken world we now live in, we are hardly made for being naked. Animals have fur to keep them warm when they need it, and they can pant to cool themselves down. I know we were born naked, and maybe if Adam and Eve had listened to God in the garden we could still be running around naked and not think anything of it. But we are not in God's garden, protected by him at the moment.
I just know that I personally, could not make it probably even one day let alone 3 weeks or however long they are out there. And eating bugs and stuff, I know I probably would have to, but YUCK!

 

[dayhiker]

So I watched some of what Discovery Channel had on their web site.
Looked like most of them had been interested in survival things for many years. The producers seem to like to put them into environments that they weren't used to. Like if they usually went to a desert to practice survival then were put in a jungle. The cloth thing was not a bit issue for most of them beyond the 1st couple of days as far as embarrassment. It was a big deal as far as protecting ones skin and body temperature as has been pointed out above.

The dynamic that is most interesting to me is who the two of them work together or not to get thru the 21 days. Which speaks again to me that clothing is a culture and not a command from God.

 

[OGM]

I am not talking about the uncomfortable side of menses...I am talking about the practical side...what do they do about the blood? Does she just walk around with it running down her legs? (like I said, gross) naked is naked...there are no naturally occurring tampons growing anywhere that I know of.... is it 'pick and choose' survival .... we give you what you need when it become important to us, otherwise you are on your own?

Probably the same way women have dealt with it since the beginning of time. Pre-packaged tampons are a very recent product.

 

[blackribbon]

From the begining of time, they made clothes....panties to absorb the flow...just like they were taught by their mothers to do....if this show is sans clothes and there ar? no matriarchal teachers, I am curious how the show handles this...how do they handle this part of nature?...if they are showing women cramping to the point tears, then there should be other evidence. How do they handle this ?

 

[iambren]

You could possibly write the female participants to see how they handled menstruation. I'm sure there is a website where info can be found. Other than cramping I don't remembered it being mentioned so solutions were found.

Also,I know that some female athletes stop having periods. These "Naked/Afraid" people are under severe stress and malnourishment,maybe that's why it was a rare problem. My hat's off to these survivors;at the 21-day ending they're reduced to eating anything!

 

[OGM]

As earlier written, if the female participant kept their body fat to an extremely low level, experienced a great deal of cold and very little sleep, menstruation may stop completely. Plus she is eating lots of bugs or native terrible tasting plants. So her caloric intake maybe very restricted.

 

[blackribbon]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=po_uGswsq4k

Like I thought...not about survival, all about show and entertainment. Naked out the outside, not so on the inside...might as well give them tampons...this reusable thing puts the women at risk for infection since it can't be cleaned properly ... they show what they want to show, not the real story

 

[blackribbon]

The show's purpose is to show naked bodies not survival skills.. the women shave daily...or close to it because they don't have normal body hair patterns that would not last a week of no shaving, further more 21 days. Since the women are more attractive than the average woman...not so for the men so I assume it is a way to make staring at naked women somewhat socially acceptable.

 

[iambren]

Skepticism getting a little deep here. As they are starving for ANY morsel of protein,vomiting from bad water, or shivering all night to avoid hypothermia I doubt seriously if they are thinking "entertainment". The Diva-cup has been around for a while(even as a guy I've heard of it) and maybe that's a suggestion they make to the ladies before going in.

I find the program character-building with the nudity a zingy flavor. It is also informative to see real people live out survivalism. For me it's fascinating how the two evolve into a team (or not). Most of them become friends but though there is a little part of me that would like the challenge,i'll keep my creature comforts. The nudity would be the LEAST of my worries.

Curious: Wouldn't it be awkward to "spoon" in the night to keep warm with out junk somehow touching,with someone you aren't in a relationship with?

 

[dayhiker]

What I watched on the Discovery web site was enough to show that these people were in some pretty unpleasant environments. So even if the show gave some assistance it was very limited from what I could see. I saw a clip from the one where all the bugs were biting. They had 3 or 4 bits as seen by the bumps on every sq inch of their body.

I'd have no problem spooning with someone I just meant to keep warm. The problem I have is I usually am only comfortable spooning for 15 min to a half hour. But maybe to keep warm would be more important to me than being uncomfortable by being in the same position for a long period of time.