Matt Gets Lit’s Reviews > Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World > Status Update

The act of taking off your clothes is erotic because it is the "transit" between one state of being and another. Which probably explains the enduring popularity of the striptease: it excites the imagination. It's not what you wear but what we imagine you look like in the act of taking it off and what we'll be doing once you do take it off that is arousing. In other words: it's all in our head.

"I found myself getting more relaxed with the whole nonsexual social nude thing and the American attitude about the naked body became more and more laughable. Not because it's funny, but because it's so extreme. Why are we infusing our nakedness with guilt and shame? Why is skinny-dipping seen as some form of perversion?"