Gratuitous nudity is not okay

South Africans are dancers, with rhythm and moves that will leave you in awe … we are movers and we move well. That being said, South Africans also have a unique sense of style.

We are fashionable because we have a rich cultural history that we can tap into for inspiration. If we don’t want to, we don’t have to be a victim of the after-effects of Western influence.

That being said, I write this after seeing a video go viral of a fully naked woman dance at a social gathering, totally inebriated and a spectacle for all to see. This seems to be the new “it” thing in South Africa. Why are my generational peers developing a seemingly contagious allergy to clothing.

It would be easy to blame the likes of Zodwa Wabantu, Chomee and Kelly Khumalo. It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of someone who makes their living off the exposure, the nudity, the persona of being a sexy deviant, to put food on the table.

But what is the gain for a total unknown? One who gains nothing but notoriety for their public displays of flesh and lady bits.

It goes without saying that an imbalance exists between the genders. If a man had to do the same thing, would we complain? But men are actually not doing it – so let us talk about what is, not what could be.

What we know is that we seem to be adopting a culture of women who are not dressed, women who seem to either be short-paying their seamstresses or not fitting these outfits on at the shops where a no-returns policy exists.

Women – and, slowly, little girls – are shedding clothes and society, for some reason, just seems to be lapping it up, as if we do not know any better. Or do we?

As parents, how do we okay this sort of behaviour and accept it as a norm? I’m not okay with this nudity. Hear me well, there is nothing okay with sexual exploitation. With such high incidences of sexual violence perpetrated against women and young children, how do we begin to correct our society when it seems covering up is not part of our arrangement?

Women are shunned for breastfeeding in public but we want to believe that dancing around with no underwear for cameras is acceptable? I just don’t get it.