Lena Dunham, Nude Appearance Broadens Definition of Beauty [Video]

Lena Dunham’s hit show Girls has been the topic of much discussion throughout its first three seasons. Most reviews seem to be either extremely in favor of, or extremely against the show, but in spite of mixed reactions, Girls has been maintaining a strong following. To many, Dunham’s “Hannah” is more than just a fictional character, she is representative of an archetype left out of most mainstream shows. Hannah Horvath does not have the perfect body, or say the right things; she is not the prettiest girl in the room. Because she does not meet the conventional standard of beauty, Dunham’s recent nude appearance on SNL has made her one of the pioneers in the fight to broaden the definition of beauty.

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Why are we naked?

There are lots of theories as to why we lost our fur, the two most commonly accepted are to reduce the parasite load that fur bearing animal carry and secondly to aid in our ability to hunt larger animals. Humans are not only one of the few mammals that are naked, but also one of the few mammals that sweat through the skin. The sweating through the skin gives us the ability to run long distances over long periods of time and to lose the body heat generated quickly and efficiently. Other mammals can only lose the heat generated through their mouths or paws. By picking and pursuing one weak individual in a herd, we could chase that animal till it literally fell over from heat exhaustion and we could club or spear it to death. Humans on the plains of Africa that still hunt this way, can pursue an animal all day long.9152702

So nakedness is part of our strategy for survival. Running with clothes on is a detriment to the chase because like our prey, we overheat. Our bodies are very effective at moderating temperature, we adjust to heat by sweating, to cold by shivering to keep warm, the hair on our heads is to protect us from the sun and the cold, but are bodies are meant to be naked.

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