Look around—billboards, commercials, influencer feeds—everywhere, you’re told what you “should” look like. Smooth skin. Flat stomach. Perfect proportions. It’s not just beauty brands—clothing companies, gyms, even tech use your discomfort to sell products. If you believed your naked body was already good enough, would you buy the “miracle” creams, the shaping underwear, the diet apps? Probably not.
The stigma around nudity keeps this cycle alive. As long as we see the body as a problem to solve, there’s profit in every perceived flaw. It’s not just cultural—it’s commercial. The truth is, a world comfortable with nudity would be a world where marketing has to try a whole lot harder. And maybe that’s why the shame stays.