Would it be weird if I said that, somehow, I feel more naked wearing this skimpy underwear than if I were completely naked? Maybe it's because, as a nudist, I've internalized nudity in my mind as a perfectly appropriate (and non-sexually suggestive) outfit to be worn even in social gatherings (under the right conditions). But even among nudists, you don't often see people in their underwear - that is a garment specifically designed to be covered up, and not generally shown to other people (except, again, in sexual situations, and even then usually only for a short period of time before they come off).
Are there such things as underwearists? Maybe I'd feel differently if I shot a lot of underwear portraits or lingerie models... I guess it's just the perfect boundary between nudity and being dressed - the very presence of an article of clothing covering the usual bits (not altogether unlike what you would see on a public beach) tricks your mind into contextualizing the scene as one in which people are dressed, yet the sheer skimpiness of the underwear leaves very little (indeed, almost nothing) to the imagination. So even though you would see more if the figure were naked, your brain would immediately contextualize it as "a naked situation", but with the underwear, you feel like you're seeing something you're not supposed to be seeing.
[description: a man spreads his legs and pulls his panties to the side, revealing everything]
Although, there will always be those who say that a little bit isn't enough - certainly there is still the excitement of full exposure. After all, you can't indulge in the joy of exposure without, you know, exposing something. Indeed, the tease of it may go a long way in explaining the allure of partial exposure.
I suppose a non-nudist would feel the same way about complete nudity - and I imagine that's what a lot of people mean when they say they don't want to "get used" to seeing nudity. But even with that realization, I still wouldn't give up the comforts and pleasures of a nudist lifestyle, among them the ability to appreciate, on occasion, the aesthetic virtues of a beautiful body unclothed and - not through a digital screen, but - in the flesh, as it were. ;-3
[description: a naked man with an erection sits at the steering wheel of a car]
Can you drive my stick?
Can you drive my stick?