Chapter Thirty-Four
Elizabeth returned to college that fall, more confident than ever. She enjoyed that Marie was becoming a kindred spirit and a confidante in her nude adventures. Elizabeth felt more sure of herself, and less doubt that her nudity should be suppressed. If anything, her nudity was giving her more opportunities and making her a better person.
Elizabeth was excited about the sociology class she was taking that fall. It was a very popular class among students and Elizabeth had long been interested in social norms and why societies behave like they do. She was particularly interested in how nudity had become such a taboo in most cultures.
As she settled into the packed lecture hall, Elizabeth saw a young, dynamic professor full of confidence at the front of the room.
“I’m Professor Warner. Welcome to Sociology 235,” he began. “You’ll find this class may be a bit different than your other classes. It is unconventional, because what we study here is the unconventional.”
The professor directed his gaze at Elizabeth. She smiled faintly. He would not avert his gaze. He stared at her, slowly walking toward her and Elizabeth began to squirm at the uncomfortable feeling of his staring at her.
“In this classroom, you fill find me and your colleagues pushing the bounds of social norms,” he continued until his face was mere inches from Elizabeth. He was a handsome man, with an attractive musk about him, but Elizabeth was still very uncomfortable at having him so close to her. Was he crazy? Had she done something wrong?
“What is your name, young lady?”
“Er….Elizabeth….”
“Do you feel uncomfortable right now?
“Yes.”
“Am I invading your personal space?”
“I suppose so.”
“This is what I am talking about,” announced the professor as he turned back to the class. “Why are we so uncomfortable when a stranger stares at us for a length of time? Why do we squirm when they invade our personal space? There are reasons for some of our social norms – while others have been institutionalized from long ago based on superstition or policies that have no application today. We will pick apart these social norms, challenge them, then try to re-construct them.”
He smiled back at Elizabeth, “Thank you for being our guinea pig on the first day Elizabeth. I am sorry to have invaded your personal space.”
“In this classroom, you will all be allowed, encouraged, and even required to reject a social norm. I want you all to feel as if this is a ‘social norm-free zone.’ If there is a social norm you feel is outdated or obsolete, feel free to leave that social norm at the door. I only ask that you follow the Golden Rule – ‘do not unto others as they would do unto you.’ In other words, just don’t be a jerk!”
Just then, Elizabeth heard a loud fart from a few rows back. The classroom erupted in laughter.
“Yes, that’s just what I mean,” smiled Professor Warner. “Crude, but effective I suppose.”
After a full lecture, Elizabeth left the classroom excited about the prospect of learning more about social norms. And it might be fun rejecting a social norm or two. Maybe she would walk backwards, or give everyone she met a kiss on the cheek, or maybe even act like a child for class. She was looking forward to her “social norm-free zone.”
Later that night, Elizabeth grabbed her sociology readings and her laundry and went down to the apartment laundry room. After putting her colored clothes in the wash, she began her readings. It was a challenging, academic reading, but interesting nonetheless.
Elizabeth moved her colored clothes to the dryer and began putting her whites in the wash. She began to think more about social norms and how silly and even inconvenient some of them were. For example, she needed to wash the clothes she was wearing. But since it was taboo to be naked, she couldn’t just put the clothes she was wearing in the wash and sit there stark naked.
Or could she?
All this talk of breaking social norms was making Elizabeth even more confident about public nudity. Nudity was a social norm - and a silly one at that. Why couldn’t she just be naked?
“Back to the real world,” thought Elizabeth. While breaking social norms was fine in the friendly confines of her professor’s “social norm-free zone”, nudity still had ramifications in the real world. People didn’t tolerate nudity.
Still, who would find out? It was late. No one was around. And even if someone walked in, maybe this would be a good time to see if Elizabeth really was up for breaking social norms.
Elizabeth looked down at the pile of crumpled whites in the washing machine. She slowly pulled off the dirty t-shirt she was wearing and threw it on the pile. She slid off her sweat pants and tossed them in as well. It was taboo for a woman to be in just her bra and underwear in public. Maybe she should only go this far.
Elizabeth closed the lid and turned on the washing machine. She felt very conflicted. Her stomach was twisting in knots.
“Oh what the hell,” she thought as she unclasped the bra, slid off her panties, and tossed them in the washing machine. She chuckled to herself and ran her hands across her naked body. It felt great to be naked once again.
She settled back into her seat and resumed her reading, smug with the satisfaction of being such a social norm rebel. She was halfway through the next chapter when the door swung open and a handsome young man walked through the door with a load of laundry.
“Shit,” muttered Elizabeth as she did her best to use her sociology book to cover herself.
The guy looked over at her and did a double take. Elizabeth tried to bury herself in her reading. She was now humiliated and furious with herself that she had allowed herself to be so reckless again. The guy tried to play it cool and went to the opposite end of the room to do his laundry.
Elizabeth hoped her load would soon be done so she could get her clothes back and get out of there. She tried to regain her composure and get back to her reading, hoping to take her mind off her humiliation. After reading another paragraph on social norms, Elizabeth got back to thinking about how she was breaking social norms. And what was so wrong about that? The guy obviously didn’t mind too much. In fact, he probably enjoyed it. He wasn’t going to call the cops or anything. The only downside was the humiliation Elizabeth was suffering, and that was all self-inflicted. Why should she be humiliated? She had a fantastic body. Why not enjoy the experience.
She put the book down and took a deep breath. She got up and walked over towards the guy. She grazed her fingers against her naked hips and acted as casually as she could. She pretended to read the bulletin board, but she could feel his gaze staring at her naked body. It was arousing her immensely.
“Do you always do your laundry like this?” he finally asked.
“No,” smiled Elizabeth. “Just thought I’d clean everything today.”
“Wow, no one is ever going to believe me when I tell them about this,” laughed the guy as he shook his head.
Elizabeth walked back to her side of the room and poked her head out the door. It was dark outside, but the apartment complex parking lot provided light. Elizabeth decided to see how far she was willing to break social norms. She walked up a path towards the front of the apartment complex, making sure to stay close to the wall, in the shadows. Her heart was now beating a mile a minute.
She stood with her back against the brick wall of the building and the feeling of cold brick against her bare skin gave her goosebumps. It was late on a weeknight, so the street was empty. Elizabeth spotted a street light shimmering just in front of the complex. She took a deep breath and ran towards the halo of light. She was standing in what looked like a spotlight, just for her - the naked girl. After just a second or two, she quickly dashed back to the shadows.
The feeling of excitement was so arousing at this point, Elizabeth began pinching her nipples and rubbing her body. She began to masturbate. It was not enough. She had to be back in the spotlight.
She looked around to see if any cars were coming. There was nary a sound. She ran back to the streetlight and stood with her back against the cold metal pole, thrusting her fingers inside herself. The orgasmic feeling was making her knees weak, so she slid down until she was sitting bare-assed on the cold ground, working her fingers in and out. She could not believe she was being so bold. She looked up at the bright light of the streetlight, and she imagined herself back on stage at the play she had performed in, masturbating for the audience. She quickly climaxed in an intense orgasm.
Elizabeth regained her senses and began to walk back towards the laundry room. She had certainly pushed some social norms tonight! She walked in the door just in time to see the handsome young guy pulling his pants back up.
“Oh my god,” he stammered as he zipped up and ran out of the room in embarrassment.
Elizabeth laughed at catching the guy pleasuring himself, presumably to the thought of her naked body. Seeing her clothes were done, she quickly gathered them up, dressed, and walked back to her apartment.
She was beginning to like being “social norm-free.”
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