the figure

I'm not sure how to put all my thoughts on paper without the scorn of some, but maybe being scorned by some is acceptable. It is not law that all men agree with me. I know that the human figure is a topic visited time and again in this culture. We are fixated with figure and the determination of what is acceptable or not. Should the body be concealed? How small or large is it allowed to be? Can the body, along with imperfections be considered beautiful?
Through Christian modesty we are taught that nakedness is shameful. If nakedness is shameful, then isn't the body that is unclothed also unacceptable? Aren't we taught to dislike ourselves and to disapprove of appearance?
I'm not sure where I stand on all this myself, but these thoughts keep whirring through my head. I know that the purpose of modesty is to present oneself in a way that would not provoke others to sin, that sin mainly being lust. Yet, aren't we taught by hiding ourselves that we are something to be ashamed of? I am reminded of my dear professor John Puls, my life drawing teacher, and his comments on how Christianity has taught us that the body is a piece of meat on this earth, something we lug around and live in that holds us down and gives way to our human nature. (or something like that, that was merely the ideas that came from his words.) Yet, we were created by God, and why would God make something that is shameful? It is because of sin that Adam and Eve found themselves to be naked that God made them clothing, yet the human body in itself is not to be despised. It is a masterpiece of God, created by God.
The more I study the figure through life drawing the more I find that the body really is beautiful, in all its un-airbrushed imperfection.
Studying the body brings understanding to who we are... it takes in the truth and shows us beauty.
I don't know what I'm trying to get at here, or if I'm trying to make any point at all... but I've been thinking about the body a lot... and how "taboo" it is in Christian culture. I understand the reluctance to accept something that the world so quickly sexualizes and makes an object of great attention... but at the same time, why must we see it in that way? it's fun to be able to take the body and see it as shifting planes all coming together to create a gorgeous light and dark pattern... and it's cool to realize that just by taking in how someone looks, how they carry themselves we can tell so much about that person.
To end this, I must quote from a passage read for my life drawing class:

"The Knowledge of anatomy is not enough. The artist must penetrate deeper. Actions must be suggestive of the motives which incited them; faces and gestures must reveal frames of mind. The human body was an outward and visible expression of the soul. It was shaped by its spirit. The painter must reverse the process and by constructing a body give expression to a spirit."

I'm not sure what book this was taken from, but it was some of Leonardo DaVinci's thoughts on the body.