Social Perspectives on Nudism across Cultures
Sarah Day
Petra Cunningham-Smith
0234
Introduction
It’s a hot, summer day in Europe so everyone decides to spend the day at the beach. Just like Americans, Europeans enjoy swimming in the ocean. However, Europeans do not believe in the use of towels to dry off; especially when they brought a spare bathing suit to change into. Upon getting out of the water, it is natural for them to simply take off their wet clothes on the public beach to put on a dry bathing suit. In America, the display of nudity in public is seen as disrespectful and a criminal offense. Social attitudes towards nudism have changed dramatically from the 1800s to present day, yet have always varied across cultures due to the particular beliefs, values, politics and religious practices expressed within diverse groups. In my opinion, it seems as if one of society’s recent recurring themes is “natural,” referring to the use of less makeup, hair products, and diet pills, and focusing more on expressing the true image of an individual and embracing the person that they were born to be. Furthermore, what’s more “natural” than a nude figure? Individuals were born naked, so how can public display of one’s body be an immoral action? I believe that it is common for people to associate nudity and sexuality, when they should not be referred to as two interchangeable words.
“Prudes,” extreme social conservatives, believe that by promoting a sexually repressive society, fewer unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases will occur. It is evident however, that the case is the exact opposite. Countries in Western Europe that embrace topics despised by social conservatives despise such as nude or topless beaches, pro-gay legislation, comprehensive sex education, adult entertainment, and legal or decriminalized prostitution tend to have less sexual dysfunction than the United States (Howard 160). Compared with sexual attitudes of Western Europe and the United States, it is understood that there is a strong correlation between social conservatism and higher rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advocates for Youth, one of the most sexual liberalist countries in the world, The Netherlands, was reported to have had a teen birth rate of 5.3 per 1,000 compared to 39.1 per 1,000 in the United States in 2009 (Sandfort 85). The Netherlands also reported an abortion rate of 8.8 per 1,000 in 2006 compared to 14.8 per 1,000 in the United States in 2007. In 2009, the United States had three times as many adults living with AIDS or HIV as the Netherlands. The list of sexual health problems in America goes on and spreads to other Western European countries, such as Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and France (Howard 160).
So, the question is, why do we avoid the topic of nudism in America? Shouldn’t we learn to be comfortable in our own bodies, despite what society provokes as the ‘ideal body image’? Nudism is not meant to only be appropriate for those who have “perfect” bodies and it should be encouraged. Nudity is not all about the appearance; presenting oneself in such a natural state has positive psychological effects on an individual. Naked people don’t worry about what others think of them, and will take chances for fun. Naked people aren’t necessarily better; they just approach life with a different mindset. I believe that our society would greatly benefit by simply asking ourselves the question- “Are you a naked person?”
Background
Since the beginning of this nation, Christian ideals have encompassed our societal values and led to the conservative perspective upheld until the 1960s. While sex is still considered a taboo by some, and nudity is commonly associated with sexuality, our society tends to perceive a naked body as disrespectful, immoral, and unacceptable. Looking back to the 1800s, women were forced to cover
initially viewed the audience found it insulting. Michelangelo’s statue David on the other hand received criticism due to political views and societal views about nudity. The objections seen and posed by audiences in the Duchamp painting was in that it didn’t make sense, there wasn’t a natural flow to the piece. People were used to seeing images reflective of life that were easy to understand and this was not the case. The painting was quite abstract and challenging for people to understand. Duchamp…
perspective on gender roles is becoming more vague. There is a certain path that U.S. society expects the modern person to pursue—receive an education, earn money, and settle down. Subsequently anything that gets into the way of this path is frowned upon. Body image, for instance, is adjusted for this path, and privacy is maintained to not affect this regular path one must pursue. Because life is shaped around this path, one’s identity is shaped around what one gets from this path—academic credentials, material…
the past centuries, for example, a few that I am going to discuss in this essay are femininity, sexuality and race. These cultural forms are just a few that affect women and society now and years ago. I am going to discuss these with the help of two images; The Dove ‘Real Beauty’ campaign and ‘Susanna at her bath’ by Francesco Hayez (1850). I am also going to be using the readings that I have been researching to support the arguments that I discuss throughout. The readings that I am going to use are…
attack from ever happening airport security is now a compilation of pad-downs by TSA agents and body scanners which can see right through one’s clothes. Both methods have their ups and downs, but are necessary indeed as they form the basis on which the future of airport security will be founded. This research paper strives to point out the implementation of technology in airports during pat-downs and body scanning by identifying the competence or inefficiency of either method as TSA agents work towards…
in an attempt to arrest attention and affect communication, by giving audiences images that will give them feelings of motivation and desire. By distributing images pictures of peoples deep lying desires there is a better chance of making them consider purchasing the product, which is the main goal of the advertiser. An example of how advertisers try communicating with the audience is by using a specially selected image such as a supine female or a highly well known celebrity, they do this because…
refers to the use of sex appeal in trying to sell your products. Erotic imageries are more attractive to the eye and they get attention from us human beings, the images displayed are such as cheese cake, nudity or at times even beef cake (Taflinger, 1996). This mode of advertising began long ago where beautiful carvings of women bodies were made. Sex advertising relies on the foundation that individuals are very curious to know and find out more about sex hence making them watch advertisements that…
and the company. On americanapparel.net there is a complete archive of all their different ads starting in 1995. After looking through them, it was very obvious the common theme between them all: complete or almost-complete nudity, extremely suggestive and pornographic body language, and disembodiment. It was extremely hard to narrow it down, because there were so many options, but the ads I found most irritating were: The first print ad “Meet Melissa”, is trying to…
The women in this advertisement represent women all over the world for their beauty and to make us feel good about our aging bodies. Differentiation of using real women drives an emotional connection with women. Usually in any skin product commercial you normal see skinny, young models and beautiful women, but for some reason this add is opposite to most commercial advertising…
women have gotten worse over the decades”. Recently, more and more companies have begun using this strategy and now most ads incorporate some form of sexual content to promote their product. The type of sexual reference can differ from nudity to sexual messages or images depending on the product being promoted. These commercials not only use sex to sell their products, but often women are being objectified and taken advantage of in advertisements by being presented as “things” or “property”. She also…
that its body paint and she is actually naked. As you look at this nude woman, your eyes scan down her body to browse the various other links you can visit such as a 360 panorama of the model, more photos of the model, and to get to the Sports Illustrated website. Your eyes are then drawn to big bold letters saying, “Hydration Exposed.” The advertisement takes place somewhere tropical. The sweating bottle looks mouth watering as she holds it next to her body, also dripping in sweat. Her body lying…