'Offended', or 'disgusted'?

[Dunsunnin]

The words 'offended' and 'offensive', in respect of those involuntarily witnessing nudity puzzles me.
To offend someone is to insult them personally - calling someone a b*****d to their face, or to belittle them, for instance.
I don't see how seeing casual nudity can be actually personally 'offensive'.
They may, on the other hand, be 'disgusted', which is a completely different emotion.
I am disgusted by vandalism, litter, flytipping, drink-driving, etc, etc, (all of which are criminal offences) but not personally offended by it. Unless my own property had become vandalised, of course.
If we were to be nude in public, we would not normally be directing this nudity towards any individual on a personal basis. Therefore it cannot be an offensive act.
If members of the public are disgusted by nudity, then that's their opinion against ours. They may see us as being eccentric, but eccentricity is not a crime. But the big difference is that our nudity is not socially disruptive like crime, vandalism, assualt, and so on.
Therefore, for anyone who has seen their own body naked (which is most everyone), seeing someone else's cannot be personally offensive to them.
Not wearing clothing is as legitimate a way of living as wearing clothing - it is a matter of personal choice.
Currently, for all areas outside of naturist 'pens' (which is basically what they are - areas to gather us together in out of 'harm's' way), this 'choice' is not a choice at all, as it has been confiscated by law based upon primitive dresscodes which at one time would have been quite vague, with commonsense directing the way - wearing material simply to keep warm.
I see the act of casual nudity as being a lot of fuss about nothing, and the laws should be eased in recognition of the fact that naturists do have a right to voice their opinions which are as important as anyone elses.

[Dunsunnin]

The words 'offended' and 'offensive', in respect of those involuntarily witnessing nudity puzzles me.
To offend someone is to insult them personally - calling someone a b*****d to their face, or to belittle them, for instance.
I don't see how seeing casual nudity can be actually personally 'offensive'.
They may, on the other hand, be 'disgusted', which is a completely different emotion.
I am disgusted by vandalism, litter, flytipping, drink-driving, etc, etc, (all of which are criminal offences) but not personally offended by it. Unless my own property had become vandalised, of course.
If we were to be nude in public, we would not normally be directing this nudity towards any individual on a personal basis. Therefore it cannot be an offensive act.
If members of the public are disgusted by nudity, then that's their opinion against ours. They may see us as being eccentric, but eccentricity is not a crime. But the big difference is that our nudity is not socially disruptive like crime, vandalism, assualt, and so on.
Therefore, for anyone who has seen their own body naked (which is most everyone), seeing someone else's cannot be personally offensive to them.
Not wearing clothing is as legitimate a way of living as wearing clothing - it is a matter of personal choice.
Currently, for all areas outside of naturist 'pens' (which is basically what they are - areas to gather us together in out of 'harm's' way), this 'choice' is not a choice at all, as it has been confiscated by law based upon primitive dresscodes which at one time would have been quite vague, with commonsense directing the way - wearing material simply to keep warm.
I see the act of casual nudity as being a lot of fuss about nothing, and the laws should be eased in recognition of the fact that naturists do have a right to voice their opinions which are as important as anyone elses.

Dunsinnin,

What is "flytipping"? I've swatted a lot of flies, but I've never tipped any over.

Seriously, I don't understand either why anyone can say they are "offended" at seeing someone nude. The person isn't nude for the purpose of offending anyone. It's not a personal attack on anyone. The word "offended" is improperly used in this context. Personally, I think it's a matter of embarrassment. Most people have been taught that the human body is indecent, and they are embarrassed when they see someone nude. I've had people who would be embarrassed when they first saw me nude. They quickly got over it when they found out that I wasn't embarrassed and didn't care.

[gamblefish]

They must have some really big flies...

As has been mentioned by others on other threads, I think there are many reasons that people are uncomfortable with nudity, theirs or that of others. Most are raised to view nudity as shameful or disgusting with no valid reason as to why. Some maybe were abused when young and see their "nether-regions" as a source of shame. Some may be simply afraid of someone's negative reaction to their naked body.

Whatever reason, I think some can be easily educated to view casual nudity as harmless at the least and healthy at best. But I think that many have their fears so deep-seated that no amount of therapy can ever change their minds.

On a positive note, I think the younger generation has a good chance of becoming comfortable with casual nudity.

[Dunsunnin]

'Flytipping' is obviously a word which hasn't made it across the 'pond', and means dumping old mattresses, cars and rubbish in a place other than a local waste collection center. A bit like 'flyposting'.
'Embarrassment'...I get embarrassed, for some reason, when I see a nervous inexperienced news reporter on TV struggling to deliver a story, and losing the plot as to what they're supposed to be saying. I have to turn over channels - I just can't watch someone siezing up on camera.
Parents can sometimes be an embarrassment to their kids. But being an adaptive species, we can learn to live with these things...it's called life.

[Dunsunnin]

"Shame" is a major part of the problem. But the more you think about it, the less sense it makes...
The person who should be ashamed is the nude one, yet most off us aren't ashamed of ourselves, or we wouldn't be naturists. A clothed person should not feel shame as they are not doing anything to be ashamed of...or is seeing someone nude shameful to them?

[tarsus]

i am not sure how the term "flytipping" came into use but due to the expense of disposing of old mattress's, toilets, and you have to just about call the e.p.a. to toss a paint can, we in this country see everything throwed along the roadside.
people who are offended by a nude body should stop being offended by this .and start being offended my all the litter on the ground. after all the nudist will past from sight,but all that trash is everywere you look.

[Dunsunnin]

Just to add another touch of disturbance to this topic, and having already mentioned a personal disgust of litter, I heard today that someone got stabbed through asking someone to pick up their litter...I don't know if the stabbing was fatal or not.
Now, I'm not suggesting that this is a normal incident, but it sure makes you wonder what sort of sick world we're trying to educate into nudity acceptance. And this sickness seems to increase on a weekly basis.
How would public nudism actually cope with the thugs of this world? Easy targets, I would think.

[Jochanaan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dunsunnin:
How would public nudism actually cope with the thugs of this world? Easy targets, I would think. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hmmm--if nudity actually became publicly accepted despite the powerful forces arrayed against it, it would no longer be an "ism"! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

And it's certainly impossible to conceal a weapon on a naked body! Well, it might be done, but the phrase "armed to the teeth" would gain new meaning. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Jochanaan]

Regarding the original question, in a more serious tone: A significant portion of humans see many things as personal attacks that really aren't. This is the root cause of so many conflicts on a domestic, local, national, and worldwide scale.

Example: North Korea's leaders, for cultural and other reasons, sees the massive U.S. military machine as a personal threat although it isn't. That is why Kim Jong Il is rattling his missiles and boasting about warheads.

To minimize these conflicts, perceptions must change. But confessing error, the first step in changing, is hard for the best of us. It's relatively easy to confess to individual errors; it's more difficult to confess to errors of omission; and it's far, far more painful to confess to errors of perception since such errors seem to indicate something wrong in our inner beings. The pain is a necessary part of healing--but many refuse it.

That's what we are up against--not logic, for there isn't any; not reasonable objections, for few exist; but warped perceptions, which are far harder to change. I wish I had a solution, but I don't. The Creator does, but not everyone is willing to try it.

[Trailscout]

Jochanaan,

I understand what you are saying about God.

On this earth, solitary people are easy picking for the thugs of the world. But even though some people ignore the "Golden Rule", there is a system that can create a liveable society until Jesus comes back.

Social nudism works because we live and act as a community.

When it works as it should, women and children are not harassed, or at least not for long, because we visit beaches in organized groups and at resorts, we have rules and people to enforce those rules.