Cut-off age for nudity

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  • simonsebs
    Silver Member
    • Oct 2005
    • 1137
    • Me and clothes have a love-hate relationship. I love taking them off and hate putting them back on.

      Naturist Fiction

    Cut-off age for nudity

    Earlier today I got bored, so I started looking around some of those photo sharing sites. Every so often I would come across a photo of a child in the nude. It was the typical shots of them in the backyard, tub, or the beach.

    When looking at these photos I felt a bit of jealousy, that the kids in the pictures got to enjoy a freedom I really can't. Then I began to wonder, why is it that after a certain age that social norms demand we cover ourselves? I know some families force this on their children at different ages. For some families its as soon as the child is old enough to walk, for others it never happens. Why can't people of any age have the same feelings of freedom and happiness as these children?

    Also I was surprised that in this day and age parents would put these types of photos on the Internet. Not saying its a bad thing, but I would think there might be alot of problems to deal with. Back in the day, from what I understand, photos of your child in the tub or nude in the backyard weren't a problem. The worst thing that would happen is that your mom would bring them out on prom night or when you had friends over, and embarass you. Now a days, you can get arrested and accused of making child pornography. Is society really that crazy or am I making too much out of this?
  • Fuzzy Nuts
    Silver Member
    • Jul 2006
    • 1137
    • nekkid forever

    #2
    Wow - When I first read the heading I thought you were going to suggest that I was too old to go naked.

    Comment

    • MJ_KC
      Silver Member
      • Apr 2005
      • 1357

      #3
      quote:
      Originally posted by simonsebs:
      Then I began to wonder, why is it that after a certain age that social norms demand we cover ourselves? I know some families force this on their children at different ages. For some families its as soon as the child is old enough to walk, for others it never happens. Why can't people of any age have the same feelings of freedom and happiness as these children?

      It is because politicians get elected by saying what the majority in their party wants to hear. They get re-elected by doing what will get them enough votes. That does not include making nudity in public an OK thing to do in most situations.

      We are a fairly small percentage of the total number of voters, so what we want isn't all that important to the politicians.

      Parents in general will have their kids conform to societies norms at a fairly early age because it is easier than trying to explain that being nude is something that they have to be careful when and where it is done.

      Comment

      • luvnaturism
        Silver Member
        • Jan 2002
        • 1341

        #4
        quote:
        Originally posted by MJ_KC:
        Parents in general will have their kids conform to societies norms at a fairly early age because it is easier than trying to explain that being nude is something that they have to be careful when and where it is done.


        That's true. Another powerful reason is that we all learn how to be parents by observing our own parents. In other words, when we become parents we tend to raise our kids in the way that our parents raised us.

        This has played out clearly in our family. We didn't discover the values of naturism until our kids were grown and gone. Now we know better, but we have to watch our grandkids being raised the same way we raised their parents.

        Comment

        • Bobx23456
          Bronze Member
          • May 2007
          • 500

          #5
          quote:
          Originally posted by simonsebs:
          When looking at these photos I felt a bit of jealousy, that the kids in the pictures got to enjoy a freedom I really can't. Then I began to wonder, why is it that after a certain age that social norms demand we cover ourselves? I know some families force this on their children at different ages. For some families its as soon as the child is old enough to walk, for others it never happens. Why can't people of any age have the same feelings of freedom and happiness as these children?


          I was taught to be dressed all the time at home while I was too young to remember how the teaching was done. At about age 12 or so I found out that my next door friends would go naked inside their house, and had actually seen their sister naked. I was shocked and amazed. I hadn't ever seen my sisters not fully dressed, and not even my mother had seen me naked since I was old enough to put on my own pants. I was beginning to have sexual feelings and the thought of seeing a naked female, even a sister, haunted my young mind for quite a while.

          quote:
          Also I was surprised that in this day and age parents would put these types of photos on the Internet. Not saying its a bad thing, but I would think there might be alot of problems to deal with. Back in the day, from what I understand, photos of your child in the tub or nude in the backyard weren't a problem. The worst thing that would happen is that your mom would bring them out on prom night or when had friends over, and embarass you. Now a days, you can get arrested and accused of making child pornography. Is society really that crazy or am I making too much out of this?


          Politicians try to appease the most bizzare of organized pressure groups. The nonsense that making photos of human bodies into very serious crime somehow protects children is so bizzare that it has become law. A naked body should be acceptable in person or in image, regardless of the age of the person. But even a computer generated or artist rendering of a child naked can be an excuse for the hate mongers of "crime" enforcement to destroy someone's life.

          Be nude, but be careful.

          Blessings

          Bob

          Comment

          • Rabid_Clam
            Silver Member
            • Jun 2004
            • 1636

            #6
            For young folk some concepts are difficult to understand. So at the point they need to learn the textile modisty they are clothed and taught that is the way to present themselves in public but then only a small percentage teach them social manners in nudity so this, in some people, has be be learned from ground zero.

            And hence we have many posts on social politeness here in this forum in other topic areas.

            Will be a long time before social nudity etiquette is taught to most children VS only an extremely small perctnt but maybe that will come in time as nudity becomes more popular.

            Comment

            • walter05
              Silver Member
              • Sep 2006
              • 1632

              #7
              I think there are two simple reasons there are fewer images of children.

              As a parent, I avoid having any images of my children placed on the internet. It does not matter if they are clothed or not. Unfortunately, there are predators that look for children. Some for sexual fantasies and others for pure theft. A photo shopped picture of a child's face and a naked body can be enough to scare many children into helping steal from their parents, etc. As a result, I avoid having any images of my children placed on the internet.

              The other reason is that a parent who posts a naked picture of a child on the internet risks issues with the Department of Family and Children Services and in the case of divorce with a spouse. One may not want to risk the legal consequences.

              Comment

              • simonsebs
                Silver Member
                • Oct 2005
                • 1137
                • Me and clothes have a love-hate relationship. I love taking them off and hate putting them back on.

                  Naturist Fiction

                #8
                quote:
                Originally posted by Fuzzy Nuts:
                Wow - When I first read the heading I thought you were going to suggest that I was too old to go naked.


                Don't worry I would never tell anyone that. I think you're never too young or too old to go naked if you want to. Its society that trys to tell us different.

                Comment

                • Zevei
                  Bronze Member
                  • Jun 2006
                  • 177

                  #9
                  quote:
                  Originally posted by Fuzzy Nuts:
                  Wow - When I first read the heading I thought you were going to suggest that I was too old to go naked.


                  That was what I thought, and I was going to suggest that once either your breasts or your scrotum reach your ankles, then perhaps that is the time to get some "textile" support.

                  Zevei

                  Comment

                  • nakedjohn
                    Bronze Member
                    • May 2004
                    • 914

                    #10
                    Never too old or to young to get naked.

                    Comment

                    • missouriboy
                      Gold Member
                      • Jan 2003
                      • 2553
                      • KNOW YE THESE two things: HIDING BEHIND clothing is UNnecessary. -- Moboy

                      #11
                      Here's the paragraph from John Veltheim's essay, about society's deplorable treatment of child nudity:
                      quote:
                      When is it wrong to be naked? A naked newborn baby is not considered wrong or bad. At what age does this child become bad? Is it 18 months? Or when they are three? A naked two year old on the beach is generally considered normal and inoffensive. So when is a child not a child? Is it four years old or is it ten years old? People with issues around nudity will often say it is when they reach school age, and that would be five years old. That concept infers that when a naked child on the beach is 4 years 364 days 23 hours and 59 minutes old it is a healthy child with a good attitude to life. One minute later, when the child turns five it is suddenly a naughty, sinful child because he/she is still naked! That concept is obviously a farce.

                      Comment

                      • gymnoboi
                        Member
                        • Jul 2006
                        • 95

                        #12
                        Your not making to much of it Simon. Society really has walked off the edge of a cliff. There used to be a magazine printed in southern California called "Families Naturally" after several publications the husband and wife that published the magazine had their house stormed one day. The kids were taken away and put in the system. The parents were arrested. As I remember it took almost a year and all they had in the world to have the charges thrown out and kids returned. Can you even imagine the emotional impact that it had on just the kids alone. How did we end up with so few freedoms in a free country?

                        Comment

                        • Arnabas
                          Bronze Member
                          • Jan 2004
                          • 305

                          #13
                          I asked a friend of mine what he thought of this. I said (basically) "You know, when kids are little, it's no big deal for them to be nude on the beach, or in your backyard playing in a pool. When does it become offensive to people?"

                          His response?

                          "When they are old enough to know better."

                          What? Old enought to know better than to believe there's nothing wrong with their bodies? To know better than to be sweet and innocent and unashamed? It's just so... crazy.

                          My son is 4 and has no problem going nude at home. He is a bright, sweet, playful kid with no body issues yet. At his age, I was already becoming very shy about my body. By about 6 or 7 I was so neurotic about every part of my body that I wouldn't take off my shirt on hot days. I wouldn't even go barefoot because I was shy about my feet. It sound so stupid, but there it is. I was raised (not intentionally-- I don't blame my parents) to be shy about my body. I never learned to swim because I wouldn't be seen in a bathing suit.

                          Today, if I see a naked child at the beach, I think it's great. I don't care if (s)he is 2, 5, 8, 10 or 14. In fact, the older the child, the better job I think the parent's did instilling a sense of security and pride.

                          Comment

                          • Arnabas
                            Bronze Member
                            • Jan 2004
                            • 305

                            #14
                            I'll mention though, that not everyone thinks it's ok to be nude, even at a young age. I used to work in a book store and we had a book called "Naked Babies", which was a book of photos.

                            There were more than a few people who complained QUITE vocally about it and the fact that we were selling "child pornography".

                            Comment

                            • nudenwv
                              Silver Member
                              • Dec 2004
                              • 1470
                              • nude in the mountain state

                              #15
                              while in the infant stage of life, nude photos in the tub or walking around nude,is concidered cute. when we mature and begin to show pubic hair and developement then it's shunned by society. society rules all. if they would loosen up and hit the bigger problems in the world then it may be more acceptable. of course you'll always have that few that stretch it too far and ruin it for all of us.

                              Comment

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