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Is Nudity in America Dead?

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  • #1

    Is Nudity in America Dead?

    The Nude Freedom Blog posted this today:

    Is nudity in America dead? Killed by a reactionary theocratic government who slowly erodes our civil freedoms in the name of "safety." Or was it the internet perverts who transformed the natural into the obscene? Maybe it was the general public who's more worried about status and what they wear? Or is it the holier than thou, holy rollers who view God's own creation as sinful?

    Also, the number of young adults enjoying nude recreation is on the decline.

    There is Government and self-censorship of nudity in media.

    It seems that US doesn't tolerate nudity as much as the European countries do and we also have he problem of pervets here.
    Last edited by Guest; 09-28-2007, 10:05 AM. Reason: Link removed "blogspot" removed these nude freedom blogs
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  • #2
    Originally posted by David77:
    Since I am an old man age 81, I can take the long view and say that nudity certainly is not dead but flourshing, as compared to the past. Also, sex in no longer a "hush-hush" word.
    Consider these factors that did not exist when I was a child;


  • Condoms become common "under the counter items" out of sight then, as they are no longer illegal in the USA (as of 1918).

  • Sex information is freely give on TV, such as by Sue Johanson on the "Talk Sex" show on the "Oxygen channel" on Sunday nights.

  • Plunging necklines, showing much of the breasts, are no longer shocking to most persons, but is considered high fashion.

  • Nudity freely shown on the internet.

    I will think of some more and will add to the list.
With all due respect to your elder statesman status as an octagenerian nudist, the list is great except for these items above.

Condom availability only increases the likelihood of sex among non marrieds. If married people need a condom, they have no problem asking the pharmacist. True nudism should be about reducing illicit and premarital sex I would think.

Sex info on TV - how is this related to the growth of nudism?

Plunging necklines - how is this good for a genuine appreciateion of the human body. They only accentuate and sexualize the breasts.

Nudity freely shown on the internet - most (not all) of it is porn related I think.


You know, if nudism must grow within the context of relaxed moral attitudes, then we haven't really gained much I think.

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  • #3
    True nudism does not have to be about reduction of any kind of sex, it is about nudism, the freedom from textiles. Sex is not any part of the focus any more than sex be a part of a bowling team or family reunion. Quite simply sex is not part of social nudism ! Any resort will teach you that much!

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    • #4
      Nudity's good reputation is almost dead, because nudity within the family is confused with child abuse, and public social nudism is confused with exhibitionism, and can earn you a place on the sexual predator list. Here in the US, nudism/naturism is becoming less acceptable except in certain places in the SW states & the East coast.

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      • #5
        I sure hope that nudity isn't dead. I always wanted to find a place where its accepted to be casually nude all the time. There has to be some place like this in America.

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        • #6
          This is not peculiar to the USA, here in Britain we have the PC zealots who try to read something into a situation, misguided by their own warps moral standards, take for instance the newly appointed manager of the local council sports centre who decided that the regular nudist swim should not include children because they were (In his view.) at risk, the council child protection officer was consulted and he agreed as a result children were banned from attending.
          This was all over turned eventually after a long battle and loads of publicity, the council finally decided that the children were at no more risk than the children that attend the textile swims, indeed the nudist children were there with their parents and considered safer.
          As a result of one mans strange moral opinion a lot of upset was caused, but the nudist swim organisers fought back and won the day, how many cases have not been fought, leaving the PC zealots to mount a number of cases as testimony to their beliefs, unchallenged they think they are right.

          We often see "experts" quoted in cases of children in nudism, or indeed the morality of nudism itself, but these so called "experts" are human beings who allow personal opinion to colour their thinking, despite all the teachings of a university education the childhood upbringing can and does affect their judgment. So a strict religious upbringing by parents with body shame can and does affect the outcome of "expert" testimony, but if challenged they can be proved wrong, as in a couple of cases here in the UK.

          Stand up for yourself and your rights, don't let narrow minded people control your lives with the PC crap.

          Pete Knight

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          • #7
            Generally, I agree with what Pete says. The current politically correct, paedophile-obsessed environment is not conducive to living in a free and tolerant society and should be challenged, regardless of the qualifications or supposed eminence in child development of some of these commentators. You have the right to bring up your own children to your own beliefs, attitudes and values and it is your decision whether that upbringing will or will not include nudism. The textile majority should facilitate nudism so far as possible and should not interfere with the way nudists wish to raise their own kids, so long as there is no demonstrable harm caused to them.

            Naturally, the same applies to those of us who choose to bring up our children in such a way that they never encounter adult nudity.

            Stu

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            • #8
              Stu,

              Can you give us 205 reasons why children should not encounter adult nudity?

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              • #9
                Nudity is not yet dead in American but it is graying and slowely dying out. The younger generations are generally not interested in nudism and this is where the future of nudism lies. There are many reasons for this and some include that nudism is viewed as more of a leisure activity for retired folks. The younger folks are too busy with family, career, and life's goals to have time leftover for many leisure activities. Society in general has also changed and the main thrust of society now is geared more towards work, earning money, and living a consumer oriented and material based existance.

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                • #10
                  Originally posted by Dario Western View Post
                  Stu,

                  Can you give us 205 reasons why children should not encounter adult nudity?
                  Dario

                  I don't need 205 reasons to do anything - just one good one.

                  I have not said "children should not encounter adult nudity" - I am fine about other people's children seeing nudity if their parents are OK with that. I am just not OK with my own kids seeing it. There are a couple of reasons for that which are tied in with our own attitude to nudity. The dominant reason is that we feel nudity should only occur in private - it is something which belongs in the domain of the intimate. We don't want our children to think that it is normal or acceptable outside of that context. Another reason is we don't want them to appreciate the full details of the anatomical differences between the sexes because that will indicate to them how sexual relations happen. That's not something we want to happen until they reach puberty or beyond. Now I understand that many people disagree with our outlook in this regard, and I am prepared to respect their position on that. I simply ask for others to return the favour and respect our position.

                  Returning to the main topic - I can see that nudism, like many other types of recreation, seems to ebb and flow. It may be the case that in America, it is seen as something practised by older people - and consequently less attractive people. On top of that, because nudity, especially of extremely attractive people, is so readily available on the Internet and other forms of media, it has lost some of its "forbidden fruit" appeal; its mystique. If these assessments are right, the young are bound to shun it as being uncool, passé and of little interest. But what's the problem is that IS the case? If the younger generation don't want to, so what? If it eventually dies out completely - so what? You can still practise it for as long as you draw breath and when you aren't here any more, then it won't be your world any more.

                  Stu

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                  • #11
                    Sanslines you hit the nail on the head in your articulate post on this thread. I would also add that parents today are over-protective of their children, and when any talk of nudism comes up they sometimes seek to restrict it or ban it completely for fear of the negative effect that it might have on their children.

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                    • #12
                      Sanslines, you make a valid point about nudism greying in America.
                      But I think you miss out on why.

                      Other threads have existed in the past on that. In my opinion, best summarized by time, interest, money, political correctness, activities to do, etc.
                      I am in my 40s, and find many of the people at nudist camps to be generally in their 50's and 60's. I am a firm believer in the idea of finding new ways to interest young people.

                      I participated in a Spencer Tunick shoot a few years ago in Cleveland. I also am a practicing Pagan. We go to various festivals every year, including one called "Starwood" This is held at a clothing optional park in NYS and gets week long attendance in excess of 2,000 people.

                      Both experiences have shown me several things:
                      1) Some people can not or will not take off their clothes.
                      2) Often times for reasons of body acceptance, scars, weight, etc
                      (however valid the reasons are in our minds being irrellevant)
                      3) Sometimes things like 90 degree weather will prevail
                      Or going swimming with several others who all go nude
                      4) The general acceptance level grows by being exposed to nudity
                      5) And this seems to have no relation to age!!

                      But unfortunately, there are some people who will never "take the plunge."
                      Someone (I think in this thread) said that very eloquently to Stu2360 recently. In short, that is your choice and your loss. Others have reasons not quite on the same level as Stu, but our society has created a ridiculous double standard:

                      It is great to see nudity in the media: movies, TV, etc.
                      It is great when the nude person is a big star...
                      It is great when he or she has a "great body"

                      ...but...

                      A normal person with a few pounds at the nearby beach on a Sunday afternoon is a problem.

                      Go figure. And yet we have so many crimes of rape, torture, abuse, etc!

                      My opionion on how to fix this is to be willing to stand up when needed. When things like the woman kicked out of a pool for breastfeeding (another thread) occur, it needs to come back all the way to the YMCA sending out a letter stating that what was done is wrong.

                      Otherwise, we end up always looking over our back and losing all of the pleasure in lfe because "somebody MIGHT be offended." There is a certain point where we need to push back and say "they need to mature and realize they are being offended for no real reason."

                      Joe
                      Last edited by WNYjoe24; 09-30-2007, 05:39 AM. Reason: mis types

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                      • #13
                        I don't know, but maybe nudism is for middle-aged and above people. All the reasons given why younger folks stay away probably applied to many of us who now say, "why did I wait so long?" Maybe they will grow into it as we did? The teen, twenty or thirty-something who is comfortable enough with their body to not see it as mainly a sex object and comfortable enough with their financial situation and with their tolerance to peer pressure, et cetera, is quite rare.

                        Seeds planted now may grow into nudists in the future, but they won't be young ones then.

                        Alfred

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                        • #14
                          I am going to say as far as my perspective and experience that nudity is not dead in the US. You see all forms of it in advertising, movies, and I am not even talking about the mega-billion dollar porn industry. But organized nudity for those who choose it as a lifestyle is today as it has been, a small minority of individuals who enjoy the lifestyle. The lifestyle organizations (nudism-not the sex lifestyles which involve nudity) are not recruiting and promoting nudism as a lifestyle. They are not recruiting and introducing people to the lifestyle as I think they should. I agree with Sanslines it is graying and dying out.

                          You don't recruit individuals into nudity with the selling of videos (most of them are purchased by those who think it is porn and then buy the videos to get their jollies off or whatever they would buy the video for. But note, this is another topic - what is it with the selling of videos about nudism?) Nudist organizations need to be aggressively promoting, educating, and recruiting members from all age groups, not just the young. The more who discover the wonder and enjoyment of being natural will then promote it themselves. Each of us on this forum promote it here and hopefully we do so in our real lives.

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                          • #15
                            Joe,

                            In a small city with two universities, a person would think that Potter's Falls would be overloaded with college students. However, during the past several years, there is nary a college student to be found there. When asked why they (students) don't go to the Falls, the usual reply is 'no real interest' or 'too busy with other things'. If anyone goes there, it is usually once or twice for the entire season. There are also very few older folks who go there and the main reason for this is that the access trails are challenging and require someone to be in some kind of physical shape. Sadly, so many of the older people are just physically unable to walk those trails and hence will no longer go to the Falls. This is also true of other naturist places for many places are secluded and hard to get to. It takes a person of reasonable physical fitness to be able to walk and so many of the older people are just too out of shape. Black's Beach is a prime example of a difficult trail that prevents people who are out of shape from reaching that beach. There has even been the occassional heart attack that has occured on that trail. Only time will tell if a future young generation rediscovers and becomes interested in nature and naturism again. The present younger generation is certainly far too busy with staying focused on a career path so that they can maxamize their earnings. Work, money, buying things.........this is what is of most importance to Gen Y and little if any time is left for leisure activities that may include naturism.

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