Nudity taboos ?

[Tamanoir]

OK, I was hesitating a little before posting this topic, but my hesitation is the very reason I'm posting.

There are generally a lot of taboos and contradictory about nudity and I have a hard time to determine why it's such a hot topic (punreally not intended, I swear). Especially in media, in general.

I have myself a somewhat ambiguous relation to the topic...

Logically, there aren't any problem with this. Primarily, clothes are just something to protect ourselves, because we don't have fur, scale, etc...

I can think of a few reasons, but none are truly satisfying and convincing to me...

So, I would be interrested i your opinions.

[Doga]

I feel like culturally we managed to find ourselves in a situation where not wearing clothes is not socially acceptable. How that culture came about? I can't give an exact answer, but I can try to guess. People wore clothes for protection, and it stuck. People who didn't have/couldn't afford clothes back in the day were probably seen as a lower social class, or maybe associated with whores and the like. Acting professional and getting somewhere usually involved wearing clothes, as it does today. It makes sense why it's illegal, because I've already been subjected to social imprinting that tells me that nudity in public is bad, which is in part why some people find streaking funny and exhilarating-- it's not socially acceptable.

[PresidentEden]

Huh. I dunno. The immediate answers that came to mind are the same ones I'd rejected with other taboos/previously-taboo behaviors/conditions. I don't have a good answer for it.

[Melonhead]

I've heard it's been associated with a higher, more respectable class, and was started by churches to make the community more sanitary and formal. I guess it just stuck, for good reason too.

[Pride]

Well for one it's kind of unsanitary and gross (that is, gross because it's unsanitary, not because nudity)

second it's perceived as a bad thing in the same way some people perceive sex as gross

subconsciously, it reminds us of our animalistic nature

which most of us deny on some level or another

and so it makes us uncomfortable and we call it taboo

also, speaking for myself here, I don't need to see nobody's junk

keep that shit away from me

unless you're 7/10 and up, in which case I do not mind

[Samias]

I don't really have much an issue with nudity. It's incredibly inconvenient to not wear clothes going outside, but the nude body is really something appreciable and incredibly important in the arts. I find any discomfort we see of other naked people is mostly manufactured by culture telling us that nudity is shameful, which is seemingly perpetuated by religion. I mean, part of the Bible explicitly tells about the birth of human self-awareness and shame through discovery that, holy cow, I'm naked. And that idea spread worldwide through missionary work, though most countries other than the States typically don't demonize toplessness and/or group bathing so much. I think generally people are uncomfortable with nudity because they equate it to sex and sexual attraction, and are also reminded of their vulnerability, with the shield of clothing stripped away. I find it somewhat ridiculous that the line is drawn at "visible nipples and holes" when it comes to censorship, though, so we end up with strange malformed representations of the body.

I couldn't imagine any sort of mainstream nudist society here in the cold north, but after spending 5 years drawing naked people on a weekly basis and also participating in public bath culture in Japan, we definitely manufacture our own insecurity about being naked and seeing other people naked. But now that I'm back here, I'm once again self-conscious about what my body looks like in front of anyone who isn't my boyfriend or a mirror.

[Esau of Isaac]

Well for one it's kind of unsanitary and gross (that is, gross because it's unsanitary, not because nudity)

The keyboard you are typing on is likely more unsanitary than anything you find under the clothes of an average person.

second it's perceived as a bad thing in the same way some people perceive sex as gross

subconsciously, it reminds us of our animalistic nature

which most of us deny on some level or another

and so it makes us uncomfortable and we call it taboo

I don't think that's the entire reason, though. We didn't use clothes because we suddenly felt like we weren't animals anymore. We used it because it allowed us to survive better. We built that up through culture over thousands of years, but I can easily see a small nudist colony finding no qualms after quite some time.

I will say, though, that I agree in part with the animalistic bit. I do think there is an erotic quality to the nude person that would make much of what our civilization is built on somewhat difficult to maintain. Historically, humans that were nude all the time were also humans that probably had sex freely wherever they went and then went on their merry way afterwards. While I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing if it were to exist, how we deal with one another and our openness to sexuality would definitely be drastically different; I don't think the same society we're used to could sustain itself with its absence.

also, speaking for myself here, I don't need to see nobody's junk

keep that shit away from me

unless you're 7/10 and up, in which case I do not mind

Hey man, the good comes with the bad. Just think of it this way, everyone will have more incentive to take care of their bodies since everyone will see all of the package more often.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Esau of Isaac

[Original Alear]

As long as I can hide my ugliness I don't care what other people do.

(OK I don't do that too often).

[Tamanoir]

Well for one it's kind of unsanitary and gross (that is, gross because it's unsanitary, not because nudity)

second it's perceived as a bad thing in the same way some people perceive sex as gross

subconsciously, it reminds us of our animalistic nature

which most of us deny on some level or another

and so it makes us uncomfortable and we call it taboo

also, speaking for myself here, I don't need to see nobody's junk

keep that shit away from me

unless you're 7/10 and up, in which case I do not mind

I din't think being naked is particulary unsanitary.

Now, when I was younger, we went to a nudist camp near the beach, for the vacation.

I did returned here last year, because I finally felt ready again, after my awkwards teenagers year.

What surprised me is how practical this was. After going to the beach, you can wash yourself anddon't have to makes complicated movement to change your clothes.

Also, if any, it's more sanitarized, because since you don't have clothes to hide yourself, you need an almost perfect appearance.

As an example, there I wash myself after every visit to the toilet, which... I guess almost nobody do normally...

[Chiki]

Why do people even have moral values? You'll find the answer there.

[Original Alear]

I din't think being naked is particulary unsanitary.

Now, when I was younger, we went to a nudist camp near the beach, for the vacation.

I did returned here last year, because I finally felt ready again, after my awkwards teenagers year.

What surprised me is how practical this was. After going to the beach, you can wash yourself anddon't have to makes complicated movement to change your clothes.

Also, if any, it's more sanitarized, because since you don't have clothes to hide yourself, you need an almost perfect appearance.

As an example, there I wash myself after every visit to the toilet, which... I guess almost nobody do normally...

I believe barefoot is somewhat unsanitary. Since your feet pitter-patter along the ground, they could get a bit scraped up or messed up. And you c-could even p-pick up a parasite...Watch out for yourself. I dunno about the rest.

However, you can develop some calluses on your feet...I think I had some a few years ago, but I honestly can't remember what I was doing barefoot that toughened them up. Gardening? Or maybe those foot-baths they had in Japan where you step on the rocks, and they're spiky and they hurt. They seem to have softened back up now.

[Knight]

I watched this video and it sums it up pretty well, why we wear clothes. That is, if you're willing to sit through it. Edited April 4, 2013 by Knight

[Tamanoir]

I watched this video and it sums it up pretty well, why we wear clothes. That is, if you're willing to sit through it.

Hey, nice find. Thanks !

My only little concern is that it's not because you're naked that you will mate all day, but otherwise it was prtty informative

[Sublime Manic]

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."

I don't really have much an issue with nudity. It's incredibly inconvenient to not wear clothes going outside, but the nude body is really something appreciable and incredibly important in the arts. I find any discomfort we see of other naked people is mostly manufactured by culture telling us that nudity is shameful, which is seemingly perpetuated by religion. I mean, part of the Bible explicitly tells about the birth of human self-awareness and shame through discovery that, holy cow, I'm naked. And that idea spread worldwide through missionary work, though most countries other than the States typically don't demonize toplessness and/or group bathing so much. I think generally people are uncomfortable with nudity because they equate it to sex and sexual attraction, and are also reminded of their vulnerability, with the shield of clothing stripped away. I find it somewhat ridiculous that the line is drawn at "visible nipples and holes" when it comes to censorship, though, so we end up with strange malformed representations of the body.

Largely, this.

The first cultures I think of when I think of cultures without nudity taboos are the ancient Greeks and Romans… and none of their venerated texts featured the first of humankind realizing they're naked and being ashamed of that fact.

[Fenrir]

Ok, clothes were invented and became socially accepted for mainly good reasons. Fast forward thousands of years...

#1 People are obsessed with physical appearance. People care more about physical appearance than emotional/mental shit much of the time.

#2 People typically don't want anybody knowing their secrets and it's the same with their most intimate physical parts. Those are your physical secrets so to speak.

So if you see where I'm going with this, it basically mirrors our mental and emotional barrier towards telling people our true emotions. Furthering on this, who do people get naked around? Love interests. And then who do we tell our secrets to? Love interests.

That's my theory right now on April 4th 10:50 pm. Just thought of it so it's not really permanent.

[Rehab]

Those may both be true at times, not least in my case, with how I hate having body hair in the way it manifests for me (moderately widespread, thick and fast-growing), enough to wear some form of long-sleeved shirt or trousers basically all year, but is it accurate to assume we were always that way? If so, have our reasons for being that way always been the same? And if we prefer to keep our physical secrets to the highest degree possible, why don't we all wear burqas?

[Fenrir]

Those may both be true at times, not least in my case, with how I hate having body hair in the way it manifests for me (moderately widespread, thick and fast-growing), enough to wear some form of long-sleeved shirt or trousers basically all year, but is it accurate to assume we were always that way? If so, have our reasons for being that way always been the same? And if we prefer to keep our physical secrets to the highest degree possible, why don't we all wear burqas?

Because #1, generic person X isn't as protective of things as generic person Y. And 2 because that's uncomfortable and it's mainly genitals that people cover up. I think of it as like, you'll tell anyone your name or what your favorite color is, but you won't always tell them your true feelings towards them. Your face would be your name and your private areas are those mushy feelings/emotions.