Hey guys, so I'm doing a Sociology experiment on Nudity or Naturism. I'm in the early stages of the experiment and I'm just trying to get a sense of what online communities think about this topic. Since I know there are many people on this site from other countries, it will be cool to see the different opinions. In most European and Asian counties, it is socially acceptable to be out in the nude, but in America, you can be sent to prison for being out in public nude. What are your personal thoughts on this issue? Should we allow people the option of wearing clothes in public, or should it be illegal? 

It depends on the culture.

 

If the culture in that country is to abominate nudity, creating a law that allows it will be as good as nothing.

 

I'm okay with nudity. If it's beautiful people only

Well, I've got nothing against a naked woman walking down the street, but a mother with a 4 year old son might have a different perspective

<Hates nudity, but still respects it as being natural and doesn't care what others do with it. Just doesn't like getting nude herself and isn't attracted to it

I like nude women.

Well, I'm American, so I can't give you a foreign perspective, but I'll be happy to tell you what I think.

 

I think that our society has been conditioned to believe that anything related to sex is indecent and dirty. Nudity, for obvious reasons, is one of the top offenders. Nudity will always get any form of media the highest age ratings. Yet, I don't believe this is actually all that logical. I'll break down my opinion on two stand points:

 

1) Nudity and sex are indecent.

I'd disagree. These are two of the most natural aspects of humanity. There's a reason why being nude is sometimes called au naturel, because naked is literally that natural state of humans, and until somewhere in our history clothes were invented, all humans went naked. As for the sex part, if we go down to the biological level, the only motivations of life are to not die and reproduce (sex). Now, since many, many people would argue that humans are able to transcend such "animalistic" traits (which I would agree with, to a point, and in any case don't wish to debate about here), I'll go on to say that all of us here right now are here because of sex (unless some of us are secretly clones or synthetically made people, which I doubt, but would love to talk about it with any of you that are). Additionally, sexual urges and desire are naturally occurring traits that arise while maturing, and sometimes even young children display some rudimentary traits (disturbing, but reality is often so). Which leads me into

 

2) Think of the children!

Parents seem to have this thing about wanting to keep their children "innocent" and "pure", which means that nudity or anything relating to sex need to be kept far away from their precious little angels at all costs. Some are super restrictive as to what they allow their children to read, watch, and play, while others aren't but still throw pissy fits when that rated T/M game or PG13/R movie contain content that they don't deem appropriate for their little 8 year old (who'da thunk?). But I can't help but question as to what exactly this is supposed to accomplish? All that keeping kids "innocent" is doing is sheltering them from the world and humanity, and making them less prepared for the world they face when the time comes. And many parents try to repress their children into their teens, instead of showing them how to healthily look at nudity/sex and channel their urges, which leads to immaturity on the matter (and probably causes the continuation of the cycle, though I'm not sure) and risky behavior, ultimately resulting in teens getting pregnant and infected with STDs/STIs.

 

To put my opinion plainly, I find it illogical that our society is so against nudity and sexuality. I think it goes against what is scientifically natural, and has the potential to cause many problems. I especially find it ludicrous that it is considered worse than intense violence, as far as media ratings are concerned (which is a whole other rant that I will spare you, as you didn't ask about it). Yet, I also concede that the bias against nudity is so deeply seated in our societal subconscious that it will take years, probably decades to change.

Edited November 26, 201410 yr by DragonMaster

Being an artist, I have found that there are many aspects to human nakedness. Especially in media. How it's presented and the meaning behind it, can determine how I will feel about such a thing. For example, Porn. The uncovered body is MEANT to be protrayed as provocative, so in that respect, someone being offended by it is completely understood. Now in other ways, such as in art, I personally don't mind it because it's usually not meant to be vulgar or demeaning at all. For example: in many art mediums, a nude woman is suppose to reflect gentleness, purity, sometimes even the delicate balance between  vulnerability and passion, etc. In many Rennaisance paintings, it was never meant to be shock value; just the beauty of the body in a simple, barren, form. Funnily enough, it's seems  more taboo to portay the entire male form nude. Why? Not eactly sure.....but I personally give an inner fist bump to the people who had/have the guts to do so. (tastefully)

 

Now, nudity such as in other countries.....when I was young, I would often read National Geographic magazines, and sometimes pictures were shown of tribe women who did not wear tops. Again, this doesn't horrify me, because I was taught to appreciate cultures different from my own. Would I ever walk out in public nude? Absolutely not, but I can understand why people who grew up in that kind of enviroment might do so. Different cultures, different meanings, it's not my right to jump in and force them into a polo.

America isn't mature enough to allow naked people walking the streets. The US actually has some nude beaches, but not many. 

I like the idea of public nudity and sex being a very casual thing.

 

But I wouldn't want to walk down the street naked, and then bump into another naked person and get accused of rape lol.

NUDITY IS A PROBLEM PEOPLE! NUDITY DOESN"T HAVE POCKETS! WE NEED POCKETS! WE NEED EVERYONE TO HAVE POCKETS TO CARRY THEIR STUFF AROUND! NO I DON'T HAVE WHAT YOU COULDN'T CARRY AROUND BECAUSE YOU WERE NUDE!PEOPLE, LET'S FIGHT FOR POCKETS!

Before I put in my thoughts I'd just like to remind everyone this is just my opinion.

 

Interesting, nudity throughout the world is varied by all the different cultures. There's nothing wrong with nudity/naturism itself, but it can impact the society. It's like two roads intersecting without traffic lights or guards. There's bound to be misfit. The reason why would have to do with human beliefs mostly. The majority of humanity distinguish itself different from animals although some beg to differ. Reason why I'm bringing this up is because the original purpose of clothes were for warmth and protection. Animals do not need any clothing while we do; most mammals have fur, cold-blooded animals migrate to warmer areas either by sea or flight. They have the natural means to survive instinctively. 

 

Us humans, well. Let's be honest, we often lose track of time everyday. But what I believe sets us apart from animals is that we have many more traits they don't have. Examples being rational thought, controlling our urges/instincts, and having a sense of morality/ethics. Going back in the pre-historic era (you know, cavemen and such ) we knew that we wouldn't survive without protection of the environment thus we made clothes.

 

So coming back to the question at hand, I don't think public nudity is wrong, but it should be kept in place or controlled. Humanity has evolved since then and personally I think it'd be a mess if everyone went nude. I mean if you're alone or with friends that share the same ideals then go ahead, but it'd probably be wise to do so when there aren't a lot of people around.

 

That being said, I have noticed that clothes nowadays are becoming more and more revealing. Hm...

It depends on the culture really though from a logical standpoint it;s almost impossible nowadays to live without wearing clothes

 

Aside from the whole pocket thing you can't survive a strong winter season without wearing something that warms the temperature in your body for example

 

And while sure I'll admit that every once in a while I might go to a forest or a lake where nobody can see me without clothing and I admit I feel comfortable without clothing depending on my mood,I never liked the idea of walking around showing sexual parts of my body to the public especially if you're in front of kids and children

 

That's something I'd rather keep private

 

Sure maybe my pervy sense would lead me to watch an ecchi anime but I can't live in a world where I see dicks and vaginas all over the place

Edited November 26, 201410 yr by Smash Mega Koopa

A cool guy like me is used to seeing naked woman all the time

 

Joking aside, I'm personally just indifferent to everything. You wanna walk down the street naked? Ok. Don't wanna? Ok. A stressful factor is how going around naked practically makes you a target for being jumped, and then we'll have all the issues that come with that from emotional to court. I do admit that the country/ethnics would probably play a major part in choosing. If there was a country that didn't mind that, and they've been going well for the past 200+ years, I don't see why they'd suddenly make new laws and vice versa.

Honestly I don't care much about it but I find it weird that when I see someone showing skin I feel disgusted if they look "undesirable" by western standards. In America we are taught that the naked human body should be feared,shunned, and locked away or that it isn't beautiful. We are also told sex is bad but thought it is good. Long story short I'm indifferent but deep inside the teachings of American Society, that have been hammered into, cause me to feel ashamed and disgusted by it

NUDITY IS A PROBLEM PEOPLE! NUDITY DOESN"T HAVE POCKETS! WE NEED POCKETS! WE NEED EVERYONE TO HAVE POCKETS TO CARRY THEIR STUFF AROUND! NO I DON'T HAVE WHAT YOU COULDN'T CARRY AROUND BECAUSE YOU WERE NUDE!PEOPLE, LET'S FIGHT FOR POCKETS!

Nudists have pockets if they're brave enough.

I may not agree with most lifestyles that are "out of the norm", and I'm not exactly keen on naked people walking the streets like its a casual thing... but I still believe that you're allowed to live your life any way you damn please. So if a person wants to be a nudist, they should be a nudist.

 

You would think in 2014, the world as a whole would be this accepting. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but still, this is just my opinion.

Are we talking about walking around naked outside everywhere, or just outside in special nude sections?

I find it hard to believe that it's fine to walk around naked in Asia. I mean sure, here in germany it's not a grave crime, more something like administrative offense. If you run around naked outside, it'd be harassment of the general public. You're either kicked out of the place where you were caught or you'd have to pay between 5 and 1000€. If you aren't just walking around naked but also engage in sexual intercourse, or similiar activities, it's an offence, minor crime. Agitation of public nuisance, you either have to pay, or imprisonment up to a year.

As far as I know the only places where you can go naked outside are special beaches that are labeled as such, but you are only allowed to be naked in that area, you have to leave the beach with your clothes on.

The only countries I know, that are easy-going in that aspect are the scandinavian countries, but other than that not so much. Of course the US is quite the extreme opposite.

I'm not so comfortable about my body, so I prefer to be naked inside, but I'm rarely naked, apart from when I have to for changing, showering etc.

I'm not morally offended by it, I just think that most people tend to look pretty gross in the nude. It's amazing that small bits of fabric can completely change how a person looks.

Well, when it comes to nudity, it's a simple problem that has plagued society since the dawn of time. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. )  There's nothing wrong with nudity, but unfortunately, parents haven't done a good job of educating their children when it comes to things relating to sex and the naked human body.  I agree with Dragonmaster in the fact that people overreact when it comes to these kinds of things.  It's not like you're going to turn your children into perverts simply by talking to them about sex and about their sexual organs, geez!  Parents can talk about this matter in an educational way, in a way that children understand easily enough but don't misunderstand.

 

That's the thing, since parents often nowadays don't educate their children, we end up with horny teenagers getting young, teenage girls pregnant, because of the lack of knowledge.  (Or, even with the knowledge, there's still a lot of teens that'll probably end up getting a teenage girl pregnant anyway, but you get my point.)  Nudity is not a crime, it is the natural state of the human body.  We were born naked, after all.  But obviously, without clothes, it'd be kind of difficult to get your way around.  How would you be able to carry small items that exceed the count of five or six?  You're not going to put those items in between your butt cheeks, no, you need pockets for that, so clothes are necessary.  But anyways, back to my basic point.

 

Nudity is something that is natural in a human being.  Sure, some countries forbid and penalize people for walking around nude, and well, that's what the law says there, so there's nothing you can do about it.  Personally, I wouldn't want to walk around nude, because it'd feel kind of awkward, plus, my gorgeous penis would get cold because of the draft!  Anyways though, parents need to do a better effort in educating their children in the topics of nudity and sex.  That's all there is to it.

Nudists have pockets if they're brave enough.

2 to 3 depending on the gender. But sadly those pockets aren't as good as the ones on clothes.

Edited November 27, 201410 yr by Tigerruss

I have fetish for clothed sex

 

That is how much nudity grosses me out

Nudity is meh for me, it's normal and it's the human body. It's humain, but latey people made nudity=Sex or something sexual which they are NOT. People think that nude is gross and shouldn't be seen, yeah to a point that's true but people shouldn't be sheltered about their own body. Idk if my opinion is clear as glass but meh.

So, did anyone notice that this is in Random?

Well. If people were to walk around without any clothes on, especially us women.... It would be way damn easier for rape. Actually, it would probably increase the rate by 80-90%. So yeah.. No going around mooning people for me.