Views on Personal and Public nudity in the 21st century

Is society changing on this? Or has nothing really changed? What do you think it would take? Do you think there should be more of it or less of it? Has your views on being naked changed in your lifetime?

When I was in France, this article came out:
France falls out of love with topless sunbathing | World news | The Guardian
And it seems that the culture had changed a little in the past few decades. I have many ideas as to why, but I'm not sure what it really is.

There are any things that are different now, and I doubt you can point to one specific thing and say that is the sole reason it has increased or decreased in different ways.

I would have thought that the Internet would have desensitized people to nudity and sex by now. You can see millions of nude models and upclose genital pictures on-line now. And lots of people have seen more naked people than any previous generation could have in their wildest dreams. I would think that this would lead to people thinking, "oh, it's another naked person." Or, "So many other people are naked on-line, why are my parts special?". But the FCC still bans it on TV, and Hollywood movies are not very graphic compared to what it on-line. Some of that is to keep kids from seeing it, even though it is kind of silly now with the internet now. Except it would be uncomfortable when you are watching TV with your parents growing up if a sex scene was on primetime TV...

But, there is the revenge porn side of it now. That if you can be identified, it can impact your future relationships, friendships, careers, and political life (if you want that). Someone could blackmail you to keep them from sending the pictures to someone you know in real life or would be able to damage your relationships with people who aren't comfortable with nudity... then again, there could be plenty of pictures without your face or any identifying marks that you could post if you have an exhibitionist side.

What does it take to get to the stage in life where you don't care who sees you naked? There must be lots of people doing some sort of nude modeling, and plenty more are willingly posting amateur photos of themselves on-line or in closed forums. (Didn't TFP have one of those in v 4.0?) Does that come with being in a relationship and being able to separate sex and nudity? Does it come from not needing to worry about what other people might think of you? Maybe you grew up in a place where nudity was much more common and it is normal now. I know nobody in Portland, and have never been there...Yet I would still feel weird doing this for some reason. Thousands of Portlanders roll free on the Naked Bike Ride (gallery) - BikePortland.org [NSFW]
I'm not a big fan of all the cameras at these events now, but even if they didn't exist, I'm still not sure why I wouldn't be more enthusiastic about something like this. But, Portland has a population size that is big enough to be semi anonymous and get away from the small town gossip that I grew up with probably. Would you feel comfortable doing this type of bike ride, going to a nude beach, or some of Spencer Tunick's art installations/photos? Spencer Tunick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [NSFW]

Is there more judgement on how you look now than in the past? Are people afraid to be treated differently if others know what they look like under their clothes? Or is it a catch-22 where the more regular people you see nude, that it makes you feel more normal and comfortable being naked? Maybe it is an issue because of the self esteem/ body insecurity issues today. Five women strip naked as they reveal their hang-ups over being nude | The Sun |Woman [NSFW]
View: http://youtu. be/27w3wR7ofl4
[NSFW]
(take the space out of the link above)

Would you lose your job if you got arrested for public nudity? I'm not sure if the naked bike ride would be attempted here that there wouldn't be 10 people doing it and they would get arrested for 'indecent exposure'. Is it possible that you would get put on some sex offender registry and have to inform your neighbors if law enforcement caught you streaking or being nude at some event? Is the NSFW thing viewed as being the socially acceptable way and it is impacting people’s lives outside of work since they need to 'be professional' all the time and it is 'Not Safe'? Is the media reporting on it and telling many more people then would ever know about it in the first place concerning? Camera Catches Prosecutor Naked - CBS News

How much are pervs impacting it? Lots of long lenses on digital cameras now, cell phone cameras can be anywhere, and if you are famous it is an easy way to get on TMZ and other Internet websites for years and years and have thousands or millions of people see you. But what does that really change in the long run? What does it really matter if you are one of a million pictures or videos on a hard drive that some guy has? But, there is the sexual assault epidemic now and victim blaming, so how safe would it be to be alone on a nude beach or risk being followed by someone after a naked bike ride?

How much are the prudes impacting it? The anti-porn people who seem to be in charge of making laws, regulating TV, and having lots of kids (that are raised in 'sex/nudity is bad' households)?

Nudity is being used as a form of protest by different groups like PETA and FEMEN. Does it become more 'normal' over time, or is the brain wired to pay more attention to nude people?

Have your views on nudity changed? Or have they always been the same? What reasons do you attribute it to? And where do you think society's views will go from where they are now?

 

People are generally less inhibited now, yes, but they are also enormously more risk-averse.

Worries about skin cancer and STDs are part of this. So is the creation of sex offender registries, to avoid any encounter with squicky pedophiles and rapists. But risk aversion means the inclusion criteria is extremely wide, to include things like indecent exposure. And that in turn fuels intense fear of being listed on a sex offender registry.

Freedom of sex and nudity hasn't been rolled back, rather, it has been obscured by what seem like a more urgent set of concerns.

 

I know there are people who have pictures of me and my wife naked on a nude beach, know because I saw them taken. Too many cameras out there now, and thats not even if you are trying to be tricky. Spy cams cost under $100.

I think though the next generation is going to be less worried, odds are they will have almost all sent nudes to boyfriends/gf's etc.

 

I really hope my past doctors are ethical, because I really would not want to be the cause of so many cases of sudden onset blindness. (and not the good kind of too much masturbation our parents warned us about)

Seriously, I don't have to worry about getting fired from a job for nudity, but I would not want to embarrass my friends and family, myself included.

@Borla, I really wish you would supervise Stanley's internet usage more often. He's sending more and more requests for nude selfies. I wouldn't mind so much if he paid in steaks, but all he offers is soggy bones.

 

Stanley just "pre-eats" the steaks for you, and he has to use his internet time to manage his fan base requests.

 

I know someone that was fired from his job because a co-worker, using his laptop, came across some video of him engaged in sex (ie naked).

1) You really shouldn't film anything these days without the expectation that it might get out - digital travels fast.
2) If you are going to film something, don't store it on the equipment your office pays for.

 

The obvious thing is do not use or store anything on company equipment that you would not want to be seen in an office environment/at your desk/etc. Simple idea, yet people so often do things that get them fired or disciplined.

 

We have signs in my office like this:

 

Being somewhat a nudist, I've learned something about modesty, and clothing.

Clothing isn't to protect our modesty, its to protect our eyes from those who we wish would have more modesty.

I'd personally be rather horrified watching women who adhere to the idea that their school age children should still be breastfeeding.

 

I've found my own attitudes shift as I've gotten older especially where nudity, sexuality, and jealousy can but don't always overlap. In my late teens and early twenties my then girlfriend posed nude for art classes and fetish photography. I was deeply jealous and offended when I found out, even though most of it occurred before we even met. At the time I wasn't seeing any difference between form and function where her body was concerned.

My feelings have changed since. While there was potential for sexiness in those situations, it's not because she was nude or posing in ways that might arouse others. It is because sexuality is a varied and unavoidable aspect of the human experience.

I think women should have the right to go topless anywhere men can do it without fear of legal consequence. If I saw a random topless or even fully nude person in public my reaction would be an indifferent "meh." My sexuality is too closely tied to my emotions for a stranger in public to be sexually exciting, whether they are intending to get my attention or just being comfortable in this humid July weather. Needless to say, I don't frequent strip clubs.

 

I think women should have the right too, but mostly because I like boobs.

This is an apples and oranges. Boobs exist for men. They were sexually selected for as they are attractive to males. Think of all the problems large beasts cause women, and they are not needed for milk production, and they are a stupid place for fat storage. Human breasts are the largest by proportion in the animal kingdom.

Some will claim they were selected for, by men, because big breasts means "more milk", and thats just bad thinking. When I guy sees boobs hes not thinking "she will supply milk to my future children" no its "I want some of those, oh yea".

So by saying "women can walk around topless" its NOT the same as men doing so, a woman might appreciate a fit man without his shirt, but its NOT the same as boobs. Its not a double standard they can't, its simply acknowledgement that boobs are sexual signals. Now if someone argues sending sexual signals shouldn't be a matter of law, I'd actually agree with that but lets not confuse the issue.

 

This thread reminds me of the thread I started regarding the right to privacy on known and legal nude beaches/any place where nudity is allowed. The dilemma/scenario I presented was the problem of people sneaking photos when a No Photos policy was clearly posted. I was very surprised by the "if you go nude you have to be willing to accept the risk being photographed" responses.

I don't why our society (speaking for the USA) still has an aversion to nudity. I would applaud any company that stood by an employee/employees who had nude photos surreptitiously posted. OTOH, if that person intentionally posted nude photos, I could see circumstances where the company might ask "What the hell were you thinking?".

 

That sounds an awful lot like "The way she was dressed meant she was asking for it". You're toeing a very thin line with the way your post came off.

 

I grew up in the back woods without running water or electricity.
We used saunas to get clean and as major social events.
The entire neighborhood would show up three times a week, bring food and take sauna.
I saw naked bodies of all sorts, young, old, fat, thin, good shape, and badly damaged.
There was a biker who had laid down his Harley on a gravel road at 70 mph.
I don't think that kind of casual nudity could happen now.
It seems like people are Okay if there is distance, online or on the beach, but hanging out with your neighbors just wouldn't happen.

 

You are reading to much into it. Of course if you go to the "thinking about sex" thread, odds are you are looked at several times a day and sized up by someone if they want to have sex with you. Its part of being human.

Which was my point.

Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Human Physique
Its science, its not society.

Right, because I said then we should rape the women who show their breasts right? No thats projection on your part. I routinely am around nude women, and haven't raped one of them. Saying something is a sexual signal and then accounting it to "she was dressed that way" is your bias, not mine. It IS a sexual signal but we are routinely are in control of our impulses. Those who are not end up in prison. So while it would be profoundly stupid to walk nude as a female in a high crime area, because such areas are going to have those with no respect for law, others, and poor impulse control, that does not mean the victim deserved the crime.

Even in situations where the female is willing and sexually mature, we expect men to have enough impulse control to say no, which is why we have statutory rape laws until usually 18.

I have NO problem with women being topless in public, BUT claiming its no different then men being topless is scientifically wrong.