Exactly right. A woman setting naked in the middle of the street will garner admiration while a man setting the same in the same spot will quickly be confronted by law enforcement.
Nudity, even (gasp!) full frontal male nudity, seems to be becoming more commonplace and better accepted in films and on streaming services, but I don't think that translates to real the real world.
Well, I think that's a decent starting place. If it's shown in a context where it'd be normal for any character to be nude (stepping out of a shower or making morning coffee in the buff) then it could do a lot to normalize nudity. The type of body is important. It needs to be a normal healthy male body, not that of a person who spends 20+ hours/week in the gym because that's not an option for most people.
I agree with you. It would be great to see a wider range of body types going through daily routines in the nude. However, honestly speaking, the majority of male and female nudes seen in entertainment are above average in terms of what mainstream society deems as "beauty" (as are the clothed people). Most of the scenes are romantic/sexual or showering seen through steamed-up glass. But, even in those contexts, I seem to be seeing more penises, and that's progress.
By the way, my all-time favorite nude scene is in the film of "A Room With A View" (1985)... three men (one of whom is a bit chubby) skinny dipping in a pond. It's humorous and playful, non-erotic, and is presented as being completely acceptable.
The nudist movement was revolutionary and certainly disrupted cultural norms - WNBR is just one successful example. But perhaps simple nudism is best countered by hypersexualising the debate. If the most powerful men in the government of the most powerful nation are serial sex-offenders, surely, it is implied, all men are....
If someone is naked in public, going about business, I think that most people will not care. A very small and very vocal minority will raise a stink. The police will most likely side with the complainer who is causing a disruption and charge the naked person with at least Disorderly Conduct.
"Where do you see nudity making the biggest cultural impact right now?"
I see Nowhere.
Okay, we cannot have it both ways.
On the one hand we, naturists, work to educate the general public to view nudity as a normal, natural, non-shocking state of being with hope to end the notion that the unclothed human being is obscene, lewd, gross, etc.
But then for political activism, individuals will use their unclothed body to shock the general public for a cause.
How should naturists expect any meaningful progress to greater general public acceptance if political activism is willing to sacrifice any gains in public opinion on the altar of shock-nudity for attention?
The World Naked Bike Ride is one example of that. While the vast majority of participants are naturists, nudists, or other clothing-free advocates who collectively aim to normalise nudity in the minds of society, the event originally aimed to use nudity for its shock value! The catch-phrase is "If I ride naked, can you see me now?" - in response to the predominant excuse of "I didn't see them!" whenever a cyclist was hit by a car.
As nudity becomes more commonplace, acceptable, and unremarkable, its use as a protest tool will become more and more impotent.
My friend David and I did the WNBR Philadelphia last year and plan to do it again this year. It was a wonderfully affirming experience. I rode towards the front of the ride, and I saw entire sidewalk cafe crowds stand up and applaud as we approached. I must have high fived 1000 pedestrians, including the most giggly nun I ever met! Crowd reaction to 5000 naked folks on bicycles was unanimously positive.
I don't mean to be dismissive, but dialogue in the naturist and nudists worlds in America often frames itself as being in opposition to a puritanical WASP establishment which realistically hasn't existed for a generation. The mainline protestant denominations have completely bled away any social power they once had. The evangelical movement that's replaced them is now more of a political movement than a religious one, and a political movement that has demonstrated time again that it has little concern for notions of traditional morality or decency. If the status quo you're looking to stand in opposition to is a sour-faced Mrs. Grundy looking down her nose at the shamelessness, well, I just read the obituary of the guy who wrote her obituary twenty years ago.
Radicalism has long been not only subsumed by capitalism, it has become the chief message of capitalism. The let it all hang out ethos of the hippie movement was transformed into the creative destruction of Silicon Valley. The self-actualization movement long ago discovered that the easiest way to actualize is to acquire. We have, quite frankly, been so thoroughly sold on the idea that society is something we must be in opposition to that we've become blinded to the fact that there's now very little society left to oppose. We are not in a place where we need to challenge the status quo, we are in a place where we need a status quo.
The thing is, nudism does have a lot to offer whatever comes next, if whatever comes next is to be at all a good thing.
For years, being photographed naked was something of an initiation ritual for Ivy League students. In the brobdingnagian summer camp for the ultra-rich and ultra-powerful that is Bohemian Grove, we're told that top-tier plutocrats, Supreme Court justices, and all of the other specially selected representatives of the Great and The Good routinely walk around completely naked. Nudity can be an excellent source of social bonding. The rich and the powerful have never forgotten this.
On the other end of the social spectrum, opportunities for shared social nudity that came with things like public bathhouses, group showers after hard physical labor, and, yes, military service, have all but disappeared. The opportunities for social bonding that these moments have produced have also all but disappeared. Nudism and social nudity may not be the solution to all of society's problems, but they do have something to offer in the way of what a solution might look like
There's a quote from The Hitch-Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, "we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway." A nudist twist on this would be that we will be normalizing nudity just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway.
If we think about what society could look like for the next generation, rebuilding some sense of social cohesion has to be a strong priority in making that less of a nightmare. Building out clothing optional spaces, such as saunas or pools, in places where amenities are otherwise lacking, could be a great step to assisting with building that cohesion. Making these spaces where absolutely no phones are allowed would be another great step in assisting with building that cohesion. Maybe nudists should take a cue from some immigrant and religious communities and form free loan investment pools to enable nudist entrepreneurship to bring this about.
We've had sixty years of radicalism promoted as an ideal in American culture, and maybe it's time to recognize that it's an idea whose time has far outlived its usefulness. Because it now seems like the task ahead is not to tear down the present but to build for the future.
Anyway, sorry about the overly lengthy rant here. Remember, I'm just a mediocre cartoonist whose words should be viewed with extreme skepticism.
Quote: "We have, quite frankly, been so thoroughly sold on the idea that society is something we must be in opposition to that we've become blinded to the fact that there's now very little society left to oppose."
Presumable you mean, then, that the vast majority of American society is not opposed to public nudity - in appropriate environments, at least. If that's the case, then it seems to me that your battle is not with society, but with the legal system and the ridiculous laws that prevent you from being naked in public.
Accepted more easily in places not crowded such as forest or fields. Designated areas like beaches and hot springs. But socializing public spaces? For many too much.
Yet a body is still a body, though in various shapes, sizes, and colors.
For too many, being nude still equates to sexual. The education needs to continue.
My best way is to engage textiles who happen upon us nudes by saying hello or enjoy your activity. I find most will talk back for a bit as you pass.
Radical? Not sure I’d use that work. Shocking, demonized, vilified? Sadly, I think that’s closer to the truth these days. But, it depends on when, where, and who. But at least here is the US, nudity is certainly not viewed as a positive. But that’s just a symptom of a far greater illness.
I would agree. And Australia is much the same. Here in New Zealand we have no law forbidding public nudity within reason. Beaches, forest trails, cycle tracks, lakes and rivers, are all appropriate spaces to be naked. The main issue here is to convince established naturists to get out of their secluded clubs and join the rest of us in public spaces. They are worried about causing offence where the vast majority of clothed people don't even care!
I regularly get comments about my habitually bare feet. I am somewhat surprised by the positive comments I have gotten when I walk my favorite trails out at the lake naked. I get compliments. Maybe nudity is a bit more accepted now than in my misspent youth. I definitely looked better naked 50 years ago, and that definitely effects perceptions of passersby. I think though while I was prettier then I was also big and kinda scary. I'm older and wider now, and somehow not as threatening. It can lead to misunderstandings being a big scary looking pacifist, especially when nekkid.
A young beautiful woman is still treated differently than a naked man, no matter how attractive he may be.
Exactly right. A woman setting naked in the middle of the street will garner admiration while a man setting the same in the same spot will quickly be confronted by law enforcement.
Yes, it severely upsets most Americans. European nations, not so much. Other regions are upset for the most part.
Nudity, even (gasp!) full frontal male nudity, seems to be becoming more commonplace and better accepted in films and on streaming services, but I don't think that translates to real the real world.
Exactly right.
Well, I think that's a decent starting place. If it's shown in a context where it'd be normal for any character to be nude (stepping out of a shower or making morning coffee in the buff) then it could do a lot to normalize nudity. The type of body is important. It needs to be a normal healthy male body, not that of a person who spends 20+ hours/week in the gym because that's not an option for most people.
I agree with you. It would be great to see a wider range of body types going through daily routines in the nude. However, honestly speaking, the majority of male and female nudes seen in entertainment are above average in terms of what mainstream society deems as "beauty" (as are the clothed people). Most of the scenes are romantic/sexual or showering seen through steamed-up glass. But, even in those contexts, I seem to be seeing more penises, and that's progress.
By the way, my all-time favorite nude scene is in the film of "A Room With A View" (1985)... three men (one of whom is a bit chubby) skinny dipping in a pond. It's humorous and playful, non-erotic, and is presented as being completely acceptable.
The nudist movement was revolutionary and certainly disrupted cultural norms - WNBR is just one successful example. But perhaps simple nudism is best countered by hypersexualising the debate. If the most powerful men in the government of the most powerful nation are serial sex-offenders, surely, it is implied, all men are....
If someone is naked in public, going about business, I think that most people will not care. A very small and very vocal minority will raise a stink. The police will most likely side with the complainer who is causing a disruption and charge the naked person with at least Disorderly Conduct.
"Where do you see nudity making the biggest cultural impact right now?"
I see Nowhere.
Okay, we cannot have it both ways.
On the one hand we, naturists, work to educate the general public to view nudity as a normal, natural, non-shocking state of being with hope to end the notion that the unclothed human being is obscene, lewd, gross, etc.
But then for political activism, individuals will use their unclothed body to shock the general public for a cause.
How should naturists expect any meaningful progress to greater general public acceptance if political activism is willing to sacrifice any gains in public opinion on the altar of shock-nudity for attention?
The World Naked Bike Ride is one example of that. While the vast majority of participants are naturists, nudists, or other clothing-free advocates who collectively aim to normalise nudity in the minds of society, the event originally aimed to use nudity for its shock value! The catch-phrase is "If I ride naked, can you see me now?" - in response to the predominant excuse of "I didn't see them!" whenever a cyclist was hit by a car.
As nudity becomes more commonplace, acceptable, and unremarkable, its use as a protest tool will become more and more impotent.
My friend David and I did the WNBR Philadelphia last year and plan to do it again this year. It was a wonderfully affirming experience. I rode towards the front of the ride, and I saw entire sidewalk cafe crowds stand up and applaud as we approached. I must have high fived 1000 pedestrians, including the most giggly nun I ever met! Crowd reaction to 5000 naked folks on bicycles was unanimously positive.
So many different perceptions in the world today, some dangerous. We who accept nudity need to use good judgement.
What status quo?
I don't mean to be dismissive, but dialogue in the naturist and nudists worlds in America often frames itself as being in opposition to a puritanical WASP establishment which realistically hasn't existed for a generation. The mainline protestant denominations have completely bled away any social power they once had. The evangelical movement that's replaced them is now more of a political movement than a religious one, and a political movement that has demonstrated time again that it has little concern for notions of traditional morality or decency. If the status quo you're looking to stand in opposition to is a sour-faced Mrs. Grundy looking down her nose at the shamelessness, well, I just read the obituary of the guy who wrote her obituary twenty years ago.
Radicalism has long been not only subsumed by capitalism, it has become the chief message of capitalism. The let it all hang out ethos of the hippie movement was transformed into the creative destruction of Silicon Valley. The self-actualization movement long ago discovered that the easiest way to actualize is to acquire. We have, quite frankly, been so thoroughly sold on the idea that society is something we must be in opposition to that we've become blinded to the fact that there's now very little society left to oppose. We are not in a place where we need to challenge the status quo, we are in a place where we need a status quo.
The thing is, nudism does have a lot to offer whatever comes next, if whatever comes next is to be at all a good thing.
For years, being photographed naked was something of an initiation ritual for Ivy League students. In the brobdingnagian summer camp for the ultra-rich and ultra-powerful that is Bohemian Grove, we're told that top-tier plutocrats, Supreme Court justices, and all of the other specially selected representatives of the Great and The Good routinely walk around completely naked. Nudity can be an excellent source of social bonding. The rich and the powerful have never forgotten this.
On the other end of the social spectrum, opportunities for shared social nudity that came with things like public bathhouses, group showers after hard physical labor, and, yes, military service, have all but disappeared. The opportunities for social bonding that these moments have produced have also all but disappeared. Nudism and social nudity may not be the solution to all of society's problems, but they do have something to offer in the way of what a solution might look like
There's a quote from The Hitch-Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, "we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway." A nudist twist on this would be that we will be normalizing nudity just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway.
If we think about what society could look like for the next generation, rebuilding some sense of social cohesion has to be a strong priority in making that less of a nightmare. Building out clothing optional spaces, such as saunas or pools, in places where amenities are otherwise lacking, could be a great step to assisting with building that cohesion. Making these spaces where absolutely no phones are allowed would be another great step in assisting with building that cohesion. Maybe nudists should take a cue from some immigrant and religious communities and form free loan investment pools to enable nudist entrepreneurship to bring this about.
We've had sixty years of radicalism promoted as an ideal in American culture, and maybe it's time to recognize that it's an idea whose time has far outlived its usefulness. Because it now seems like the task ahead is not to tear down the present but to build for the future.
Anyway, sorry about the overly lengthy rant here. Remember, I'm just a mediocre cartoonist whose words should be viewed with extreme skepticism.
Quote: "We have, quite frankly, been so thoroughly sold on the idea that society is something we must be in opposition to that we've become blinded to the fact that there's now very little society left to oppose."
Presumable you mean, then, that the vast majority of American society is not opposed to public nudity - in appropriate environments, at least. If that's the case, then it seems to me that your battle is not with society, but with the legal system and the ridiculous laws that prevent you from being naked in public.
It is all about context.
Accepted more easily in places not crowded such as forest or fields. Designated areas like beaches and hot springs. But socializing public spaces? For many too much.
Yet a body is still a body, though in various shapes, sizes, and colors.
For too many, being nude still equates to sexual. The education needs to continue.
My best way is to engage textiles who happen upon us nudes by saying hello or enjoy your activity. I find most will talk back for a bit as you pass.
Only one bad experience from a textile.
Radical? Not sure I’d use that work. Shocking, demonized, vilified? Sadly, I think that’s closer to the truth these days. But, it depends on when, where, and who. But at least here is the US, nudity is certainly not viewed as a positive. But that’s just a symptom of a far greater illness.
I would agree. And Australia is much the same. Here in New Zealand we have no law forbidding public nudity within reason. Beaches, forest trails, cycle tracks, lakes and rivers, are all appropriate spaces to be naked. The main issue here is to convince established naturists to get out of their secluded clubs and join the rest of us in public spaces. They are worried about causing offence where the vast majority of clothed people don't even care!
I regularly get comments about my habitually bare feet. I am somewhat surprised by the positive comments I have gotten when I walk my favorite trails out at the lake naked. I get compliments. Maybe nudity is a bit more accepted now than in my misspent youth. I definitely looked better naked 50 years ago, and that definitely effects perceptions of passersby. I think though while I was prettier then I was also big and kinda scary. I'm older and wider now, and somehow not as threatening. It can lead to misunderstandings being a big scary looking pacifist, especially when nekkid.