Nudity

Nudity is a state of being in which a human is not wearing clothing or specifically is not covering the genitals.[1] In some societies, partial nudity is defined as not covering other parts of the body that are deemed to be sexual. Worldwide, current social norms vary from banning nudity except in complete privacy to the acceptance of public nudity as a natural human state.

Sunbathers at Müggelsee lake beach, East Berlin in 1989

Nakedness, or the loss of body fur, was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominini ancestors. Adaptations to hairlessness contributed to the increase in brain size, bipedalism, and the variation in skin colors. Although often used interchangeably, "naked" and "nude" are also used to distinguish between the various meanings of being unclothed.

While estimates vary, for many thousands of years humans wore no clothing, the invention of which was part of the transition from being not only anatomically but behaviorally modern. It is generally accepted that the widespread adoption of clothing occurred as people migrated to climates that required protection from the elements. As societies developed from being hunter-gatherers to being agrarian, clothing became part of cultural evolution as individuals and groups became differentiated by status and class. In early civilizations such as Egypt; slaves, children, and others with lower status often continued to be naked.

Through much of history until the modern era, people were unclothed in public by necessity or convenience when exercising for work or sport; or when bathing or swimming; often but not always in groups segregated by sex. The modern understanding of nudity is culturally complex due to different meanings given various states of undress in differing social situations. In any particular society, these meanings are defined in relation to being properly dressed, not in relation to the specific body parts being exposed. Nakedness and clothing are connected to many cultural categories such as identity, privacy, social status and moral behavior.[2] Synonyms and euphemisms for nudity abound, including "birthday suit", "in the altogether" and "in the buff". "In a state of nature" is also used by philosophers to refer to the state of humans before the existence of organized societies.[3]

In Western societies, there are two cultural traditions relating to nudity in various contexts. The first tradition comes from the ancient Greeks, who saw the naked body as a natural state and as essentially positive in the context of athletics, religion, and the arts. The second is based upon the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—which have viewed being naked as shameful and essentially negative. The interaction between these traditions has resulted in Western ambivalence toward nudity. In America nudity is more likely to be seen sexually, while in much of Europe, there is more openness to non-sexual nudity in recreation and daily life. In Africa, there is a sharp contrast between the attitude toward nudity in Islamic countries and the attitude toward nudity in certain sub-Saharan countries that never abandoned, or are reasserting, precolonial norms. In Asia, the norms regarding public nudity are in keeping with the cultural values of social propriety and human dignity. Rather than being perceived as immoral or shameful, nakedness is perceived as a breach of etiquette.

Generally, social norms regarding nudity are different for men than they are for women. It was not until the 17th century in Europe that the female breast became a part of the body that must be covered in public. It is only in the contemporary era that the nudity of children represents anything but innocence. Individuals may intentionally violate norms regarding nudity; those without power may use nudity as a form of protest, and those with power may impose nakedness on others as a form of punishment.

History

The history of nudity involves social attitudes to nakedness of the human body in different cultures in history. The use of clothing is one of the changes that mark the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of civilization.

Evolution of hairlessness

The dissipation of body heat remains the most widely accepted evolutionary explanation for the loss of body hair in early members of the genus homo, the surviving member of which is modern humans.[4][5][6] Less hair, and an increase in sweat glands, made it easier for their bodies to cool when they moved from shady forest to open savanna. This change in environment also resulted in a change in diet, from largely vegetarian to hunting. Pursuing game on the savanna also increased the need for regulation of body heat.[7][8] Anthropologist and palaeobiologist Nina Jablonski posits that the ability to dissipate excess body heat through eccrine sweating helped make possible the dramatic enlargement of the brain, the most temperature-sensitive human organ.[9] Thus the loss of fur was also a factor in further adaptations, both physical and behavioral, that differentiated humans from other primates. Some of these changes are thought to be the result of sexual selection, which was first proposed by Darwin in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. By selecting more hairless mates, humans accelerated changes initiated by natural selection. Sexual selection may also account for the remaining human hair in the pubic area and armpits, which are sites for pheromones, while hair on the head continued to provide protection from the sun.[10]

A divergent explanation of humans' relative hairlessness holds that ecroparasites (such as ticks) residing in fur became problematic as humans became hunters living in larger groups with a "home base". Nakedness would also make the lack of parasites apparent to prospective mates.[11] However, this theory is inconsistent with the abundance of parasites that continue to exist in the remaining patches of human hair.[12]

The last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was only partially bipedal, often using their front legs for locomotion. Other primate mothers do not need to carry their young because there is fur for them to cling to, but the loss of fur encouraged full bipedalism, allowing the mothers to carry their babies with one or both hands. The combination of hairlessness and upright posture may also explain the enlargement of the female breasts as a sexual signal.[6]

Another theory is that the loss of fur also promoted mother-child attachment based upon the pleasure of skin-to-skin contact. This may explain the more extensive hairlessness of female humans compared to males. Nakedness also affects sexual relationships as well, the duration of human intercourse being many times the duration of any other primates.[12]

With the loss of fur, darker, high-melanin skin evolved as a protection from ultraviolet radiation damage. As humans migrated outside of the tropics, varying degrees of depigmentation evolved in order to permit UVB-induced synthesis of previtamin D₃.[13][14] The relative lightness of female compared to male skin in a given population may be due to the greater need for women to produce more vitamin D during lactation.[15]

The Venus of Willendorf (Austria) made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE.

An 11,000 year old sculpture believed to depict a couple having sex, from Ain Sakhri, Judea

Origin of clothing

The wearing of clothing is most likely a behavioral adaptation arising from the need for protection from the elements, including the sun (for depigmented human populations) and cold temperatures, as humans migrated to colder regions. According to a 2010 study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, estimates of the origins of clothing are based upon a genetic analysis indicating that clothing lice diverged from head louse ancestors at some point in time between 83,000 years ago and 170,000 years ago. This information suggests that the use of clothing likely originated with anatomically modern humans in Africa prior to their migration to colder climates.[16] A 2017 study published in Science estimated that anatomically modern humans evolved 260,000 to 350,000 years ago.[17]

The complex garments needed for survival in extreme cold would have required invention of the tools for turning animal skins into clothes: scrapers for cleaning and smoothing, fine stone knives for cutting and bone needles for stitching.[18] What is now called clothing may have originated along with other types of adornment, including jewelry, body paint, tattoos, and other body modifications, "dressing" the naked body without concealing it.[19][20] According to Leary and Buttermore, body adornment is one of the changes that occurred in the late Paleolithic (40,000 to 60,000 years ago) in which humans became not only anatomically modern, but also behaviorally modern and capable of self-reflection and symbolic interaction.[21] More recent studies place the use of adornment at 77,000 years ago in South Africa, and 90,000—100,000 years ago in Israel and Algeria.[22] The earliest archeological evidence of fabric clothing is inferred from representations in figurines in the southern Levant dated between 11,700 and 10,500 years ago.[23]

Ancient history

Scenes painted on white plaster, Fifth Dynasty (approx. 2500–2300 BCE), Abusir necropolis, Egypt

In ancient Mesopotamia, most people owned a single item of clothing, and being naked meant being at the bottom of the social scale, lacking in dignity and status.[24]

For the average person, clothing changed little in ancient Egypt from the Early Dynastic Period, (3150–2686 BCE) until the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BCE). Although the genitals of adults were generally covered, nakedness in ancient Egypt was not a violation of any social norm, but more often a convention indicating lack of wealth; those that could afford to do so covered more.[25] Both men and women wore skirts called schenti—which evolved from loincloths and resembled modern kilts. Slaves and laborers were nude or wore loincloths. Only women of the upper classes wore kalasiris, a dress of loose draped or translucent linen which came from just above or below the breasts to the ankles.[26] Women entertainers performed naked. Children went without clothing until puberty, at about age 12.[27] It was not until the later periods, in particular the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE), that functionaries in the households of the wealthy also began wearing more refined dress, and upper-class women wore elaborate dresses and ornamentation which covered their breasts. These later styles are often shown in film and TV as representing ancient Egypt in all periods.[26]

Three young women bathing. Side B from an Attic red-figure stamnos, 440–430 BCE.

Male nudity was celebrated in ancient Greece to a greater degree than any culture before or since. They considered embarrassment at having to disrobe for sports a sign of barbarism.[28][29] The status of freedom, maleness, privilege, and physical virtues were asserted by discarding everyday clothing for athletic nudity.[30] With the association of the naked body with the beauty and power of the gods, nudity became a ritual costume.[31] The female nude emerged as a subject for art in the 5th century BCE, illustrating stories of women bathing both indoors and outdoors. While depictions of nude women were erotic in nature, there was no attribution of impropriety as would be the case for such images in later Western culture. However, the passive images reflected the unequal status of women in society compared to the athletic and heroic images of naked men.[32] In Sparta during the Classical period, women were also trained in athletics, and while scholars do not agree whether they also competed in the nude, the same word (gymnosis, naked or lightly clothed) was used to describe the practice. It is generally agreed that Spartan women were nude, but only for specific religious and ceremonial purposes.[33]

The Greek traditions were not maintained in the later Etruscan and Roman athletics because of its public nudity and associations with homo-eroticism. Roman masculinity involved prudishness and paranoia about effeminacy.[34] The toga was essential to announce the status and rank of male citizens of the Roman Republic (509–27 BCE).[35] The poet Ennius declared, "exposing naked bodies among citizens is the beginning of public disgrace". Cicero endorsed Ennius' words.[36] An exception was the Roman baths (thermae), which had many social functions.[37] In the Roman Empire (27 BCE – 476 CE), the status of the upper classes was such that public nudity was of no concern for men, and also for women if only seen by their social inferiors.[38]

Clothing used in the Middle East, which loosely envelopes the entire body, changed little for centuries. In part, this consistency arises from the fact that such clothing is well-suited for the climate (protecting the body from dust storms while also allowing cooling by evaporation).[39] In the societies based upon the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), modesty generally prevails in public, with clothing covering all parts of the body of a sexual nature. The Torah set forth laws regarding clothing and modesty (tzniut) which also separated Jews from other people in the societies they lived within.[40]

Early Christians generally inherited the norms of dress from Jewish traditions. However, the Adamites were an obscure Christian sect in North Africa originating in the second century who worshiped in the nude, professing to have regained the innocence of Adam.[41] Islamic clothing for both men and women is in accordance with the rules of hijab. For men, clothing covers the area from the waist to the knees. For women, clothing covers the area from the neck to the ankles and also covers the hair. The practice known as veiling of women in public predates Islam in Persia, Syria, and Anatolia. The Qurʾān provides guidance on the dress of women, but not strict rulings;[39] such rulings may be found in the Hadith. Sharia law defines clothing for women as covering the entire body except the face and hands. The nature of the clothing cannot be transparent, revealing what is underneath: "clothed yet naked", nor the clothing of men, such as trousers.[42] Originally, veiling applied only to the wives of Muhammad; however, veiling was adopted by all upper-class women after his death and became a symbol of Muslim identity.[43]

In stories written in China as early as the fourth century BCE, nudity is presented as an affront to human dignity, reflecting the belief that "humanness" in Chinese society is not innate, but is earned by correct behavior. However, nakedness could also be used by an individual to express contempt for others in their presence. In other stories, the nudity of women, emanating the power of yin, could nullify the yang of aggressive forces.[44]

Nudity in mixed-gender public baths was common in Japan before the effects of Western influence, which began in the 19th century and became extensive during the American occupation after World War II. The practice continues at a dwindling number of hot springs (konyoku) outside of urban areas.[45] Another Japanese tradition was the women free-divers (ama) who for 2,000 years until the 1960s collected seaweed and shellfish wearing only loincloths. Their nakedness was not shocking, since women farmers often worked bare-breasted during the summer.[46]

The late fourth century CE was a period of both Christian conversion and standardization of church teachings, in particular on matters of sex. A man having sex outside marriage with a respectable woman injured third parties: her husband, father, and male relatives. His fornication with an unattached woman, likely a prostitute, courtesan or slave, was a lesser sin since it had no male victims, which in a patriarchal society might mean no victim at all.[47] The dress or nakedness of women that were not deemed respectable was also of lesser importance.[48]

Post-classical history

The period between the ancient and modern world—approximately 500 to 1450 CE—saw an increasingly stratified society in Europe. At the beginning of the period, everyone other than the upper classes lived in close quarters and did not have the modern sensitivity to private nudity, but slept and bathed together naked with innocence rather than shame. Later in the period, with the emergence of a middle class, clothing in the form of fashion was a significant indicator of class, and thus its lack became a greater source of embarrassment.[49]

Until the beginning of the eighth century, Christians were baptized naked to represent that they emerged from baptism without sin. The disappearance of nude baptism in the Carolingian era marked the beginning of the sexualization of the body by Christians that had previously been associated with paganism.[50] Sects with beliefs similar to the Adamites, who worshiped naked, reemerged in the early 15th century.[51]

Although there is a common misconception that Europeans did not bathe in the Middle Ages, public bath houses—usually segregated by sex—were popular until the 16th century, when concern for the spread of disease closed many of them.[52] The Roman baths in Bath, Somerset, were rebuilt, and used by both sexes without garments until the 15th century.[53]

Virgin and Child (c. 1530) by Jan Gossaert

In Christian Europe, the parts of the body that were required to be covered in public did not always include the female breasts. In 1350, breasts were associated with nourishment and loving care, but by 1750, artistic representations of the breast were either erotic or medical. This eroticization of the breast coincided with the persecution of women as witches.[54]

In the medieval period, Islamic norms became more patriarchal, and very concerned with the chastity of women before marriage and fidelity afterward. Women were not only veiled, but segregated from society, with no contact with men not of close kinship, the presence of whom defined the difference between public and private spaces.[55] Of particular concern for both Islam and early Christians, as they extended their control over countries that had previously been part of the Byzantine or Roman empires, was the local custom of public bathing. While Christians were mainly concerned about mixed-gender bathing, which was not uncommon, Islam prohibited nudity for women in the company of non-Muslim women.[56] In general, the Roman bathing facilities were adapted for separation of the genders, with the bathers retaining a loin-cloth rather than being nude, as in the Turkish bath of today.

Early modern

The Christian association of nakedness with shame and anxiety became ambivalent during the Renaissance. The rediscovered art and writings of ancient Greece offered an alternative tradition of nudity as symbolic of innocence and purity which could be understood in terms of the state of man "before the fall". Subsequently, norms and behaviors surrounding nudity in life and in works of art diverged during the modern history of individual societies.[57]

Due to concerns about the spread of disease, many European public bath houses closed in the 16th century.[52] Opinions regarding the health benefits of bathing varied in the following centuries, but was generally favorable by the 19th century. This led to the establishment of public bath houses for those who had no bathing facilities in their homes. In a number of European cites where this included the middle class, some bath houses became social establishments. With the adoption of showers rather than tubs, bathing facilities were added to schools and factories. In the United States, where the middle class more often had private baths in their homes, public bath houses were built for the poor, in particular for urban immigrant populations.[58]

The Tokugawa period in Japan (1603-1868) was defined by the social dominance of hereditary classes, with clothing a regulated marker of status and little nudity among the upper classes. However working populations in both rural and urban areas often dressed in only loincloths, including women in hot weather and while nursing. Lacking baths in their homes, they also frequented public bathhouses where everyone was unclothed together.[59]

In England during the 17th to 19th centuries, the clothing of the poor by Christian charity did not extend to those confined to "madhouses" such as Bethlem Royal Hospital, where the inmates were often kept naked and treated harshly.[60]

The Victorian Era is often considered to be entirely restrictive of nudity. However, throughout the United Kingdom in the 19th century, workers in coal mines were naked due to the heat and the narrow tunnels that would catch on clothing. Men and boys worked fully naked, while women and girls (usually employed as "hurriers") would generally only strip to the waist, but in some locations, they were fully naked as well. Testimony before a Parliamentary labour commission revealed that working naked in confined spaces made "sexual vices" a "common occurrence".[61]

The medical opinion in the 18th century that bathing in cold water and exposure to the sun had therapeutic benefits created tension between swimmers and defenders of Victorian Christian opinion that the body is shameful, and must be covered when exposed to public view. In addition, mixed bathing with otherwise appropriate costumes was also sinful. Until the early 20th century in New South Wales this led to the enactment of regulations banning public bathing except at limited times, segregated by sex, and in costumes that covered the body from neck to knees.[62]

Colonialism

Portrait of Poedooa, daughter of Orea, King of Ulaitea, Society Islands (c1782-85) by John Webber

The age of colonialism was marked by frequent encounters between Christian and Muslim cultures and indigenous peoples of the tropics, leading to the stereotypes of the "naked savage".[63] In his diaries, Columbus writes that the natives were entirely naked, both men and women; and gentle. This also meant that they were less than fully human, and exploitable.[64] Initially Islam exerted little influence beyond large towns, outside of which paganism continued. In travels in Mali in the 1350s, Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta was shocked by the casual relationships between men and women even at the court of Sultans, and the public nudity of female slaves and servants.[65]

Non-western cultures during the period were naked only by comparison to Western norms, the genitals and sometimes the entire lower body of adults being covered by garments in most situations. Lacking the western concept of shame regarding the body, such garments might be removed for practical or ceremonial purposes. Children until puberty and sometimes women until marriage might be naked as having "nothing to hide".[66]

From the 17th century European explorers viewed the lack of clothing they encountered in Africa and Oceania as representative of a primitive state of nature, justifying their own superiority, even as they continued to admire the nudity of Greek statues. A distinction was made by colonizers between idealized nudity in art and the nakedness of indigenous people, which was uncivilized and indicative of racial inferiority.[67][68]

Depictions of naked savages entered European popular culture in the 18th century in popular stories of tropical islands. In particular, Europeans became fascinated by the image of the Pacific island woman with bare breasts.[69] Dressing Africans in European clothes to cover their nakedness was part of converting them to Christianity.[70] In much of Asia, traditional dress covers the entire body,[71] and while much was made of Polynesian nakedness, European cloth was welcomed as part of traditions of wrapping the body.[72][73]

In the 19th century, naked photographs of indigenous peoples began circulating in Europe without a clear distinction between those created as commercial curiosities (or erotica) and those claiming to be scientific, or ethnographic images. Given the state of photography, it is unclear which images were posed, rather than being representative of everyday attire.[74] George Basden, a missionary and ethnographer who lived with the Igbo people of Nigeria published two volumes of photographs in the 1920s and 1930s. The book described images of unclothed but elaborately decorated Igbo women as indicating their high status as eligible brides who would not have thought of themselves as naked.[75]

In the early 20th century, tropical countries became tourist destinations. A German tourist guide for Bali beginning in the 1920s added to the promotion of the island as an "Eden" for Western visitors by describing the beauty of Balinese women, who were bare-breasted in everyday life and unclothed while bathing in the ocean. Soon however, the Dutch colonial administration began issuing conflicting orders regarding proper dress, which had limited effect due to some Balinese supporting tradition, others modernization.[76]

Ethnographic photography of Indigenous peoples in Africa and Oceania

• 
  Four Masai tribesmen, (c. 1900)
• 
  Indigenous woman in German East Africa, early 20th century
• 
  Three Igbo women in the early 20th century
• 
  Aboriginal people at Cape Dombey, north of Port Keats, Northern Territory (1905)
• 
  Fijian girl (1908). The locks of hair falling on her right shoulder show that she is unmarried. When she weds they will be cut.
• 
  Group portrait of a Balinese family (1929)

Late modern

With the opening of Japan to European visitors in the Meiji era (1868-1912) the previously normal states of undress, and the custom of mixed public bathing, became an issue for leaders concerned with Japan's international reputation. A law was established with fines for those that violated the ban on undress. Although often ignored or circumvented, the law had the effect of sexualizing the naked body in situations that had not previously been erotic.[77]

Medal for the 1920 Olympic Games references the nudity of athletes in the ancient Olympics

Nudism (in German Freikörperkultur, "free body culture") originated in the late 19th century as part of working class opposition to industrialization. Nudism was brought to America by German immigrants in the 1930s.[78] Nudism spawned a proselytizing literature in the 1920s and 1930s. Nudism's other common name, naturism, signals its core contention that the naked body is natural and that modesty and shame are cultural impositions with deleterious effects on psychological, sexual, and social well-being. Early nudism was in dialogue with sexology and feminism in a critique of society and its future.[79] While Christian moralists tended to condemn nudism, other Christians argued for the purity of the nude body compared to the corruption of the scanty clothing of the era.[80] Its proponents believed that nudism could combat social inequality, including sexual inequality.[81] As a socially marginal practice based on the naturalness of nakedness, nudism has had a complicated relationship with sexuality and pro‐sex discourses.[82]

Nudist colony near Berlin, 1930s

In the early 20th century, the attitudes of the general public toward the human body reflected rising consumerism, concerns regarding health and fitness, and changes in clothing fashions that sexualized the body. However, members of English families report that in the 1920s to 1940s they never saw other family members undressed, including those of the same gender. Modesty continued to prevail between married couples, even during sex.[83]

Bodily modesty is not part of the Finnish identity due to the universal use of the sauna, a historical tradition that has been maintained, which teaches from an early age that nakedness need not have anything to do with sex.[84][85]

From 1860 to 1937 men in the UK and America were required to wear suits that covered the upper torso when swimming in public. Early swimsuits made of knitted wool made swimming difficult.[86]

Tableau Vivant by Olga Desmond - c1908

In Germany between 1910 and 1935 nudist attitudes toward the body were expressed in sports and in the arts. In the 1910s a number of solo female dancers performed in the nude. Adorée Villany performed the Dance of the Seven Veils, and other stories based upon middle eastern themes, for appreciative upper class audiences.[87] However, after a 1911 performance in Munich, Villany was arrested, along with the theater manager, for indecency. Eventually acquitted, she was forced to leave Bavaria.[88] Olga Desmond's performances combined dance and tableau vivant posing nude in imitation of classical statues.[89] There were advocates of the health benefits of sun and fresh air that instituted programs of exercise in the nude for children of both sexes. Adolf Koch founded thirteen Freikörperkultur (FKK) schools.[90] With the rise of Nazism in the 1930s, the nudism movement split ideologically between three groups: the bourgeoisie, the socialists, and the fascists. The bourgeoisie were not ideological, while the socialists adopted the views of Adolf Koch, seeing education and health programs including nudity as part of improving the lives of the working class. While not unanimous in their support, some Nazis used nudity to extol the Aryan race as the standard of beauty, as reflected in the Nazi propaganda film Olympia directed by Leni Riefenstahl.[91]

Public swimming pools in the US were the product of municipal reform movements beginning in the mid-19th century. Civic leaders had not intended pools to be used for recreation, but for health and sporting activities, which were male only. Initially, working-class men and boys swam in the nude, as had previously been customary in lakes and rivers.[92] Communal male nudity in the United States and other Western countries was not a taboo for much of the 20th century.[93] Males have been more likely than females to be expected to swim nude in swimming pools or to share communal showers in school locker rooms with other members of the same sex.[94] These expectations were based on cultural beliefs that females need more privacy than males.[95] In 1909 The New York Times reported that at an elementary school swim competition the 80 lb. division, finding that their suits slowed them down, competed in the nude.[96] In the 1926 edition of the guidelines on swimming pools by the American Public Health Association (APHA), citing the problem of properly cleaning suits, recommended that for pools used only by men that they swim in the nude.[97] This guideline remained until 1962 but continued to be observed by the YMCA and public schools with gender segregated classes into the 1970s.[98]

Early contemporary

A 1963 article on the elementary school swim program in Troy, New York stated that boys swam nude, but that girls were expected to wear bathing suits, continuing the practice of prior decades.[99] The era of nude swimming by boys in indoor pools declined as mixed-gender bathing was allowed,[92] and ended when gender equality in facilities was mandated by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. In the 21st century, the practice of nude swimming is largely forgotten, or even denied to have ever existed.[98]

Both hippies or other participants in the counterculture of the 1960s embraced nudity as part of their daily routine and to emphasize their rejection of anything artificial. Communes sometimes practiced naturism, bringing unwanted attention from disapproving neighbors.[100] In 1974, an article in The New York Times noted an increase in American tolerance for nudity, both at home and in public, approaching that of Europe. However, some traditional nudists at the time decried the trend as encouraging sexual exhibitionism and voyeurism and threatening the viability of private nudist clubs.[101] In 1998, attitudes toward sexuality had continued to become more liberal than in prior decades, but the reaction to total nudity in public was generally negative.[102] However, some elements of the counterculture, including nudity, continued with events such as Burning Man.[103]

General issues

Sexual and non-sexual nudity

In many cultures, nudity is closely linked to sexuality, however there is also recognition of situations in which nakedness is non-sexual. Many of these are situations that involve bathing or changing clothes or other activities that necessitate nudity, such as medical treatment or examination. Physical activity, whether for work or sport, are recognized as non-sexual while best done with minimal or no clothing. In the 21st century, many of these situations, such as the communal shower, have become sexualized.[104]

The social context defines the cultural meaning of nudity that may range from the sacred to the profane. The nudity of the ancient Olympics was part of a religious practice, in other contexts athletic activities are appreciated for the beauty of bodies in motion as in dance, but in the modern media athletic bodies are often taken out of context to become purely sexual, perhaps pornographic.[105]

Studies of naturism find that its practitioners adopt behaviors and norms that suppress the sexual responses while practicing social nudity.[106] Such norms include refraining from staring, touching, or otherwise calling attention to the body while naked.[107] However, some naturists do not maintain this non-sexual atmosphere, as when nudist resorts host sexually oriented events.[108]

Morality

The moral ambiguity of nudity is reflected in its many meanings, often expressed in the metaphors used to describe cultural values, both positive and negative.[109]

One of the first—but now obsolete—meanings of nude in the 16th century was "mere, plain, open, explicit" reflected in the modern metaphors "the naked truth", "the bare facts". Naturists often speak of their nakedness in terms of a return to the innocence and simplicity of childhood. The term naturism is based upon nakedness as being connected to nature in a positive way; which includes egalitarianism, that all humans are alike in their nakedness. Nudity also represents freedom; the liberation of the body is associated with sexual liberation, although many naturists tend to downplay this connection. In some forms of group psychotherapy, nudity has been used to promote open interaction and communication. Religious persons who reject the world as it is including all possessions may practice nudism, or use nakedness as a protest against an unjust world.[110]

Many of the negative associations are the inverse of positive ones. If nudity is truth, nakedness may be an invasion of privacy or the exposure of uncomfortable truths, a source of anxiety. The strong connection of nudity to sex produces shame when naked in contexts where sexuality is deemed inappropriate. Rather than being natural, nakedness is associated with savagery, poverty, criminality, and death. To be deprived of clothes is punishment; humiliating and degrading.[111]

Confronted with this ambiguity, some individuals seek to resolve it by working toward greater acceptance of nudity for themselves and others. The majority of naturists go through stages during which they gradually learn a new set of values regarding the human body.[112] However, Krista Thomason notes that negative emotions including shame exist because they are functional, and that human beings are not perfect.[113]

Moral emotions

Shame is one of the moral emotions often associated with nudity. While guilt is the emotion experienced in response to a particular wrong action, shame is a more general and long-lasting self-assessment.[114] Shame is often thought of as positive in response to a failure to act in accordance with moral values, thus motivating an individual to do better in the future. However, shame is often negative as the response to perceived failures to live up to unrealistic expectations. The shame regarding nudity is one of the classic examples of the emotion, yet rather than being a positive motivator, it is considered unhealthy, standing in the way of developing a positive self-image.[115]

Others argue that the shame felt when naked in public is due to valuing modesty and privacy as socially positive.[116] However, the response to such public exposure of normally private behavior is embarrassment (like guilt, also a short-term emotion), rather than shame.[117] The absence of shame, or any other negative emotions regarding being naked, depend upon becoming unselfconscious while nude, which is the state both of children and those that practice naturism. This state in more difficult for women in Western culture, given the social presumption that women's bodies are always being observed, and judged. In a naturist environment, due to everyone being naked, it becomes possible to dilute the power of social judgements and experience freedom.[118][119]

Religious interpretations

The meaning of the naked body in the societies based upon the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) was defined by a creation narrative in which Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were naked and unashamed until they ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; after which they sought to cover their genitals.

The philosophical meaning of this myth is unclear. Was nakedness innocent before, but after gaining the forbidden knowledge, became evil? The feeling of shame is also problematical, since it understood as a response to being seen by others, a social context that did not exist.[120] Among ancient cultures, the association of nakedness with sexual sin was peculiar to the Judaeo-Christian religion. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, nakedness was embarrassing due to the social connotations of low status and deprivation.[121] Nudity was also not associated with sexuality due to the prevalence of functional nudity, where clothing was removed while engaged in any activity for which it would be impractical.[122]

According to German philosopher Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, interpretations of Genesis have placed responsibility for the fall of man and original sin on Eve, and therefore all women. As a result, the nudity of women is deemed more shameful personally and corrupting to society than the nakedness of men.[123]

Child development

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network issued a report in 2009 on child sexual development in the United States. The report asserted that children have a natural curiosity about their own bodies and the bodies of others that ought to be addressed in an age-appropriate manner. According to the report:

• Children less than four years old will normally touch their own private parts, look at the private parts of others, and remove their clothes wanting to be naked;
• Between ages four and six, children will be more actively curious. They will attempt to see others dressing or undressing, or will perhaps "play doctor";
• Between ages six and twelve, children will expand their curiosity to images of undressed people available in the media. They will develop a need for privacy regarding their own bodies and begin to be sexually attracted to peers.

The report recommended that parents learn what is normal in regard to nudity and sexuality at each stage of a child's development and refrain from overreacting to their children's nudity-related behaviors unless there are signs of a problem (e.g. anxiety, aggression, or sexual interactions between children not of the same age or stage of development).[124] The general advice for caregivers is to find ways of setting boundaries without giving the child a sense of shame.[125]

In childcare settings outside the home there is difficulty in determining what behavior is normal and what may be indicative of child sexual abuse (CSA). In 2018 an extensive study of Danish childcare institutions, which had in the prior century been tolerant of child nudity and playing doctor, contemporary policy had become restrictive as the result of childcare workers being charged with CSA. However, while CSA does occur, the response may be due to "moral panic" that is out of proportion with its actual frequency and over-reaction may have unintended consequences. Strict policies are being implemented not to protect children from a rare threat, but to protect workers from the accusation of CSA. The policies have created a split between childcare workers who continue to believe that behaviors involving nudity are a normal part of child development and those that advocate that children be closely supervised to prohibit such behavior.[126]

The naturist/nudist point of view is that children are "nudists at heart" and that naturism provides the ideal environment for healthy development. It is noted that modern psychology generally agrees that children can benefit from an open environment where the bodies of others their own age of both sexes are not a mystery. However, there is less agreement regarding children and adults being nude. While some doctors have taken the view that some exposure of children to adult nudity (particularly parental nudity) may be healthy, others—notably Benjamin Spock—disagreed. Spock's view was later attributed to the lingering effect of Freudianism on the medical profession.[127]

In their 1986 study on the effects of social nudity on children, Smith and Sparks concluded that "the viewing of the unclothed body, far from being destructive to the psyche, seems to be either benign or to actually provide positive benefits to the individuals involved.[128] As recently as 1996 the YMCA maintained a policy of allowing young children to accompany their parents into the locker room of the opposite gender, which some health care professionals questioned.[129] A contemporary solution has been to provide separate family changing rooms.[130]

Nudity in the home

In 1995, Gordon and Schroeder contended that "there is nothing inherently wrong with bathing with children or otherwise appearing naked in front of them", noting that doing so may provide an opportunity for parents to provide important information. They noted that by ages five to six, children begin to develop a sense of modesty, and recommended to parents who desire to be sensitive to their children's wishes that they respect a child's modesty from that age onwards.[131] In a 1995 review of the literature, Paul Okami concluded that there was no reliable evidence linking exposure to parental nudity to any negative effect.[132] Three years later, his team finished an 18-year longitudinal study that showed that, if anything, such exposure was associated with slight beneficial effects, particularly for boys. [133] In 1999, psychologist Barbara Bonner recommended against nudity in the home if children exhibit sexual play of a type that is considered problematic.[134] In 2019, psychiatrist Lea Lis recommended that parents allow nudity as a natural part of family life when children are very young, but to respect the modesty that is likely to emerge with puberty.[135]

In a 2009 article for the New York Times "Home" section, Julie Scelfo interviewed parents regarding the nudity of small children at home in situations which might include visitors outside the immediate household. The situations ranged from a three-year-old being naked at a large gathering to the use of a backyard swim pool becoming an issue when the children of disapproving neighbors participated. While the consensus was to allow kids to be kids up to the age of five, there was acknowledgment of the possible discomfort of adults who consider such behavior to be inappropriate. While opponents of child nudity referred to the danger of pedophilia; proponents viewed innocent nudity as beneficial compared to the sexualization of children in toddler beauty pageants with makeup and "sexy" outfits.[136]

Cultural differences in childhood nudity

• 
  Recreational swim in the Greenbrier River, West Virginia (1946)
• 
  Fountain in Israel (between 1947 and 1950)
• 
  Bathing in the center of East Berlin, East Germany (1958)
• 
  A nude family at Lake Senftenberg in East Germany (1980s)

Cultural differences

Historically in Western societies, there are two cultural traditions relating to nudity in various contexts. The first tradition comes from the ancient Greeks, who saw the naked body as the natural state and as essentially positive. The second is based upon the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—which have viewed being naked as shameful and essentially negative. The fundamental teachings of these religions prohibit public and sometimes also private nudity. The interaction between the Greek classical and later Abrahamic traditions has resulted in Western ambivalence, with nudity acquiring both positive and negative meanings in individual psychology, in social life, and in depictions such as art. [137] While public modesty prevails in more recent times, organized groups of nudists or naturists emerged with the stated purpose of regaining a natural connection to the human body and nature, sometimes in private spaces but also in public. Naturism in the United States, meanwhile, remains largely confined to private facilities, with few "clothing optional" public spaces compared to Europe. In spite of the liberalization of attitudes toward sex, Americans remain uncomfortable with complete nudity.[102]

In Africa, there is a sharp contrast between the attitude toward nudity in Islamic countries and the attitude toward nudity in certain sub-Saharan countries that never abandoned, or are reasserting, precolonial norms.

In Asia, the norms regarding public nudity are in keeping with the cultural values of social propriety and human dignity. Rather than being perceived as immoral or shameful, nakedness is perceived as a breach of etiquette and perhaps as an embarrassment. In China, saving face is a powerful social force. In Japan, proper behavior included a tradition of mixed gender public baths before Western contact began in the 19th century, and proper attire for farmers and other workers might be a loincloth for both men and women. In India, the conventions regarding proper dress do not apply to monks in some Hindu and Jain sects who reject clothing as worldly.

The encounter between the indigenous cultures of Africa and the Americas with Europeans had a significant effect on both cultures.[138] Western ambivalence could be expressed by responding to the nakedness of natives as either a sign of rampant sexuality or of the innocence that preceded the Fall.[139]

Openness to nudity and sexuality

In a 2001 survey of attitudes toward sex education in Greece, those asked what effect seeing nudity in the home had on children, 32% said positive, 30% negative, 36% said 'no effect' or 'don't know'. However, there was a clear opinion (86%) that seeing sexual display outside the home had a negative effect.[140]

France, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States show a broad range of openness toward nudity and sexuality as indicated by childhood experiences and sex education practices.

Tous à Poil! (Everybody Gets Naked!), a French picture book for children was first published in 2011 with the stated purpose of presenting a view of nudity in opposition to media images of the ideal body but instead depicting ordinary people swimming naked in the sea including a teacher and a policeman. In a 2014 cable news appearance Jean-François Copé, then leader of the political party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) decried the book as undermining the dignity of persons in authority.[141] Attempts by UMP to exclude the book from schools prompted French booksellers and librarians to hold a nude protest in support of the book's viewpoint.[142]

As part of a science program on Norwegian public television (NRK), a series on puberty intended for 8–12-year-olds includes explicit information and images of reproduction, anatomy, and the changes that are normal with the approach of puberty. Rather than diagrams or photos, the videos are shot in a locker room with live nude people of all ages. The presenter, a physician, is relaxed about close examination and touching of relevant body parts, including genitals. While the videos note that the age of consent in Norway is 16, abstinence is not emphasized. In a subsequent series for teens and young adults, real people were recruited to have sex on TV as counterbalance to the unrealistic presentations in advertising and porn.[143] A 2020 episode of a Danish TV show for children presented five nude adults to an audience of 11–13-year-olds with the lesson "normal bodies look like this" to counter social media images of perfect bodies.[144]

As of 2015, 37 U.S. states required that sex education curricula include lessons on abstinence and 25 required that a "just say no" approach be stressed. Studies show that early and complete sex education does not increase the likelihood of becoming sexually active, but leads to better health outcomes overall.[145] The Netherlands also has open and comprehensive sex education beginning as early as age 4, which similar health outcomes, in addition to promoting social benefits such as gender equality. Young children often play outdoors or in public wading pools nude.[146]

In a 2018 survey of predominantly white middle-class college students in the United States, only 9.98% of women and 7.04% of men reported seeing real people (either adults or other children) as their first childhood experience of nudity. Many were accidental (walking in on someone) and were more likely to be remembered as negative by women. Only 4.72% of women and 2% of men reported seeing nude images as part of sex education. 83.59% of women and 89.45% of men reported that their first image of nudity was in film, video, or other mass media.[147]

A 2009 report issued by the CDC comparing the sexual health of teens in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States concluded that if the US implemented comprehensive sex education similar to that in the three European counties there would be as significantly reduction in teen pregnancies, abortions and the rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and save hundreds of millions of dollars.[148]

High and low context cultures

High and low context cultures were defined by Edward T. Hall. The behaviors and norms of a high context culture depend upon shared implicit intuitions that operate within a social situation, while in a low context culture behavior is more dependent upon explicit communications.[149] An example of this distinction was found in research on the behavior of French and German naturists on a nude beach. Germans are extremely low in cultural context. They are characterized by individualism, alienation, estrangement from other people, little body contact, low sensitivity to nonverbal cues, and segmentation of time and space. By contrast, the French, in their personal lives are relatively high context: they interact within closely knit groups, are sensitive to nonverbal cues, and engage in relatively high amounts of body contact. To maintain public propriety on a nude beach, German naturists avoided touching themselves and others and avoid any adornments or behaviors that would call attention to the body. French naturists, on the other hand, were more likely than Germans to wear make-up and jewelry and to touch others as they would while dressed.[150]

Concepts of privacy

Societies in continental Europe conceive of privacy as protecting a right to respect and personal dignity. In America, the right to privacy is oriented toward values of liberty, especially in one's home. Europeans maintain their dignity, even naked where others may see them, while Americans see public nakedness as a surrender of "any reasonable expectation of privacy". Such cultural differences may make some laws and behaviors of other societies seem incomprehensible.[151]

Gender differences

In Western cultures, shame can result from not living up to the ideals of society with regard to physical appearance. Historically, such shame has affected women more than men. With regard to their naked bodies, the result is a tendency towards self-criticism by women, while men are less concerned by the evaluation of others.[118]

In many European countries women may sunbathe without covering their breasts.

In much of the world, the modesty of women is a matter not only of social custom but of the legal definition of indecent exposure. In the United States, the exposure of female nipples is a criminal offense in many states and is not usually allowed in public.[152]

The "topfreedom" movement promotes equal rights for women to be naked above the waist in public on the same basis that would apply to men in the same circumstances.[153] The illegality of topfreedom is viewed as institutionalization of negative cultural values that affect women's body image. The law in New York State was challenged in 1986 by nine women who exposed their breasts in a public park, which led to nine years of litigation culminating with an opinion by the Court of Appeals that overturned the convictions on the basis of the women's actions not being lewd, rather than overturning the law on the basis of equal protection, which is what the women sought. While the decision gave women more freedom to be top-free (e.g. while sunbathing), it did not give them equality with men. Other court decisions have given individuals the right to be briefly nude in public as a form of expression protected by the first amendment, but not on a continuing basis for their own enjoyment.[154]

Breastfeeding in public is forbidden in some jurisdictions, not regulated in others, and protected as a legal right in public and the workplace in still others. Where public breastfeeding is a legal right, some mothers may be reluctant to breastfeed,[155][156] and some people may object to the practice.[157]

Imposed nudity

One of the iconic photographs of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal: a naked prisoner being forced to crawl and bark like a dog on a leash.

Punishment

In some situations, nudity is forced on a person. For example, imposed nudity (full or partial) can be part of a corporal punishment or as humiliation, especially when administered in public. For example, in 2017, students at a girls' school in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh were forced to undress as a form of punishment, police say. Although not as common as corporal punishment, it is not unusual for stripping to be used as a form of punishment in Indian schools.[158]

Torture

Nazis used forced nudity to attempt to humiliate inmates in concentration camps. This practice was depicted in the film Schindler's List (1993).[159]

In 2003, Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad (Iraq) gained international notoriety for accounts of torture and abuses by members of the United States Army Reserve during the post-invasion period. Photographic images were circulated that showed the posing of prisoners naked, sometimes bound, and being intimidated and otherwise humiliated, resulting in widespread condemnation of the abuse.[160][161]

Strip search

A strip search is the removal of some or all of a person's clothing to ensure that they do not have weapons or contraband. Such searches are generally done when an individual is imprisoned after an arrest, and is justified by the need to maintain order in the facility, not as punishment for a crime.[162]

Laws regarding public nudity

Worldwide, laws regarding clothing specify what parts of the body must be covered, prohibiting complete nudity in public except for those jurisdictions that allow nude recreation.

Specific laws may either require or prohibit religious attire (veiling) for women. In a survey using data from 2012 to 2013, there were 11 majority Muslim countries where women must cover their entire bodies in public, which may include the face. There were 39 countries, mostly in Europe, that had some prohibition of religious attire, in particular face coverings in certain situations, such as government buildings. Within Russia, laws may either require or prohibit veiling depending upon location.[163]

The brief, sudden exposure of parts of the body normally hidden from public view has a long tradition, taking several forms.

• Flashing refers to the brief public exposure of the genitals or female breasts.[164] At Mardi Gras in New Orleans flashing—an activity that would be prohibited at any other time and place—has become a ritual of long standing in celebration of carnival. While many celebrations of carnival worldwide include minimal costumes, the extent of nudity in the French Quarter is due to its long history as a "red light district". The ritual "disrobing" is done in the context of a performance which earns a payment, even though it is only symbolic (glass beads). Although the majority of those performing continue to be women, men (both homosexual and heterosexual) now also participate.[165]
• Mooning refers to exposure of the buttocks. Mooning opponents in sports or in battle as an insult may have a history going back to ancient Rome.[166]
• Streaking refers to running nude through a public area. While the activity may have a long history, the term originated in the 1970s for a fad on college campuses, which was initially widespread but short-lived.[167] Later, a tradition of "nude runs" became institutionalized on certain campuses, such as the Primal Scream at Harvard.

In the United Kingdom, nudity may not be used to "harass, alarm or distress" according to the Public Order Act of 1986.[168] According to a police spokesperson in 2013, nudity per se is not unlawful in the United Kingdom; however, the circumstances surrounding particular episodes of nudity may create public order offenses. Most naturists comply with the law by being nude only where others cannot see them.[169] After repeated arrests, prosecutions, and convictions in Great Britain, the activist Stephen Gough sued at the European Court of Human Rights for the right to be nude in public outside of designated areas. His claim was ultimately rejected.[170]

In the United States, public nudity is a matter of local laws with the exception of First Amendment protection of free expression, which is generally recognized with regard to performances in an artistic context. However, in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. the owner of a bar and an adult bookstore in South Bend, Indiana sought to overturn the state law prohibiting "indecent behavior". The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Indiana law, but with difference in opinion between justices.[171]

Since regulation of everyday public behavior is more often a matter of social convention than written law, some jurisdictions may have no specific law against nudity in public. This was the case in 2006, when three young men who had been skinny-dipping outside Brattleboro, Vermont decided to go into town to see what would happen if they disrobed there. They were not arrested, and the following two summers saw a number of incidents of public nakedness until an ordinance banning nudity was passed.[172]

In the 21st century United States, the legal definition of "full nudity" is exposure of the genitals. "Partial nudity" includes exposure of the buttocks by either sex or exposure of the female breasts.[173] Legal definitions are further complicated by laws regarding indecent exposure; this term generally refers to engaging in public nudity with an intent to offend common decency.[174] Lewd and indecent behavior is usually defined as causing alarm, discomfort, or annoyance for the average person. Where the law has been challenged by asserting that nudity by itself in not lewd or disorderly, laws have been amended to specify indecent exposure, usually of the genitals but not always of the breast. Public indecency in generally a misdemeanor, but may become a felony upon repeated offense or always if done in the presence of a minor.[175] The law differs between different states. In the State of Oregon, public nudity is legal and protected as free speech as long as there is not an "intent to arouse".[176] The State of Arkansas not only outlaws private nudism, but bans anyone from advocating the practice.[177]

After incidents in July 2020 of ticketing women for sunbathing topless, the Minneapolis Parks board moved to change the regulation that prohibits the exposure of female breasts on park property, which is legal elsewhere in the city and the state of Minnesota. Some tickets were issued when sunbathers were spotted in isolated areas by drones with cameras.[178] The police defended the use of drones as being in response to citizen complaints regarding illegal alcohol and drug use in addition to nudity.[179]

Protests

People taking part in the World Naked Bike Ride in London

Nudity is used to draw public and attention to a cause, sometimes including the promotion of public nudity itself.[180]

Particular issues represented include animal rights by the group PETA, environmental issues by the World Naked Bike Ride, women's rights by the organization FEMEN.

Contemporary social practices

Norms related to nudity are associated with norms regarding personal freedom, human sexuality, and gender roles, which vary widely among modern societies. Situations where public nudity is accepted vary. Some people practice nudism within the confines of "nudist camps" or clothing-optional resorts, while naturists seek more open acceptance of nudity in everyday life and in public spaces.[181]

Public baths and spas

Bathing for cleanliness and recreation is a human universal, and the communal use of bathing facilities has been maintained in many cultures from varying traditional sources. When there is complete nudity, the facilities are often segregated by sex, but not always.

Outdoor bathing at Jhiben Hot Spring, Taiwan 2012

The sauna is attended nude in its source country of Finland, where many families have one in their home.[85] Saunas have been adopted worldwide, first in Scandinavian and German-speaking countries of Europe,[182] with the trend in some of these being to allow both genders to bathe together nude. For example, the Friedrichsbad in Baden-Baden has designated times when mixed nude bathing is permitted. The German sauna culture also became popular in neighbouring countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.[lower-alpha 1] In contrast to Scandinavia, public sauna facilities in these countries—while nude—do not usually segregate genders.[lower-alpha 2][183] The sauna came to the United States in the 19th century when Finns settled in western territories, building family saunas on their farms. When public saunas were built in the 20th century, they might include separate steam rooms for men and women.[185]

In Japan, public baths (Sentō) were once common, but became less so with the addition of bathtubs in homes. Sentō were mixed gender (konyoku) until the arrival of Western influences,[45] but became segregated by gender in cities.[186] Nudity is required at Japanese hot spring resorts (Onsen).[187] Some such resorts continue to be mixed gender, but the number of such resorts is declining as they cease to be supported by local communities.[45]

In Korea, bathhouses are known as Jjimjilbang. Such facilities may include mixed-sex sauna areas where clothing is worn, but bathing areas are gender segregated; nudity is required in those areas.[188][187] Korean spas have opened in the United States, also gender separated except the bathing areas. In addition to the health benefits, a woman wrote in Psychology Today suggesting the social benefits for women and girls having real life experience of seeing the variety of real female bodies—even more naked than at a beach—as a counterbalance to the unrealistic nudity seen in popular media.[189]

In Russia, public banyas are clothing-optional and are usually gender-segregated.[187]

Indigenous traditions

Indigenous dress

• 
  Acharya Vidyasagar, a contemporary Digambara Jain monk
• 
  Mru women working in Bangladesh
• 
  Kayapo women, Pará State, Brazil
• 
  Two women of the Zo'é tribe of Pará State, Brazil
• 
  Emberá man, Panama - 2006
• 
  A Swazi woman participating in the Umhlanga ceremony in Eswatini - 2006
• 
  Young Hamer woman in southern Ethiopia (near Turmi) - 2006
• 
  Himba herders the Kaokoveld desert

In India, priests of the Digambara ("skyclad") sect of Jainism and some Hindu Sadhus refrain from wearing clothing to symbolize their rejection of the material world.[190][191] In Bangladesh, the Mru people have resisted centuries of Muslim and Christian pressure to clothe their nakedness as part of religious conversion. Most retain their own religion, which includes elements of Buddhism and Animism; as well as traditional clothing, a loincloth for men and a skirt for women.[192]

In sub-Saharan Africa, full or partial nudity is observed among some Burkinabese and Nilo-Saharan (e.g. Nuba and Surma people)—during particular occasions; for example, stick-fighting tournaments in Ethiopia.[193] The revival of post-colonial culture is asserted in the adoption of traditional dress—young women wearing only beaded skirts and jewelry—in the Umkhosi Womhlanga (Reed Dance) by the Zulu and Swazi.[194] However, the authenticity and propriety of the paid performance of "bare chested" Zulu girls for international tourists is sometimes questioned.[195] Other examples of ethnic tourism reflect the visitor's desire to experience what they imagine to be an exotic culture, which includes nudity.[196]

In Brazil, the Yawalapiti—an indigenous Xingu tribe in the Amazon Basin—practice a funeral ritual known as Quarup to celebrate life, death and rebirth. The ritual involves the presentation of all young girls who have begun menstruating since the last Quarup and whose time has come to choose a partner.[197] The Awá hunters, an indigenous people of Brazil living in the eastern Amazon rainforest, are completely naked apart from a piece of string decorated with bird feathers tied to the end of their penises. This minimalist dress code reflects the spirit of the hunt and being overdressed may be considered ridiculous or inappropriate.[198]

Private nudity

According to a 2004 U.S. survey by ABC News, 31% of men and 14% of women report sleeping in the nude.[199] In a 2018 U.S. survey by USA Today, 58% reported that they slept in the nude; by generation 65% of Millennials, but only 39% of Baby boomers.[200]

Nudity in semi-public facilities

Historically, certain facilities associated with activities that require partial or complete nakedness, such as bathing or changing clothes, have limited access to certain members of the public. These normal activities are guided by generally accepted norms, the first of which is that the facilities are most often segregated by gender; however, this may not be the case in all cultures.

Kindergarten shower room in Köritz, a district of Neustadt-Dosse in East Germany (1987)

Changing rooms may be provided in stores, workplaces, or sports facilities to allow people to change their clothing. Some changing rooms have individual cubicles or stalls affording varying degrees of privacy. Locker rooms and communal showers associated with sports generally lacked any individual space, thus providing minimal physical privacy.

The men's locker room—which historically in Western cultures had been a setting for open male social nudity—is, in the 21st century United States, becoming a space of modesty and distancing between men. For much of the 20th century, the norm in locker rooms had been for men to undress completely without embarrassment. That norm has changed; in the 21st century, men typically wear towels or other garments in the locker room most of the time and avoid any interaction with others while naked. This shift is the result of changes in social norms regarding masculinity and how maleness is publicly expressed; also, open male nudity has become associated with homosexuality.[201][202] In facilities such as the YMCA that cater to multiple generations, the young are uncomfortable sharing space with older people who do not cover up.[203] The behavior in women's locker rooms and showers also indicates a generational change, younger women covering more, and full nudity being brief and rare, while older women are more open and casual.[204]

By the 1990s, communal showers in American schools had become "uncomfortable", not only because students were accustomed to more privacy at home, but because young people became more self-conscious based upon the comparison to mass media images of perfect bodies.[205] In the 21st century, some high-end New York City gyms were redesigned to cater to millennials who want to shower without ever being seen naked.[206] The trend for privacy is being extended to public schools, colleges and community facilities replacing "gang showers" and open locker rooms with individual stalls and changing rooms. The change also addresses issues of transgender usage and family use when one parent accompanies children of differing gender.[207]

A 2014 study of schools in England found that 53% of boys and 67.5% of girls did not shower after physical education (PE) classes. Other studies indicate that not showering, while often related to being naked with peers, is also related to lower intensity of physical activity and involvement in sports. [208]

This shift in attitudes has come to societies historically open to nudity. In Denmark, secondary school students are now avoiding showering after gym classes. In interviews, students cited the lack of privacy, fears of being judged by idealized standards, and the possibility of being photographed while naked.[209] Similar results were found in schools in Norway.[210] [211]

Social and public nudity

Nude people at Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle, Washington, USA

Attitudes toward public nudity vary depending on culture, time, location, and context. There are particular contexts in which nudity is tolerated, accepted, or even encouraged in public spaces. In Europe, such contexts include nude beaches, within some intentional communities (such as naturist resorts or clubs) and at special events. Such special events can be understood by expanding the historical concept of carnival, where otherwise transgressive behaviors are allowed on particular occasions, to include other mass nudity public events. Examples include the Solstice Swim in Tasmania (part of the Dark Mofo festival) and World Naked Bike Rides.[212]

While some European countries such as Germany are rather tolerant of public nudity,[213] other nations disfavor or punish public nudity. In the United States in 2012, the city council of San Francisco, California banned public nudity in the inner-city area. This move was met by harsh resistance because the city was known for its liberal culture and had previously tolerated public nudity.[214][215] Similarly, park rangers began filing tickets against nudists at San Onofre State Beach—also a place with long tradition of public nudity—in 2010.[216]

Naturism

A group of naturists on a beach in Crimea, 2008

Naturism (or nudism) is a subculture advocating and defending private and public nudity as part of a simple, natural lifestyle. Naturists reject contemporary standards of modesty that discourage personal, family and social nudity. They instead seek to create a social environment where individuals feel comfortable being in the company of nude people and being seen nude, either by other naturists or by the general public.[217] In contradiction of the popular belief that nudists are more sexually permissive, research finds that nudist and non-nudists do not differ in their sexual behavior.[218]

The social sciences until the middle of the 20th century often studied public nakedness, including naturism, in the context of deviance or criminality.[219] However, more recent studies find that naturism has positive effects on body image, self esteem and life satisfaction.[220] The Encyclopedia of Social Deviance continues to have an entry on "Nudism",[221] but also defines "Normal Deviance" as violating social norms in a positive way, leading to social change.[222]

Nude beaches

A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Such beaches are usually on public lands. Nude beaches may be official (legally sanctioned), unofficial (tolerated by residents and law enforcement), or illegal but so isolated as to escape enforcement.

Clothing-optional recreation

Depictions of nudity

Images of a man and woman attached to Pioneer 10 as part of a message to any extraterrestrial intelligence the space probe might encounter.

In a picture-making civilization, pictorial conventions continually reaffirm what is natural in human appearance, which is part of socialization.[223]

In Western societies, the contexts for depictions of nudity include information, art and pornography. Any ambiguous image not easily fitting into one of these categories may be misinterpreted, leading to disputes.[224] The nude in photography includes scientific, commercial, fine art, and erotic photography.[225]

Art

The nude human figure has been one of the subjects of art from its Paleolithic beginnings, and a major preoccupation of Western art since the ancient Greeks. In The Nude: a Study in Ideal Form, Lord Kenneth Clark states that to be naked is to be deprived of clothes, and implies embarrassment and shame, while a nude, as a work of art, has no such connotations.[226] This separation of the artistic form from the related social and cultural issues was largely unexamined by classical art historians, but became a focus of social and feminist critiques in the 1970s, when classical nudes of women were seen as symbolic of male objectification of female bodies.[227][228] The debate over objectification has continued, recently energized by the #MeToo movement.[229]

Arts-related activities

Distinct from the nude artworks created, sessions where artists work from live models are a social situation where nudity has a long tradition. The role of the model both as part of visual art education and in the creation of finished works has evolved since antiquity in Western societies and worldwide wherever western cultural practices in the visual arts have been adopted. At modern universities, art schools, and community groups "art model" is a job, one requirement of which is to pose "undraped" and motionless for minutes, hours (with breaks) or resuming the same pose for days as the artwork requires.[230] Some have investigated the benefits of arts education including nudes as an opportunity to satisfy youthful curiosity regarding the human body.[231]

Participants preparing to be photographed by Spencer Tunick at the Sydney Opera House

Photography of groups of nude people in public places has been done around the world with or without official cooperation. The gathering itself is proposed as performance art, while the resulting images become statements based upon the identities of people invited to participate by posing, and the location selected; urban, scenic landscapes, or sites of historical significance. The photographers including Spencer Tunick[232][233][234] and Henning von Berg state a variety of artistic, cultural, and political reasons for their work, while those being photographed may be professional models or unpaid volunteers attracted to the project for personal reasons.

Indecency and obscenity

Limits on the depiction of nudity are based upon the legal definitions of indecency and obscenity. In 1973, the Supreme Court in Miller v. California established the three-tiered Miller test to determine what was obscene (and thus not protected) versus what was merely erotic and thus protected by the First Amendment.[225]

Depictions of child nudity (or of children with nude adults) appear in works of art in various cultures and historical periods. These attitudes have changed over time and have become increasingly frowned upon,[235] especially in the case of photography. In recent years, snapshots taken by parents of their nude infant or toddler children were challenged as child pornography.[236] No charges involving mere nudity have been upheld, because the legal definition of child pornography is that it depicts sexually explicit conduct.[237]

Performance

Nudity may be used as a part of live performances, such as dance, theater, performance art and nude body painting.

Dance

Dance, as a sequence of human movement, may be ceremonial, social or one of the performing arts. Partial or complete nudity is a feature of ceremonial dances in some tropical countries. However, some claim that modern practices may be used to promote "ethnic tourism" rather than to revive authentic traditions.[238] In Western traditions, dance costumes have evolved towards providing more freedom of movement and revealing more of the body; complete nakedness is the culmination of this process.[239] Modern choreographers consider nudity one of the possible "costumes" available for dance, some seeing nudity as expressing deeper human qualities through dance which works against the sexual objectification of the body in commercial culture.[240] While nudity in social dance is not common, events such as "Naked Tango" have been held in Germany.[241]

Theater

Models posing on stage nude was a feature of tableaux vivants at London's Windmill Theatre and New York's Ziegfeld Follies in the early 20th century.[242][243] English law did not allow nude actresses to move on stage, but allowed them stand motionless to imitate works of art.[244]

Reflecting the era, the American theater in the 1960s addressed issues including hypocrisy and freedom. By 1968 nudity was freely employed by playwrights, directors and producers not only on subects of sexuality but regarding social injustice and war.[245]

A well-known performance that included nudity was the Broadway musical Hair in 1968.[246] The New York Times printed a number of letters to the editor in 1969 with opinions ranging from actress June Havoc stating that nudity indicates that the producer has run out of ideas; while actress Shelley Winters joked that it was disgusting, but if she were 22 she would do it.[247]

The nudity in Hair was benign compared to later productions. Dionysus in 69, a modern version of The Bacchae, included a chorus of nude and partially nude actors who staged a birth ritual and interacted with the audience.[248] Eventually nudity became an issue of personal integrity and privacy, with some actors choosing to perform nude, others not.[249]

Erotic performances

See also

• Human skin
• Nudity in combat
• Nude recreation
• Anarcho-naturism
• List of places where social nudity is practised
• Modesty

References

Notes

1. German text: "Dass Männer und Frauen zusammen splitternackt schwitzen, its eine deutsche Spezialität, für die sich nur noch Urlauber aus den Benelux-Staaten, aus Österreich und der Schweiz erwärmen können, vielleicht auch noch Osteuropäer".[183] English translation: "The fact that men and women sweat together stark naked is a German specialty that only tourists from the Benelux countries, Austria and Switzerland can warm to, maybe even Eastern Europeans".
2. German text: "In den Fitnesszentren und Kuranstalten wurde das finnische Bad, oft großzügig ausgestaltet zu ganzen Saunalandschaften, zum selbstverständlichen Angebot. Bemerkenswert ist, dass dort heute zumeist auf getrennte Badezeiten für Männer und Frauen verzichtet wird. Nacktheit von Mann und Frau in der Sauna wird hier längst akzeptiert und das hat ein positives soziales Gesamtklima erzeugt, das selbstregulierend – die seltenen Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel – das Verhalten der Badegäste bestimmt. Verpöhnt ist […] der Versuch, sich in Badekleidung […] unter die Nackten zu mischen".[184] English translation: "In the fitness centers and health resorts, the Finnish bath, often designed generously to complete sauna landscapes, was a natural offer. It is noteworthy that today there is usually no separate bathing times for men and women. Nakedness of men and women in the sauna has been accepted for a long time and that has created a positive overall social climate. Self-regulation – the rare exceptions confirm the rule – determines the behavior of the bathers. Pampered is the attempt […] to mix in bathing clothes among the naked ones".

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135. Lis 2019.
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178. Jackson 2020.
179. Fonrouge 2020.
180. Alaimo 2010.
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• Allen, Katherine R.; Gary, Emily A.; Lavender-Stott, Erin S.; Kaestle, Christine E. (2018). "'I Walked in on Them': Young Adults' Childhood Perceptions of Sex and Nudity in Family and Public Contexts". Journal of Family Issues. 39 (15): 3804–3831. doi:10.1177/0192513X18793923. S2CID 149499290.
• Andrews, Jonathan (1 June 2007). "The (un)dress of the mad poor in England, c.1650-1850. Part 2" (PDF). History of Psychiatry. 18 (2): 131–156. doi:10.1177/0957154X06067246. ISSN 0957-154X. PMID 18589927. S2CID 5540344.
• Barcan, Ruth (2001). "The Moral Bath of Bodily Unconsciousness: Female Nudism, Bodily Exposure and the Gaze". Continuum. 15 (3): 303–317. doi:10.1080/10304310120086795. S2CID 145127932.
• Barcan, Ruth (2004b). "Regaining what Mankind has Lost through Civilisation: Early Nudism and Ambivalent Moderns". Fashion Theory. 8 (1): 63–82. doi:10.2752/136270404778051870. S2CID 194179019.
• Batten, Alicia J. (2010). "Clothing and Adornment". Biblical Theology Bulletin. 40 (3): 148–59. doi:10.1177/0146107910375547. S2CID 171056202.
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