Why are people offended by nudity? Have they always been? Are there cultures where they are not. Why?
Off the cuff WAG. If the are offended, are they jealous? I don’t really know why they are offended other than maybe their upbringing? Me? I like nekid! I don’t get anything out of looking at other men, but, women? Oh yah…
I think the thing with nudity probably started in colder countries (or maybe hot desert-like countries), where people usually wore clothing for protection against the elements. Eventually nudity would have come to be associated with having sex, because at least parts of people have to be uncovered for that activity.
And back in the days when men considered women to be property/chattel, the nudity-sex connection thing would probably evolved into the attitude that only the possessing male got to see those parts of his woman/women.
Also, the nudity-sex thing would be a reason why people who think sex is dirty would be offended by nudity.
Just some guesses; any others?
I seem to recall that clothing began as ornament and decoration, and only later became necessary as our ancestors came north. Some African tribes today only wear ornamental jewelry/sashes/belts, etc.
Also, I’m going to come from left field and say that I believe the nudity taboo to be a Christian thing. I have no cites for this; I just get the impression from Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art that those cultures didn’t care if their clothing actually covered anything; it was for decoration. And I believe Greek sporting events (like the Olympics) were done completely nude.
I’m not so sure about that… When you see documentaries about primitive tribes, if only a single piece of clothing is worn, it invariably covers the genitals (and often, not much else). I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any tribe that went around totally nude; at the least, there’s always a leaf hanging down in front, or something. This suggests to me that the roots of the taboo are either somehow instinctive in origin, or that it dates way, way back in our history, to the time when we were all living in wherever the origin of humanity was.
Well, there is also a certain…vulnerability about the genitals. If I were a jungle hunter (dream the impossible dream!), I wouldn’t want to run through brush with junior jsexton flapping about. The brain has the skull, the heart has the ribs, but your genitals are fully exposed. Well, not YOUR genitals, in particular, but…you know what I mean.
It was precisely a documentary about a “primitive” tribe I saw that showed this, but I can’t recall the name now. The men and women only wore decorative belts, and though they covered nothing, they felt “naked” without them. The reason I remember it is the narrator actually stated that most peoples began wearing clothing for aesthetic (or practical) reasons rather than to cover their naughty bits.
Also, I said Christian before, when I meant Christian/Jewish/Muslim (but all the same God). It seems to me that these three cultures/religions are the only ones who get all fired up about nudity; apparently stemming from the whole apple incident.
Some peoples actually did go around totally stark naked until very recently (the last 20-30 years or so). These included Sudanese Dinka, certain Amazonian Indian tribes, and Australian Aborigines (the Tasmanian aborigines were naked too, until the whites exterminated them in the 19th century). The Australian Aborigines took to wearing clothes sometime in the early 20th century, but the Dinka and the Amazonians only gave in during the last few years.
In many more cultures around the world, women wore something around the waist but went bare-breasted. They also have mostly started covering their breasts in the last few decades. Mostly in the 1960s-70s. In other words, at the same time as white Europeans (the descendants of the colonialist European Christians who had first forced the bare-breasted natives to cover up), began frequenting topless beaches.
The June 2000 National Geographic was a case in point. They had an article on New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The native women are all Christianized and wearing dresses and blouses. The bare-breasted women are all white Europeans.
The world turned inside-out.
Some peoples actually did go around totally stark naked until very recently (the last 20-30 years or so). These included Sudanese Dinka, certain Amazonian Indian tribes, and Australian Aborigines (the Tasmanian aborigines were naked too, until the whites exterminated them in the 19th century). The Australian Aborigines took to wearing clothes sometime in the early 20th century, but the Dinka and the Amazonians only gave in during the last few years.
In many more cultures around the world, women wore something around the waist but went bare-breasted. They also have mostly started covering their breasts in the last few decades. Mostly in the 1960s-70s. In other words, at the same time as white Europeans (the descendants of the colonialist European Christians who had first forced the bare-breasted natives to cover up), began frequenting topless beaches.
The June 2000 National Geographic was a case in point. They had an article on New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The native women are all Christianized and wearing dresses and blouses. The bare-breasted women are all white Europeans.
The world turned inside-out.
Cuz sex is dirty.