# Parents: your young adult child decides to become a nude model. Are you okay with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738 "2011-06-16T20:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/21 "2011-06-17T04:05:17Z")
Has anyone ever actually gotten in trouble over artsy, professional nude photos? I honestly find it difficult to imagine any scenario where this could come back to haunt someone. “Mrs. Simmons, did you _ **take an art class?!** _ That’s not the image DoucheBagCo wishes to present!” I’d be more worried about expressing an opinion on something that later turns to be unpopular, honestly. And I doubt most parents would warn their children about that. Reasonable caution is all well and good, but you can’t live your life in fear of what douchebags might say about you. Course, I’m not a parent. But I’ll refrain from accusations of fascism provided you’ll share some of those surveillance photos. Preferably from Portugal and the dorms of art colleges. – Our new Senator, in additon to beign kind of a douche himself, posed for a sexy shirtless calender when he was younger. This was, at worst, considered fodder for a few light jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/22 "2011-06-17T05:17:16Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Fascist pig! Card-carrying dues-paying fascist pig, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/23 "2011-06-17T11:41:31Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Card-carrying dues-paying fascist pig, mind you. So you’re saying that fascists have unions? Skald, you unionized fascist goat, I take offense at the pig thing! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/24 "2011-06-17T11:52:04Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > I did figure modeling in my youth for life drawing classes. I would have no issues with my (hypothetical) child doing this. That’s a bit different than posing for photographs. Besides the obvious, the products of _drawing classes_ rarely get much distribution. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/25 "2011-06-17T13:10:35Z")
What blows my mind the most about this scenario is the young adult coming and telling his parent they are doing nude photographs. Would kids really tell their parents such? I would just say I was doing some modeling. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/26 "2011-06-17T13:52:41Z")
If it was good enough for Betty White… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/27 "2011-06-17T14:10:01Z")
> [@Ura-Maru](#): > > Has anyone ever actually gotten in trouble over artsy, professional nude photos? I’m not sure it’s ever come up. But I can \*imagine \*what the reaction would be if, say, Hilary Clinton’s college age artsy nudes were found by FOX news. (I’m not saying there are college age artsy nudes of Hilary Clinton out there, but…) ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/28 "2011-06-17T14:18:19Z")
There are college age nude photos of Hillary, and many other famous people out there who went to Ivy League Schools in the same time period - for some wacked out “posture” study. [http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.html) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/29 "2011-06-17T14:24:09Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > There are college age nude photos of Hillary, and many other famous people out there who went to Ivy League Schools in the same time period - for some wacked out “posture” study. > > [http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.html) Oh, right, I forgot about that! Still, that was in the name of science and medicine, not art. I can see those pictures being excused a lot more easily, since she didn’t choose to do them and they’re not provocative. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/30 "2011-06-17T14:28:06Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Being a model is a perfectly legit occupation (albeit, from what I read, often tiring and strenuous). I doubt there are many models doing only nude work, and I don’t think there’s much difference between both in any case, except in the more or less perverted mind of some onlookers. And there are 50 yo overweight people doing modeling, including nude. > > Basically, I think \*\*you \*\*put too much importance in the “nude” aspect, by sexualizing it. (bolding mine) Is that a general _you_ there, or a Skald-specific _you_? Because I don’t see where I sexualized anything. > [@](#): > > Also, you’re a fascist pig. Everybody knows that. It’s in the FAQ. > [@Anaamika](#): > > What blows my mind the most about this scenario is the young adult coming and telling his parent they are doing nude photographs. Would kids really tell their parents such? I would just say I was doing some modeling. Well, you can change young adult telling her parent to parent discovering some other way. I didn’t bother writing (or thinking through) a detailed scenario here, obviously. That said, my son’s-sister-who-sometimes-calls-me-Pappy-though-I-don’t-really-deserve-it told me when she began taking nude photos, and and I know she has some of herself up on her site. Admittedly she didn’t so much _tell_ me that as _warn_ me of that. Which I appreciate, because frankly I don’t want to see 'em. I can easily imagine someone telling her or his parents about the nature of such photos for just that reason, or because they were ambivalent about the opportunity and wanted counsel from someone they trusted. Just because I can’t stand my father and would never ask his advice doesn’t mean the attitude is universal. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Oh, right, I forgot about that! Still, that was in the name of science and medicine, not art. I can see those pictures being excused a lot more easily, since she didn’t choose to do them and they’re not provocative. Did you look at David’s pictures in the link? If so, are they what you’d call provocative? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/31 "2011-06-17T14:39:07Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That said, my son’s-sister-who-sometimes-calls-me-Pappy-though-I-don’t-really-deserve-it told me when she began taking nude photos, and and I know she has some of herself up on her site. Admittedly she didn’t so much _tell_ me that as _warn_ me of that. Which I appreciate, because frankly I don’t want to see 'em. I can easily imagine someone telling her or his parents about the nature of such photos for just that reason, or because they were ambivalent about the opportunity and wanted counsel from someone they trusted. Just because I can’t stand my father and would never ask his advice doesn’t mean the attitude is universal. Yes, I have a hard time remembering that some people respect their parental unit’s input. 🙂 I did look at David’s pictures in the link, and they are artistic and some are rather beautiful. It is kind of gross that we live in a society where people have a problem with those. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/32 "2011-06-17T14:55:08Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Did you look at David’s pictures in the link? If so, are they what you’d call provocative? I see the “safe” ones only. Yes, they are more provocative than what I’d expect to come out of a “posture study”, although I’ll freely admit I haven’t seen the “posture study” pictures. And yes, I agree they’re lovely, and I personally don’t have a problem with them. But I personally do not make up the general public, who tend to have far more problems with nudity and sensuality than I do. And it’s hard to predict where future mores on the subject will lie. My personal hypothesis is that we’re at about the extreme end of the pendulum swing as it applies to public tolerance of open sexuality, and things will actually get \*more \*restrictive by the time my daughter is having children. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/33 "2011-06-17T14:57:06Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Yes, I have a hard time remembering that some people respect their parental unit’s input. 🙂 > > I did look at David’s pictures in the link, and they are artistic and some are rather beautiful. It is kind of gross that we live in a society where people have a problem with those. Sadly I will never be god-king and thus cannot change that. On the other hand I’d outlaw donuts too, so it’s probably six of one, half a dozen of the other. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/34 "2011-06-17T15:07:08Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I did nude modeling back when I was in college the first time around, it was a way to make some easy money. Most difficult thing was holding a single pose, at least the studio was heated nicely. > > My mom and dad had nothing to say about it, it was none of their damned business. I was over 18. I did too and never saw any reason at all to mention it to my parents. They weren’t paying for school, so wherever my money came from was not their concern. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/35 "2011-06-17T15:27:57Z")
Okay with it? Sure. Hell, I’d shoot my kid herself if she were that age. It’s just skin. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/36 "2011-06-18T03:30:07Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Wouldn’t a person have to be 21 years old to be an “adult” as far as consenting to nude pictures? The U.S. edition of _Playboy_ has openly featured Playmates who were 18 at the time their pictorials appeared. A few women under that age have reportedly “sneaked in”, including [Elizabeth Ann Roberts](http://www.dailyspeculations.com/marion/playboy.html), whose posing for the January 1958 issue resulted in charges being levied (and eventually dropped) against Hugh Hefner. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/37 "2011-06-19T15:35:21Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’m a little confused about this part. Wouldn’t a person have to be 21 years old to be an “adult” as far as consenting to nude pictures? That’s my first thought but I reckon I could be wrong. I don’t see why 21 would be required. Eighteen is legally an adult, able to consent to contracts and vote. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/38 "2011-06-19T15:46:57Z")
I get confused because it seems like 21 is the age for some things and 18 is the age for other things. That’s why I asked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/39 "2011-06-19T15:57:34Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I get confused because it seems like 21 is the age for some things and 18 is the age for other things. That’s why I asked. 🙂 The Rites of Passage, Modern Version 16: Driver’s License! 18: Registering for Selective Service (“the draft”), able to sign binding contracts, can have sex and pose for nude pictures in any state in the USA, can buy cigarettes, “Legal Adult” 21: Drinking alcohol is legal 25: Rent a car (I don’t think that’s by law, I think that’s by rental car companies’ policy, but it’s pretty standard) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738/40 "2011-06-19T15:58:32Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I get confused because it seems like 21 is the age for some things and 18 is the age for other things. That’s why I asked. 🙂 I asked my stepdaughter; she says that in Tennessee at least it’s 18. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-your-young-adult-child-decides-to-become-a-nude-model-are-you-okay-with-it/585738.md?page=3)