A guy I don’t know all that well (from a local nonprofit group of which we’re both members) is now the proud daddy of a healthy new daughter. He sent out pictures from the delivery room to many, including me, within hours of her birth. In several of the pics you’d have no problem determining the baby’s sex. I’m happy for him and his wife to have started a family, and don’t generally consider myself a prude, but I really don’t wanna see his daughter’s vagina.
I’ve seen naked newborns in medical textbooks, guides to the birth process, documentaries etc., and that doesn’t bother me in the least. But I don’t know those parents or those kids. This almost feels like a violation of the baby’s privacy, as odd as that sounds. Although I’m a little squicked out, I’m not angry at the guy, and don’t feel strongly enough to take this to the Pit. I haven’t said anything to him (other than “Congratulations!”) about it, and doubt I ever will.
Even weirder, to me, is when they go on Facebook to announce “We’re having a BOY,” and post ultrasound pictures showing Junior’s little dingaling. Unnecessary, thanks!
My nieces are 12 and 13, and I’m sure they are very aware that there exist topless pictures of them on the Internet. Of course, they were babies, but still.
When I read the thread title my first thought was that you had been sent some sort of bizarre close up crotch shot, because it did not occur to me that anyone would be bothered by a naked baby.
By my standards, you are definitely a prude, but I am not an American (which I assume you to be), so you may well be a non-prude by the more relevant standards of your own culture.
I’d find it somewhat outlandish, but wouldn’t be offended. I’d also wouldn’t worry unless it was something that continued beyond that first set of pics.
Hell, the dad was probably so excited that he didn’t realize what he was doing was probably not so good.
meh, big deal. Probably not the ideal look but really nothing wrong with it.
I have video of my kids when they were aged 4 and 6 skinny dipping in the above ground pool up at my parents old house. I transferred the old tape onto the PC and burnt a DVD for my mum a couple of years back. The kids (now 21 and 23) sat down and watched it with her. Apart from me making a crack to my sons GF that his todger probably was still the same size, no one had any issues or embarrassment. We weren’t sitting down to watch videos of naked children, we were watching a whole bunch of their childhood which included some skinny dipping.
A former employer of mine made a video of the entire birth process of his first child (yes, including close-ups of the crowning). He brought a copy for each employee, so we could take it home and watch it. He admitted that his wife was very pissed about it. Gee, I wonder why.
I don’t need to see baby genitalia, I will take your word for it that they are whichever external sex they appear to be upon popping out of the mothership.
My mom does actually have one of the classic naked baby face down on a bearskin rug of my brother, my sister and I at about the same age, probably 6 months old[?], it was a very common photographers prop back in the day, and there are probably a lot of the pictures around. They went out of fashion in the mid 60s.
If something like this bothers you, I think you should reevaluate.
In fact, what bothers me more is that a naked baby does not seem like the most normal thing in the world. If you see a naked baby and nudity bothers you (general you), then I think that’s a really unhealthy attitude to nudity, sexuality and childhood. Particularly, I think the nudity of children is being equated with sexuality here in a really bizarre way. I’m not accusing the OP of anything, rather, a society that leads people to think something like this about babies. Ick.
OP, if this is not prudishness, then what on earth is?
I’m wondering whether there are any pics where you can actually see the vagina or it’s just the mons veneris. Unlike packages, vaginas are relatively hard to photograph.
If the proud daddy specifically went through the work needed to show the vagina then I would consider that to be kind of weird. If it’s just pics of a naked baby then the cold showers are Over There.
Yup, agreed. Also American, but grew up in sauna culture, where families and friends take sauna together until the kids reach the age (around 10 or so) where they want privacy. Much healthier attitude towards the the naked body.
