Another Look at Public Nudity

I am all for public nudity it would make the days alot more fun.

nudist olimpics, stay away from that sand in the long jump haha

but i dont want to see my parents naked so lets impose a rule parents keep yours clothes on

i think i would make a great nudist

reply to post by fraterormus


Great discussion topic!!!! (very original!!!)

I'll be following this one!!

Star and flag

Peace

reply to post by AshleyD



Hi

I'm not sure what aspect of the discussion I'm most focused on, to be honest. I grew up in a very prudish home with a very germ-conscious mother. That sort of programming takes a lot of conscious and instinctive unpicking.

And of course, this is an intellectual exercise on the part of most of us, as I doubt too many of us are nudists/naturists (although this discussion might lead to its consideration by some ]

I enjoyed one of the above posts which raised the issue of males with large breasts as compared with female breasts and basically asked, 'What's the big difference' with regard to the baring of either in public: why is one 'accepted' and the other 'rude, sexual'. Imo, basically no difference as far as appearance is concerned, although we can doubt too many straight men will be sexually aroused by the large male breast (maybe that's for the future ?) -- Actually, no. Present. I've just remembered an article I read last year which said that since advertisers haave been taken to task for using female breasts, they've since begun using men with well developed chests in commercials and ads, etc.


As to the 'germ' element that might be considered inherent to general nudity, we should bear in mind that the most germ laden part of the human body is the mouth. The same mouth we use to communicate and kiss and which is used by some to masticate their children's food prior to feeding it to their children.

So, in reality, we're most probably far more exposed to others germs when we sip coffee at a cafe, or eat from utensils in restaurants, than we are if we sit on a seat or beach or whatever that a nudist previous sat upon.

My germ-conscious mother warned me at a very early age about drinking from other's cups, or from restaurant cups, etc. She would turn the cup around and drink from it as a left-hander would, in the belief there are far fewer left-handers in society, therefore, there would be less microscopic fissures in the china of the cup on that side and less chance of 'catching a germ'. I taught my children the same thing and funnily enough, decades after being thus advised by my mother, science announced that porcelain/china crockery was subject to wear and tear like anything else, and that tests had shown microscopic cracks in crockery can contain a frightening number of 'germs', despite their having been given a good scrubbing. So sometimes, mothers do know best.

And while we're on the subject of germs, this will stun you, I think. Years ago I spoke with a woman whose son had been subject to one of the most baffling cases presented to Australian medical science. A very healthy boy, he'd been stricken with a 'mystery illness' when aged about eight.

He was rushed to hospital in very bad shape. Very high temperature, unable to breath or swallow properly. He was deteriorating fast. Doctors were at their wits' ends. He was flown to a major city hospital .. same thing. His mother said the interior of his mouth, going all the way down his throat was filled with dense, white fungus .. looked a bit like chunks of coconut, but worse. She said it came off in big chunks, then regrew again. The doctors had seen nothing like it and could find nothing compared with it in their texts. It seemed the boy was going to die, regardless of what efforts to save him the doctors made and regardless of the medication administered.

Then .. and this is amazing I think .. it was learned that an American doctor was visiting the same hospital for just a couple of days. He was an expert in tropical medicine. He recognised the boy's illness .. said it was known as 'Angelitis' or sounds like. He said the last known cases had been during WW2. It was contagious. He knew how to deal with it. The boy was saved.

At that point, the Aussie health authorities began a frantic search to discover how this child had contracted a disease last known in WW2. They were desperate to prevent its spread. They checked every inch of the boy's life .. what he'd eaten, who he'd been exposed to, where he'd been, etc.

Finally, it was narrowed down to his school. None of the other children had ever had Angelitis. No-one in the town had ever heard of it.

The scientists kept tracking. Finally, they located the source of the boy's near brush with death. It was the water-bubbler in the school yard. It was a tiny water bubbler, because the schoolyard level had been increased over the years. The bubbler only stood a few feet higher than the pavement. And in the round, stainless steel head of the bubbler they located a miniscule crack. In that crack was the Angelitis germ.

But they still needed to find out how the Angelitis got into the bubbler. It was now an 'extinct' germ. And through painstaking research, they discovered that some American servicemen who'd been stationed in Brisbane in WW2 had Angelitis. And some American servicemen on leave had visited the small beachside resort where the boy later lived. The school he attended was only minutes from the beach. The conclusion was that the American servicemen had drunk from the bubbler, back in the days of WW2 and had deposited the Angelitis germ there .. perhaps before their bodies succumbed to the germ and hospitalised them.

That germ had lived there, inside the bubbler, for over 45 years, unsuspected, undisturbed. Literally thousands of children had drunk from the bubbler in the decades after WW2 .. only that one boy had contracted the disease which must have been released from the crack as he drank.

The mother had great religious faith. Not ordinary ..she really had something, imo. Practical, salt of the earth woman, many children and others she'd taken in over the years. A real worker, very kind. Totally off topic, I realise, but it makes you think, doesn't it .. her son was stricken with an 'extinct', completely unknown disease .. and right there to save him was an expert in tropical medicine who recognised the disease that had confounded everyone else.

[edit on 18-8-2009 by St Vaast]

I am a life long nudist/Naturist.

Common curtsy among US nudist is to carry a towel to set on in nudist areas.

In Europe the bidet is a common bathroom fixture to clean your self so you seldom need the towel so its not a European curtsy to set on a towel.

I spent 2 months in germany and on my first day in country i walked to the local park.
About 3/4 of the poeple there were in the nude.
gogermany.about.com...

The next day i was one of them. The Germans were surprised that there were American nudists.
I have also been to the nude hot spring in Japan and got the same response.
they also think Americans are strange about nudity

For anyone doing business in japan a lot of Japanese business is done soaking at hot springs and drinking rice wine. bad mix!!!!
Just hint that you are sore and stiff from your long flight from the US.
www.japan-guide.com...

I met a lot of very friendly Germans, Japanese and like American nudist you never find a unfriendly person.

Flashers, perverts and pedos are few in Germany or Japan.
The flashers are laughed at and made jokes of the size of there manhood.
The shock value is not there. so they learn there is no fun in it.

I completely agree that it is best to have fewer laws as possible. I have no issues whatsoever with public nudity and we should be a free thinking society. At the end of the day we were born naked. S&F.

based on the physical condition of teh average american i am thankful that public nudity is no the norm, but rather the exception to the rule.

The reason you can't just bike around naked is because nobody wants to see your naked bum. Clothing was invented with good intent.

reply to post by Chovy



But a bum is simply the part where your legs join onto your back, plus a bit of padding to sit on

I think bums are quite endearing. They all have a personality of their own.

Bums are under-appreciated, imo.

Who could view Obama or Gordon Brown or Putin or Sarkozy in the same way, if they gave their speeches naked and after you'd seen their bums ?

It's been my understanding that many alien (greys at least) don't wear clothing. A lot less laundry for the human or reptilian slaves to do also. Not to mention how much harder it is to steal something...and still walk the same.

I do not like clothes. Never have, and even as a child my mom could not keep me in mine. I have lived in a nudist resort, and been to several in Florida, the Caribbean, and Europe. When I am at home I am nude. It is just more comfortable.

I am absolutely convinced that the obsession with being covered up, and the puritanical attitude in America regarding the human body is the root cause of most of the sexual hangups, perversions, and sex crimes we have in our society. It is a fact that the incidence of teenage pregnancy in nudist families is virtually zero. It is a result of taking the mystery away from the human body and making it a natural everyday thing.

I am not however an advocate of people being allowed to walk naked down a busy city street. There is a time and place for everything and I don't think naked people in traffic is it. Recently I was in Munich Germany and there is a huge park with a couple of streams running through it which is a short walk from city center. Any day in the summer you can walk through the park and observe naked people lying in the sun or walking on a footpath enjoying the park. I see nothing wrong with that and obviously neither do the Germans.

reply to post by expat2368


Good post

Very refreshing

Reading your post I can imagine people lying around in parks in the sunshine .. sounds good

Do you live in Ojai or Santa Barbara?
@nd line to explain "I'm just curious".

Well, the way i see it, unless you've got a fabulous physique, i dont want you undressed and making me sick.

Not with the lights on.

I think that the best solution is to provide places were nudity is permitted, and other places where it is allowed. Since more people seem to be offended by nudity than by clothes-wearing, I can understand why making clothing mandatory in most places would be appropriate.

That is to say, more clothes-wearing folks seem to be offended by nudity, than nude folks seem to be offended by people wearing clothes. So making clothing the default, with special places set aside for the folks who prefer no clothing, seems to be the way to go.

I don't know exactly why we're so hung up about nudity, but Freud wrote a whole book about stuff like that.

Star, and Flag to the OP for bringing up Individual Natural Rights.

I"m not going to partake further into this conversation as I am only showing my support for Natural Rights.

I believe in the golden rule:

Do unto others as You would have them due unto You.

Live, and let live.

Live, and learn.

Live life, and harm none.

I would absolutely support anyone's rights to self government, and using their Liberties as provided by Creation, and laid out obviously in Nature.

Originally posted by Wildbob77
The harsh reality is that most people look better with their cloths on.

While this statement is completely true, I have a serious philosophical problem with it.

The general idea that other people are on this planet to be looked at and judged against some sort of ideal is a real problem for me, and I think for our society at large.

I find the statement to be very disrespectful to all human beings. The real harsh reality is there is no such thing as perfection. Your ideal is completely unrealistic and intangible.

Perhaps if all of those beautiful celebrities we admire were to walk around nude, we would realize that perfection does not exist without photoshop and strategic poses.

You will have to settle for a real-life person of flesh, bones, hair, imperfect skin, body odor, and weird-smelling breath.

All people look better with their clothes on, but not one of them was born for the purpose of being eye-candy for others.

(I'm not singling this poster out, many have voiced the same opinion and I think it's a very self-centered and unfair perspective, an insult to all of humanity.)

reply to post by fraterormus


Only hot people should be allowed to be naked. And even then not fully nude.

It's a crime for fatasses (hello Americans! ) to be naked. It's downright abomination!

reply to post by eMachine


I agree with you,good post.As for this,i don't have a problem with it at all...it seems strange saying that though,does no one else find it weird that governments actually have a say in if someone can walk about with no clothes on? Our society associates being naked with sex for the most part which is just plain wrong.I really can't see people being allowed to walk around naked though in America or Britain especially in the future,our society is still too backwards.The majority of people would be screaming bloody murder..probably parents being the number one and thinking their children will be tainted and scarred for life all because of seeing flesh.I have never been to a nudist beach etc doesn't appeal to me really but i hear they are common in mainland europe.

Why do you care so much about being able to run around butt naked? Wear pants if you're a guy and a bra if you're a woman.

I'm trying not to be offensive, but I don't want to see your nasty bush.

Clothing was made for a reason.

Worry about more important things first.

[edit on 8/18/2009 by die_another_day]

Originally posted by die_another_day
Why do you care so much about being able to run around butt naked? Wear pants if you're a guy and a bra if you're a woman.

I'm trying not to be offensive, but I don't want to see your nasty bush.

Clothing was made for a reason.

Worry about more important things first.

[edit on 8/18/2009 by die_another_day]

To keep you warm! sooo...if it is warm outside you don't need clothes. And the whole point of this thread..apart from it being a slow news day is that there should be nothing ugly or wrong with someone being naked,it's the most natural thing on earth.So it says more about our society than it does about naked people.