Is nudity in art more offensive in America than in Europe?

10 Oct 2009

I think yes. Most Americans have a hard time distinguishing between nudity and sexuality, due largely to our puritanical origins and our salacious media. I am partially a nudist, and Christian as well. I don't mind nudity. People seem to want to sexualize nudity, but in fact, nudity is a symbol of purity. We are born naked and for everyone who has children, you might have find out young kids don't like clothes, they would prefer run naked. There is beauty and art in nudity no matter what age you are. I am a very low sexual minded person, but nudity never bothered me.

10 Oct 2009

Nudity has never bothered me either, but unfortunately, the guidelines we have in America are more strict than overseas. I had a friend that went to Europe years ago and he could not believe the difference. He said he was watching television, and the same commercials we have here, like the women in shampoo commercials in the shower or what not, while they are cut off here, they show everything over there.

Nudity is accepted more overseas. In America, we are governed by people who think nudity is more a "sex" thing than a "natural" thing. Like you said, we are all born nude, and little children would rather run naked. It's true. Seen that with my own eyes from family members who have children and been to the beach where the younger ones just take their suits off.

If it was not preached here that we should not show our body until we are ready to have sex, then it may be more accepted. But until our culture can differentiate between just plain nudity and sex, then nudity will never be accepted as an art form. Only as a sexual form.

"So don't cry to me.
If you loved me,
You would be here with me.
Don't lie to me,
Just get your things.
I've made up your mind."

--Evanescence

11 Oct 2009

I agree with everything Sensual said.

15 Nov 2009

Yeah, buddies: if you went to Spain you'd see this natural thing... isn't it amazing?

16 Nov 2009

First off - never forget that the area we now call The United States was first settled by a group of hard-core religious fanatics called The Puritans. Public nudity, adultery, witchcraft... all these crimes were punishable by death.

Second, there may actually be genetic impulses for the way we feel about public nudity. I was having a discussion via email with a long-distance friend of mine. We were chatting about the Lady God1va who spent a full hour atop the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, as a way to promote peaceful nudism.

(See her video here... )

I made a comment that if it were a man doing that, he would probably be branded a pervert, or even worse. I`ve never understood why a nude female form is regarded as a work of art, while most people regard a nude male form as an aberration; something to be covered up and hidden away from sight. I`ve always thought that this was a terrible double-standard. Speaking just for myself, I do enjoy looking at nude females, and while I don`t get the same level of enjoyment from seeing nude men, I don`t think there`s anything shameful or disgusting about seeing a man nude. To me, being naked simply means that you have nohting to hide your true self behind. It means open-ness, honesty, truth. Here is her response:

I think there is a double standard because for years and years, men often portray their bodies as a source of strength, as a weapon, so that when they are naked they are seen as a threat, and wanting to force their way into things, whether it be a woman`s body or their personal space or their sight. I think it is seen as a threat for men too, where they see a naked male body as a source of competition for their mates, and a threat on their sexuality, their virility. That sounds bizarre, I know. But I think men`s bodies elicit not only fear in some women, but in men too. I might be waaaay waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off....

That made me stop and think for a while. In the end, I think she may be mostly right. As mankind was evolving, certain traits had to be more useful than others, from a survival standpoint. One of those traits could well have been the ability to force your penis into any woman`s vagina, whether she was willing or not. The man that cold force his seed into more women, more often, probably had a greater chance of fathering offspring than the man that got shoved out into the cold at night. Looking at it this way, it would make sense that a nude man may be seen as more sexually threatening, and therefore an anti-nude-male could easily have come about, enforced both overtly, and covertly, by both women AND men that happened to be lower ranked in whatever heirarchy existed at the time.

I'm a member of a nudist/naturist-oriented site. Here's my True Nudists profile. I posted this over there as well. Here's a short thread that has some opinions from actual nudists on the topic.

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16 Nov 2009

You're right, MrNudiePants. Here's a little more about Puritans:

At a time when other Americans were physically blazing trails through the forests, the Puritans efforts in areas of study were advancing your country intellectually -I suppose you're American citizen, sorry.

The doctrine of predestination kept all Puritans constantly working to do good in this life to be chosen for the next eternal one. God had already chosen who would be in heaven or hell, and each believer had no way of knowing which group they were in. Those who were wealthy were obviously blessed by God and were in good standing with Him.

The Protestant work ethic was the belief that hard work was an honor to God which would lead to a prosperous reward. Any deviations from the normal way of Puritan life met with strict disapproval and discipline. Since the church elders were also political leaders, any church infraction was also a social one. There was no margin for error.

The devil was behind every evil deed. Constant watch needed to be kept in order to stay away from his clutches. Words of hell fire and brimstone flowed from the mouths of eloquent ministers as they warned of the persuasiveness of the devil's power. They were elegant, well formed, exegetical renditions of scriptures... with a healthy dose of fear woven throughout the fabric of the literary construction. Grammar children were quizzed on the material at school and at home. This constant subjection of the probability of an unseen danger led to a scandal of epidemic proportions.

The moral character of England and America were shaped in part by the words and actions of this strong group of Christian believers called the Puritans.

Now as for the rest of Western Europe and a few parts of the globe, I'm under the impression people are less uptight over nudity in designated areas. Supposedly there's more naked beaches in Europe -as well in Brazil. Supposedly more of certain naked events or parades in broad daylight. Also I've seen on TV shows and heard from visitors to France how you might see a women's breasts on a primetime TV ad, or very steamy innuendo.

I recall this American photographer who recently flashed hundreds of people naked in Caracas, and recently, in Mexico City.

I myself only think in naked women, like THE THINKER, RODIN here.

16 Nov 2009

Quote by marcosurbina

I recall this American photographer who recently flashed hundreds of people naked in Caracas, and recently, in Mexico City.

I think you're talking about Spencer Tunick. I believe that it's a sign of America's immature attitude that any time Tunick does another "installation" (his term for the photo shoots he does) it becomes a major news story, here at least. I'm fortunate enough to live in an area where a person can sunbathe in the nude almost year-round. Unfortunately, our society is so repressed that most people have to drive hours to find a venue where they won't be arrested. I've visited the nude beach in Miami many times, and I can honestly say that a day at the nude beach is more relaxing that a day spent doing just about anything else. That said, there's only one public beach in ALL of Florida where nude sunbathing is actually NOT forbidden by law.

As an aside, I've also been fortunate enough to take part in one of Spencer Tunick's installations - photos taken at the Sagamore Hotel, on Miami Beach. If you look closely, in this shot, you can see my Nudie-Pants'd butt... well, actually, since we're all lying face-up, it's another part of me you'll be seeing! dancenude

16 Nov 2009

ENLARGE PLEASE!!! evil4

16 Nov 2009

I think it's sad how North America is about nudity compared to the rest of the world. Well, most of it anyway.

16 Nov 2009

I think your heading is a bit misleading. You're not really talking about "Nudity in Art"; you're talking about the commercial explotation of nudity which is a totally different thing and in this area America seems to be totally schizophrenic. On the one hand you have the TV networks and Hollywood and even to a degree the record industry all of whom kow-tow to their advertisers and none of whom would say boo to a goose. (There are exceptions to this and I do think things are improving - like for instance the sex scenes in True Blood and that was on HBO, outside the normal commercial realm). Then there's the sex industry in which America rules, though no necessarily in the right way all the time.
Now a lot people think that European, in particular UK, TV and film is more open, but often the nudity and sex displayed there is, how shall i put it, slightly smutty and played to the lowest common denominator (take a lot of Channel 4 shows for instance). We are more relaxed about sexual language in the UK than in the USA; we don't have the FCC and their stupidity to guide us, but even then it's often used for effect than for context; you could probably say something is "fucking stupid" (after the watershed hours) but to dramatically say "Fuck me, please fuck me" in a television drama is probably not allowed. Funny really 'cos one is an insult and the other is asking for something pleasant and desirable; its the old violence v. sexuality debate all over again.
As far as nudity in REAL art is concerned I suspect that attitudes in the US and the UK are pretty well balanced, though our police as "guardians of morality" do close down the odd exhibition every now and again. There's an interesting debate going on in the Observer at the moment which examines the use of children in art ://.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/nov/01/art-child-porn-old-masters; as ever, if it's an Old Master it's OK, if it's modern it's suspect. How the hell did we get this paranoid? I blame it on the gutter press which in the UK is deeper in the gutter than it ever is in the US (compare The Sun UK to The New York Post, both owned by News International, the former makes the latter look like pages from a great novel. Such press continually stifles REAL debate and it's not just about SEX. To sum up, I'm inclined to believe that every country has its own brand of Puritanism, it's just that there are more of you in America, so maybe it feels worse
Livingjukebox
London UK

17 Nov 2009

I can never figure out attitudes in the USA. Wasn't it Attorney General John Ashcroft who ordred a marble bust in the Dept. of Justice to be covered up because the sight of an uncovered marble breast offened him.

17 Nov 2009

Man arrested for being naked in his own home.

Passer-by made complain to the police.

By TED THORNHILL - Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A man who made coffee in his own home while naked was surprised to find himself facing an indecent exposure charge after a complaint from a passer-by led to him being arrested.

After receiving a complaint from the woman, police went ahead with an arrest.
Shocked Mr Williamson, a father of a five-year-old girl, said he feels like the victim: 'Yes, I wasn't wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had no idea anyone was outside looking in at me.
'I am a loving dad. Any of my friends and anyone knows that and there is not a chance on this planet I would ever, ever, ever do anything like that to a kid.'

However, a Fairfax County Police spokesman said officers arrested Williamson because they believe he wanted to be seen naked by the public.

Mr Williamson is fighting the charge and is seeking damages from the police.
He faces up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted.

Well, this is my opinion: If the man really wanted to be seen by others he would have waited til daylight and not 5:30am when it is dark out. What is that woman doing staring in other people’s windows in the first place? Didn't her parents teach her that is rude? Of course not or she would have not let her 7 year peer in too. Next they are going to say you have to wear clothes to bed or while you shower are we back in the Middle Ages or what!!!

Marcos Urbina