Marvin Frandsen
has educated himself in nudity law, and represented himself per se in
several legal cases. To prepare himself for those court
appearances, Marvin has jotted down abstracts of the useful information
contained in many books and other sources.
By now, these abstracts run to more than 90 pages, so we
presented them in five installments:
Part I--General
Part 2--Nudity in fashion A-K
Part 3--Nudity in fashion L-Z
Part 4--Psychological health & social effects A-K
Part 5--Psychological health & social effects K-Z
Marvin
writes: It's definitely a work in progress. I
intend to
return to it soon. However, I'd certainly rather see the info
get
disseminated.
Marv Frandsen's Naturist Science Summary Notes
Case Law
1. Parmelee v. United States, 113 F.2d
729 (D.C. Cir. 1940)
2. People v. Hildabridle, 353 Mich. 562,
590, 92 N.W.2d 6 (Mich. 1958)
3. State vs. Smith, 7 Cal 3rd 362--nudity
itself not obscene.
3. The District of Columbia Court of
Appeals (see
Duvallon v. District of Columbia, 515 A.2d 724 (1986)) had occasion to
research the meaning of the common law. Noting that "The
common
law of the District of Columbia consists of the common law of Maryland
and the British statutes in force in Maryland in 1801," the DC Court of
Appeals found that "In American jurisprudence ... the common law of
indecent exposure is defined as 'the willful and intentional exposure
of the private parts of one's body in a public place in the presence of
an assembly', [50 AM. JR. 2d, Lewdness, Indecency and
Obscenity @
17-18 (1970)] ... The purpose of such laws is to protect the public
from shocking and embarrassing displays of sexual activity' [67 C.J.S.
Obscenity @ 10 at 49-50 (1978)]."
As noted in 4 W. BLACKSTONE,
COMMENTARIES *169,
common law referred specifically to " 'persons wilfully, openly, lewdly
and obscenely exposing their persons in any street or public highway,
or in the view thereof, or in any place of public resort with intent to
insult any female' were rogues and vagabonds. (quoted in Dill v. State,
supra, 24 Md. App. at 698, 332 A.2d 690, 693 no. 2)." (page
67)
Not only was the proscribed nudity
specifically
sexual nudity such as to shock the public, but the District of Columbia
Court of Appeals also noted that: "Further, 'conviction of the offense
requires proof [that one] ... intended by his conduct to direct public
attention to his genitals ...' Id. @ 10 at 50." (page 66)
Furthermore, in direct contradistinction
to the
Brevard County Ordinance, the DC Court of Appeals research into common
law found that the common law was concerned primarily and only with
exposure of the genitals, and not with exposure of the buttocks or
breast. "English common law cases compel the conclusion that indecent
exposure was limited to the exposure of the genitals." (page 67)
The same conclusion was reached in 1991
in an Ohio
court of appeals, which ruled that "we are convinced that, in its
commonly understood meaning, the term does not include the female
breast." (State v. Jetter, 599 N.E.2d 733 (Ohio App. 1 Dist.
1991)) Likewise, the Hamilton County Municipal Court in Ohio
found that "In Ohio Jury Instructions, the term "private parts" is
defined to mean "genitals." 4 Ohio Jury Instructions (1982),
Section 507.09. Likewise, the American Heritage Dictionary of
the
English Language (1981) 1042, defines "private parts" as
follows:
'the external organs of sex ...' A glance at Gray, Anatomy of
the
Human Body (29 Ed. 1973) 1331, verifies that the female generative
organs are all located within the vaginal region, and none is anywhere
near the breast area." (State v. Parenteau, 564 N.E.2d 505,
506
(Ohio Mun. 1990)). Likewise in the same case it is
noted
that "... the Supreme Court of Oregon held that '[i]t is hornbook law
that, whenever and wherever the terms 'privates' or 'private parts' are
used as descriptive of a part of the human body, they refer to the
genital organs...' .
Not a one of these three
elements of common law are directed at Naturist-style nude recreation
(or for that matter at any equivalent to thong bikinis). As
is
abundantly established, Naturist recreation is not a sexual activity
but an innocent enjoyment of the sensations of the body interacting
with nature as our species was designed to do. Thus Naturists
do
not fit the first criteria of common law, which is to be engaging in a
display of sexual activity. Naturists do not seek out the
public
streets but shun the clothed crowd and seek secluded and remote areas
where like minds gather and offense is unlikely, thus avoiding the
second prong of the common law. And finally, as noted in more
detail elsewhere Naturists do not seek to focus attention (theirs or
others) upon their genitals but rather come to see and experience the
whole body in context.
Nudity & Community Standards--POLLS in Chronological Order
"Gallup Poll." Clothed
with the Sun 3.2, 4 (1983). [1983
Gallup poll shows 72% of Americans don't think designated c-o beaches
should be against the law, 39% agreed such areas should be set aside by
gov't. 1/3 said they might try going to one. 14%
already
tried coed nude recreation.]
"Most favor designating beaches for nude sunbathing." Orlando
Sentinel (16 April 1985). [Sound Off callers,
73% favor
designating beaches for nude sunbathing. Similar to July 1983
when 82% in favor. Not scientific, but "the results now as
well
as two years ago show that there are strong feelings in favor of nude
beaches."]
"Polls Show We're Gaining in Numbers and Attitudes." Clothed with
the Sun 5.4, 3-4 (1986). [1985 Roper Poll
reports that 18% of all
Americans, including 27% of those age 18-28, and 24% of
college-educated Americans--had already gone swimming in the nude
coed. 28% of liberals and 15% of conservatives say they've
gone
skinnydipping.]
Wallace, David. "Sin." People Weekly,
106-113 (10 Feb
1986). [A 1986 poll conducted by People Weekly asked people
how
guilty they would feel if they engaged in any of 51 activities, rating
their probable guilt on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 represented the
greatest feeling of guilt. Nude sunbathing came in second to
last
with a rating of 2.76, behind not voting (3.07), swearing (3.34),
smoking (3.38), and overeating (4.43).]
"35% of Americans Would 'Bare It All.'" Nude & Natural
10.1,
5 (1990). [1990 Martini and Rossi poll reported that 35% of
Americans would 'bare it all' on a nude beach.]
"Callers favor opening some beaches to nudity." Florida Today (22
Sep 1992). ["A strong 72% of the callers expressed support
for
the idea of allowing topless or nude bathing on certain public
beaches. Twenty-eight percent expressed disapproval of
allowing
bathers to slip out of their swimsuits to enjoy the sun and surf."]
"Most callers favor nude sunbathing at Playalinda." Orlando
Sentinel (18 May 1993). ["Should nude sunbathing be
allowed in sections
of Canaveral National Seashore?" 75% in favor, 25% against.]
"Views differ, depending on where you live." Florida Today (9
Aug
1994). [Percent saying nude sunbathing "is a
problem":
North 46%, Central 27%, South 35%.]
"Nude sunbathing on public beach? Yes, majority
says."
Orlando Sentinel
(21 May 1995). ["Should there ben an area for
nude sunbathing on public beaches?" 78% yes, 22% no.]
"A Public Opinion Poll, Concerning the Brevard County Public Nudity
Ordinance Its Implementation, Enforcement and Method of Payment through
Taxation." BTV Opinion Research & Specialized
Software,
Inc.. Survey sponsored by Central Florida Naturists, Inc.
(1995).
"Nude poll supports naturists." Florida Today (29
Dec
1995). [Scientific poll of registered voters. "...
56% of
Brevard's registered voters would favor setting aside a section of
Playalinda Beach at Canaveral National Seashore for nude
sunbathing. About 38 percent are against the
notion. The
naturists' poll also found about 54 percent of registered voters don't
want any additional tax money spent on enforcing the law and 45 percent
of voters don't want any officers assigned to enforce it.
Prof.
Tipton of UF says poll methods are common and defensible.]
"Naked truth slides down poll." Florida Today (30
Dec
1995). [Tony Boylan Reporter Editorial, poll question validly
neutral.]
"Just the bare facts: Nudity ban is all wet." Orlando
Sentinel (30 Dec 1995). [Columnist editorial,
public is against
nudity ban.]
"Nudist's Survey: County supports nudity at Playalinda
Beach." News
Observer (4 Jan 1996).
"Poll favors nudists." Brevard
Reporter (4 Jan 1996).
"Callers: Don't ban nude sunbathing." Orlando Sentinel
(18
March 1997). ["Should nude sunbathing be banned in
Florida?" 28% Yes, 72% No. "The results are
consistent with
sentiment in favor of nude sunbathing expressed in Sound Off in 1995,
1993 and 1985. In fact, as long ago as July 1983, when Sound
Off
first asked about nude sunbathing, 5,488 people called, and 82 percent
were in favor. The libertarian attitude among callers is
strong."]
"Polk Pulse: Should nudity be allowed on Playalinda
Beach?" Lakeland
Daily (20 July 1997). [67% Yes, 33% No.]
"Naturist Poll Results." Roper-Starch, New York, NY (10
October
2000). ["Eight in 10 adult American say 'people who enjoy
nude
sunbathing should be able to do so without interference from officials
as long as they do so at a beach that is accepted for that
purpose.' This is an increase from 1983 when 72% of Americans
supported this. Fewer than one in five American adults (17%)
object today to nude sunbathing conducted in a designated
area.
This is a drop from 1983, when one in four (24%) objected."]
["Acceptance of nude sunbathing at designated beaches has increased
most dramatically among women. About two-thirds -- or 65% --
of
women supported it in 1983. Today three-quarters or 75%
support
it, an increase of 10 percentage points. In addition, while
32%
of women objected in 1983, just 22% object currently.
However,
women are still more likely than men to have an objection."]
["Support for setting aside special and secluded areas for nude
sunbathing has also increased since 1983. While Americans are
split over this issue, currently about half or 48% of adults are in
favor of this, compared to 39% in 1983--a gain of nine percentage
points."] ["One reason for this increasing support may be
found
in the numbers who have--or who are now willing to admit--personally
participating in 'skinny dipping' or nude sunbathing. One in
four
adult Americans now say they have done this. While just 15%
of
adults said in 1983 that they had done this, in the 2000 poll 25% of
adults say they have participated in this activity. This
increase
in participation is seen most dramatically among men. Just
21% of
men said in 1983 that they had personally taken park in nudity for
swimming or sunbathing, while 34% of men say they have in the 2000
poll. Female participation -- or willingness to admit it --
has
not changed as much since 1983 (10% vs. 16%)."]
Nudity & Community Standards--Other Than Polls
Seuss, Dr. The
Seven Lady Godivas. First published in
1939. [Late Dr. Seuss published approval of a nudist
philosophy
in one of his first books.]
Ford, Clellan S., and Beach, Frank A. Patterns of Sexual
Behavior. New York: Harper, 1951.
[47: Review of 190
world societies in 1951 found that, contrary to the standards of our
own culture, relatively few considered exposure of a women's breasts to
be immodest.]
"205 Arguments and Observations in Support of Naturism," Nude &
Natural 16.1, 61-95. pp. 89-90, fn
195. ["Twenty-two
states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah, and Wisconsin) specifically confine their statutory public
exposure prohibitions solely to uncovered genitalia. Statutes
in
Louisiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Mississippi, and Wyoming
prohibit exposure of the breasts only where there is intent to arouse
sexual desire, recklessness, or intent to cause affront or
alarm.
Statutes in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, hawaii, Illinois, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington prohibit acts that are done
with recklessness or intent for their obscene or alarming nature, and
North Carolina, Florida, and West Virginia's statutes are ambiguous
with regard to exposure of the breasts."]
Moore 10, 20-22. (From "205 Arguments" fn 141. L
and M
references are missing from "205 Arguments.".) [A study by
Dr.
Steven D. Moore of the University of Arizona demonstrated that
encountering nude bathers on public land is five times more acceptable
to the public than encountering hunters.]
Nudity and Physical Health
Kumar, Savita, Hlady, W. Gary and Malecki, Jean M. "Risk
Factors
for Seabather's Eruption: A Prospective Cohort
Study"
Public Health, Journal
of the U.S. Public Health Service, pp. 59-62
(Jan-Feb 1997)
Palmer, Gabrielle. The
Politics of Breastfeeding. London:
Palmer, 1988. [Corsets and, in modern times, cosmetic breast
surgery damages the internal physiology of the breasts, often
eliminating the capacity to breast-feed.]
Nudity and Fashion in History
[to be presented in future installments]
Nudity and Religion
Ableman, Paul. Anatomy
of Nakedness. Los Angeles, CA:
Elysium Growth Press, 1982. [40: Several Christian sects have
practiced nudity as part of their faith, including the German Brethren
of the Free Spirit, in the thirteenth century; the Picards, in
fifteenth century France; and, most famously, the Adamites, in the
early fifteenth century Netherlands.]
Walker, Barbara G. The
Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and
Secrets. San Francisco: Harper,
1983. [In many
pre-Christian pagan religions, such as those practiced in western
Europe and Great Britain, nudity--especially female nudity--was a
powerful force, and played an important role in pagan worship and
rituals.]
Ward, Roy Bowen, "Women in Roman Baths," Harvard Theological Review
85:2, 125-147 (1992) [Early Christians such as Irenaeus and Tertullian
make it clear they had no ethical reservations about communal nudity,
see above under history.]
Ward, Roy Bowen. "Why Must Public Nudity Be Deemed Immoral by
Judges?" Nude
& Natural 11.1, 97 (1991). [For first
several centuries of Christianity, it was the custom to baptize men,
women, and children together nude. This ritual played a very
significant role in the early church.]
Nudity and Tourism
"Advantages of Tourism for Brevard County," The Brevard Reporter
(2
June 1994). [1.3 million visitors annually to Space Coast.
$375 M
in 1992 = 12% of all taxable sales. 20,000 Brevard County
residents employed in tourism. Directly or indirectly, 30,000
jobs and $260 M in wages. Average tourist spends $375 per
trip in
Brevard County.]
Mason, Richard. "Skinnydippers bolster local economy," News
Observer (12 January 1995). [Economic effects of
1993 citations
of naturists. Tourist business in N. Brevard off
15-20%.
Business back up in 1994.]
Coleman, Lisa and Rees, Matt. "Naked Appeal." Forbes 150.8,
138 (12 Oct 1992). [Nudism brings in about $120 M per year in
direct revenues alone.]
Grossman, Nikki. Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (7 Sep 1995).
[Grossman, director of the Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitor's
Bureau, states that "requests for nude or top-free beaches rank among
the top five priorities of international conventioneers".]
"Tourism's Fastest Growth Sector." Fodor's 'Europe 1998'
edition. p. 5 [Nudism is tourism's fastest growing sector.]
Sydney Visitors Guide,
Spring 1998. Published by Pacific Access
Pty Ltd, 8 glen Street, Milsons Point, NSW 2061
ACN
051 775 556 p. 11 [Openly features nude beach as a
tourist
attraction.]
Nudity--Psychological Health and Positive Social Effects
[to be presented in future installments]
Naturist Magazine Sources
1. Bacher, K. "205 Arguments
and Observations in Support of Naturism." Nude
& Natural 16.1
2. "All-American Boyhood," P. LeValley, Naturally 25, 11-13
(Winter 1997).
3. "The Benefits of Social Nudity, C.
Lonberger, Naturally
25, 6-8 (Winter 1997).
4. "Nudity and body acceptance," A.
Montagu, Nude &
Natural 12(1), 13-21 (1992).
Naturist Quote Sources
Naturally, Fall 1994, p. 34 (NY shorts arrest in 1965)
Naturally,
Winter/Spring 1992, p. 31 (Archaeology
journal quote by Plato on Greeks rising above nudity taboo)
Clothed With the Sun 8.3, p. 10 (Compare Danish and
American body image)
Nude & Natural
11.1. p. 13 (Women ignorant of female breast visual reality)
Nude & Natural
11.2, p. 106-107 (Smith quote on nudity deprivation = addict)
Nude & Natural
11.2, p. 108 (Jan Smith quote on antidote to pornography)
Nude & Natural
12.2, p. 43 (Men topless on beach at Coney Island)
Nude & Natural
14.3, p. 73 (85% of American women have body image disorder)
Nude & Natural
15.1, p. 66 (Paul Bindrim, self-image based on body-image)
Nude & Natural
15.1, p. 66 (quote from Goodson on early childhood)
Nude & Natural
15.2, p. 34 (cultural taboo comparisons by Nicky Hoffman)
Bibliography:
Abstracts for Legal Defense--part
2
We continue Marvin
Frandsen's abstracts of published works--useful for legal defense in
nudity cases. These listings quote in much fuller detail than
the
first batch.
Nudity and Fashion in History
Ableman, Paul. Anatomy
of Nakedness. London, Great Britain:
Orbis Publishing, 1982. ISBN 0-85613-175-8. [19-20:
"From
the sixteenth century onwards, clothed Europeans regularly [20]
encountered naked primitives all over the world. The Spanish
in
South America came upon naked Indians in Brazil and
elsewhere.
Captain Cook found naked, or unconcealed, islanders in Polynesia and
New Zealand. Later British, French, Germans and Portuguese,
among
others, came into contact with naked Africans. ... But it was
not
until the eighteenth and, especially, the nineteenth centuries that
they made much attempt to change them. Then came the
missionaries, and the first aspect of primitive life to experience
their reforming zeal was inevitably the nakedness of the potential new
recruits to Christianity. Doubtless most of the missionaries
meant well, but they proved a greater force for ruin than the simpler
and more brutal traders and explorers."][20: "The missionaries were
usually disconcerted to find that the biblically recommended act of
'clothing the naked', far from producing an improvement in native
morals, almost always resulted in deterioration. What the
missionaries were inadvertently doing was recreating the Garden of Eden
situation. Naked, the primitive cultures had shown no
prurient
concern with the body, although morals were often, by civilized
standards, rather lax."][20: "Naked people actually feel shame when
they are first dressed. They develop an exaggerated awareness
of
the body. It is as if Adam and Eve's 'aprons' generated the
'knowledge of good and evil' rather than being its
consequence.
But the disruption caused by the missionaries went far deeper as a
result of the vital fact that very few primitives are totally
naked. They almost all have ornamentation or
body-modification of
some kind, which plays a central role in their culture."][20:
"Among many primitives, tattooing, scarification and ornamentation
convey highly elaborate information which may, in fact, be the central
regulatory force in the society. the missionary thus, at one
blow, annihilates a culture. It was probably no less
traumatic
for a primitive society to be suddenly clothed than it would be for
ours to be suddenly stripped naked."][20: "And if primitives lost their
culture, they also lost their environment. They lost the sun,
the
rain, the grass underfoot, the foliage which brushed their skin as they
moved through forest or jungle, the water of lake, river or sea
slipping past their bodies, above all the ceaseless communion with the
wind. Anyone who has ever spent any time naked outdoors knows
that the play of the elements over the body produces an ever-changing
response that may reach almost erotic intensity. The kin
becomes
alive and response and a while new spectrum of sensation is
generated. Clothe the body and this rich communion is
replaced by
mere fortuitous, and often irritating, contact with inert
fabric.
It is a huge impoverishment and its measure can perhaps best be judged
by the reluctance of the Indians of Tierra del Fuego, who live in a
climate so harsh that Darwin observed snow melting on the naked breasts
of women, to adopt protective clothing. They preferred dermal
contact with the environment, hostile though it was, to the loss of
sensation implied by wearing clothes."][31: "The men of Pongo in French
West Africa refused to allow their women to be clothed because this
would immediately make them more seductive. Modesty, it is
probably fair to say, in the sense of hiding the 'shameful parts'
develops only after the habitual use of clothing."][38: "The New
Testament might have ameliorated the severity of the ancient Hebrew
sexual taboos had it not been for the character of its chief apostle,
Paul. He was a native of Tarsus where all the women were
covered
and veiled from head to foot and it might be said that through the
vehemence with which he fulminated against unlawful sex and immodesty
he managed to extend the borders of Tarsus to encompass the whole
globe."][38: "St Chrysostom spoke of Roman women appearing nude in
public, especially at the theatres, without shame or
embarrassment. Plato recommended naked exercises for both
sexes. Girls danced naked at Spartan feasts.
Hippocrates,
the father of medicine, recommended nude exposure to the sun as a cure
as far back as 400 B.C.."][40: "Some Christian sects adopted a defiant
nakedness to stress their true, fundamentalist purity. The
most
recent of these has been the Doukhobors, originally a Russian group
founded in the first half of the eighteenth century. Because
they
ere pacifists, and rejected all external authority, the Doukhobors were
in more or less continual conflict with the authorities.
After
being shunted around Russia for a century, seven thousand of them
emigrated to Canada in 1899 in the hope of finding freedom to live in
their own way. But the Canadian authorities kept trying to
educate their children and extract taxes from the Doukhobors.
The
Doukhobors retaliated by marching naked on those they considered to be
their persecutors. Large numbers were arrested. The
naked
marches have continued until quite recently although it seems the
Doukhobors are slowly being assimilated into Canadian life."][40: "In
the fifteenth century, the Picards in Flanders worshiped naked and
revered the body and before them, the Adamites in Bohemia, considered
heretics and exterminated by John Zizka in 1421, not only went about
naked to symbolize the innocence of Adam but practiced free love in
order to liberate the flesh. They taught that nakedness was
essential to real purity and to the restoration of the innocence that
had existed before the Fall."][41: "The alleviation of barrenness in
women is often magically helped by nakedness. Thus, in India,
a
barren woman, in order to make herself fertile, had to remove all her
clothes and circle a fig tree 108 times, wrapping it round with a
cotton thread."][41: "In East Prussia, women sowed peas naked, in order
to stimulate the vine to produce an abundance of the phallic
fruit. In the Philippines, among the members of the Tagalog
tribe, when a woman was in labour, it was the duty of her husband to
climb onto the roof naked and brandish a sword and shield at the
sky. In the meantime, naked friends below staged a mock
fight. The purpose of this performance was to distract and
frighten any evil spirits that might be lurking about in order to harm
the mother and child."][41-42: "St Paul, although a subtle theologian,
was also a man of his times. He insisted on women covering
their
heads to prevent devils [42] penetrating them through their
ears.
The custom is, of course, preserved in contemporary Christian worship
but few women, donning their best hats for Sunday morning service,
realize that they are doing so to avoid diabolic impregnation."][42:
"In May, 1979, Emperor Bokassa, in reality a minor Central African
tyrant, arrested a large number of children on charges of sedition and
massacred some of them. According to The Guardian (London) of
18
May, 'Hundreds of women demonstrated naked outside of the prison until
the survivors were released.' These women were not
consciously
employing magic to procure the release of their children but they were
making use of the age-old coercive power of the naked body."][43:
"Freud assumes that children will not normally see each other naked and
that, if they do happen to, the result will be traumatic.
This is
not true of naked cultures. He assumes that sexual play and
masturbation will be ruthlessly suppressed and punished.
Again,
this is not true of naked cultures. Thus great provinces of
Freud's mind-empire would simply be missing. There would be
no
Oedipus complex (or not much, anyway), no penis envy or castration
complex, probably no clear-cut phases of sexual development.
We
are emerging rapidly from the era of Freudian gospel, while retaining
respect fro the Viennese doctor as a true originator, and can now
perceive the extent to which he himself as the victim of prevailing
ideas and prejudices."][51-52: "It is a striking fact that naked
peoples do not produce naturalistic images of the human body.
They may draw birds, animals, trees and plants with great skill and
representational power, but the body is almost always
distorted.
There is no paradox. If one asks why they represent nature
reasonably accurately but distort the body, the answer is that there
are far more important things to be said about the body, and
represented allegorically and symbolically in painting and sculpture,
than its mere surface appearance. A bird or tree may be
magically
distorted or it may be shown as it is. But, to people
surrounded
by the naked human forms, there seems little point in reproducing them
in wood, stone or [52] pigment. What is important about the
body
is its fierceness, its frailty, its nobility, its fertility, its
creativity and many other attributes which naturalistic paintings
generally do not show. Therefore primitive representations of
the
body--which Picasso and others have rightly taught us to esteem if not
always to understand--are almost invariably symbolic constructs which
have a mythical or magical significance. It is only a
concealed
culture which can become obsessed with the surface appearance of
people."][68: "Thus, in mid-Victorian England, when the body was
perhaps least tolerated, not only did prostitution flourish but there
were curious anomalies in people's attitudes to nakedness.
The
bathing-suit had not yet been invented and sea-bathing was becoming
fashionable. The Reverend Francis Kilvert, noted in his diary
that in Weston-Super-Mare in 1872: 'There was a delicious feeling of
freedom in stripping in the open air and running down naked to the sea,
where ... the red morning sunshine (was) glowing upon the naked limbs
of the bathers.' At Sandown, two years alter, he
beheld:
'One beautiful girl ... entirely naked on the sand ... She seemed a
Venus Anadyomene fresh risen from the waves.' But at nearby
Shanklin he noted with disgust that 'one has to adopt the detestable
custom of bathing in drawers.' "][68: "Perhaps surprisingly, the true
delights of bathing seem to be most fully appreciated by people who
live in unconcealed and relatively unsuppressed cultures. The
Polynesians rejoiced in bathing. It was normal for them to
bathe
two or three times a day. The Japanese, who traditionally
felt no
shame about the body and little about sex, have a long tradition of
bathing which has not been widely reported to have degenerated into
debauchery. Rather it has acquired a mystique of almost
spiritual
virtue."][69-71: discussion of public defecation in European
history.][75: "In fact, nakedness in eleventh-century England, where
the great hall of the castle was likely to be the only warm room, was
far from uncommon and the contemporary force of the story [Lady Godiva]
derives largely from the rank of the lady. It was the fact
that
an aristocrat rendered herself vulnerable before the common people that
supplied the coercive power of the deed."][87: "In 1979, a Bournemouth
councilor remarked (and The Observer reprinted in its 'Sayings of the
Week' column), 'Naturists would pollute the beach.' Her
indignation had been provoked by a proposal that Brighton, and other
English seaside resorts, should initiate official 'naturist
beaches'. Now naked sea-bathers on the English coast would be
no
new thing. As a columnist in the Evening Standard said, 'The
Brighton fathers are merely resurrecting a custom which was common on
our beaches throughout most of history and ending a ban which has only
a century of tradition behind it.' People have bathed naked
in
the sea since people started to bathe at all."]
"Alexander Graham Bell was one of us." Clothed with the Sun
8.3,
10 (1988). [Alexander Graham Bell was a skinnydipper and nude
sunbather.]
Bonfante, Lisa. "The Naked Greek." Archaeology 43.5,
28-35
(September 1990). [Naked Greek athletics common by mid 6th
century BCE. Women were not naked in public in Athens;
however,
Spartan women participated nude in some rituals and athletic events,
and in certain circumstances had the freedom of partial nudity in their
social dress.]
Bonfante, Lisa. "Nudity as a Costume in Classical
Art."
American Journal of
Archaeology 93.4, 543-570 (October 1989).
[543: "Among the innovations of the ancient Greeks that
changed
our way of seeing the world, one of the most prominent is a certain
kind of public nudity--nudity as a costume. This is a
surprising
phenomenon. That we have not been more surprised by it is due
to
the fact that we follow in their tradition and take the Greeks as
models, forgetting how often their institutions and attitudes made them
the exception, and not the rule, among ancient peoples. The
Greeks of the Classical world did not forget. While not, as
we
shall see, fully understanding the significance of the custom, they
were proud of its singularity."][544: "In a clothed society, however,
nakedness is special, and can be used as a 'costume.' "][546: "In the
Old Testament nakedness always signifies poverty, shame, slavery,
humiliation. ... But the Greeks were to turn the concept around and to
see the beauty and pride of the male human body, without cover or
adornment."][546: "Herodotus and Thucydides correctly saw
athletic nudity as a costume-much more than a costume!-that separated
the Greeks from other people. ... He [Thucydides], too, emphasizes this
basic contrast between Greeks and barbarians; adding the fact that the
custom separated the Greeks from their own past as well."][547: "The
Greek word for naked, or nude, is gymnos, and shows something new in
the ancient world. The word refers to total nudity. ... The
word
had become something new, just as the Greeks had made something new of
the ancient social, religious, and magic taboo of nudity in daily
life. For while the word for 'naked' had universally--in the
Bible, for example-been used to mean 'poor,' 'wretched,' or
'miserable,' in Classical Greek the word rarely means 'poor.' "][554,
re: women: "Here, too, age groups were distinguished by their
costumes: in the foot race, some bared one breast, and wore
short
dresses; others ran naked. The ritual nakedness of the women,
however, did not initiate them into the life of a warrior or a
soldier: it prepared them for marriage and the private life
of
child-bearing and a family, and therefore it did not develop further as
a feature of Greek public life and culture. As we shall see,
Plato, like other Greeks, was conscious of the connection between
nakedness, exercise, and war, and took the logical but bold step of
imagining that the women who would be guardians alongside the men must
also exercise naked alongside them. It was evidently the
Spartan
model that most easily came to mind. There it was most
important
in the agoge or parade of the boys and the spectacle of the
gymnopaidia. There, too, the women exercised and exposed
themselves as much as the men. So the story grew up that
athletic
nudity had been invented by the Spartans."] [554: "Like the symposium,
athletic nudity was a creation of Archaic Greece brought about by the
rise of the hoplites. These men attended the gymnasium, and
proudly wore the 'costume' that was appropriate for this
place.
The gymnasium functioned as military institution, public banquet-hall,
court, auditorium, country club, and university."][555: "The Greeks
were proud of their soldiers' physique and of the tan skin that was the
result of their exercising in the nude. A story about
Agesilaos
of Sparta illustrates how, to a practiced military eye, nakedness
allowed an accurate judgment of a man's physical fitness: 'He
gave instructions ... that the barbarians captured in the raids be
exposed for sale naked. So when his soldiers saw them white
because they never stripped, and fat and lazy through constant riding
in carriages, they believed that the war would be exactly like fighting
with women.' The contrast between their own bronzed men's
bodies
and the white, feminine flabbiness of the Persians renewed the courage
of the Greek troops."][556: "The women were kept covered
because
it meant they were protected, not exposed to danger. The
relation
of this manly nudity to the nudity of the gods is also
crucial:
the gods could be nude because they relied on themselves."][557: "The
introduction of athletic nudity into the everyday life of the gymnasium
and palaestra was part of the 'modern' way of life, freer, simpler,
more democratic, according to Thucydides. It was the dress,
one
might almost say the uniform, of the citizen who exercised in order to
maintain himself in readiness for military services. ... Civic nudity
marked a break with the barbarians ..."][557-558: "While Thucydides
explains Greek nudity in the context of democracy, Plato explains it as
a result of the logical, rational way of thinking of which the Greeks
were so proud. In a passage in which he obviously has the
Spartan
model in mind, Plato imagines the situation that would arise of women
were to have an equal role with men in society. 'If, then, we
use
the women for the same things as the men, they must also be taught the
same things. Now music and gymnastic were given to the
men.
These two arts, and what has to do with war, must be assigned to the
women also, and they must be used in the same ways. Perhaps,
compared to what is habitual, many of the things now being said would
look ridiculous if they were done as is said. The most
ridiculous
thing (being) the women exercising naked with the men in the
palaestras, not only the young ones, but even the older ones, too, like
the old men in the gymnasium who, when they are wrinkled and not
pleasant to the eye, all the same love gymnastic. --By Zeus, he said,
that would look ridiculous in the present state of things.--Well, since
we've started to speak, we mustn't be afraid of all the jokes-of
whatever kind-the wits might make if such a change took place in
gymnastic, in music, and not the least, in the bearing of arms and the
riding of horses. But since we've begun to speak, we must
make
our way to the rough part of the law, begging these men ... to be
serious; and reminding them that it is not so long ago that it seemed
shameful and ridiculous to the Greeks--as it does now to the
many
among the barbarians--to see men naked; and that when the Cretans
originated the gymnasiums, and then the Lacedaemonians, it was possible
for the urbane of the time to make a comedy of all that. But,
I
suppose, when it became clear to those who used these practices that to
uncover all such things is better than to hide them, then what is
ridiculous to the eyes disappeared in the light of what's best ... And
this showed that he is empty who believes anything is ridiculous other
than the sight of the foolish and the bad; or, again, he who looks
seriously to any standard of beauty he sets up other than the good. ...
Then the women guardians must strip, since they'll clothe themselves in
virtue instead of robes, and they must take common part in war and the
rest of the city's guarding, and must not do other things.
...
And the man who laughs at naked women practicing gymnastic for the sake
of the best, 'plucks from his wisdom an unripe fruit for ridicule' and
doesn't know--as it seems--at that he laughs or what he does.
For
this is surely the fairest thing that is aid and will be said--the
beneficial is fair and the harmful ugly.' " [cite Pl. Resp.
5.452a-e. Transl. A. Bloom, The Republic of Plato (New York
1968), adapted.][558: "For women in Greek art, literature, and life,
the taboo against nudity remained in full force, with all its sense of
humiliation and vulnerability as well as its magic power."][559:
"Exceptions confirm the special character of nudity in women.
Women occasionally participated in athletic and ritual
nudity.
Spartan women danced naked in certain initiation rites, as we know from
literature. Girls also took part in a footrace at the
festival of
Hera at Olympia, as Pausanias tells us; it has recently been suggested
that Spartan practice may have influenced Olympic contests.
The
physical education of Spartan girls is well attested; they were
organized in age groups like the boys. Because Spartan women
had
a reputation for beauty, and for dressing in a way that exposed their
bodies, Attic tragedy and comedy contain innumerable references to
these characteristics, as well as to the immorality they were though to
imply. These are still echoed by Propertius (3.14.1-4), who
marvels at the blessings of a girls' gymnasium, where a naked girl can
wrestle with the men."][561: "Gods can afford to be naked, or to look
upon nakedness, without being diminished. In Greek art men
participate to some extent in this divine nudity. But naked
or
partially naked women are defenseless."][561: "The equality among male
citizens in the political life of the city, based on their equality on
the battlefield in the hoplite phalanx, widened the distance between
public and private life, and consequently between the worlds of men and
women."][562: discussion of less welcoming attitude among Romans, but
enthusiastically naked fighting by the Gauls, albeit with some military
disadvantage due to their not being trained naked.]
"College Nude Swims." Nude
& Natural 11.3, 114-115
(1992). [Many YMCA, college, and high school male-only pools
or
swimming classes were historically 'swimsuit-optional' or nude-only
until federally-mandated 'equal access' athletic programs (for the sake
of the women) were instituted in the mid 1970's.]
"The Double Standard: The White House
Skinnydippers."
Clothed with the Sun
8.3, 10-11 (1988). [President Lyndon Johnson
occasionally swam nude with guests in the white house pool, including
evangelist Billy Graham.]
Dunlap, Knight. "The Development and Function of Clothing,"
Journal of General
Psychology, vol. i, 64-78 (1928). [65: "It may sound
facetious, but it is both metaphorically and literally true to say that
every time woman lifts her skirts the moralists shiver. Yet
this
is not the only way in which she has frightened them with her
clothes. Some years ago, shoulder puffs, and baggy sleeves,
were
denounced as indecent and ungodly. The shudders over the
one-piece bathing suit have not yet subsided, in spite of the valiant
missionary work of Mack Sennett. That bobbing the hair
flaunted
indecency, threatened the foundations of morality, and endangered the
sanctity of the home, even the College Freshman can remember.
He
probably does not know, however, that not many years ago, putting up
the hair on top of the head was also looked upon with fear and
indignation."][65: "The moralists being mainly male, and hence very
much interested in woman sexually, it is natural that the greater
emphasis in modesty should be on the modesty of woman."][65: "This
modesty theory of clothing seems still to be firmly intrenched among
the ignorant, in spite of the various lines of evidence against
it. Its falsity should have been evident long ago from the
fact
that oriental women have had to conceal their faces to be
modest,
while occidental women have not been under similar necessity; and the
fact that naked savages are often more modest (and more moral too, for
that matter), than clothed Europeans. That women are as
modest
now in knee-length skimpiness as they ever were in hoop skirts and
sidewalk sweepers, should be apparent even to those whose knowledge
extends no farther than their village boundaries."][66: "As a matter of
observable fact, the connection between clothing and modesty is a
simple one. Any degree of clothing, including complete
nudity, is
perfectly modest as soon as we become thoroughly accustomed to
it. Conversely, any change in clothing, suddenly effected,
may be
immodest if it is of such a nature as to be conspicuous. This
is
particularly true for men of limited intelligence and low
education. The more highly cultured and educated individuals
adjust themselves to new conditions with less
shock.
Clothing itself has no modesty or immodesty. It is merely the
breaking of the established convention which makes it
immodest."][66-67: "There is today no reasonable doubt that clothing
has nothing intrinsically to do with modesty or immodesty, although
changes in costume, in either direction, may have salacious
effects. Either clothing or naked-[67]ness may be worn
modestly
or immodestly. The only modesty of clothing is its
wontedness;
the only immodesty, the suggestion that it might be removed."][68:
"Skirts and aprons of grass and leaves, and bunches of leaves hung at
other points of the body are really worn by savages in various parts of
the world. Similar dangling garments made from the skins of
animals, or their tails, and sketchy garments woven from vegetable
fibers, are also widely popular among savages. ... The fact that the
peoples who wear these garments put no emphasis on concealment, but at
times discard the garments entirely; and the fact that where there is a
costume which can not be discarded in public, it is apt to be some
non-concealing article such as a string of beads around the waist,
dispose of these explanations ..."][69: "Now, what sort of protection
is most adequate against flies and similar insects? Wrapping
skins or cloth tightly around the body is successful, but to persons
unaccustomed to such unhygienic clothing, especially in warm climates,
this method is intolerable. Much more efficient protection is
afforded by hanging strings, leaves, strips of hide, animal's tails,
and similar articles so that they will flap with the movements of the
wearer. In other words, the best fly chasers are exactly the
garments most characteristic of savages and primitive man."][69: "An
apron of burlap or cloth is sometimes bestowed on cows in
fly-time. In short, the fly-protections we have customarily
used
on our domestic animals are exactly of the types of primitive human
clothing which have baffled the early anthropologists."][70-71: "The
association of clothing and modesty developed slowly. The
Greek
girl cast off her garments in public when it became
incon-[71]venient. Even in the Middle Ages in Europe, when
women
wore skirts but no underwear, the incidental exposure of the genitals
had no specific flavor of indecency. The savage discards his
aprons or loin cloth when it is not needed, with no sense of shame, and
with no effect on the sexual sensitivity of his fellows. In
Japan, men and women appear naked in public without any effect on
modesty, although ordinarily fully draped. The modesty of
clothing seems to have appeared only when through the invention of
elaborate and costly materials and expensive dyes, it became possible
to display one's wealth and indicate one's social position by the mere
quality of valuable clothing worn. Then began the practice of
completely enveloping the person in expensive cloths, laces, velvets,
feathers and gold work. Clothing as a badge made the
concealment
of the person habitual for the upper classes, although not until much
later for the lower and poorer classes. It must not be
forgotten
that among certain races there is a similar modesty of ornament, and
that among certain African tribes a woman without her significant
string of beads around her waist, (although she might wear nothing
else), would be as ashamed and dishonored as would be a European woman
caught stark naked."][72: "During the period in which wealth and social
status could be indicated by the amount of clothing worn, the habit of
concealing women's legs became established. Hence, with the
beginning of modern styles, the exposure of the ankle was
indecent. That is to say, the ankle having been hidden from
view,
its exposure attracted attention, and of course strongly suggested
other, still concealed portions of the anatomy. With each
increasing public revelation of the leg, the same salacity was
introduced, but with lessening effect. We become accustomed
to
the conventional exposure, whatever it is, and with a serious of
changes we become accustomed to the fact of change itself.
hence,
the exposure of the thigh will occasion only a minor commotion, as
compared with that which was produced by the exposure of the
ankle. I have no doubt that within a few years women will
exposure the entire body in public, with negligible effect on modesty
and morals, unless for the better, for this is no denying that although
neither clothing nor nudity have any intrinsic value for modesty,
clothing has the greater potentiality for immodesty, since it has the
power of suggesting what is concealed."][77: "The story of clothing is
now practically complete. Having its primitive origin in
practical protective needs, its amplification and retention under
conditions which render it practically unnecessary, has been fostered
by the resistance to sexual competition which is today the strongest
force operating against dress reform for both sexes. Bobbed
hair,
the short skirt, and the peekaboo waist may be denounced in the names
of sexual modesty and sexual morality; but their real objectionableness
lies in their furtherance of sexual competition. The attack
on
the one-piece bathing suit may have been headed by male moralists, but
its energy was supplied by women who had good reasons to distrust their
ratings in a bathing beauty contest."][78: "Progress is retarded by a
professed moral censorship that is really vicious. Every
activity
in this direction has proved itself ridiculous and
obstructive.
The restraint of sexual competition may be useful in certain stages of
society, but this usefulness, if it occurs, soon disappears.
When
we shall have returned to the primitive basis of clothing, as a means
of protection and nothing more, we will have lost most of our problems
of sexual morality, and sexual immodesty will have disappeared along
with its reflection, sexual modesty."]
Ellis, Havelock. Studies
in the Psychology of Sex. New
York: Random House, 1936. Vol. 1, part 1, pp.
8-27.
[Nudity normal for indigenous peoples.] 58-62. [Clothing
developed to focus sexual attention.] Ellis, vol. 2, part 3,
p.
98. ["in daily life ... a considerable degree of nakedness was
tolerated during medieval times. This was notably so in the
public baths, frequented by men and women together."] Ellis,
vol.
2, part 3, p. 98. [Several Christian sects have practiced
nudity
as part of their faith, including the German Brethren of the Free
Spirit, in the thirteenth century; the Picards, in fifteenth century
France; and, most famously, the Adamites, in the early fifteenth
century Netherlands.]
Fagan, Garrett G. Bathing
in Public in the Roman World. Ann
Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN
0-472-10819-0. [1: "Due in part to the thorough dissemination
of
efficient hydraulic and heating systems and also to a long-standing
Christian heritage of abhorrence of bodily functions and public nudity,
most Westerners bathe privately in their own homes. The same
is
not true the world over, however ..."] [1-2: "In western Europe, only
the Finns still practice a truly public bathing habit. ... Finns prefer
to take their saunas in the company of family members and friends
rather than alone. Business conferences and even government
cabinet meetings can convene there."] [3: "Like the Romans, the
Japanese bathe communally in hot water; nudity is an accepted facet of
the public bathing process ... In their heyday, the public baths of
Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka were social centers, where lovers met,
philosophers debated, and commoners gossiped. In fact, some
modern commentators are of the opinion that the decline of the sento,
the neighborhood public bath, has led to a concomitant decline in
community spirit, so that despite baths at home, some Japanese still
take an occasional trip to the local public bathhouse."] [3: "While
medieval Westerners were espousing the principle of 'going unwashed'
(alousia) to prove the dominance of the soul over corporeal weakness,
Islamic civilization was adhering to the public bathing habits of the
ancients and preserving them for the modern age."] [24-25: "Martial and
a chorus of other sources strongly imply that nudity was the norm in
the baths."] [26: "the attested bathing together of men and women comes
as a shock to many modern sensibilities, as well as to some ancient
ones"] [26: "Clement of Alexandria comments that one could meet noble
ladies naked in the baths"] [27-28: Mixed gender (nude)
bathing
common in Roman Empire but likely varied from region to region or
establishment to establishment, much in same way that nude sunbathing
is variously practiced on the beaches of modern Europe. For
Martial, bathing with women was a matter of course.] [48:
Romans
disapproved of father and son bathing together.] [77-78: "it
is
safe to say that life in a Roman town was considerably more communal
than is the case among Westerners today. ... the living quarters of the
humble often lacked amenities considered absolutely fundamental in
modern residences; many had no kitchens, latrines, or baths.
As a
consequence, many functions performed inside in private today were
conducted by the Romans outdoors, in full public view. ... Public
latrines, likewise, show a degree of openness that is shocking to
modern sensibilities. Many are multiple-seaters, in which
patrons
attend to bodily functions, apparently in full view of others; and
there is no indication of male/female segregation. There
could
hardly be a better illustration of the communality of living in Roman
towns."] [197: "When husbands and wives visited the baths together,
they seem to have brought their children along."]
"Famed Nudist Richter's Personal Legacy Lost in Quake." Nude
& Natural 13.4, 6 (1994). [Charles F.
Richter, the
co-inventor of the earthquake measuring system, was a life-long nudist
and Naturist.]
Flugel, John Carl. The
Psychology of Clothes. London:
Hogarth, 1930, 1940, 1950. [16-17: "Apart from the fact that the human
race probably had its beginnings in the warmer regions of the earth,
the example of certain existing primitive peoples, notably the
inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, shows that clothing is not essential,
even in a damp and chilly climate. In this matter Darwin's
often-quoted observations of the snow melting on the skins of these
hardy savages, seems to have brought home to a somewhat startled
nineteenth-century generation that their own snug garments, however
cosy and desirable they might appear, were not inexorably required by
the necessities of the human constitution."][17: "The great majority of
scholars, however, have unhesitatingly regarded decoration as the
motive that led, in the first place, to the adoption of clothing, and
consider that the warmth-and-modesty-preserving functions of dress,
however important they might later on become, were only discovered once
the wearing of clothes had become habitual for other reasons. ... The
anthropological evidence consists chiefly in the fact that among the
most primitive races there exist unclothed but not undecorated
peoples."][27: "We know, however, that a great many articles of dress,
such as the shoe, the tie, the hat, the collar, and even
larger
and more voluminous garments, such as the coat, the trousers, and the
mantle may be phallic symbols, while the shoe, the girdle, and the
garter (as well as most jewels) may be corresponding female symbols.
... we can easily establish the existence of a continuous transition,
from blatant exhibition of the actual genitals to the totally
unconscious symbolisation of them by garments which resemble them but
very little."][27-28:"... for about fifty years during Tudor times, the
tightness of male nether garments necessitated the housing of the
genitals in a special bulging portion of the hose (the cod-piece)--a
portion to which attention was sometimes gratuitously drawn by a vivid
or contrasting colour, and which was further sometimes embellished by
padding in such a way as to simulate a perpetual erection.
Our
next stage may be taken from a somewhat earlier period, when the
phallic substitute was found, not near the genital region itself but on
a remote part of the body, namely the feet. There was at one
time
in the Middle Ages a tendency to fashion the long shoe, known as the
poulaine, in the shape of the phallus, and this practice enjoyed a
lengthy popularity in spite of the storm of indignation which it
aroused."][57-58: "Taking actual examples from modern history, we meet,
on the one hand, with denunciations of bare shoulders, bare bosoms, and
bare arms (which latter were 'looked upon with horror and disgust' in
Henry VIII.'s time), of the general scantiness of attire that
characterised the close of the eighteenth and early years of the
nineteenth century, and of the exposed legs of to-day, which, in Italy
at any rate, have encountered both governmental [58] and ecclesiastical
condemnation. On the other hand, we have had almost equally
fiery
denunciations of peaked shoes, high head-dresses, and long trains, and
it has been maintained that the mere possession of numerous garments
was a spiritual peril; for at least one woman, we are told, was taken
to Hell by the Devil because she had 'tenne diverse gownes and as mani
cotes'."][58: "Whatever the cause, however, it is clear enough that, in
the history of European dress, there have been successive waves of
modesty which condemned what a previous generation had tolerated, both
as regards exposure of the body and as regards elaboration of
apparel. Thus we ourselves tend to regard as immodest both
the
exposure of the bosom, characteristic of the middle of the last
century, and the accentuation of the buttocks that was implied in the
bustles of the later period."][58-59: "Since novelty of any kind (being
itself, where clothing is concerned, a form of display) is apt to
arouse not only curiosity but modesty, the covering of a part of the
body that had habitually been exposed may itself arouse feelings of
shame. Thus it has been reported that savage women who have
been
used to nakedness may become [59] shy and embarrassed if a part of
their body is suddenly clothed; and similar feelings have been aroused
during the past year in some of our own young girls when they found
themselves arrayed for the first time in their lives in (evening)
dresses that hid their legs from view. It is as if the
impulse of
modesty had penetrated all disguise and understood the erotic element
that constitutes an essential factor in all efforts at bodily
concealment."][66: "Recently, for instance, there has taken place a
revolutionary change in our ideas concerning the respectability of the
feminine leg, and women now show freely what has, with very few
exceptions, been draped since the dawn of Western
civilisation.
How great is the change that has taken place in a relatively few years
can best be realised when we remember that, not so long ago, it was
indelicate not merely to show the leg but even to refer to it--at least
by its proper English name."][66-67: "Our greater freedom as regards
legs has, however, been accompanied by a great intolerance of certain
other parts of the body, and a consequent greater disability to use
them for purposes of erotic display than existed in [67] some previous
periods. The accentuation of the posterior regions brought
about
by means of the bustle now appears to us to be at least in very
questionable taste, while we now do all we can to make the breasts--for
a long time the supreme attraction of the feminine anatomy--as
inconspicuous as possible."][67: "Modesty varies of course not only in
time but in space. In parts of Central Africa, the buttocks
are
the region on which shame is concentrated, a shame which, with the
inhabitants of those parts, far exceeds that attaching to the external
genital organs. Our own past sensitiveness to legs was not
one
that appealed to Moslems, who never tried to disguise from themselves
the fact that women, like men, were bipeds. To them the face
was
the part of the body that demanded covering--an attitude which, in
turn, met with but little understanding from Europeans, among whom the
veil has never enjoyed more than a decorative or symbolic significance,
and to whom the face, together with the hands, has usually been the
region which is freest from the sense of shame."][79: "Furthermore,
there would seem to be a correspondence between democratic sentiments,
sexual freedom, and the public exhibition of female beauty.
In
mohammedan countries, where the sexual freedom of women was reduced to
a minimum, women were apt to be carefully concealed from the public
gaze, the very sight of their faces being jealously reserved for their
husbands. In Europe, after the French Revolution, when
'liberty,
equality, fraternity' was the slogan of the day, women wore the
lightest of costumes in the street, where decollete was regarded as no
less appropriate than in the ballroom. In the period of
prudishness and of greater social snobbery and differentiation that
came later in the nineteenth century, such exposure became reserved for
indoor occasions with friends and social equals. At the
present
day, when democratic views and greater sexual liberty are once more
triumphant, women again unhesitatingly expose a larger portion of their
bodies to the general view."][126: "The tendency, so constantly
recurring during the last few hundred years, to bare the bosom and some
portion of the back and arms, may be said to represent a return to the
true spirit of tropical costume."][142-143:"... modern clothes on the
whole tend to be less durable than those of many former
periods.
By some writers this fact has been brought into connection with the
better environmental conditions of modern civilised life, and
especially of urban life. The shoes, for instance, that we
can
wear in modern towns with their carefully paved streets would have been
quite unsuitable for the street conditions that existed in most towns
two hundred years ago; we do not need the thick boots that were then
the only safe or convenient form of footwear in which to cross the
muddy sewers with which the streets of that period abounded."][158:
"With the naturalism that followed the French Revolution, the body once
more came into its own rights, and the purpose of clothes became the
relatively secondary one of throwing into relief the beauties of the
body. Clothing became extremely simple and exiguous (much
more so
than in recent years), underclothing became almost dispensed
with. A fashionable lady's costume had to pass two
tests:
it must not weigh more than ½ lb. in all (as against 2 lb.
or
more at the present day) and her dress must be of such thinness and
flexibility that it could be passed through her wedding ring.
Not
content with this, she damped her dress before putting it on, so that
it should cling closer to the figure."][161: "Legs have emerged after
centuries of shrouding, and adult woman at least frankly admits herself
to be a biped. Indeed, in the last year or two, her ankles,
calves, and knees (all the more dazzling in their suddenly revealed
beauty after their long sojourn in the dark) have been her chief erotic
weapons."][171: "Petticoats have all but disappeared, stockings are
perhaps none too safe, the flimsy descendants of the corset are
invertebrate degenerates in comparison with their stiff and haughty
ancestors, and how puny is the present skirt by the side of its more
bulky and imposing predecessors!"][189:"... the defiant use of
powder-puff and lipstick is a token at once of triumph and of
independence, signaling a victory in the spheres both of sex and of
society--a victory over old habits of sexual repression and social
subordination. It is a victorious gesture on the part of
women
and, like other victorious gestures, not always in the best of
taste. If it is itself in some ways retrograde, it is
nevertheless correlated with a great advance in social status and in
sexual freedom. Such a minor evil can well be tolerated and
excused for so great a gain. It is probable, too, that it
will
not be permanent. When a conqueror has grown used to the
fruits
of victory, he has no need of gestures to express his
triumph."][193-194: "In practice it seems fairly evident that our
principle involves a large further extension of the tendencies towards
a greater freedom that have been in evidence of recent years.
We
ourselves look back upon certain manifestations of nineteenth-century
modesty--such as the inability to mention the word 'leg', the rigorous
segregation of the sexes at bathing, the curtained steps of bathing
machines (so that the bather might not be seen before she had reached
the protecting opaqueness of the water), the monstrously protuberant
bathing dresses--with astonishment mingled with disgust; the latter
because, at this distance we are able to perceive the erotic
obsessiveness of the modesty in question. Future generations
may
one day contemplate with similar emotion the fact that we wear bathing
dresses at all. Our principle clearly demands that we [194]
should be able to tolerate nakedness here it is obviously called for,
as on the bathing beach."]
Goodson, Aileen. Therapy,
Nudity and Joy. Los Angeles,
CA: Elysium, 1991. ISBN 1-55599-028-2.
[146-147: "From ancient through medieval times, sex was
accepted
as an integral part of life. Sexual knowledge was gained
unobtrusively in the natural manner of other acquired
knowledge.
In those eras there was far less personal privacy among all social
classes, and it was usual for families to bathe and sleep together in
the nude. There was no embarrassment about the body's
elimination
or sexual functions. Most of the population lived 'close to
nature,' and children grew up with an early awareness of animal matings
and procreation."][155: "Many of us may be unaware that nudity is a
normal condition that has prevailed throughout most of mankind's
existence. Anything from complete nakedness to casual body
covering was a lifestyle component from prehistoric times through the
Greco-Roman civilizations and into part of the Middle Ages."][155:
"Even today, in various remote areas of the warmer climes, naked
societies persist as primitive tribes whose members do not wear
clothes. These societies point up, among other things, how
drastically our attitudes toward nudity and social organization have
changed throughout human history. Unfortunately, modern
civilization's puritanical laws of decency have labeled unclothed
tropical-zone cultures as offensive and inferior."][156: "The Tupari
tribe of the Rio Branco, in the Amazon jungles of Brazil, furnish
another example of nude living among aborigines. Tibor
Sekelj,
who lived with the Tupari for four months, wrote: 'It is no wonder that
the Tupari never created any kind of clothing, for the weather is
always warm. Their natural nudity fits perfectly into the
framework of their surroundings and, except for ceremony or decoration,
they never think of covering themselves.' "][156-157: "A fascinating
tale of early sun worship and nudity was unearthed in 1887 at
Tell-el-Amarna, a small Egyptian village on the banks of [157] the Nile
some 200 miles south of Cairo. There, an Arab woman
accidentally
stumbled upon the baked-clay tablet archives of Pharaoh Akhen-Aton
(1385-1353 B.C.). It was learned through the subsequent
translation of these tablets that the brilliant young pharaoh and his
exquisitely beautiful queen, Nefertiti, considered the sun, Aton, to be
the true wellspring of life and thus justified the practice of nudism
for spiritual and physical advancement."][157: "Because of the
discovery of these tablets and other artifacts at Tell-el Amarna, the
seat of Pharaoh Akhen-Aton's government, it is now well known that he
was not only a great religious reformer and mystic, who disputed the
pantheism of the traditional priesthood, but also a poet of great
sensitivity. On the scattered stones that had formed the
original
wall of Aton's Temple, archaeologists have found and deciphered the
pharaoh's famous 'Hymn to Aton, the Sun God,' a portion of which
appears in the Hebrew scriptures as Psalm 104 of the Old Testament.
'Through this poem,' writes J. Herman in King & Queen of the
Sun,
'the pharaoh reveals himself to be a lover of beauty in nature, in art,
and in man.' "][157: "However, some of the archaeologists who
unraveled the story of the Sun Pharaoh had difficulty accepting what
they found and became highly critical of Akhen-Aton and
Nefertiti. 'Brought up in an environment of Victorian and
puritanical notions, they condemned these entrancing figures of
Egyptian history because they discovered that no only the Pharaoh and
his wife but also their children and officials went around with too few
clothes (transparent at that!) or no clothes at all, and they practiced
nudity in the royal palace, in the royal gardens and swimming pool,
that they loved physical beauty, valued good food and win, and led a
frankly joyful existence."][158: "While it is known that Akhen-Aton and
Nefertiti were not the first Egyptians to luxuriate nude in the sun's
rays (a fourteenth century, B.C. carving of a nude Sumerian priest is
preserved in the British Museum, and a fifteenth century, B.C. painting
of a nude Egyptian girl lutists is found on the wall of a Thebes tomb),
he and his alluring consort did have their 'day in the sun,' breathing
life into a freshly idealistic concept of community."] [158: "When a
Greek wished to dance or work, he simply slipped out of his clothing
and proceeded. It was the natural thing to do, and no one was
dismayed by ... seeing a nude person dancing or working.
Archaeologists have found many vases depicting completely naked
performers at festivals and laborers in the fields,' writes Anthony J.
Papalas in his article, 'Greek Attitudes Toward Nudity.' "][159: "While
nudity was so common in early Greek athletics and sculpture that
historically it cannot be overlooked, historians tend to downplay or
ignore the religious and philosophic foundations for nudism in Greek
life. For example, the Greek gymnasium is rarely presented as
a
place for general education, which, in fact, it was. Paul
LeValley, in an article appearing in the naturist magazine Clothed with
the Sun offers a more accurate picture."][159: " 'The Greeks could
think of no higher tribute to their gods than to imitate them--to
become as godlike as possible, both mentally and physically.
It
was the whole person that mattered: the well-developed mind in the
well-developed body. Apollo, the god of athletics, was also
the
god of music. In fact, the athletes trained to
music. The
gymnasiums were where philosophers like Socrates hung about.
Almost every major school of Greek philosophy was headquartered in a
gymnasium ... As Greek religion declined and was replaced by
philosophy, Socrates often advocated nudity as a form of
honesty.
It is clear from this that the ancient Greeks sought balance--their
goal of The Golden Mean in individual accomplishments as well as in
matters of state.' "][159: " 'Beginning with exercises in the nude, a
typical day for the Greek student is described by Papalas in the
article cited above: "After several hours of activity and instruction
about the body, he bathed and went to his classroom--most oven in the
nude, for the mild climate of Greece did not require clothing except
for some unusually cold days in winter. ... Teachers and scholars
attempted to establish an equilibrium between mind and body.
The
student, therefore, was required to devote the same amount of effort to
physical progress as to mental.' "] [159-160: "Darius, the Persian
king, relying on the report of a spy sent to observe Greeks training
for battle, mistakenly concluded from their attitude toward nudity and
democracy that Greeks were weaklings. [160] The army infiltrator
returned to Darius with an account of how the Greeks spent their time
prancing around in the nude 'or sitting, partially clothed, listening
to idiots propound ridiculous ideas about freedom and equality for the
individual citizen.' Based on this information, Darius
expected
the Greeks would be an easy target, but his laughter turned to fear and
grief when the Persian army was driven out to sea at the Battle of
Marathon by well-trained opponents."][160: "Though men of ancient
Greece were offered an exceptional training as citizens (with the
obvious exception of male slaves), Greek women were denied the
high-level education of the gymnasium. This inequality was
speciously justified by reasoning that women had less need for
education because they were not permitted to participate in civic
affairs along with the men. Such discrimination, however,
diminished with the appearance of a women's rights movement."][160:
"Among the gains won by the women of this group was the establishment
of female athletic competitions. During these games, women
performed comfortably in the nude, as was the practice of the
men. 'The Greek admiration for the human body and the
willingness
to display it were closely bound up with Greek honesty and
intelligence. No one thought it wrong that young Spartan
girls
should go naked in public dances and processions. The young
men
who gathered to look upon the events displayed no lust or
wantonness. Plutarch (the Greek biographer and historian)
wrote
that the appearance of these maidens was received with admiration,
respect, and shamelessness."][161: "Athletes from Sparta are given
historical credit for being the first to discard clothing while in
training for competition. It's possible this occurred as
early as
the seventh century B.C. Since these pioneering athletes won
an
abnormally high proportion of the prizes because their bodies were not
restricted by clothing, other Greek athletes began to emulate the
nudity of the Spartans. Thereafter, nudity was an integral
part
of the Olympic tradition until 393 A.D., when Roman Emperor Theodosius,
Christian ruler of Greece, banned the Olympic Games because he
considered them to be pagan ceremonies."][161: "It is now known that
social nudity in ancient Greece was encouraged by the existence of
nudity among the holy men of India. For example, when
Alexander
the Great heard reports of nude ascetics in India, he sent Onesicritus,
a Greek philosopher, to investigate the gymnosophists (a name given by
the Greeks to these naked philosophers). The findings of
Onesicritus must have impressed and intrigued Alexander, for he then
traveled to India (in 326 B.C.) to meet with a gymnosophist group, and
this meeting then led to other exchanges between the two
countries."][161: "Pyrrho of Elis, founder of the philosophy of
skepticism, studied with the gymnosophists and, upon returning to Elis,
practiced their teachings, including nudism. Further, when
the
Greek army was in India, the soldiers participated in numerous
religious observances that were accompanied by nude sports
activities."][162: "In Alexander's time (356-323 B.C.) there were a
number of ascetic sects in India whose members walked about naked as
part of their spiritual discipline. The largest, Ajivikas,
demanded complete nudity of its disciples. This group lasted
about two thousand years before completely disappearing."][162:
"LeValley further states that 'Mahavira scolded the Greeks, who mostly
confined their nudity to the gymnasium, for being less assured than
Indian ascetics. Mahavira often mentioned nudity as a method
of
becoming free from bonds ... contentment with no clothes ...'
Indians and Greeks both agreed that nakedness represented a state of
purity and honesty.' "][163: "During British control of India, the
gymnosophist practice of nudism was greatly curtailed.
However,
now that there is an independent Republic of India, the Jains are again
unhampered in their religious practice of nudity. In India
today,
some women have also joined the ranks of the naked Jain
ascetics."][164: "Until the twentieth century, the Japanese sense of
modesty strongly differed from that of Europe or America.
Nude
communal bathing, for example, was a basic fact of daily life until
fairly recently and still exists in rural areas that are distance from
Japan's westernized major cities."][166: "Originally a Shinto
purification rite, the practice of social bathing in the nude spread
throughout Japan and became as much as part of Japanese daily life as
the rising of the sun. Shintoism, prior to 1945 the state
religion of Japan, emphasizes personal cleanliness, both spiritually
and physically."][167: "Therefore, most Japanese men and women have
grown up accustomed to being viewed in the nude and to seeing the
nudity of others at all ages. Yet, with the faster pace of
life
typical of the larger cities in Japan and with the westernization of
home architecture, the neighborhood bath house is losing its previous
prominence. The communal, nude thermal springs, however,
remain
prized vacation spots."][168: "Nudity was a core practice of
Witchcraft. This natural state was considered essential to
raising the magical energy between earth and the higher
force. It
was a symbol of freedom and openness. No part of daily life,
it
was used with reverence in private groups (covens) and in other
religious ceremonies an celebrations. English royalty has
been
consistently associated with the Wiccas. William the
Conqueror
and his son, William Rufus, who succeeded him, for example, are said to
have been coven members, as were the Platagenets before them.
The
ancient Celtic Druids (now only a tiny sect that performs rituals at
Stonehenge in England) were even recognized for a time as practicing
the country's official religion."][170: "There are a number of
ministers and priest in the contemporary nudist movement. In
fact, the modern nudist movement was largely organized by ordained
religious leaders ..."][170: "For example, as the Rev. Martin
Wadestone, author of 'Nudism and Christianity,' writes: 'Actually, in
the light of the Bible, there is no sin in nudity itself; but if a
person uses the nudity for lustful or immoral purposes he has misused
it, and this constitutes a sin. The Bible does not speak
against
nudity nor does it teach that the body is shameful. There is
reference to shame in nudity, but this shame was produced in the mind
of man, not by divine ordination."][170: "This was also the belief of
at least five groups in the history of Christianity: the Carpocratians,
Adamites, Adamianis, Encratites, and Marcosians. Most of the
historical information we have concerning the beliefs and practices of
these early Christians comes ti us, in fact, through the recorded
criticisms and diatribes of Roman Catholic Church authorities, since
these authorities have largely destroyed the writings of those they
considered heretical."][170-171: "Platonic philosopher Carpocrates,
born in Alexandria, Egypt in the second century A.D., believed in one
God as creator of the world and all things in it. He combined
the
Christian ideal of the brotherhood of man with portions of Plato's
Republic, advocating that the [171] glories of God should not be
hidden. He urged Christians, both male and female, to look
upon
the natural body with gratitude for the creative force of
God-love. His disciples suffered ridicule and sometimes
severe
persecution but continued their practices into the fourth century
A.D. Records indicate that nude statutes and a museum were
created to honor this sect. It was the Carpocratians who
first
portrayed Christ's body in the exposed form commonly seen to this
day."][171: "Some generations later, Encratites and Marcosians, who
developed out of the Adamiani tradition, appeared on the
scene,
The Ecnratites were vegetarians and many, if not all, practiced
nudism. In ancient Gaul (France), a Gnostic teacher named
Marcus
and his followers became known as Marcosians and were well established
in the Rhone Valley by the third century. Irenaeus, a
conservative Christian writer of the day, criticized their nudity and
religious beliefs, remarking: 'Marcus is regarded by these senseless
and brain cracked as working miracles.' "][171: "The Adamites (no
connection with the Adamianis) were an active sect in Bohemia during
the fifteenth century A.D. They were part of the Hussite
Reformation. This group set up numerous religious nude
communities."][172: "Nakedness has been used throughout history as a
form of protest as well as an expression of positive human
values. If one's aim is to get noticed, in a clothed society
stripping is certainly an effective method of gaining
attention.
This was a tactic used by some hippies in the 1960s and also be a
number of religious protesters throughout history. For
example,
regarding the famous St. Francis of Assisi: 'On being rebuked by his
bishop, he snatched off his clothes and walked naked through the
streets.' "][172: "... there is no doubt about the Doukhobors of
Canada, who left Russian in 1898 and still exist in small colonies to
the north of the United States. An extremist and
individualistic
sect of anarchists who separated from the Russian Orthodox Church in
1785, the Doukhobors numbered some 15,000 persons when they first came
to Canada. Calling themselves 'Sons of Freedom,' they were
constantly in trouble with the law because of their refusal to conform
with Canadian laws governing educational, civic, and cultural
standards. The Doukhobors often protested en masse in the
nude. Their first nude parade was in 1903, and though the
demonstrators were prosecuted and jailed, they continued this unique
manner of making a statement for several decades."][174: "And a law in
effect while New Jersey was still a British colony allotted the same
penalty given witches to women: ' ...whether virgins, maids, or widows
who shall after this Act, impose upon, seduce, or betray into matrimony
any of His Majesty's subjects by virtue of scents, cosmetics, washes,
paints, artificial teeth, or high-heeled shoes."][175: "Shame regarding
sexual desires and activities reached such extremes that a woman in the
mid-1800s minimized and hid all body parts except her face.
She
wore layers of petticoats and was enveloped in clothing from
high-collared blouse to floor-length bustled skirt, a bonnet completely
covering her head and a shawl drawn around the body. 'Even a
lady's hands were hidden. An 1840 Victorian ladies' journal
advised that 'Gloves are always graceful for a lady in the house except
at meals.' and some women did not appear at the table
'barehanded.' They were fingerless mittens."][176:
"Nevertheless,
the pride of the Victorian husband in having a 'proper' wife was a
facade that hid a dark side. There were more prostitutes per
capita roaming the streets of London during this time than at any other
period of that city's history. A flourishing trade in
pornography
and a profitable trade in virgins existed. Young girls were
abducted: 'The going rate on the clandestine market fluctuated between
five and forty Pounds, according to their age and beauty."
After
having been disgraced, these girls often joined the ranks of
prostitutes."][178: "Perhaps the most cruel and destructive
manifestation of Victorianism was the insensitive treatment of native
cultures by religious missionaries and European colonists.
With
no regard for native pride and dignity, for their religious customs,
nor of the practicality of their dress and lifestyle, arrogant
Victorianism demanded conformity with European customs.
Forcing
clothing on those peoples whose cultures had previously permitted them
to experience body freedom was not only demeaning and humiliating but
an effective and constant reminder of their 'inferior' heritage and
status. An 1894 report by a former governor of a Tonga
village
describes these conditions: 'It was punishable by fine and imprisonment
to wear native clothing; punishable by fine and imprisonment to wear
long hair or a garland of flowers; punishable by fine and imprisonment
to wrestle or to play ball; punishable by fine and imprisonment to
wrestle or to play ball; punishable not to wear shirt and trousers and,
in certain localities, coat and shoes also ...' "][178: " 'Since the
natives had never learned to wash or mend clothes, it took them a long
time to adapt to European garments, which were at first worn until they
fell to pieces. There was a great decline in cleanliness with
resulting skin diseases and other infections ...' "][179: "Benjamin
Franklin wrote of his daily ritual, a nude cold-air bath each morning
while reading or writing. Franklin is reported to have been
seen
swimming the Thames in London without clothing."][187: "Charles Darwin
was amazed to find the Patagonians in Tierra del Fuego completely
unclothed in the frigid winds of the southern tip of South America,
even observing snow melting on their naked bodies. Others
have
reported that the tribes of Central Australia used no covering during
cold weather other than paint on their bodies. And, of
course,
much has been written bout the endurance of North American
Indians. Early travelers recorded observations of Indian
braves
playing the equivalent of hockey or lacrosse in bitterly cold weather
while completely nude."][187: "In 1805, Meriwether Lewis wrote of his
surprise at finding Indians living nearly or entirely nude throughout
the year in the high altitudes of the Rockies. It wasn't
unusual
to find nakedness among the Indians, but to see it in areas where the
winds are chilling even in the summer months was a source of surprise
to Lewis, who noted in one of the earliest notes in his journal about
Indians: 'It seems they are scarcely sicke, despite their constant
naked state.' "][187: "However, a possible answer appears in video
films made during the 1980s showing Tibetan Buddhist monks using a
special tantric meditation they call Tumo Yoga to raise their body
temperatures as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in very
short periods of time. It seems, therefore, that we cannot
discount reports by Charles Darwin and others that nudity was the
natural state of dress among pre-technological societies even in very
cold climates."][193: "The Reverend La Rue Watson also commented about
the corrosive effect of western civilization on native cultures when he
noted that, with many tribes, it was as much the desire of the natives
'to imitate the supposedly superior race, that put clothes on them,' as
it was the missionaries' religious pressure or the merchants' desire to
sell cloth, 'with the result that they died like flies from respiratory
and other diseases.' "][194: "Primitive cultures come to terms with
this subject in a much healthier way than we do. The artist
Gauguin observed in his book Noa Noa that the Polynesians were not
preoccupied with sex and had a 'natural innocence, a perfect purity'
which, he felt, was influenced by their casual acceptance of nudity in
daily life. Primitive societies have moral values, of course,
but
since they do not associate shame with genitalia, their social signals
tend not to concentrate on those areas."][194: "Among the members of
the naked Trobriand tribe of New Guinea, for example, a girl would feel
total humiliation and shame if she were seen without the adornment
traditionally signifying modesty and respectability--a waistband thong
with a small triangular seashell pendant hanging from it, reaching down
near the navel. Members of the Amazonian Botucudo tribe of
South
America would feel embarrassed and undressed without a lip plug, a
large round wooden ring worn by both men and women in ear lobs and
lower lip, which is their only clothing. This embarrassed
reaction is similar to reports made by clothed visitors to traditional
nudist resort where removal of clothing is mandatory. The
clothed
visi[195]tors report they felt embarrassed, different from the norm,
improperly dressed."][195-196: "At times it was the height of style to
emphasize women's breasts with tight corseting that pushed them up and
partially out of the dress. This was common during many eras
of
the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. Completely bare
breasts
were the fashion for a short time during the Directoire period of the
eighteenth century. And there were the contrasting fashions
of
the brassiered, sometimes padded 'sweater [196] girl' look of the '40s
and the 'braless' flower-child look of the '60s. In Bali,
until
recently, it was only prostitutes who covered their breasts."][196: "An
extreme example of body-shame modesty was reported in an article by
Herbert Freed, M.D. that appeared in the journal Sexual
Behavior.
Regarding an anthropological study of a small island community named
Inis Beag, off the coast of Ireland, Freed says: 'These Irish islanders
abhor nudity, so that only the infant has his entire body sponged,
while others wash only their faces, necks, and lower arms and legs, and
only on Saturday night. ... Their aversion to the sexual symbolism of
nudity has cost the lives of Irish seamen who have drowned, carried to
their deaths by their heavy clothes, and of sick men who are unwilling
to face a nurse because it might mean baring their bodies.
Secrecy surrounds elimination to the extent that even infants are
discouraged in evacuating before siblings. Even breast
feeding is
rare because of its sexual connotation, as is fondling or
kissing."][198: "Women's clothing has been a clear indicator of their
secondary and dependent position in various societies. The
requirement that men and women wear different clothing was established
in early religious writing. For example, Moses in Deuteronomy
22:5 states: 'Woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man,
neither shall a man put on woman's garment.' Consequently,
women
have been required to wear special restrictive clothing that
automatically puts them at physical disadvantage when compared to
men."][198: "Most obvious is the Muslim attire for women mandated by
Islamic law. Traditional Arab women wear a drab,
unornamented,
head-to-toe robe with shawls and veils normally hiding even the
face. Although some women reveal their eyes, and the more
daring
ones even expose a portion of the face from lower forehead to chin,
this outfit places women at a disadvantage in terms of freedom of
movement. It is a constant reminder of their secondary place
in
society. Arab men, however, are free to wear clothing of
their
choice, many donning western attire in varieties of color and
style."][198: "Men have traditionally worn clothes that gave them
mobility and freedom of movement, such as trousers, pleated kilts, or
tunics. On the other hand, women have traditionally worn long
skirts that impeded movement, that made running or jumping impossible,
that required the use of one or both hands to lift the skirt while
accomplishing such ordinary tasks as climbing stairs. This
was an
effective means of relegating them to a subsidiary role, especially in
the years when tight-laced corsets of bone or metal were the
fashion."][198: "In oriental cultures where females wore pantaloons,
their movement was impeded by clogs or stilts attached to
sandals. Arabian women wore sandals on stilts fastened to the
feet by knobs between the toes. Sometimes, the fashion was to
wear large anklets weighing a pound or more. In ancient
Palestine, women's ankles were connected by chains. In
Africa,
the wives of wealthy tribesmen wear heavy iron bracelets on their arms
and ankles to this day. However, the crippling mutilation
caused
by finding the feet of Chinese women, a practice which lasted until the
twentieth century, has to be the very worst example of female
subjugation and dependency [199] caused by fashion. But
Chinese
men of status wouldn't consider marrying a women without this painful
deformity."][199: "In some societies, women could not ride a horse like
a man. The cumbersome clothing forced them to use a
sidesaddle. Consequently, women were prevented from riding
with
any degree of speed, and they were restricted from roaming very far
from home."]
Hochschild, Adam. "Reporting on the Naked Truth." Mother
Jones, p. 6 (August 1981). [6: "President John Quincy
Adams was a cold
and haughty man: he was as aloof from reporters as from everyone
else. His chief antagonist in the press was journalist Anne
Newport Royall. ... Royall demanded an interview with Adams about the
bank, he refused to see her. But Adams was a man of
routine, a routine his enemy investigated. Each
morning he
got up before dawn, walked across the White House lawn to the Potomac
River, took off his clothes and swam in the nude. Then he
returned to the White House to have breakfast, read the Bible and run
the country. One morning as Adams got out of the river, he
was
startled to find Royall, whom a historian describes as a 'rotund,
unkempt, gray-haired woman,' casually sitting on top of his pile of
clothes. She refused to budge until he answered some
questions
about the Bank of the United States. Adams got back in the
river
and held what may have been history's first aquatic press
conference. Finally, having gotten the interview she wanted,
Royall stood up and let the president have his clothes."] [FYI, compare
the daily bath of the Pharaoh in the Nile as the Lord commands Moses to
force a hearing with the Pharaoh in RSV Exodus 7:15: "Go to Pharaoh in
the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the
river's brink ... "]
Hollander, Anne. "Fashion in Nudity." Georgia Review,
30.3,
642-702 (1976). [642: "Anthropologists and
sociologists
have demonstrated that those peoples who do not wear garments
nevertheless develop habits of self-adornment which seem, like Western
clothing, to be necessary signs of full humanity. They are
ways
of clothing the human body in some completed concept of itself, without
actually concealing any portion of its surface or shape."][643: "A
survey of cultures leads to the conclusion that the truly natural state
of the adult human is dressed (or decorated), but that his sense of
nature demands from him a deep respect for nakedness."][644:
"...
the Christian theory that clothing is unnatural or profane in its very
nature, the result of man's fall, undoubtedly grew out of the direct
experience of the erotic pull of dress--even modest dress.
People's clothes seemed to make their inferred nude bodies seem more,
and not less, desirable. Nakedness, of course, has its own
fierce
effect on desire: but clothing with nakedness underneath has another,
and it is apparently even more potent."][645: "The idealizing function
obviously inherent in the serious nude art of a dressed society = to
express longings for a primal virtue, a primal human beauty, a primal
sexuality--also inevitably produced by a by-product. This was
the
costume of nudity itself. It might be described as a visual
extrapolation of the sense of being 'in native honor clad.' "][646:
"Without clothes, a group of bodies shows the amazing irregularity of
human nakedness, an untidy, unpredictable diversity at odds with the
conception of an ideal--even an ideal of variety."][647-648: "Even
Giulio Romano's pornographic sedici modi showing various coital
positions, so shocking to his contemporaries, have a curiously unsexy
look to modern eyes because everyone is [648] wearing the Renaissance
figure now associated with idealized formal nudity rather than
sex."][654: "In the erotic imagination of Europe, it was apparently
impossible until the late seventeenth century for a woman to have too
big a stomach. This has decidedly not been true since then,
when
breasts and buttocks became (and have remained) far more acutely erotic
than bellies."][659: "... the fashionable silhouette was most
masterfully reflected in the nude images of the early Rembrandt, whose
ladies have the delicate breasts, fat shoulders, huge bellies and
general massiveness below the waist that was then so much admired in
female bodies."][673-674: "Along with an unprecedented emphasis on the
shape of the buttocks swelling out below a tiny waist in both art and
dress [in the mid 19th century], there arose a new prurient interest in
underpants. These in fact had not been worn by most women in
the
Western hemisphere until the middle of the nineteenth
century.
Varieties of pants, under or outer, had been worn by men ever since the
Nordic and Eastern enemies of Rome had contributed the idea of
separately covered legs to a Classically draped civilization; but the
separation of women's legs, even by a layer of fabric, was thought
[674] for many centuries to be obscene and unholy."] [674:
"In
the early Middle Ages, before the first manifestations of strongly
expressive European fashion in the fourteenth century, the fact that
men wore underpants and women did not was often hidden under the long
tunics worn by both. When men's tunics gradually shortened,
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, their underpants emerged
and were refined into elegant, visible, individual leg-coverings, while
women's garments developed even longer and fuller skirts."][674: "The
sharpest differentiation made by clothing between the two sexes thus
came to be the wearing of pants or skirts, a distinction which
gradually came to seem like a law of nature. Pants were an
absolute masculine prerogative, and not to be worn by women even
invisibly under a skirt. Women wore underskirts, and
stockings
gartered around the knee, but no close coverings over the thighs,
belly, or behind. This was true even in periods when sleeves
might be long and tight, necklines fairly high, corseting very tight,
and skirts very full."][674: "Throughout the history of the theater, of
course, female acrobats and dancers wore underpants while
performing. Such undergarments were a feature of theatrical
life
that undoubtedly added strength to the association between sexual
depravity and the stage in the public imagination. Once the
idea
of male sexual definition became attached to the wearing of pants, any
hint of this kind of secret transvestism on the part of women became a
sign of slight sexual perversion, and consequently not only forbidden
but somewhat erotically stimulating. Certain fast court
ladies
and courtesans in sixteenth-century Europe had worn rather elegant
underpants, not for the comfort but for the thrill."][674-675: "In
Paris, the notorious [675] cancan was invented toward the end of the
century to cater to this particular prurient interest, and a great deal
of semipornographic art was produced showing enormous behinds clad in
very elaborate panties. Suggestive underpants have remained a
vulgar erotic preoccupation in modern times, but before the last
quarter of the nineteenth century, the underdrawers made for women were
very simple in cut and modest in trim. The suggestiveness of
black lace, elastic material, or slippery, tight-fitting intimate
clothing for the female rear was only conceived at the end of the
century and exploited after the First World War."]
Langdon-Davies, John. Lady
Godiva: The Future of Nakedness.
London, England: Harper & Brothers, 1929.
[7:"... Lady
Godiva rode through Coventry naked and probably quite
unashamed.
Her husband, who kept his clothes on, was the one who felt
shame.
It is vital for the true understanding of the history of future
civilization to remember this: it is a clue to a great deal
more
of importance to the reader than the reader is likely to suppose."][16:
"At Palm Beach the author has seen a millionaire's daughter removed
almost forcibly from the seashore because she had attempted to bathe
without any stockings on her legs. Skirts and frills all over
were not enough, it would have been dangerous to the onlookers to see a
naked calf. A burly ruffian is kept for this purpose and
finds
his task a whole-time job: no woman, however wealthy, must endanger
Palm Beach by bathing in the sea with bare ankles; and yet there are
many who believe that in America money talks. It does; but
there
are things that money cannot talk down even when, as at Palm Beach, it
uses a megaphone; and one of them is the fear of nakedness even in its
most attenuated forms."][24: "Clearly, then the rule of thumb is that
any part of the body which is customarily clothed is unmentionable,
except in the most general terms, and if our women in England today
covered their faces, we should be guilty of immodesty were we to say,
'she has beautiful eyes' or 'a beautiful chin.' "][24-25: "Very
fortunately there is a border-line case which corroborates this, namely
the female ears. These in days gone by were as often as not
to be
found uncovered; but, thanks to recent habits of hair-dressing, they
are more and more disappearing from sight and they are no longer quite
permissible pegs on which to hang a compliment. Indeed, these
new
fashions of hair-dressing by concealing the female ear have produced a
very interesting case of what psycho-analysts call 'upward [25]
transference,' a symbolic enchantment of their status, and though no
man ever felt modest about his, some women experience an exquisite
sensation from having their revealed in the process of a lover's
caress."][27: "Science, always the destroyer of good breeding, has
discovered or rediscovered the uncomfortable fact that nakedness is a
medicine for the sick and an inspiration for the healthy ..."][28: "In
short, science, the crafty serpent, has begun to tell us that if we
want to be healthy we must begin by taking off our clothes; it has
actually undertaken, in fact, the rehabilitation of
nakedness."][33:"... the real importance for humanity of this new
knowledge about nakedness is not that nakedness will make the diseased
less diseased, but that it will make the healthy more healthy."][37:
"What better epitaph could a simple man require than some such words as
these: 'He helped us to take off our clothes'? And if such an
epitaph as this can be honestly earned by him, the writer of this
little book at least will be able to die happily."][40: "But if we
stare our common fear in the face we find grounds for hope; if we can
show that, like so many other human traits, fear of nakedness is not an
absolute feeling rooted in the nature of things, but a transient
feeling relative to time and space, if we can find that, although our
own society and ourselves are engulfed in this fear, other societies
have been free from it--then we can hope that our society lit by the
light of science and tingling with belief in its own ability to
progress higher, may answer the call of reason and burn its
clothes. And we can most assuredly find evidence enough to
prove
the relativity of the fear of nakedness, it has not always existed; and
in human affairs, if that which exists today once did not exist, then
it is possible for it to cease to exist once more."][52:"... we can
supplement what has already been said in other directions until nobody
can possibly imagine any longer that clothes in their first genesis
were designed to reduce the passions, but that their object then and
now was and is to increase them."][55: "The men of Pongo in northern
Nigeria use natural and sometimes manufactured clothing, but they
refuse to allow their women to affect any kind of clothing at all, and
they give as their reason for this refusal that if the women wore
clothes they would become beautiful and be desired by men of foreign
villages."][55-56:"... evidence can be rounded off by a quotation from
one of the greatest of French novels of manners: readers of
Les
Liaisons Dangereuses will remember that the Marquise de Merteuil wrote
to the Vicomte de Valmont as follows: 'at least when I was alone with
"the faithful servant!" I dressed [56] ... When we reached the Temple
of Love, I chose the most seductive dishabille. It was really
delicious; it is my own invention; it lets nothing be seen and yet
allows everything to be guessed at. I promise you a pattern
for
your Madame de Tourvel when you have rendered her worthy of wearing
it.' Evidently Pongo and Paris are in one mind on the uses of
concealment."][60-61: "But we must return to Saul. The
trouble
seems to have begun with the habits of his home town, Tarshish, whose
ladies excelled all others in the area of their bodies which they
contrived to conceal. They covered every part of their body
so
securely that not only was the whole of their face and head--not to
mention the rest of their bodies--to be guessed at, not seen, but they
themselves could see nothing of the outside [61] world but the road on
which they trod."][74: "The Jesuit Fathers in South America gave the
natives ample dress material to cover everything necessary, but they
cut it all up into strips and decorated their heads with it and tied it
round their necks; and when asked to wear something lower down they
refused point-blank, saying, 'they would be ashamed to do so.'"][76-77:
"The result of these efforts to attack nakedness in its primordial home
is that clothes, with help from trader's alcohol and European cold and
influenza germs, will soon have so depopulated Melanesia that no
natives will be left [77] there to convert. Having no
knowledge
of hygiene and living in a hot damp climate, they lie down in wet
trousers or shirts, because it is Christian to do so, develop
bronchitis and die; and of such is the kingdom of heaven."][113-114:
"But in spite of those strong confessions of faith in the Sermon on the
Mount, history everywhere is stained purple with the blood shed by the
armies of the Prince of Peace, ... Fears, therefore, that 'the nudity
movement' will destroy Christianity are probably groundless, for
Christianity will swallow 'the nudity movement' just as it swallowed
war. ... the time will come when every [114] club for the propagation
of nakedness will have its chaplain."
To be continued.
Bibliography:
Abstracts for Legal Defense--Part
3
We continue with
the third installment of Marvin Frandsen's monumental
compilation. The topic is still fashion.
Langner, Lawrence. The
Importance of Wearing Clothes. Los
Angeles, CA: Elysium Growth Press, 1991. ISBN
#
1-55599-039-8. [39: "Instead of reducing man's sexual desires, it
[invention of clothing] actually inflamed them. Mankind,
striving
to rise above the call of the flesh, became one of the most erotic of
all living creatures because of his clothing."] [39: "This stimulus
resides in (a) the curiosity which is aroused by the habitual wearing
of clothes which keep the naked body from becoming commonplace, and (b)
the erotic impulse which comes into play with the removal of these
clothes. ... while primitive naked peoples are just as much interested
in sex, they lack the immediate sexual stimulus due to the uncovering
of the body."] [41: "among habitually naked primitive peoples,
eroticism due to viewing the opposite sex in the nude is less aroused
as compared with the sexual stimulus due to the nakedness of people who
habitually wear clothes. For example, the men of Pongo,
French
West Africa, refused to allow their women to wear any kind of clothes
because, if they did, the women would become more beautiful and be
desired by the men of other villages. With some habitually
naked
tribes, clothes are won on special occasions for the express purpose of
provoking sexual excitation, as in sexual rites and dances.
...
The custom of both sexes bathing together in the nude which existed in
some parts of Japan, and in nudist colonies in this country and Europe,
is not usually accompanied by increased sexual stimulation, but the
reverse."] [41: "When primitive peoples are unaccustomed to wearing
clothing, putting it on for the first time does not decrease their
immorality, as the ladies of missionary society think it
will. It
has just the opposite effect. It draws attention to the body,
especially to those parts of it which are covered for the first
time." Quoting Arthur Grimble, Research Commissioner of
Gilbert
and Ellice Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, "Clothes may have
originated in the Garden of Eden but they have spoiled a Pacific
paradise. Clothes covering bodies which once went naked, have
contributed to the natives' moral decadence by stimulating a nasty
curiosity which never before existed."] [51: "Contrary to established
beliefs, the differentiation in clothing between men and women arose
from the male's desire to assert superiority over the female and to
hold her to his service. This he accomplished through the
ages by
means of special clothing which hampered or handicapped the female in
her movements."] [51-52: "In order to maintain his masculine domination
as head of the family and food provider, man invented 'man-clothes'
which were the exclusive property of the male sex, gave him complete
mobility and made him feel superior to his woman. He also
devised
'woman-clothes' for the female which made it difficult for her to
wander far from the camp fire and the children. ... her apparel became
a badge of servitude."] [52-53: "How were men able to use clothing to
demonstrate the male's superiority over the female, giving him greater
mobility while hampering her in her movements? This was
accomplished in Western civilization by providing divided garments such
as trousers, knicker-bockers and so forth, or pleated kilts, or tunics,
which permitted free movement for the male, while the female was forced
to wear hampering skirts and dresses which impeded her
movements.
In this way the male covered her and hobbled her at the same
time. Later on he handicapped her still further in other
ways,
such as by dresses with hampering trains, and by high-heeled shoes
which made walking a kind of acrobatic feat."] [53-54: "In the East the
sexes often reversed their clothes. The woman usually wore
trousers or pantaloons, but to prevent her free movement, her feet were
bound and crippled, as in old China, or her steps were limited by her
kimono in Japan, or her ankles were shackled, or her sandals were
provided with stilts, or her face and body were heavily veiled, as in
Arab countries. And the main purpose of all these customs and
customs was to make it difficult for her to run away. Thus,
by
imposing confining garments on woman, or by otherwise hobbling her, man
was enabled almost universally to keep her in a state of inferiority
and subjugation to him as a personal possession."] [57-59: "If any man
reading this feels I have been unfair to his sex regarding the
hampering purpose of women's dress, let him essay a little adventure
... Experiment with wearing women's clothes, and see if you do not
experience a feeling of embarrassment and restraint. ... But
try
to walk freely in the skirt and you will find that each step forward
requires you to move a load of the material with your knees.
The
skirt also limits your stride and forces you to walk with a shorter
step. You cannot open your knees freely when sitting down, as
you
are sharply restrained by the width of the skirt. ... But try wearing a
very full skirt. You will experience the feeling of walking
around inside a large textile bag or tent. Your woman friends
will tell you that they become used to this, but if they are truthful
they will agree that long skirts are not the best garments for working
in, or running up and down stairs, or walking in the woods.
Assuredly the skirt is not a very good invention for woman's comfort,
but an excellent one for keeping her 'in her place.' ... Male garments
may not be 'pretty,' but they do not hamper free movement."] [67: "The
first request Joan of Arc made of the Dauphin was that she be permitted
to wear male clothing. She was thus freed from the
inhibitions
which accompany the wearing of skirts, and ultimately made herself the
supreme commander of the French forces."] [73: "In old China, exposure
of the upper-class women's tiny feet was regarded as most
indecent. Chinese women's feet were even unmentionable in
polite
society because they were considered the most sexually stimulating
parts of the body."] [73: "In parts of the Dutch East Indies, where
women customarily displayed their breasts without the least sense of
immodesty, a Dutch governor some years ago ordered the women to cover
them on the streets. The women complied with the law by
lifting
up their skirts and draping them over their breasts when they saw a
Dutch official coming their way, thus displaying an area of nakedness
which was considerably more embarrassing to the Dutch."] [76: "Until
the 1920's in the Western world, the exposure of women's legs up to the
knees was the height of immodesty for literally thousands of
years. Suddenly this taboo went out of fashion and legs came
into
view without explosive results. Female legs are now largely
uncovered, and the sight of ankles no longer produces violent
indignation or shock as in our grandmother's day."] [77: "Our change of
attitude towards earlier and stricter rules of modesty in clothing
during the past twenty-five years has been largely due to the healthful
practice of sun-bathing which has spread all over the United States and
elsewhere where the climate permits. The modern cult of
sun-bathing originated in Leysin, Switzerland, where Dr. Charles
Rollier effected cures in the treatment of tuberculosis and other
diseases by subjecting his patients to beneficent doses of the sun's
rays."] [78: "Benjamin Franklin stated he was in the habit of rising
every morning and reading or writing in his chamber without any clothes
on for one half to one hour, according to the season, so as to get the
benefit of a cold air bath. In this practice he was followed
by
Thoreau."] [81-82: "As compared with normal sun bathers who do not
practice nudism, the nudists point to the experience of a French
physician, Dr. Lastours, who made extensive experiments in exposing
patients--men, women, and children--to the sun for fifteen days
entirely naked and for fifteen days wearing drawers of fine white
linen. His records reveal a greater rise in the weight graph
and
improved morale corresponding to the periods of complete
nudity."] [82-83: "One of the most important arguments in
favor
of nudism is its value in proper sex education for children.
Dr.
H. Forel, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, stated that prudery can be
created or cured by education in childhood. It may be cured
by
mixed bathing, by accustomizing the child to consider the human body in
all parts and functions as something of which one need not be
ashamed."] [83: "It is often assumed that if we lived in a
nudist
world, our nakedness would produce such excessive sexual stimulation
that we would all rush to cover our bodies in order to
survive.
Hence the widely held but mistaken belief that the effect of wearing
clothes is to inhibit sexual stimulation. It is now well
established that the contrary is true."] [84: "And since
obscenity is in the eye of the beholder, the Pecksniffs in our midst
have often hauled the nudists to court for indecent exposure when they
should more properly have brought the members of their own
congregations to court for indecent thinking, or for wearing clothes
which were sexually overstimulating."] [84: "... in the year
1957
there were approximately 30,000 registered nudists in this country
..."] [89: "The claim that nudist society has no delinquency problem is
entirely accurate. Were we to apply the national average, the
nudists would be entitled to no more than three hundred delinquency
arrests a year, and still be no worse off than the general
public. The nudist record, however, is much better than
that. As a matter of fact it is near perfect. A
number of
nudist juveniles, over the years, have been guilty of such offenses as
joy-riding, or petty theft. The number of these might be two
dozen in the past twenty years. In the matter of sexual
delinquency on the other hand, not a single case has ever come to my
attention in all my experience, and believe me, I have my ear to the
ground."] [177: "In the city of New York, women are not permitted to
wear shorts which expose too much of their legs, presumably under
Section 1140 of the Penal Law already referred to in connection with
'indecent exposure.' "] [180: "When Directoire skirts and hobble skirts
were first worn, police escorts had to be called out. The
same
thing happened when girls first wore knickerbockers for cycling, as
well as the first time women wore one-piece bathing suits, when the
demonstrations were so numerous on the New Jersey coast that special
police had to be stationed on the beaches."] [320: "A hotly debated
moral issue throughout most of the nineteenth century was whether women
had the right to wear any decorative form of underclothes under the
traditional plain linen or flannel petticoats. Attention was
specifically directed toward bifurcated undergarments on the lower
parts of the female anatomy such as knickers or, later,
panties.
With little biblical text to support them, but with much righteous
indignation, ecclesiastics and moralists alike condemned such garments
as being 'against the laws of God.' " ] [324: "Immodesty in
women's dress was also officially sanctioned in France after the
Revolution when the extravagances of the aristocrats of the 1780's were
totally abandoned in favor of a very spartan mode of attire that not
only displayed the wearers' naked breasts, rouged nipples and bare
legs, but also their neatly trimmed and decorated public hair--a mode
which has so shocked many costume historians that it has been omitted
from most books on the subject."] [324-325: "Most fashion
historians also avoid mentioning many immodest forms of menswear worn
during earlier periods, such as that detailed by Chaucer who wrote that
many men's garments were 'horribly scanty--too short to cover their
shameful members.' He was, in fact, referring to the
continuing
fashion for wearing a short tunic, with tight-fitting netherhosen, that
was often left unseamed around the underbody line--a fashion first
introduced by high-ranking nobles during the reign of Edward
IV.
If, however, the aristocratic male genitals of the mid-fourteenth
century were not of sufficient size to make a distinguished display,
they wore a braquette--an explicit glove-like device made of natural
skin-colored leather that was tailored to fit a well-padded penis and
scrotum. To preserve the exclusivity of this form of explicit
sexual display, Edward had a law passed in 1348 prohibiting any person
under the rank of a lord 'from wearing any gowne, jaket or cloke unless
it be of sufficient length on a man standing uprite, to cover his privy
member and buttokkes.'"] [344: "... the very thought of being
naked, except in our most intimate moments, so embarrasses
most
of us that we still call on our lawmakers to protect us from viewing
others in such a state. We seem to exhibit a phobia about
nakedness that was not present in earlier civilizations--a phobia that
serves to keep us from accepting ourselves as we really are."]
Levy, Leonard W. Blasphemy,
Verbal Offense Against the Sacred,
from Moses to Salman Rushdie. New
York: Knopf Publisher,
1993. 690 pps. ISBN 0-679-40236-5. [173: "Driven by
religious exaltation and devotion to the cross, they [Quakers]
reproached other Christians by going naked in public 'for a
sign.' Baxter acknowledged that it was 'a Prophetical act,'
but
he did not realise its significance. As Fox told the vicar of
Ulverston in 1652, God made a Quaker 'goe naked amongst you a figure of
thy nakedness ... before your destruction cometh ... that you might see
that your [you're] naked from the truth.' The Quaker leaders
did
not reprove the practice, rooted in Isaiah 20:3, for it also showed a
central trait of early Quakerism: the denial of self-will or the
evidence of humility before the cross."][257: "One woman walked stark
naked into a church service, and still another paraded that way in a
street in Salem. Both naked women witnessed to the spiritual
nakedness of congregationalism. Their brutal punishments by
the
saints of the Bay Colony pass belief."] [306: "Lord Chief
Justice
John Holt, the great jurist himself, presided. After
conviction,
Read moved in arrest of judgment on the ground that the court had no
jurisdiction over a matter that constituted no crime at common
law. Holt sustained him, declaring that the ecclesiastical
courts
had exclusive jurisdiction. 'If we have no precedent,' he
ruled,
'we cannot punish. Shew me any precedent.' The
parties had
disagreed about the meaning of the 1663 case of Sir Charles Sedley,
whose outrageous, drunken behavior included 'preaching Blasphemy to the
People,' publicly exposing himself, and 'throwing down bottles (pist
in) vi et armis [with force and violence] among the
people.26' In
response to the crown's argument that Sedley's case provided the
necessary precedent for the criminality of obscenity, Justice John
Powell said that Read's case 'is for bawdy stuff, that reflects on no
person; and a libel must be against some particular person or persons,
or against the government. It is stuff not fit to be
mentioned
publicly. If there is no remedy in the Spiritual court, it
does
not follow there must be a remedy here. There is no law to
punish
it. I wish there were; but we cannot make law. It
indeed
tends to the corruption of good manners, but that is not sufficient for
us to punish. As to the case of sir Charles Sedley, there was
something more in that case than shewing his naked body in the balcony;
for that case was quod vi et armis he pissed down upon the people's
heads.27' Read's case demonstrated that obscenity constituted
no
crime at common law, and that Sedley's crime consisted in violent
behavior rather than obscenity or, for that matter, rather than mere
blasphemy."][308: "Not even physical nudity was regarded as obscene
until the next century. Two similar cases show the change in
public, or legal, understanding of obscenity. In 1733, just a
few
years after the decision in Curll's case a woman was prosecuted for
running in public naked to the waist. Despite the
government's
reliance on the Sedley and Curll precedents, and the contention that
the woman's nudity violated good morals, the indictment was quashed,
'for nothing appears immodest or unlawful.'31 In 1809,
however, a
man was convicted for bathing nude in public, although the judges
discharged him because 'this is the first prosecution of this sort in
modern times.'32 "][631: "26: Rex v. Sedley (1663), in State
Trials, vol. 16, p. 155."][631: "27. Queen v. Read (1708), Fortescue's
Reports 98; reported also in 'Case of Edmund Curll' (1727), State
Trials, vol. 17, pp. 155, 157; Holt and Powell at p. 157."][631:
"31. King v. Gallard, Kelynge's English Crown Cases 163
(1733)."][631: "32. Rex v. Cruden, 2 Campbell's Nisi Prius Reports 89
(1809)."]
Harding, Walter. A
Thoreau Handbook. New York, NY:
Anchor, 1976. p. 121 [121: Musing at boys bathing in a river,
Thoreau wrote in his journal: "What a singular fact for an
angel
visitant to this earth to carry back in his notebook, that men were
forbidden to expose their bodies under the severest penalties."
(Thoreau 92).]
Hollander, Anne. "Fashion in Nudity." Georgia Review
30.3,
642-702 (1976). [Even in the same culture, taboos about what
parts of the body could or could not be revealed have changed radically
over time.]
Laver, Modesty in Dress,
Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1969. [9:
Dominant idea that clothing is necessary for reasons of modesty is a
cultural assumption. It is an assumption that is not shared
by
all cultures, nor by all members of our own culture.][9: "Modesty, in
fact, can be quite independent of clothing, for as Havelock Ellis
observes, 'many races which go absolutely naked possess a highly
developed sense of modesty'. And Im Thurn, who made a
detailed
study of the Indians of Guiana, was convinced that modesty is 'in its
origins independent of clothing ... Physiological modesty takes
precedence of anatomical modesty; and the primary factors of modesty
were probably developed long before the discovery of either ornaments
or garments.' "] [9: "Even if exposure of part of the body causes
shame, it is not always the same part. European travelers in
the
Middle East have often noted that an Arab peasant woman caught in the
fields without her veil will throw her skirt over her head, thereby
exposing what, to the Western mind, is a much more embarrassing part of
her anatomy. In pre-revolutionary China it was considered
shameful for a woman to show her foot. In Japan the same was
true
of the back of a woman's neck, and in other countries the knees, the
navel, the finger tips and other seemingly innocent parts of the female
body have been regarded in the same way. In such a
sophisticated
society as that of eighteenth-century France, where deep decolletage
was allowed, it was considered improper to expose the point of the
shoulder."][11: "Some earlier anthropologists were inclined to believe
that it was male jealousy which endowed women with clothes.
They
pointed out that in some primitive communities it was the married woman
who was clothed in order to conceal her body from other men's eyes, the
unmarried girl being allowed to run about almost naked. But
this
situation does not arise in the stage of savagery, but in the stage of
barbarism when woman has become man's property. The ultimate
term
of this use of clothing as concealment is reached with the veiled women
of Islam."][12: "E.B. Hurlock notes that 'when primitive peoples are
unaccustomed to wearing clothing, putting it on for the first time does
not decrease their immorality, as the ladies of missionary societies
think it will. It has just the opposite effect. It
draws
attention to the body, especially for those parts of it which are
covered for the first time.' Many anthropologists would
support
this view and would add that, when habitually naked tribes do wear
clothes, they do so for the express purpose of increasing sexual
stimulation, as in fertility dances and the rites of spring.
But
the whole question of 'dressing up to dance' must be left to a later
chapter."] [13: "In dealing with modesty, for instance, we often find
the same phenomenon evokes both desire and disgust. When the
bikini first appeared on European beaches, it undoubtedly produced
erotic emotions in younger men. Some of the older men and
nearly
all the older women were disgusted; and their disgust seems to have
been quite genuine. We even hear of people being made
'physically
ill' by what seemed to them an excessive amount of bare flesh."][25:
"In the early '20's, in the State of Utah, a bill was promoted
providing fines and imprisonment for those women who wore on the
streets 'skirts higher than three inches above the ankle'. In
Virginia it was proposed to forbid any woman to wear blouses or evening
gowns which displayed 'more than three inches of her throat'.
Ohio was even more severe, limiting the decolletage to two inches, and
the same State legislature was asked in addition to prevent the sale of
any 'garment which unduly displays or accentuates the lines of the
female figure' and to prohibit any 'female over fourteen years of age'
from wearing 'a skirt which does not reach to the part of the foot
known as the instep'."][27: "It is really a rather astonishing fact of
social history that all sumptuary laws are always
ineffective.
State and Church, and Puritan moralists of all shades of opinion, have
tried to control fashion and all their efforts have ended in
failure."][28: "Then, in a single generation, everything
changed.
In the fourteenth century there was a sudden realization that clothes,
instead of mere wrappings, could be used to attract the attention, and
influence the choice, of the other sex; and in little more than a
decade were invented the three devices on which Fashion has played
infinite variations ever since: tight-lacing, decolletage and
striking head-dresses. ... instead of the dress concealing the throat,
it was cut away to reveal much of the bosom."][29: "Decolletage,
indeed, had been discovered to be the most potent weapon in the
feminine armory and it can be plainly seen where here one would least
expect it: on a sepulchral monument. In actual
life, as we
know from contemporary records, it was carried to much more daring
lengths, sometimes involving the complete exposure of the
breasts. Even when only the neck and throat were exposed,
this
was so daring a departure from the doctrine of modesty which the Church
had so long imposed, that it could only mean that a new spirit was in
the air. Decolletage is as much a sign of the first dawn of
the
Renaissance as the novels of Boccaccio. Life was opening like
a
flower, and clothes were responding with a symbolic gesture, as they
always do."][39: "Curiously enough, the eighteenth century was prudish
about shoulders. The corsage might be cut so low that it was
hardly decent without a fichu, but no respectable woman ever appeared
in public with the point of the shoulder exposed."][39: "Legs had a
short outing in the 1830s to vanish again in the '40s, when it became
improper even to refer to them. On the other hand, early
Victorian modes, which gave a general impression of prudishness,
allowed a straight-across decolletage for evening which would have been
considered highly improper in the eighteenth century."][40: "All this,
however, was nothing to the horror evoked by the post-war styles of the
'20s. Women were showing their legs, and it was not a mere
matter
of glimpsing an ankle but of being presented with the spectacle of
knees. The present age, which has pushed the hem-line even
higher, finds it difficult to understand the excitement this
caused. Nothing like it had ever been seen before in the
whole
history of civilized costume. Certainly if any woman had
walked
out into the street in 1915 in the clothes of 1925 she would have been
arrested for indecent exposure. Even in the '20's
the new
'immoral' fashions were fiercely denounced, but women continued to wear
them. And then, in 1930, legs suddenly became a
bore. As
the psychologists say, they had 'exhausted their erotic capital', and
the emphasis shifted to the back of the dress, or rather to what would
have been the back of the dress if it had not been
'backless'."]
[40: "Having lived through these changes, the present author
endeavored, in the late '30s, to draw up a chart. This laid
it
down that the same dress is indecent ten years before its time, daring
one year before its time, chic (chic being defined as contemporary
seductiveness) in its time, dowdy three years after its time, hideous
twenty years after its time, amusing thirty years after its time,
romantic a hundred years after its time and beautiful a hundred and
fifty years after its time."][79: "In the earliest civilization of
which detailed records have come down to us--the Egyptian--servants
seem to have worn no clothes at all, or very few. In the wall
paintings the female slaves whoare tending the guests at a banquet are
wearing a decorded girdle resting loosely on the hips. Male
attendants are provided with a thin loin-cloth and sometimes not even
that. The wearing of clothes at that epoch was itself a class
distinction."][96: "If we accept the theory of the Shifting Erogenous
Zone we must admit that nearly all women's clothes are an exploitation
of immodesty."][97: "Fashion really begins with the discovery in the
fourteenth century that clothes could be used as a compromise between
exhibitionism and modesty. The aim of fashion ever since has
been
the exposure of, or the emphasis upon, the various portions of the
female body taken in series."][97: "the main fact that emerges from the
experience of nudists in modern times is that while the imaginative
contemplation of the naked body may be a highly erotic proceeding, the
actual experience is exactly the reverse. It is not a matter
of
beauty or ugliness, but simply that the eye becomes so accustomed to
the naked human body that this ceases to have any meaning to the
imagination at all. Since the relaxation of prudery during
the
last twenty years or so, even the costumes of the lighter stage have
exhibited the same law; in fact, men have become so used to seeing
certain parts of the female body exposed that they no longer get any
excitement out of the spectacle at all. In 1900 old gentlemen
used to faint with emotion when they caught a passing glimpse of a
female ankle. The modern young man can contemplate without
emotion the entire area of the female leg and a considerable portion of
the female stomach. In the 1920s for the first time for many
hundreds of years, the female leg was exposed to general view ..."][97:
"In short, the female body consists of a series of sterilised zones,
which are those exposed by the fashion which is just going out, and an
erogenous zone, which will be the point of interest for the fashion
which is just coming in. This erogenous zone is always
shifting
and it is the business of fashion to pursue it, without ever actually
catching it up. It is obvious that if you really catch it up
you
are immediately arrested for indecent exposure. If you almost
catch it up you are celebrated as a leader of fashion. The
fashion that is coming in is always rather daring, the fashion which is
going out is always rather dowdy, that is, it has exhausted its
accumulation of erotic capital."][97-98: "In very primitive times
erotic appeal was established by putting on clothes but, as son as it
became [97] the general custom habitually to cover the greater part of
the female body, the removal of certain parts of the costume could be
used as a sexual stimulant."][128: "In primitive communities, of
course, the question does not arise: children are left to run
about naked until the age of puberty. Indeed, the attitude of
all
savage societies to children was permissive in the extreme.
They
were never beaten; and missionaries have sometimes in the past found
themselves in considerable danger from the adult members of the tribe
when they have presumed to 'correct' the pupils in their schools by
methods accepted without question at Eton and Harrow."][129-130: "The
Ancient Egyptians had reached a high stage of culture and may have had
their own ideas about what was 'not nice'. But nudity was
certainly not included; for when we look at Egyptian wall-paintings we
can see that not only the servants but the young princesses wore no
clothes at all. The Ancient Greeks had a similar attitude,
for
although boys and girls were provided with simple garments, they
invariably took them off [130] when exercising in the
gymnasium.
After all, that is what the word 'gymnasium' means. The
Greeks
had no horror of the body. Such horror seems to have been a
Semite peculiarity, for the young in Assyrian bas-reliefs are almost as
much bedizened with fringed shawls as their elders."][130: "When the
greater part of the world reverted to barbarism, the children of
peasants were once more free to run about naked. They
probably
did so in this country at least into Anglo-Saxon times ..."][145: "The
history of bathing costumes is very curious, for, after all, the only
sensible costume for bathing in is no costume at all. The
Greeks
and Romans would have thought it madness to put on clothes in order to
get them wet. In the Middle Ages both sexes bathed together
naked
in the bath houses in spite of the strictness of the Church, which
regarded such institutions as little better than brothels."][146: "In
the late eighteenth century people began to bathe in the sea: a
'watering place' ceased to be a town like Bath and became a town like
Brighton. At first sexes were segregated and bathed naked, as
can
be seen from some of the caricatures of Rowlandson, but the practice
was less startling than it might seem because of the bathing machines
which were provided with an umbrella-like awning. This made
it
possible to descend into the water without being seen. Men
long
continued to bath naked, but women began to be provided in the early
years of Victoria's reign with a kind of ample poncho with a hole in
the middle, or a large cloak tied round the neck. This spread
out
on the surface of the water to a considerable distance, leaving the
limbs at liberty beneath."][160-161: "What might be called secular
nudism, on the other hand, has shown a startling expansion in the last
half century. Beginning in Germany before the advent of
Hitler,
the cult spread rapidly all over Europe. At the present day
it is
estimated that a quarter of a million Germans practice nudism with the
approval, or at least with the permission, of the
authorities.
There are even public nudist beaches, notably that at Absersiwien, on
the island of Sylt, near the Danish-German frontier. France
has
its famous Ile de Levant, near Toulon. In England there are
said
to be fifty clubs catering for ten thousand nudists; and in America
there are approximately thirty thousand registered nudists.
There
are even Naturist conventions, sun-bathing queens and nudist
marriages. Sometimes there is trouble with the local
authorities,
but the United States courts have, on the whole, upheld private nudist
camps and nudist magazines. Those who have visited such camps
have been unanimous in their verdict that they are well conducted and
give no cause for scandal of any kind. So we arrive at the
paradoxical conclusion that the only way in which we can be cleansed of
the Pride of Life and (almost) cleansed of the Lust of the Eye, is to
wear no clothes at all."]
"Politicians, Corporate Executives Already Live in a Clothes-Optional
World." Clothed
with the Sun 2.2, 6 (1982). [Senator Edward
Kennedy has been photographed skinnydipping at public beaches in
Florida. At the White House of his brother, John F. Kennedy,
nudity had been common around the White House pool.]
Renbourn, E.T. Materials
and Clothing in Health and Disease:
History, Physiology and Hygiene. London: H. K.
Lewis & Co.
Ltd., 1982. British Standard Book No. 0 7186 0377 X. [473:
"Nudity is the garb of primitive man in the tropics and may be accepted
in spite of desert heat or mild near-zero cold. In the early
Christian church, nudity was accepted as being proper for
baptism. With the naturist, nudity is a means of escaping
from
self-consciousness and obtaining stimulation by the elements of sun and
moving air."][478:" Women in general are unsafe to men, and amongst
primitives there is a widespread tabu of the sexes eating
together. A similar fear may explain separation of the sexes
at
menstruation and birth. There are even tabu states associated
with sexual intercourse. Women may transmit the dangerous
state
through any form of clothing. In the villages of Cambodia, a
wife
may not use the pillow or mattress of her husband. It is
considered unlucky in the villages of Thailand for a man to pass under
a woman's clothing hung out to dry. The bed is seldom shared
amongst certain natives of East Africa. This is due to the
fact
that the breath of the wife may damage the health of the
husband.
In the Marquesas Islands the use of canoes is prohibited to the female
sex by tabu. Tapa-making, however, belongs exclusively to
women
and it is tabu for the men to touch it. In Samoa the
manufacture
of cloth was allowed only to the men. The Abyssinian man is
not
allowed to do the shopping but is responsible for washing the clothes
of both sexes and the woman is not allowed to help. In Borneo
it
was believed that simply to stand on an article of clothing worn by a
woman made the man weak and useless for hunting, fishing and
war.
The Basuto women are subject to witchcraft and wear aprons for
protection. In fact, the wearing of coverings for the
genitals
and even the buttocks is in no way related to hygiene or modesty but
acts as protection against the entry of dangerous, magical spirits
which may impair fertility. As mentioned earlier, this may
have
been the purpose of the primitive hip girdle from which protective
shells or aprons could be suspended. In some parts of Africa,
women wear not a genital curtain but one over the buttocks.
In a
number of figurines of prehistoric Venus, one may find a similar
buttock curtain with no obvious cover in front. In certain
parts
of the world, primitive natives wear a shell over the prepuce of the
penis as a form of magical protection, the rest of the genitals being
unashamedly uncovered. In the New Hebrides the men adopt the
closest secrecy with regard to the penis. The is not due to
any
sense of modesty but [479] to avoid 'narak', the sight of a penis, even
that of another man being considered highly dangerous. For
this
reason the organ is wrapped around with many yards of cloth, winding
and folding it until an absurd bundle almost two feet in length is
produced. Yet the testicles are free to the open air and
insects."][483: "It is often assumed that modesty in clothing, as
practised in Europe, arose from the teachings of the Hebrew prophets or
the early Church Fathers. However, it is certain that in the
first few centuries of the Christian era nudity was accepted as not
necessarily being sinful, and baptism in the nude was frequently
carried out in the rivers of Europe. If the Church Fathers
insisted on the sinfulness of cleanliness, of public baths and nudity,
this certainly, in the early days, was related to the sexual excesses
of the dying Roman Empire."][485: "Nudity as already noted was not
unduly frowned upon by the early Christian Church but when the public
was forbidden to visit the open baths, religious nudity, behind the
scenes, was continued by such sects as the Adamites, Turlupins and the
Flagellants. Much earlier, nudity was practised by the
Essenes. This practice of nudity was linked to the idea that
if
the nude body was not sinful before the fall of Eden, then one might be
closer to God appearing before Him as one was born. Although
the
Muslims deemed it a sin to be in the nude, the final circumbalation of
the Ka'Bala, the most holy place at Mecca, was formerly carried out,
like early Christian baptism, in the nude."][498: "The attitude of
prehistoric man to the body of his women is of course not known, but
his cave paintings show that he was, at least, interested and
understood her anatomy. To some extent this seems true of
primitive man today who, strangely enough, does not appear to have the
same intense erotic interest in the female body as is found in
civilized people. As far as can be made out, primitive man is
not
particularly enamoured of the hemispherical breast so beloved of man
throughout the whole of civilized existence. If anything,
primitive man seems to have a penchant for the dropping breasts which,
in his women, are common after breast feeding numerous infants up to
the second or third year of life or later."][498-499: "The female
breast in Europe was sometimes completely bare as typically seen in
primitive people until the advent of the missionary. Bare
breasts, however, sometimes appeared in classical periods.
The
Ancient Egyptians loved the female breast, partly for its beauty and
partly as a symbol of fertility. This may explain the large
pendant breasts seen in figurines of primitive Venus or the 'earth
goddess'. At the festival of Hathor, the cow-headed goddess,
the
breasts of the Egyptian priestesses were bared to the
worshipers.
Throughout civilized times the breast or nipples have been
[499]
painted red or covered with gold as an erotic device. It is
however not generally known that, behind the scenes, nipple rings
'anneax de sein' have occasionally been in fashion even up to the end
of the last century."][499: "Although till recently the female breast
in primitive races was free for all to view, the Naga women of Assam
formerly covered the breast and left the rest of the body quite
nude. When asked for an explanation, one was told that it was
stupid to cover those parts--the genitals--that were seen by everybody
from babyhood onwards. Since, on the other hand, the breast
of
the mature woman was something fairly new, it should of course be
covered from prying eyes."][500: "It has been often suggested that the
primitive savage does not understand sexual modesty. However,
all
who have studied him intimately agree that sexual modesty may be well
marked even if the clothing cover is negligible or completely
absent."][507: "In the early days of the Church, nudity was accepted as
symbolizing purity of the period before the advent of the
serpent. Baptism was not infrequently carried out in the
nude.
... The Church accepted nudity in art in order to denote the symbolism
of purity, pain and humiliation."][507-508: "In spite of the climate of
Europe, nudity was fairly widespread amongst the Ancient Britons and
other people of Northern Europe. Even during the 17th century
and
later, travelers such as Coryat and Fynes Moryson found the Irish
people content to live in the nude or semi-nude indoors. The
women were [508] sometimes asked to reveal themselves for the important
visitor. Strangely enough this custom of nudity in Northern
Europe has remained to the present time as seen in the mixed, nude
bathing of Russia and the Scandinavian countries."][517: "In the
earlier centuries the breasts were sometimes completely exposed; in
Victorian times a good deal of 'cleavage' of the bosom was
accepted."][531: "The Japanese accept the sight of nude men and women
in the public bath as a matter of course but are shocked by the
'topless' line and the 'see-through' dress."][532: "Throughout the ages
the sophisticated harlot did not entice by nudity but by a delicate and
judicious exposure of the body, mainly hidden by clothing."][542:
"Figure 28.1. Topless Line or See-Through Blouse?
Celestial
beings: Apsarus and servants, from the frescoes in a gallery
in
the rock-citadel of Sigiriya, Ceylon, end of 5th century A.D.
It
is not clear whether the women are wearing 'see-through' blouses which
were used at this period. Similar wall paintings are seen in
the
caves of Ajunta in India."][543: "On the other hand the 'topless line'
with exposed breasts was first seen in Minoan Crete, appeared
occasionally during the 15th to the 18th centuries ..."][543: "We have
already noted the 'see-through' blouses of the 5c A.D.
Ceylon.
The fashion reappeared in the 'Empire Look' at the turn of the last
century as has been seen periodically during the fashion parades of the
1960s. One can thus hardly ascribe exposure or semi-exposure
of
the woman's body to the contraceptive pill of the present
decade."][543: "We might mention in passing that the mini-skirt is
nothing new for men, for it was common in men of Ancient Egypt, where
it was seen as a sort of short skirt or loin-cloth, and later became
the normal wear of Greek and Roman men during exercise or
sport.
Greek and Roman soldiers, with few exceptions, always wore the
skirt. We may thus say that even the mini-skirt has been
stolen
from the male sex."][555: "With the advent of the white missionary, the
Polynesian women were urged to cover their nudity with a loose dress
which became known as the Mother Hubbard. At first unpopular,
this became changed from a monochrome cotton to a flowered design
fabric with the addition of ruffles and pleats. Today it is
called the 'Moomoo' in the Hawaiian islands and has become the national
costume. American tourists often take this costume home, not
realizing that it is normally imported from Connecticut."
Ribeiro, Aileen. Dress
and Morality. New York: Holmes
and Meier, 1986. ISBN 0-8419-1091-X. [20: "In
Sparta, for
example, many were startled by the revealing dress of the Spartan
women, known as the 'hip-showing ones' (their austere Doric peplos was
open at the side), and even more so at their love of stripping off for
wrestling."][20: Although by the seventh century B.C., nude athletics
were common in Athens, women did not take part, and thus the Spartan
women were regarded as unique; Plato, however, proposed in his Republic
that Greek women should exercise in the nude."][21: "War with Persia,
the ordeal which matured Greek civilization, also helped to introduce
eastern clothing, tighter-fitting and more complex in cut.
Not
for the first time in the history of dress, the east was attacked by
contemporaries for inspiring decadent, luxurious clothing, which
included tailored and fitted garments like trousers and sleeves, and
even decorated silk garments all of which was quite unlike the original
Greek purity in dress. Even those who wore Ionian dress could
be
called unpatriotic, as the Ionian Greeks were allied to Persia, and
Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War tells us that by the
middle of the fifth century, some women were returning to 'simple
woollen garments in the Dorian style.' Many conservative
Greeks
regarded wrapping up the limbs in Ionian dress 'as a vile innovation,
tending to luxury and lasciviousness.' "][22: "Writing his satires in
the early second century A.D., Juvenal (about whom we know very little)
harks back to what he considers to be the moral and thrifty past of the
early Republic. He attacks philosophers for their
homosexuality,
and ultra-fashionable lawyers whose dress verges on the effeminate:
'But where will men draw the limit When they see a high-born advocate
dress in transparent chiffon To prosecute loose-living
women.'
Such men he later describes as 'walking transparencies', the
implication being that they are wearing see-through silk
garments."][22: "Although as early as the fourth century B.C.,
Alexander the Great had introduced long sleeves from Persian dress,
they were for many hundreds of years regarded as effeminate.
Suetonius delicately hints at Julius Caesar's homosexuality, or at
least his over-dandified appearance, as he wore wrist-length sleeves to
his tunic. Not until the end of the second century A.D., with
the
Emperor Commodus (180-193) was the sleeved tunic acceptable."][45: "...
one French chronicler attributing the defeat of his countrymen at the
battle of Crecy (1346) to their pride in the latest fashions which God
punished. Not only did they wear gowns gathered or pleated at
the
sides--'fronciees sur les rains comme femmes', but their tunics were so
short that they revealed their genitals, especially when bending down
before their lords:"][47: "The devil also features in a story
demonstrating the wickedness of cosmetics, a crime far worse than
committing adultery. A knight saw in a dream his deceased
wife
suffering torments in hell because in life she had plucked her
eyebrows, and the hair on the top of her forehead, 'to make her selff
the fayrer to the plesinge of the worlde'. For every hair she
had
plucked out, the devil thrust a burning awl or needle into her brain,
while another devil smeared her face with hot pitch, oil and tar
because she had 'peinted her visage.' "][47: "... the enchantress in
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (c. 1370) tries, unsuccessfully, to
tempt the hero not just with her best clothes and jewels, but with 'hir
brest bare bifore, and behinde eke', and the French poet Eustache
Deschamps in the 1380s believed that such low necklines drove many men
to think of rape."][47: "By the end of the century, the short tight
tunics worn by men and attacked for many years by the moralists had
reached their limits of brevity. Hose with separate legs and
tying with laces to the waist gave way to an all-in-one garment like
our modern tights."][52: {In the late 14th century}"Women's gowns
became increasingly tight-fitted over the bust, some gowns with front
openings even revealing the nipples, and the waist was emphasized by a
wide belt with decorative jeweled buckle."][80: {In the early
1600s}"Not only did Anne of Denmark like fast farthingales, but she was
inordinately prod of her white bosom which was revealed in the low-cut
gowns worn at court. The Venetian ambassador, in a famous
dispatch in 1617, described the queen as wearing a farthingale four
feet in width under a dress which displayed her bosom 'bare down to the
pit of the stomach'; it was the fashion, he says, generally for 'the
plump and bosom (to) display their bosoms very liberally', and it may
be a reference to this propensity that is meant when he states that
English women dress 'so well and lasciviously as to defy
exaggeration'."][80: "Thomas Tuke in his A Treatise Against Painting
(1616) denounces women for their breasts 'layd forth to mens view', and
for this use of cosmetics; cochineal reddens the nipples and blue veins
are painted to emphasize the white skin of the bosom. The
burden
of his tract is that women spend more time 'in powdring, pranking and
painting, than praying.' "] [82: "There is an early reference to this
fashion in Taylor's A Glasse for Gentlewomen to dresse themselves by
(1624) where he attacks women for baring 'their armes beyond that which
is fit for every one to behold'. This seems a surprising and
unwarranted attack until it is realized that, although women had often
worn very tight sleeves, their arms had not been revealed, in public at
least, since classical antiquity; the bare arm was to the 1630s what
the ankle was to the Victorians."][82: "Other ways in which
women
could tempt men, were by revealing as much of their breasts as
possible, a fashion which remained popular throughout the seventeenth
century, even during the Interregnum. The breast was either
pushed up by boned stays, or revealed in
deshabille.
Brathwait exhorted women to 'eye those rising mounts, your displayed
breasts, with what shamelesse art they wooe the shamefaste passenger
...' This had obviously no effect, for a number of tracts
published during Puritan rule continued to denounce low necklines which
revealed the bosom. 'This laying out of naked Breasts, is a
temptation to sinne, both in the Actor and the vaine Spectator', stated
one author in 1654; 'those who have their garments made on such a
fashion, that their necks and breasts are in great part left naked' ...
'invite customers, by setting open their shop windows.' The
treatise quoted from, Divers Reasons and Arguments Against Painting,
Spots, naked Backs, Breasts, Arms &c, was in the main an attack
on
beauty spots, tiny black velvet spots in the shapes of stars, hearts,
etc. which fashionable women placed on their faces and breasts ..."]
[118: "One example, from the Lady's Magazine for 1794, will suffice; a
young man walking one evening in the Strand accosted a girl he thought
was a prostitute, for she was 'dressed in an elegant white muslin gown,
(with) to all appearance ... no stays, was far gone with child and with
her breasts fully exposed to view'. Being sharply rebuffed,
he
was chagrined to discover the next day that the 'prostitute' was the
girl it was arranged he should marry."][129: "One of the main
complaints about women's dress was our old friend the extreme
decolletage; it was indeed a paradox that although women dressed during
the day with a high-necked gown, in the evening low-cut frocks were
worn. The Young Lady's Friend (1845) warned against the moral
dangers of this custom: 'No woman can strip her arms to her
shoulders and show her back and bosom without injuring her mind, and
losing some of her refinement; if such would consult their brothers,
they would tell them how men regard it.' "][134: {end of 1850s}
"Whereas mixed bathing as the custom on the continent, in England the
sexes bathed separately, for men bathed naked. One
unfortunate
Frenchman, bathing a l'anglaise at Brighton, found that the sea had
receded between him and his cabin, and right in his path were three
ladies; unable even to find some seaweed to cover himself with, he had
to walk the gauntlet, finding out later that the ladies 'disapproved of
bathing on Sundays, and had adopted that unexpected method of
discouraging Sabbath-breakers.' "][134: "By the mid 1860s, women
generally had adopted bifurcated bathing costumes, either made in one
piece or consisting of a blouse and knickerbockers, but it was not a
universal practice for men to wear bathing costumes until the Edwardian
period."][139-141: "In The Lady's Newspaper (1863) one 'J.M.' advocated
a dress consisting of loose 'Mamlouk' trousers and a knee-length tunic
(it sounds rather like the Bloomer dress), which, it was claimed, would
be more modest and less cumbersome than the crinoline, and would make a
trip in an omnibus less of a public ordeal. This suggestion
was
[140] speedily opposed by 'A.H.T.' who listed all the reasons why such
a dress would be unsuitable; the climate was too cold, the costume
would be the first step on the road to 'oriental manners' (such as the
harem) and if worn in public such an outfit would be 'a source of
anarchy and [141] confusion'. "][150: {early 1900s} "Lucile designed
dresses where the skirts were draped to reveal the lower leg, but
modest women were warned that although they might be tempted 'by the
wild tendencies of the moment', they should keep on at least one
petticoat."][150: "Equally startling to those brought up on late
Victorian and Edwardian strictures with regard to the covering of the
neck in the daytime, was the introduction of a modest V-shaped neckline
c. 1913. Denounced by doctors as the 'pneumonia neckline', it
joined the list of 'immoral' fashions, such as thin blouses and short
skirts, which some Catholic clergymen saw fit to attack. The
Bishop of Laibach's pastoral letter of January 1913 stated that: 'The
newest fashions in clothes are designed to serve the cause of
lust. They are sad evidence of the moral depth to which the
modern spirit has fallen and at the same time a still sadder proof of
the power and tyranny of the mode, before which women and girls ... bow
the knee.' "][154: {1922} "... the Trix sisters appearing at the Ritz
startled their audience with a sight of their beige stockings, 'and a
number of elderly ladies felt that the country had taken another step
towards the Pit'. Never before had female limbs been so
openly
displayed ... furthermore, said one commentator, 'No nice girl in
pre-war days crossed her legs in public. No nice girl lifted
her
hands to rearrange her hair in public, for the pull of the arm brought
the pectoral muscles into play and featured the breasts; that indicated
a mind offering a body.' "][156-157: "Not until the later 1920s did the
vogue for sun-[157]bathing--helped by the knowledge that the production
of vitamin D was encouraged by sunlight--dispel the use of heavy,
artificial make-up. By the end of the decade, so important a
market was being opened up by mass holidays at sea-side resorts, that
many designers turned their attention to bathing-costumes which became
short and tight-fitting to the figure."][157: "... a Mr T.I.W. (who
describes himself as 'a Christian Business Man'), entitled
Modest
Apparel. An Earnest Word to Christian Women (1931).
The
author, who is particularly incensed by 'women in bathing attire [who]
pose in immodest or indecent positions for the photographer', and by
those who wear sleeveless short dresses and even shorts, and waited in
vain for 'some godly sister in Christ' to condemn this 'dressing like
harlots'--but in vain."][157: "Where one man sees 'nudity' in dress,
another man sees freedom, and many men by the end of the 1920s were
beginning to envy women for their liberty of movement and relative
freedom from convention which they saw in the wide variety of costume
at their disposal."][158: {early 1930s} "Another campaign which they
waged was to encourage sea-side resorts to allow men to wear bathing
slips, i.e. trunks, instead of the bathing costume which covered the
chest as well. Most resorts had, by the outbreak of the First
World War, accepted that mixed bathing was here to stay, but many--at
least half those questioned by the MDRP in 1930--regarded the slip as
'indecent exposure of the person'. Gradually, however, during
the
1930s, bathing trunks were accepted for men, rather more due to a
disregard of local bye-laws than to any pressure exerted by the men's
dress reform movement. It was a very slow and painful process
for
men to reveal that they had bodies beneath their heavy, constricting
suits; it was even more of a break with the Victorian and Edwardian
past to begin to think of wearing brightly coloured clothes, and even
to adopt elements of women's dress--the latter is a battle still to be
won if men wish it."][159: "Typical quotations from the fashion
magazines are: 'In the evening you can show everything except ankles'
(1933), 'Nudity is the new hue and cry in fashions' (1934) and "Bare
your bosom as low as your figure will allow and your conscience will
permit' (1935)."][160: {since the end of the 1920s} "Sport, most of
all, coupled with a growing health and body cult, helped to break down
old-fashioned conventions regarding exposure of the body.
When
semi-nudity was the rule at revues and bare limbs an everyday sight in
the streets, the public was no longer easily shocked at bare
flesh."][163-164: "An overt display of feminine charms, whether by
firmly cantilevered bras, or by revealing bathing costumes and sun
dresses, aroused some criticism by the clergy during the
1950s.
Two-piece swimming costumes had been seen on the beaches as early as
the late 1920; by the early 1950s such bathing suits were quite
cut-away and often made of new synthetic stretch fabrics which
emphasized the figure--they were given the name 'bikini' after an atoll
in the central Pacific where U.S. atom tests took place. Some
sea-side authorities made half-hearted [164] attempts to ban the
bikini, but to no effect, and it ruled supreme throughout the 1960s and
1970s."][183 fn53: "Until that time, men could often bathe naked,
although by the late 1890s a number of local authorities had begun to
put up notices enjoining the wearing of drawers. Gwen Raveret
remembered in her Cambridge childhood (she was born in 1885) that
ladies being rowed on the river when passing men's bathing sites,
unfurled their parasols and gazed into them 'until the crises was past,
and the river was decent again'."]
Robinson, Julian. Body
Packaging: A Guide to Human Sexual
Display. Los Angeles: Elysium Growth,
1988. ISBN
1-555-99027-4. [17: "Cultural attitudes towards clothing and
body
decoration differ widely throughout the world with the younger members
of each community learning to accept the styles which are traditional
within their cultural group as being quite normal, rational and
natural."][19: "Thus it can be fairly argued that our current modesty
about our bodies is the result and not the cause of our present mode of
dressing. Given a more open and understanding cultural
education,
the embarrassment we now feel about displaying our naked bodies would
soon disappear."][20: "The overwhelming majority of people throughout
the world, even those living in the most remote areas, would appear to
share a predisposition for adorning and decorating their
bodies.
This indicates that the desire to package and present our bodies
attractively is an established human trait."][22-23: "Similarly the
early Egyptians, who settled along the fertile banks of the Nile, used
clothing to distinguish their leading citizens from the mass of the
population. We learn from their detailed hieroglyphics that,
although the vast majority of people were either naked or wore [23]
only the most meagre covering, the majority of wealthy Egyptians wore
an oblong piece of plain cloth called a haik which was draped around
the wearer's head and body, primarily as a sign of social status."][22:
"Ancient Egyptian royalty wore clothing of transparent silk to signal
their high status whilst concubines, musicians and dancers glorified in
their near-nakedness."][28: "Apart from enjoying the authority of
biblical tradition, few authorities on matters of dress support the
notion that modesty is an any way connected with the origins of
clothing. On the contrary, most ancient cultures accepted
nudity
as a normal part of everyday life."] [28: "In ancient Greece nakedness
was openly accepted, particularly when dancing or performing gymnastic
feats. Plato, in The Republic, approved of such
customs. He
advocated the free association of naked boys and girls in part to blunt
the edge of normal pubescent sexual appetites."][29: "Despite the fact
that these early Christians had found so many of Plato's opinions
congenial, they would have nothing to do with his liberal views on
nakedness. As Havelock Ellis clearly puts it: 'they
failed
to recognize its psychological correctness. The reason was
simple, and indeed simple-minded. The Church was passionately
eager to fight against what it called 'the flesh' and thus fell into
the error of confusing the subjective question of sexual desire with
the objective spectacle of the naked form. 'The flesh' is
evil;
therefore, 'the flesh' must be hidden. And they hid it,
without
understanding that in so doing they had not suppressed the craving for
the human form but, on the contrary, had heightened it by imparting to
it the additional fascination of a forbidden mystery.' "][41: "The
female ear was at one stage considered to be an outrageously erotic
echo of female genitals that every right-thinking woman should hide
from view."][48: "It is possible to see how the socially imposed rules
of modesty based on this theory ['changing erogenous zone theory'] have
varied greatly from one era to the next. The basic principal
of
80% concealment, leaving 20% revealed, has remained fairly constant up
to the present century."][50: "The high ranking nobles of Edward IV's
court for instance, were permitted to display their naked genitals
below a newly-introduced shortened tunic (their tightly fitting
nether-hosen were still left unseamed around the underbody
line).
If their genitals were not of sufficient size to make a distinguished
display, they wore a braquette--an explicit glove-like device made of
natural skin-coloured leather that was tailored to fit the well-padded
penis and scrotum of the wearer. To preserve this form of
explicit sexual display, Edward had a law passed in 1348 prohibiting
'any knight under the rank of a lord, or any other person " from
wearing any gowne, jaket or cloke unless it be of sufficient length on
a man standing upright to cover his privy member and
buttokkes."
The high-ranking nobles could, of course, continue to reveal whatever
they pleased, whether or not they were wearing the braquette and
contemporary reports indicate that this is exactly what they
did."][62: "In the early 1800s, for instance, there was a
fashion
in France for transparent, clinging dresses worn with no underclothing
at all. Between the 14th and mid-17th centuries, the
traditional
laced-up opening down the front of bodices worn by all women who could
afford to wear a fashionably-cut dress, rather than a sack-like
covering, was referred to as 'the gates of hell' and 'common shop of
temptation' And for a good reason. Unmarried women
who
wished to signal their nubility, virginity and availability for
marriage would often leave their bodices loose and open or even
entirely undone, exposing the whole of the breasts. As one
commentator wrote of these nubile women in 1594: 'their round roseate
buds immodestly lay forth, to shew at their hands there is fruit to be
hoped.' Another wrote that these young women often appeared
'in
Publick quite naked from the Top of the Head, almost to the Waist,
displaying their Neck, Shoulders, Breasts, and parts of their Waists
quite bare.' In France and Spain this fashion was referred to
as
an 'intolerable crime' and a 'pernicious scandal' whilst in Italy and
elsewhere it was generally accepted, and referred to as Vespoitrinement
a la Venise with the more fashionable women of that city reported
rouging their nipples."] [65-66: "The French Revolution
changed
the rules overnight ... Another magazine editorial suggested that the
new near- [66] naked fashion was 'like the sunshine introduced into the
paintings of Titian. It animates the figure and gives them
all
the embellishment that is needed ... displaying the true beauty of the
person to the greatest possible advantage,' and the article continues:
'never were our fair females so sparsely dressed, covered with nothing
more than transparent shawls, that float and flutter over their
breasts, which are clearly seen through them; and with a robe so fine
that the wearer seemed to be almost naked.' "] [67: "Poets and social
commentators praised the scanty Naked Fashion of the early 19th century
on the grounds of its social equality."][77: "Despite what our parents
and grandparents may say on the subject, and despite the fact that they
have photographs to show how demure and dignified they were, the new
fashionable styles worn by the majority of urban dwellers in their day
were just as sexually provocative and shocking to their parents'
generation as those being worn by the young avant-garde city dwellers
of today."] [80: "After World War I life changed completely.
Cars
were everywhere, air travel had been introduced and jazz music had
arrived. There was also a noticeable shortage of eligible
young
men, and the young women began to dress in sexually explicit clothing
in order to attract a mate or a paramour. Beadwork that
echoed
the female genitals and see-through tops became almost commonplace."]
[81: "As the 1920's progressed, dresses grew shorter. In 1925
the
Archbishop of Naples declared that the death and devastation caused by
an earthquake at Amalfi, 'was due to the anger of God protesting
against the present immodesty of dress.' In Ohio a bill was
introduced to prohibit any female over 14 'from wearing a skirt which
does not reach that part of the foot known as the instep.' "] [86: "In
the 1930's, topless bathing had been actively promoted in the magazines
of the period. This drawing by Lepape was featured on the
cover
of French Vogue in 1934."][94: "Modesty is
relative. If
this young warrior from the Alto Xingu on the Mato Grosso region of
Brazil were to be asked to cover his genitals, he would be very
embarrassed. To some races, the act of covering up an area of
the
body only serves to draw attention to a feature that, when naked,
passes unnoticed."][99: "Xinguano Indians from the Mato Grosso region
of Brazil. The young girls [top], naked except for their body
paint, have a strict code about who can touch who, and where.
The
young girls with hip bands are drawing attention to their
newly-acquired sexual maturity."] [121, re female feet & shoes
:"Many writers have suggested that the reason for this erotic
connection was that women's shoes show off to great advantage the foot,
ankle and leg which are undoubtedly very important secondary sexual
characteristics. This was particularly true during the 16th
to
19th centuries when a glimpse of an ankle or a dedicate shoe beneath
the hem of a skirt reportedly 'drove men to distraction' as it was 'a
symbol of the delights which were above'. "][179: "But changes do
eventually take place in the way people dress and the physical
attributes they are allowed to display or must conceal.
Traditions change and change again as each new generation seeks to
establish its own sartorial code. This will continue to be
the
western way of things until we are once again willing to accept
ourselves as complete beings in our natural naked state with no need to
conceal our bodies behind our clothing fantasies, except when we so
choose."]
Roosevelt, Theodore. Theodore
Roosevelt: An
Autobiography. New York: Scribner's,
1920. p. 45
[President Theodore Roosevelt frequently swam nude in Rock Creek Park
in Washington, once skinnydipping with the French diplomat Jules
Jusserand.]
Rudofsky, Bernard. The
Unfashionable Human Body. Garden
City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. ISBN
0-385-05995-7. [15:
"Man which glories in his raiment is like a robber that glories in the
brand of irons wherewith he is branded, since it was Adam's sin that
rendered garments necessary. St. Bernard."] [25-26: "It is
shame
that we are forever confusing with modesty. ... Whichever way we look
at it, modesty, or what we take for it, is complex. Put
together
of any number of ill-fitting parts, it reveals itself in more or less
irrational taboos that differ not only with every civilization but
often within a civilization itself. Like most taboos, [26]
they
defy logic. Moreover, they are highly unstable; a principle
rigidly upheld today, tomorrow is abandoned and forgotten.
Not
that there has been any lack of efforts to bring light into the
matter. Anthropologists have patiently searched every corner
of
the globe for common and rare manifestations of modesty, sifted and
examined them but, as was to be expected, failed to come up with any
conciliatory view on the subject. Havelock Ellis, who
probably
has written more about modesty than any other man, saw in it only an
agglomeration of fears."][26-27: "To confuse matters still further, a
few races show a complete reversal of our concepts of modesty to the
point where in some parts of the world only harlots wear
clothes.
Indeed, the fact that some people habitually go naked does not mean
that they [27] are shameless ..."][27: "Moreover, going naked, like
going hungry, can be a powerful form of protest. St. Francis
of
Assisi, an exemplary saint and surely no exhibitionist, once went on
what might be called a sartorial hunger strike; 'on being rebuked by
his bishop, he snatched off his clothes and walked naked through the
streets.' "][29: "In some Mohammedan countries a woman will cover her
face rather than her body when surprised naked. Yet her
reaction
is quite consistent with the belief that modesty, or immodesty, is
written on the face. By hiding it she takes refuge into
anonymity. ... To cite an extreme case: Family relations in
Armenia being what they were in the seventeenth century, a wife did not
remove her veil until she had put her husband to bed and extinguished
the lights. Since she also got up before him, a man might be
married for years without catching a glimpse of his wife's
face."][29-30: "Another instance of symbolic decapitation for modesty's
sake is mentioned by a European traveler who visited Arabia at the turn
of the century. He was received at a princely palace in Oman
where the ladies of the house wore diaphanous gowns and had their faces
[30] covered with 'black masks.' they looked at him, he
noticed,
with embarrassment and, having met his glance, lowered their eyes in
shame. Not, he explained, because they were lightly dressed
but
because his face was uncovered. He was made to understand
that
his unmasked face appeared to them as indecent as a naked person would
appear to him. 'They begged him to assume a mask and when a
waiting woman had bound one around his head, everybody was satisfied.'
"][41: "France had similar problems. A contemporary of
Bulwer's,
the learned Abbe Boileau, in his treatise A just and seasonable
Reprehension of naked Breasts and Shoulders, warned that 'the sight of
a beautiful bosom is as dangerous as that of a basilisk.' (Basilisks,
by the sheer ferocity of their appearance, turned people into stone, or
as we would say today, gave them a heart attack.)"][49: "At times only
the husband was allowed to see his wife's naked feet. This
held
true for such dissimilar civilizations as nineteenth-century China and
seventeenth-century Spain. During the reign of Philip II,
women's
clothes touched the floor and never showed as much as the suspicion of
a shoe. Carriages had specially fitted doors with a
collapsible
mechanism that could be lowered like a curtain to hide the feet of a
dismounting woman. When the queen suggested that female dress
be
shortened so that it would raise less dust, men sternly opposed such
change. They preferred, they said, to see their wives dead rather
than share the sight of their feet with other men. Such
intimacy
represented a strictly connubial privilege and was called la derniere
faveur. We have the description of an accident in which the
queen
of Spain fell from a horse and was dragged along by it, her foot having
been caught in a stirrup. A great number of dignitaries and
troops watched the scene with horror, unable to give aid to the queen
without committing the unspeakable crime of touching her
foot.
When two gentlemen lost their self-control and saved her from certain
death, they had sense enough to flee to a convent and there to await
the royal pardon. A similar story, reported at about the same
time, reads like a scenario for a romantic ballet, complete with the
appropriate tragic ending. A nobleman enamored of his guest,
the
queen, burned down his castle in order to have the opportunity of
acting her savior. Everything went according to plan except
that
a page who witnessed the rescue noticed that he touched the august
feet. The king, upon learning this, personally dispatched the
offender with a pistol shot."][50: "Covered feet symbolized chastity,
even in Pagan territory. In ancient Rome, prostitutes were
denied
the use of shoes although no objections were made to their wearing
sandals; 'their feet's brilliant whiteness acted afar as a pimp to
attract looks and desires.' By the same token, the Church
declares sandals to be all right for monks but not for nuns.
Virgin goddesses were sometimes portrayed with shoes, even when
otherwise stark naked. Clearly, woman's sandal stands for
sexual
freedom; it is unknown in Western rural societies."] [69: "In spite of
its relative novelty, the bathing suit has a history. At the
turn
of the century, when sea bathing had been declared harmless to health,
bathing suits were gay and opulent. Perhaps because men felt
foolish about cavorting on the beach, they appropriated the striped
tricots of animal trainers and jugglers for their outfit.
Women
were choosier. Segregated from the men, they nevertheless
dressed
with abandon, forever mindful of man's secret weapon, the
spy-glass. On the seaboard voyeurism was promoted from a
do-it-your-self hobby to a public institution. Policemen, who
have a natural tendency to panic at the sight of an insufficiently clad
woman, were instructed to arrest bathers whose clothes did not comply
with the official measurements of modesty. Swimming clubs
decreed
that male bathing suits must reach 'not less than three inches from the
bifurcation down,' and those of women not more than three inches above
the knee. Similar rules applied to the length of
sleeves.
'The modesty of women,' noted a contemporary newspaper, 'is thus seen
to be greater than that of men by about two inches.' "][70: "Flugel
seems to have been unaware that bathers without bathing suits had their
day within his own lifetime. In the nineteen-twenties, in
some
parts of Europe people used to bathe in public without feeling the need
for a special dress. At the height of summer the beaches on
the
Black Sea swarmed with bathers who had never seen a bathing
suit
except in newspapers and picture magazines; their holiday was one of
untroubled simplicity."][70-71: "Imagine any upright man's reaction a
hundred years ago had [71] he been able to foresee that his female
offspring would show herself bare-bellied in public. Would
he, in
response to such foreknowledge, have killed his breed to save the
family's honor? He probably would have had no other
choice."][71:
"At the turn of the century the liberation of women's legs seemed as
far off as that of the female bosom seems today."][128: "The Harvard
College Book of 1649 decreed: 'For as much as the wearing of
long
hair after the manner of ruffians and barbarous Indians has begun to
invade New England and contrary to the rule of God's word which says it
is a shame for a man to wear long hair.' "][140:" Nearly a century ago,
Alexander von Humboldt pointed out that body painting is nowise
inferior to the art of dress. 'If painted nations,' he wrote,
'had been examined with the same attention as clothed ones, it would
have been perceived that the most fertile imagination and the must
mutable caprice have created the fashions of painting as well as those
of garments.' "][180: "In the New World, that heretical contrivance,
bloomers, fared worse. 'I never believed in total depravity
until
I wore the reform dress in New York,' wrote Maria M. Jones, another
pioneering woman. On the street, trousered women had to face
moral and physical assault. Youngsters found in them an ideal
target for snowballs and, in the warm season, for apple
cores.
Adults, not wanting to be left out, pelted them with verbal
abuse. Even clergymen could be distinctly heard in the chorus
of
insulting voices. Women wearing the new dress were
unceremoniously thrown out of churches and told that their attire would
not be tolerated in places of worship or lecture halls."][180:
"Physicians, who might have been expected to be on the side of reason,
or at least to welcome a more hygienic female dress, lacked the courage
to support the cause of the reformers. Unable to produce any
sound argument against bifurcated skirts, they contented themselves
with joining the mob's laughter. 'The idea of females wearing
trousers,' wrote The Medical Times, 'may be scouted as ridiculous.'
"][199: "In his Anatomy of Melancholy (1624), Burton observed that 'the
greatest provocations of lust are from our apparel.' "][229-230:
"Ancient Jewish female dress, one of apparel's dreariest types, is
charitably omitted from costume histories, and with good
reason.
Out of doors, an honest woman resembled nothing so much as a shapeless
bundle. And yet a man passing her in the street might have
been
shaken to the bones. ... What he heard was the sound of the
jingle bells she carried under her skirts. Like the
sleighbells
on horses, they, too, were part of her harness. Stepping
chains,
Palestine's contribution to erotic accessories, joined the angles
together in a way that, according to the Encylopaedia Biblica, 'obliged
the wearer to take short and tripping steps.' Concealed by
long
garments, the unconventional jewelry betrayed its presence [230] only
by its tinkling and a woman's mincing walk. How admirable
man's
inventiveness, and woman's sense of humor, to make fun of a tyrannical
scheme by setting the hobbled gait to musical accompaniment!
So
deeply did this get-up affect the menfolk that it roused Isaiah to one
of his inspired outbursts. A seer by profession, he felt duty
bound to make his famous and, as it turned out, accurate forecast on
the decline of women's finery: 'The Lord will take away the
beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the scresents; the
pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the headtires, and the
ankle chains.' Scholarly dissertations have been written on
the
elegant fetters and the intense sensations they cause."]
Shields, Jody. "Going Public." Vogue 183.5,
288-291 (May
1993). [289: "In Europe in the late fifteenth century,
dresses
were so low cut and cunningly designed that one preacher railed, 'One
can see into the bosom ... and the nipples.' City ordinances
were
passed against the stylish decolletage, much like today's 'topless'
rules."][289: "By the sixteenth century, however, artists were
depicting nipples as 'accessories,' much like jewels or false
eyelashes. In real life nipples were reddened and breasts
whitened with makeup. French noblewomen posed for portraits
unselfconsciously unclothed. Duchess Gabrielle d'Estrees and
one
of her sisters were painted together by an anonymous member of the
School of Fontainbleau, naked from the waist up, one pinching the
other's nipple--this action, it was understood, was a declaration of
fertility."] [289-291: "A number of European fanatics, notably the
clergy, condemned women to eternal torment in hell just for exposing a
little too much breast. They let loose with some pretty
venomous
antibreast literature in reacting to the nipple-revealing decolletage
of the day. In 1637 Pierre Juvernay, a Parisian, claimed that
women who showed their breasts in this lifetime would have them
tortured forever in the next."]
Smith, Dennis Craig and Sparks, Dr. William. Growing Up Without
Shame. Los Angeles: Elysium Growth
Press, 1986. ISBN
1-55599-001-0. [96: "The Cretans wore
clothing that
was unlike any worn by other ancient peoples. Cretan women
wore
dresses that had the tight-waisted, corseted look of Western women's
dress of the mid-1800's. The skirts were long and bell shaped
with layers of wide ruffles. Blouses had sleeves, but left
the
breasts bare.] [121-146: History of Comstockian hysteria and subsequent
cultural evolution toward acceptance of nudity.]
Wilcox, William B., Ed. The
Papers of Benjamin Franklin.
London: Yale UP, 1972. Franklin, B.
15:180
[180: Benjamin Franklin took daily naked 'air baths.' "I rise
early almost every morning, and sit in my chamber, without any clothes
whatsoever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, either
reading or writing."]
Wagenknecht, Edward. Henry
David Thoreau: What Manner of
Man? Amherst: U of Massachusetts
Press, 1981. [83-84:
Musing at boys bathing in a river, Thoreau wrote in his
journal:
"What a singular fact for an angel visitant to this earth to carry back
in his notebook, that men were forbidden to expose their bodies under
the severest penalties." (Thoreau 92).]
Ward, Roy Bowen, "Women in Roman Baths," Harvard Theological Review
85:2, 125-147 (1992) [125: "Tertullian of Carthage in his Apologeticum
(197 CE) claimed that the Christians were no different from other
people: they went to the forum, the food market, and the
baths
(balneia)."][127: "It is also clear that the emergence of the Roman
baths in the second century BCE was part of a larger social revolution
in Roman society. This revolution included what Eva
Cantarella
has termed the 'emancipation of women'; it was decried, however, by
conservative Romans who longed for the good old days."][134:
"Corresponding in time with the change of bath architecture, literary
evidence beginning in the first century CE indicates that women were
bathing with men."][135: "In another passage, again comparing the time
of Cato (second to first century BCE) with present practices, Pliny
made it clear that men and women were bathing together nude.
He
referred to 'broiling baths' in which 'even the pubes (pectines) of
women [are] exposed to public view.'"][139: "By the beginning of the
second century, the evidence points to a change in bathing practice
from the segregation of the sexes to mixed bathing. In
particular, the voices of conservative authors such as the Elder Pliny
and Juvenal provide evidence that such a change had taken
place.
These and other written sources suggest that the women who went to the
baths included those who were married or marriageable and those
economically situated to have slaves. The archaeological
evidence, moreover, shows that bath architecture had changed from the
double baths to baths with only a single set of bath rooms.
In
this period, the emancipation of women in many aspects of public life
speaks against any idea that those women who once had access to the
earlier, segregated baths would now be barred from the new, public
baths with single facilities."][140: "Furthermore, archaeological
evidence clearly shows that segregated baths were not being built in or
after the time of Hadrian. Not until the late fourth or fifth
century is there evidence for architectural changes, namely, a change
from bath rooms for collective bathing to individual tub
systems."][142: "Evidence from Christian sources is often overlooked in
the literature on women in Roman baths. Clement of Alexandria
in
his Paedagogos (ca. 190-195 CE) was aware that women and men bathed
together: 'The communal baths are opened to men and also at the same
time to women' ... But he criticized this practice, arguing that
'bathing for pleasure ... is inadmissible.' "][143: "Clement
did
not forbid his Christian readers from going to the baths; he allowed
men to use the baths for the sake of health and women, for cleanliness
and health. He counseled that Christians should not bathe
often. It is clear from Clement that in Alexandria at the end
of
the second century--contemporaneous with Irenaeus and Tertullian--mixed
bathing by all classes was not only customary but also a popular
activity in which Christian men and women engaged."][146-147: "The
study of available sources suggests that mixed bathing began sometime
in the first century CE, became widespread and popular in Roman society
by the end of the century ... and it continued to be popular until at
least the end of the fourth century. Archaeological evidence
shows that the earlier double baths for men and women gave way to baths
with a single set of facilities, an architectural feature that
continued until at least the end of the fourth century.
Clearly,
women and men could not be separated by space."][147: "These three,
early, nonjudgmental, Christian references to Roman baths are
intriguing: the silence about Roman baths in other Christian authors in
the period before Clement of Alexandria, despite the evidence for the
ubiquity and popularity of this prominent social institution, is
interesting as well. ... Peter Brown comments on the 'indifference to
nudity in Roman public life,' citing the public baths as one locus for
nudity. It appears that the earliest Christian authors may
have
been equally indifferent."]
Wright, Lawrence. Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History
of the Bathroom & the Water Closet.
Great Britain: U of
Toronto Press, 1960. Reprinted 1971. ISBN
0-8020-6063-3. [39-41: "King John took a bath about once
every
three weeks, and his subjects presumably less often. The bath
tub, like that of the monastery, was of wood; it is often found among
the devices used as trade signs by the [41] coopers. Such
tubs,
usually round, were sometimes lengthened into a form not unlike the
modern bath, not to let the bather lie down, but to make room for
others. The communal tub had one naughty but one good reason;
the
good reason was the physical difficulty of providing hot
water.
No modern householder who, with a frozen bathwaste, has baled out and
carried away some 30 gallons of water, weighing 300 lb., will underrate
the labour involved. The whole family and their guests would
bathe together while the water was hot. Many pictures of the
communal tub show a tray across the bath, with a meal on it, and
perhaps musicians to add to the fun. Many physicians
protested
against excessive drinking in the bath. Nobody was shy: a
charming illustration to a thirteenth-century manuscript shows a knight
who dismounts from his steed to attend his lady's open-air tub; another
shows a knight in his bath served by young women who shower him with
rose-petals, the mediaeval equivalent of bath-salts. In
mediaeval
stories of amorous intrigue, the two lovers usually begin their evening
by bathing together. Ideas of propriety were different from
ours;
the whole household and guests shared the one and only sleeping
apartment, and wore no night-clothes until the sixteenth
century.
It was not necessarily rude to be nude. Home life seems to
have
combined luxury with discomfort, and a strange indifference to
privacy."]
To be continued.
Bibliography: Abstracts for
Legal Defense--Part 4
by Marvin Frandsen
Nudity--Psychological Health and Positive Social Effects
Ableman, Paul. Anatomy
of Nakedness. London: Orbis
Publishing, 1982. ISBN 0-85613-175-8. [31: "it
would be
nearer the truth to say that one important purpose of clothing is to
emphasize the body rather than to conceal it."] [84: "It has
been
left to the Americans, a traditionally pragmatic people, to devise what
is probably the exact expression of the hunger for the lost body in a
repressed culture: the strip-tease. Basically, this is simply
the
public removal of her clothes by a more-or-less attractive
woman.
Since this operation would be too brief to be commercially justifiable,
it is padded with a little movement, even a few dance-steps, possibly
some singing or dialogue, and it may be incorporated in a little
sketch. In England recently there was a vogue for male
strippers,
who performed before clamourous and unruly female audiences, which
suggests that when women are not impeded by an imposed image of how
they should behave they seek visual body gratification just as men
do."] [85: "But, of course, the satisfactions of the
voyeuristic
impulse provided by the media are themselves sublimated and
synthetic. They are not real substitutes for living in an
unconcealed society where the body and its functions are part of the
normal environment."] [86: "It is remarkable that nowhere in
the
history of psychoanalytic thought... is there any suggestion that the
fundamental perversion, to which many, if not all, particular
perversions are essentially responses, is the concealment of the body
that has resulted from the universal adoption of clothes.
From
this perspective, calling voyeurism and exhibitionism 'perversions' is
like calling the hungry man's obsessive concern with food
perversion. These 'perversions' are, in my opinion, simply
assertions of instinctual imperatives, manifesting themselves in ways
that a clothed society has outlawed."] [91: "Finally, it is
almost certainly true that children benefit. Many people will
recall from their own childhoods, and literary accounts amply confirm,
that sexual curiosity can be a great burden. Children who
have
had regular experience of nudism are undoubtedly less susceptible to
this misery."] pp. 50, 68, 84. [Even in Victorian
era,
before the invention of bathing suits, swimming nude in the ocean was
commonplace; and music halls often featured nude models as living
'sculpture.']
Aquilino, M.L. and Ely, J. "Parents and the sexuality of
preschool children," Pediatric
Nursing 11(1), 44-46 (1985).
[Child's sexual attitudes and values are instilled in first 5
years.] [Most parents appeared very knowledgeable about the
normal sexual curiosity and activity of their preschool children.]
Booth, Marie-Louise. Parental
Influence on Adult Sexual
Anxiety. Dissertation, California School of
Professional
Psychology. Los Angeles, CA (1992). [Individuals
with less
exposure to parental nudity experienced significantly higher levels of
adult sexual anxiety than did the group with more childhood exposure to
parental nudity.]
Brody, Liz. "Are We Losing Our Girls?" Shape, p.
94-99-132-138
(Nov 1995) Dissertation, Saybrook Institute (1984).[96: "Many
girls around 11 or 12 start silencing their voices and losing their
courage--the guts to speak one's mind straight from the
heart--according to the pioneering work of Annie G. Rogers, Ph.D., and
Carol Gilligan, Ph.D., who along with others at the Harvard Project on
Women's Psychology and Girls' Development have been studying
adolescents for 20 years."] [135: "it turned out that more
than
one-third of the girls had poor body image--17 percent falling into the
'low' group, with another 29 percent measuring 'low-mid.' "] [135:
"Girls with high body image (high BI) are much more likely to say, 'I
like most things about myself,' 'I am pretty good at a lot of things,'
and, 'I have some good friends that I can count on,' than girls with
low body image (low BI)."] [137: "Seventy-three percent of
girls
with low BI say 'wanting to be attractive to boys' influences how they
feel about their bodies. Only 38 percent of girls with high
BI
name boys as a factor."]
DeGoede, Daniel L. "Social Nudism and Body
Concept,"
Dissertation, Saybrook Institute (1984). Dissertation
Abstracts
International 45 (12), B3993-94 (1985).
Douglas, J.D., Rasmussen, P.K., and Flanagan, C.A. The Nude Beach.
Beverly Hills, CA: Sage (1977).
Downs, J. "Nudity in Japanese visual media: A
cross-cultural observation," Archives of Sexual Behavior
19 (6),
583-585 (1990). [Tradition of nudity in Japan, including
mixed
gender nude bathing, nude people working in fields.
Westernization brought changes. Complexly different Japanese
approach to nudity, both more permissive and more
restrictive.
Overall Japanese are very modest personally but do not consider nudity
to be a threat to moral standards.]
Fahringer, Herald Price. "Equality in All Things: Drawing the
Line on Nudity." Criminal
Law Bulletin 29.2, 137-146 (March-April
1993). [139: "No showing was ever made in the Santorelli case
that a bare-chested woman causes greater offense to the public than
does a bare-chested man."] [140: "At the very outset, it was
argued that the issue of recreational equality for women should not be
trivialized by any residual hostility left over from the time of
patriarchal [sic] society."] [140: "The notion that somehow
the
breasts of a man are less offensive than the breasts of a woman is
illogical and constitutes a form of gender discrimination that is in
every respect 'inherently invidious.' What's more, requiring
women to cover their breasts in public is a highly visible expression
of inequality between men and women that promotes an attitude that
demeans women and damages their sense of equality."] [141:
"Appellants acknowledged that some people, with a heightened sense of
decorum, may respond to a bare-chested woman more markedly than to a
bare-chested man. But this reaction stems from a masculine
ideology that has plagued our culture for over 200 years and has doomed
generates of women to a secondary status. The court was
encouraged not to focus its inquiry on any abstract or speculative
moral imperatives claimed to be protected.... The real hazard
of
a statute... lies in its perpetuation of a sexual stereotype that has
no place in a society so deeply committed to equality."]
[141:
"The most powerful proof that a bare-breasted woman causes no social
harm was the startling revelation [sic] that forty-eight states have no
law barring a woman from baring her breasts in public."]
[143:
"And finally, massive sociological data in support of the appellants'
claim was mobilized at battalion strength and hurled into the breach in
the appellate court. Scientific studies on the subject of
breast
exposure show that the true impact of the exposure of the human breasts
is no different whether it be that of a man or a woman. The
classic Kinsey investigation of male (1948) and female (1953)
sexuality, the largest and most authoritative study of its kind,
concluded unequivocally that there is no difference in the extent to
which male and female breasts can be used to provide sexual
stimulation. No subsequent study has ever questioned these
findings."] [144: "It is sometimes claimed that, although
physiologically similar with respect to potential stimulation, women's
and men's breasts differ perceptually in that, in our culture, some men
find women's breasts to be an erotic stimulus. But our
notions of
sexual arousal are masculine. Who is to say that a man's bare
chest is not just as arousing to women as a woman's bare chest to a
man?"] 144: One of the more striking pieces of research
disclosed
to the court was a random study of opposite-sex preferences, which
revealed that 51 percent of the women ranked a man's chest as the most
stimulating part of a man's body, whereas only 38 percent of the men
reported a women's breasts as the most stimulating."]
[144-145:
"Dr. Rita Freedman, a psychologist, testified that women's and men's
breasts are physiologically similar. However, the [145]
required
covering of women's breasts contributes to an obsession with breasts
and leads to a variety of harmful consequences that are actually
counterproductive to important government objectives. It
serves
to preserve the terrible prejudices that are the product of a rank male
supremacy that has tormented women during the past century.
Such
consequences include discouraging breast-feeding, poor mental and
physical health for women, unnecessary cosmetic surgery (breast
augmentation), and avoidance of breast examination. Dr.
Freedman
explained that women's breasts are no more an no less sex organs than
are men's breasts."] [141-143: Theoretically, in 48 states--all but
Indiana and, as of 1994, Michigan--'a woman can go to the beach and
remove her blouse in the same way a man can, and not be criminally
prosecuted.']
Finch, S.M. "Viewing other-sex genitals," Medical Aspects
of Human Sexuality 16 (1), 72 (1982). [72: "Q:
By adolescence,
have most girls seen male genitalia? Is it beneficial for
them to
have this experience? A: It is fair to assume that by
adolescence
most girls have seen male genitalia, particularly if they have male
siblings or if families are not overly modest. It is
beneficial
for children to learn gradually and comfortably about sexual
matters. Observation of anatomic differences should be part
of
the learning experience and should not be associated with guilt or
secrecy."]
Fisher, Seymour. "Body Decoration and Camouflage."
Dimensions of Dress and
Adornment: A Book of Readings. 3rd
ed. Eds. Lois M. Gurel and Marainne S. Beeson.
Dubuque,
IA: Hendall/Hunt, 1979.
[138-142: The wearing
of clothes represents a form of submission to prevailing
mores.
It is like putting on a 'citizen's uniform' and agreeing to play the
game.]
Ford, Darlene Ora Stanridge. Fashion Indicators of Women's
Social
Status. Denton, Texas, Texas Women's University:
Dissertation,
University Microfilms International, 1985. [Repression of
healthy
nudity, especially for females, is a means of enforcement of sex role
control of females.] [1: "Cothing researchers and theorists
have
echoed the words of Anatole France, French novelist, critic, and Nobel
Prize winner: 'If I were allowed to choose from the pile of
books
which will be published one hundred years after my death, do you know
which one I would take? No, by no means would I select a
novel
from that future library--I would simply take a fashion magazine so
that I would see how women dress one century after my
departure.
And these rags would tell me more about the humanity of the future than
all the philosophers, novelists, prophets, and scholars.' "]
[1-2: "Kody Mazda, Divisional Vice-President and Merchandise Manager of
John Wanamaker in Philadelphia told the National Retail Merchant's
Association that 'few things are more responsive to social change than
apparel. It provides the most visible signal of an
individual's
role in the community, a projection of self-image, and a system of
social [2] values.' "] [20: "The investigator
employed the
Thurstone method of equal-appearing intervals in the development of a
nine-point pictorial scale that ranged from 1, completely nude, to 9,
completely covered. The scale was employed in a quantitative
measurement of the degree of body exposure evidenced in female
fashions."] [22-23: "Keiser (71) traced trends in women's
fashion
in the United States from 1848, the beginning of the women's rights
movement, to 1975 in an effort to relate fashion changes to changes in
the lifestyle and status of women in American society....
Keiser
arrived at a number of conclusions based on the historical information
uncovered by her research: 1) clothing styles became less
restricting following each change in female roles during the past 100
years; 2) the average woman lacked the courage to be associated with
radical movements for change; a movement had to be generally [23]
accepted before the average women altered her dress style to reflect
the change, and 3) the existence of the phenomenon of cyclic and
changing emphasis on specific erogenous zones in fashion was
verified."] [25-26: "Ferris (51) identified 12 possible
indicators of women's social status based on statistical information
about life situations women experience: 1) the ratio of women
to
men, 2) educational level, 3) marital status, 4) fertility rates, 5)
labor force status, 6) employment status, 7) income, 8) organizational
membership, 9) types of recrea-[25]-tional participation, 10) health,
11) length of life and cause of death, and 12) migration
rates."]
[37: "The present study was designed to determine the relative
cross-cultural significance of each of three fashion variables
(exposure of the female body, distortion of the natural female body,
and clothing communication of the sexual identity of an androgynous
body) as indicators of women's social status. Basic style
components of traditional female fashion were scaled relative to each
of the three fashion variables."] [42: "The fashion scales
that
were developed were the following: the Nudity-Cover Scale
(N-C),
the Natural Female Body-Distortion Scale (NFB-D), and the
Masculinity-Feminity Scale (M-F). The fashion variables that
were
evaluated as indicators of female social status were: 1) the degree of
fashionably required cover of the female body, 2) the degree of
fashionable distortion of the natural female body, and 3) the relative
sexual identity of the fashionable costume."] [42: "The
sample
consisted of 30 social cultures selected on the basis of stratification
of time and geographical area."] [228: "The highly
significant
negative correlation between women's social status and the fashion
variable of natural female body-distortion indicated that the degree of
fashionable distortion of the natural female body is a highly reliable
indicator of the social status level of women
cross-culturally.
As the social status of women rose, fashionable distortion of the
natural female body decreased cross-culturally."] [228-229:
"The
significant negative correlation between women's social status and the
fashion variable of nudity-cover indicated that the [229] degree of
fashionably required cover of the female body is a reliable indicator
of the level of social status of women cross-culturally. As
the
social status of women rose, less cover of the female body was
required."] [229: "The low negative correlation between
women's
social status and the fashion variable of masculinity-femininity
indicated that the relative sexual identity communicated by the
fashionable costume is not a reliable indicator of the level of female
social status cross-culturally. As the social status of women
rose, the fashionable costume did not necessarily communicate a more
masculine or more feminine identity cross-culturally; however, the
fashionable costume tended to communicate a relatively less feminine
identity in those cultures that evidenced a high level of female status
than in those cultures that evidenced a low level of female social
status."] [230: "Based on the hypotheses formulated for this
investigation, the following conclusions were drawn:
Hypothesis
1: A significant relationship exists cross-culturally between the
degree of fashionably required cover of the female body and women's
social status. Results of the Spearman rank correlation
revealed
a significant inverse relationship at the 0.05 level of probability
between the level of women's social status and the degree of
fashionably required cover of the female body
cross-culturally.
Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was supported."] [230: "Hypothesis
2. A significant relationship exists cross-culturally between
the
fashionable distortion of the natural female body and women's social
status. Results of the Spearman rank correlation revealed a
significant inverse relationship at the 0.01 level of probability
between the level of women's social status and the degree of
fashionable distortion of the natural female body
cross-culturally. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was
supported."]
[231: "Hypothesis 3. A significant relationship exists
cross-culturally between the relative sexual identity communicated by
the fashionable costume for women and women's social status.
Results of the Spearman rank correlation revealed no significant
relationship between women's social status and the relative sexual
identity communicated by the fashionable female costume.
Therefore, Hypothesis 3 was not supported."]
Flugel, John Carl. The
Psychology of Clothes. London:
Hogarth, 1930, 1940, 1950. [Department of Psychology in the
University of London] [26: "... it is only in the last few
years
that there has been any clear realisation of the fact that clothes not
only serve to arouse sexual interest but may themselves actually
symbolise the sexual organs."] [60: "... so far as the actual
fear of causing disgust is concerned; there are, for instance, persons
who can be made to feel even 'physically ill' by the sight of unusually
exposed bodies (while bathing, for instance); and this abnormal
sensitivity is, after all, only an extension of feelings that are
capable of being aroused in almost everyone, e.g. by disease or
deformity."] [61: "A jealous husband does not want his wife
to
rouse too great admiration in other men, and the easiest of all ways of
avoiding this is to keep her hidden. This may be done by
actually
excluding her from male society, as is of course to a large extent the
custom in many Oriental countries. But the same object can be
achieved to some extent by hiding her body from the view of men on such
occasions as she does venture into public places.... In fact,
it
may be said that the whole Moslem theory of women's outdoor dress
represents an attempt--sometimes desperate in its thoroughness--to
avoid the arousal of sexual desire in men; a theory which is, of
course, logically in harmony with a social system which stresses the
view that all women are the property of some man or
another."]
[109: "The--by now extensive--experience of the 'Friends of Nature'
would seem to show that this contention is correct, the chief reason
probably being that the increased pleasures of exhibitionism and of
skin and muscle eroticism have drained off a certain quantity of sexual
energy which might otherwise have taken a purely genital
channel."] [138: "There can be little doubt that the ultimate
and
essential cause of fashion lies in competition; competition of a social
and a sexual kind, in which the social elements are more obvious and
manifest and the sexual elements more indirect, concealed, and
unavowed, hiding themselves, as it were, behind the social
ones."] [191: "... it seems doubtful whether modesty in the
second sense is ever of much value in itself, since its tendency is
inevitably hostile to a true evaluation of certain 'real'
factors. In so far as reference to, or exposure of, certain
parts
of the body is considered 'rude' or 'immodest' (apart from the purpose
of the reference or exposure) and gives rise to corresponding emotions,
there cannot but occur an inclination to conceal and distort the true
functions and importance of these parts of the body--in fact a tendency
to refuse the full recognition of their real existence. ...
restraints on the recognition of reality (even though they be
undertaken in the interests of morality) we have learnt to look upon as
highly dangerous."] [192: "The much more thorough experiments
of
'Nude Culture' point in the same direction. Indeed if, as is
often done, we content ourselves with the simple equation of the
immoral with the genitally sexual, these experiments show pretty
conclusively that nakedness is a potent method of reducing
immorality."] [192: "The real point to bear in mind is that
modesty is essentially correlated with desire. Its purpose is
to
fight desire, but in so doing it rekindles it, so that a circular
process is inevitably set in motion."] [192-193: "Nature has,
in
fact, provided that modesty can never finally attain its end except
through its own disappearance. And this disappearance
involves
also the loss of a certain piquancy in desire, a piquancy that can only
come when desire and inhibition are adroitly intermingled.
Here
is perhaps the real rub--the very justifiable fear that in overcoming
modesty we shall deprive ourselves also of the most maddeningly
stimulating elements of desire. Thus it is that, hiding under
the
cloak of modesty, there are [193] often to be found certain subtle
components of the sexual urge itself; a strange alliance, but one that
resembles that which we have already seen to exist in the combined
phallic and moral symbolism of certain clothes, and one that
psycho-analysis has shown to be thoroughly characteristic of the
neurotic mind. Modesty is, therefore, not merely an obstacle
to
the clear apprehension of external reality; it also fosters something
in the nature of internal (albeit for the most part unconscious)
hypocrisy, and thus stands condemned on a double charge of distorting
the appearance both of our bodies and our minds."] [235-236:
"Modesty, as we have seen, when its essentially ambivalent nature is
recognized, can interpose no reasonable obstacle to nudity; nor, in the
long run, can economics--for, in so far as clothes cease to satisfy a
need, they fall into the category of useless or conventional
extravagances that are better done away with, since the effort, time,
or money spent on them can be more profitably employed
elsewhere.
Hygiene, too, applauds nakedness in many circumstances, and is placing
more and more faith in the unaided functions of the human
skin.
Convenience can surely offer no serious objection, so long as some kind
of sartorial harness allows us to transport with reasonable ease the
instruments required [236] in daily life. Apart from this,
the
saving of time and trouble spent in dressing (or perhaps the more
profitable employment of this time in the cause of bodily perfection)
and the facility with which the natural skin can be cleaned if dirty,
dried if wet, are all in favor of nakedness rather than
apparel."] [237-238: "We must honestly face the conclusion
that
our principle points ultimately, not to clothing, but to
nakedness. Here also we are not alone, and our company, if
less
numerous, is at least worthy of consideration. Apart from the
(in
some countries) very numerous practitioners of nude culture and its
semi-official spokesmen, there have been several other writers within
the last few years who have anticipated us in this
conclusion.
The 'men like gods', who inhabited Mr. H. G. Wells' Utopia, were naked.
Mr. Gerald Heard, as the result of his philosophical and historical
survey, considers that clothing is destined to vanish from the
earth. More [237] recently still, Mr. Langdon Davies, taking
Godiva as his patron saint, leads us with much eloquent persuasiveness
towards the same view as to the ultimate inevitability of
nakedness. The boldest of all prophets is Professor Knight
Dunlap, who believes that nakedness will be at first a uni-sexual
affair, but holds that 'within a few years' women at least will expose
the whole body in public, and will cause but little commotion by so
doing."] [238: "Encouraged thus, we may with greater
equanimity
contemplate the possibility that dress is, after all, destined to be
but an episode in the history of humanity, and that man (and perhaps
before him woman) will one day go about his business secure in the
control both of his own body an of his wider physical environment,
disdaining the sartorial crutches on which he perilously supported
himself during the earlier tottering stages of his march towards a
higher culture."]
Glazer, Reena N. "Women's Body Image and the Law." Duke Law
Journal 43, 113-147 (1993). [114: "One noted
psychologist has
written that '[o]ur body image is at the very core of our
identity.' Women have been shown to be more sensitive and to
attach more significance to body image than men."] [115:"This
Note argues that the law has contributed to the creation of an
environment in which women are conditioned to hate their bodies and
strive for an unrealistic and unattainable ideal form.
Criminalizing the mere exposure of women's breasts while allowing men
to expose theirs sends a strong message to both women and men as to how
they should feel about women's bodies."] [115, fn 19:
"Criminal
legal sanctions, unlike other penalties in American law, carry strong
moral and stigmatic overtones. 'The stigma of condemnation is
one
of the distinctive characteristics, if not the distinctive
characteristic, differentiating the criminal law from other kinds of
legal sanctions.' Peter W. Lowe et. al., Criminal Law: Cases
and
Materials 3-4 (2d ed. 1986)."] [116: "The very sight of the
bare
breast is a crime, regardless of the woman's intent.... This
statutory double standard embodies the inequality between men and women
in society. Men are free to expose their chests in virtually
any
surroundings they choose with no consideration of the impact on
possible viewers. New York Penal Law section 245.01, however,
is
written solely to take into account potential viewers. The
focus
is on the male response to viewing topless women; there is no focus on
the female actor herself. This inverted structure of point of
view helps to maintain men's objectification of women. Male
power
is perpetuated by regarding women as objects that men act on and react
to rather than as actors themselves. When women are regarded
as
objects, a great deal of importance rests on their appearances because
their entire worth is derived from the reaction they can induce from
men. In order to maintain the patriarchal system, men must
determine when and where this arousal is allowed to take
place.
In this way, the (heterosexual) male myth of a woman's breast has been
codified into law. Because women are the sexual objects and
property of men, it follows that what might arouse men can only be
displayed when men want to be aroused. For example, the
statute
contains an exemption for topless entertainment, for which the audience
is overwhelmingly male. In [117] adopting the statutory
standard,
no consideration was given to contexts in which women might enjoy going
topless for their own reasons, regardless of any effect on male
viewers. Nor was any consideration given to the fact that
women
might not be bothered by the sight of other women's
breasts."]
[118: "No one is claiming that women's breasts are identical to
men's--clearly, they are not. Likewise, there is no request
for
any special treatment. Women are only seeking the option to
do
what men are already free to do. In this context, although
difference exists, it should not matter."] [128: "The State,
however, offered no evidence to show that a woman's chest causes
greater public harm than a man's does. This assumption--that
women's breasts are offensive in a way that men's breasts are
not--underlies the statute."] [129: "... in Palmore v.
Sidoti,
the U.S. Supreme Court held on equal protection grounds that offense to
public sensibilities and potential societal stigmatization were not
sufficient to terminate a mother's custody rights merely because she
was romantically involved with a man of a different race."]
[129:
"Other than societal presuppositions, there is no inherent reason why
exposure of the female breast is any more offensive than exposure of
the male breast. Other Western societies do not share this
assumption; in fact, topless sunbathing is common in
Europe."]
[130: "Anatomically, men's and women's breasts are fairly similar,
which suggests that the law should treat the two similarly.
Dr.
Jack Morin has concluded that '[p]hysiologically, men's and women's
breasts have the same erotic potential, with virtually identical
anatomy, except that women's breasts are obviously more
developed. Similarities include a rich supply of nerve
endings,
especially within the nipple and surrounding areola. In
addition,
the nipples of both sexes have erectile capacity."] [130:
"One
underlying argument for distinguishing between male and female breasts
is that they are sexually stimulating to differing degrees.
It
seems obvious, and it has been borne out in research, that men find
women's breasts sexually stimulating. Therefore, the argument
goes, women's breasts should not be exposed in public. A
basic
problem with this argument is that researchers have also found that the
chest is the male body part most sexually stimulating to
women."]
[130: "The fact that forty-eight other states have not criminalized the
mere exposure of a woman's breasts severely weakens the asserted
rationale for gender classification...: that the public must be
protected from the great evil that the exposed female breast
poses. New York and Indiana are the only two states that have
laws prohibiting the mere exposure of women's breasts."]
[132:
"The statutory isolation of New York and Indiana is heightened by a
number of state court decisions that have explicitly held that a breast
is not a 'private part' and that breast exposure is not lewd in and of
itself."] [136: "As Mary Whisner has explained, women are
missing
from the Buchanan court's analysis. The court paid no
attention
to the women's mind-set, motives, or intentions. The women's
desire to and enjoyment of going topless was not even considered; their
interest was considered only as it related to male viewers.
Moreover, what the court considered to be sexually arousing was viewed
only from the (heterosexual) male point of view. Either the
court
was under the mistaken impression that women are not aroused by male
chests, or it desired, consciously or subconsciously, to reinforce
stereotypes of women as passive sexual beings who even when 'aroused...
would not react so as to disturb the public order.' "] [136:
"Because (heterosexual) male viewers could be aroused by the sight of
female breasts, women are guilty."] [139: "Men are not made
to
feel different because they do not breastfeed; women, however, are made
to feel different and uncomfortable because they do
breast-feed.... By viewing the situation from the male
perspective, soci-[140]-ety continually places breast-feeding mothers
in uncomfortable situations and perpetually reminds them of their
'otherness.' "] [140 fn. 154: "Because a patriarchal society
uses
the male as the standard, women are made to feel like outcasts because
they do something--breast-feed--that men do not do. Men, in contrast, are not made to feel inferior because of their inability to breast-feed."] [141: "In the United States, women rarely see other women naked. Such exposure only occurs with any regularity in the movies, and actresses rarely embody the average female form. Women have, in effect, been kept ignorant about the realities of their own bodies. ... Women, however, have no similar 'locker room experience.' The only other naked female forms they are allowed to see are cover girls and Barbie dolls. This isolation has been very effective in conditioning women to believe that the cover girl is the only acceptable body image for women. Women have willingly lined up at plastic surgeons' offices because they have been conditioned to believe that breasts only come in one acceptable form; if their breasts do not fit this model, something is wrong with the way they, as women, appear. Women are kept from realizing that 'breasts come in as many shapes and variations as there are women.' "] [Women's breasts are sexually stimulating only because they are inaccessible.] 116, 135, 117, 136, 139. [Male power perpetuated by regarding women as objects. Psychology of women as objects and property of men implies that what might arouse men can only be displayed when men want to be aroused. Women as temptress leads to sanction of idea that men have uncontrollable urges and violence against women is inevitable.] p. 130 [Men's breasts have same erotic capacity as women's.]
Gardner, R. A. "Exposing children to parental nudity," Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality 9 (6), 99-100 (June 1975). [99: "In my opinion, a healthy home atmosphere is one in which the child up to the late prepubertal period (ages 10 to 11) is permitted to occasionally observe his parents in the nude--in natural and casual situations. I believe that it can be psychologically detrimental to strictly hide one's body from one's children, because such an attitude fosters the development of unnatural curiosities and excessive cravings which may contribute to neurotic attitudes toward the opposite sex. There is no question that unnatural social attitudes toward the genitalia produce a curiosity in the child that might not otherwise have occurred. In a more open atmosphere, such curiosities are lessened. Furthermore, such an attitude serves to counteract pathological views on sex which are produced by a culture in which the ubiquitous use of seduction in the mass media and elsewhere fosters neurotic sexual preoccupations."] [100: "The child who is receiving adequate affection, protection, and guidance in a stable home will certainly wish to be an adult with all the privileges and gratifications that adulthood entails. He will not single out his parents' genitalia for particular emulation, nor will he consider his own organ to be painfully deficient. The neurotic child may do so, but it will not be because he has seen his parents nude but because of the defects in his relationship with them--defects having little or nothing to do with the dressing situation."]
Goldman, R.J. and Goldman, J.D. "Children's perceptions of clothes and nakedness: a cross-national study," Genetic Psychology Monographs 104, 163-185 (1981). [168: "the 838 S's were from age groups 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15, drawn from state coeducational kindergartens and schools in urban-suburban areas in Melbourne, Australia; Reading, England; Stockholm, Sweden, and both sides of the Niagara River, Upper New York State, U.S.A., and Ontario, Canada.] [168: "In the study reported here the children were asked three questions. 'Suppose we all lived in a nice warm place or climate, would we need to wear clothes?' 'Why should this be so?' (What are the reasons for saying 'Yes' or 'No'). 'Some people feel shy or funny about (revealing) certain parts of the body; why should this be so?"] [170: "The North American children appear to be most adamant about the wearing of clothes and the Swedish children the least, both interestingly living in very cold winter climates."] [170: "Overall there appears to be a move towards the more positive need to wear clothes by the teenage cohorts across all countries, perhaps reflecting awareness of pubertal growth and its sexual significance. This is apparent from most of the answers of the 13- and 15-year-olds."] [170: "If these figures can be taken as an indicator of sexual inhibitions of some kind, and it is not necessarily assumed that they are, then the North American children are the most inhibited about nakedness and the Swedish children the least, with certain sex differences occurring, particularly seen in some teenage girls' cohorts."] [174: "The English scores, however, continue to reflect preconventional thinking throughout all age levels and only 28% achieve post conventional thinking at 15 years. The Swedish scores show a symmetrical pattern, preconventional to 9 years, conventional thinking at 11 years, and post-conventional thinking at 15 years, although barely achieved as a trend at 50%. In comparative terms it is evident that the ranking of postconventional thinking at 15 years in highest scores Australia (80%) is highest, Sweden (50%) and North America (42%) are moderate, and England (28%) is the lowest."] [174: "Swedish girls of 7 years, Australian girls of 11 years, and English girls of 15 years, score much higher than the boys in the same age cohorts; while English 7-year-old boys, and North American and Swedish 15-year-old boys score much higher than the girls in the same cohorts."] [180, 182: "Considerable sex differences are evident in practically every age group in the English-speaking countries where boys consistently and markedly achieve higher scores than the girls (the exception is the Australian 15-year-olds where boys and girls score equally). These sex differences are evident also in the Swedish sample where 13- and 15-year-old boys reveal markedly higher scores than the girls in those age groups not quite achieving significant levels. The one exception in Sweden is in the opposite direction [182] where the 7-year-old Swedish girls score significantly higher than Swedish 7-year-old boys. The investigators would identify these as genuine sex differences, not apparently affected by interviewer differences, revealing possibly a greater willingness by boys to explore the problems of why nakedness would embarrass some people. Even so, male mean scores in only a few age cohorts achieve more than 4.00 (the highest is 4.20 scored by 15-year-old Swedish and English boys) drawing attention to the difficulty of this item for even the oldest children in the sample."] [183: "Several interesting issues are raised by the results reported. The first is that the opinions of the English-speaking children differ considerably from the Swedish children in asserting clothes are necessary even in very warm climates. The most insistent are the North American children, the least being the Australian. The rank order of opinions--North America, England, Australia--reflects a gradation of climate, especially in winter, among the 5- to 11-year-olds possibly indicating a 'protectionist theory' for the wearing of clothes. The Swedish exception, where winters are as severe and mild summers are relatively short, would appear to indicate that cultural influence may be stronger than climate, supporting current anthropological theories. In Sweden sex education is compulsory in all schools from the age of eight, and the social acceptance of a more open approach to sex, illegitimacy, and related matters may well influence children's judgments."] [183: "The modal score for all countries from 7 years onwards was that of conventional thinking. This low level thinking about sexual dilemmas has been noted in other studies and is evident in other sections of this current study."] [183-184: The picture revealed by the children's perceptions in this area illustrates societies where the wearing of clothes is rationalized on moral grounds, and nakedness, particularly sexual nakedness, is still strongly tinged with
guilt. While younger children do reflect an innocence about
the
issues raised, older children are well aware of the need for conformity
and the social sanctions to [184] be faced if the 'natural' naked state
were to be taken too far. Teenagers particularly show
sensitivity
to physical and sexual abnormalities, sometimes imagined, and reflect
overwhelming conventional law and order morality, with a poor grasp of
universal ethical principles even at 15 years of age. While
Swedish children appear to be less inhibited about nakedness, their
thinking levels in matters relating to clothes and nakedness show no
higher scores than the children in the English-speaking
samples."] [184: "It was obvious from many children's
responses
that low level thinking as conveyed primarily through parents' modesty
training, and that the need for personal body privacy is a strongly
inducted value in the four societies in this study."] [184:
"Whether children are less embarrassed by nakedness, or even the
thought of it, than previous generations, cannot be deduced from the
evidence produced here. It does indicate, however, that the
sex
education process in home or school has to overcome well entrenched
adult mythologies and rationalizations which prevent children from
understanding, accepting, and even enjoying the physical body and its
sex organs as natural and normal."]
Goodson, Aileen. Therapy,
Nudity and Joy. Los Angeles,
CA: Elysium, 1991. ISBN 1-55599-028-2.
[232: "In
1986, the Reagan administration ordered a follow-up study.
the
Attorney General's (Meese's) Commission on Pornography listed four
categories of pornographic material: (1) sexually violent; (2)
nonviolent but depicting degradation, domination, subordination, or
humiliation; (3) nonviolent and nondegrading; and (4) nudity.
The
Commission urged prosecution of sexual material portraying violence and
felt that substantial exposure to nonviolent but degrading material
bore some causal relationship to sexual violence. They
concluded
that, in general, scientific evidence showed no causal relationship
between exposure to nonviolent, nondegrading sexual material and sexual
violence; and they stated that depictions of nudity are not harmful."]
Greeley, Andrew. Faithful
Attraction: Discovering Intimacy,
Love, and Fidelity in American Marriage. New
York: Tom
Doherty, 1991. pp. 74, 83, 105, 108-109. [Sexual
satisfaction in marriage correlates to comfort with nudity.]
pp.
176-177, 180. [A Psychology Today study found that 28% of
couples
under the age of 35 swim in the nude together, 24% of couples age
35-49, and 9% of couples 50 or older. Further, such
activities
tended to correspond to a higher level of satisfaction in marriage.]
Hartman, William E., Fithian, Marilyn and Johnson, Donald. Nudist
Society. Los Angeles, CA: Elysium
Growth Press, Revised
Updated Version, 1991. ISBN 1-55599-041-X.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: [67:
Close similarity
between religious habits of the nudist population and that of the
national community.] [69: Nudists spread their religious
allegiances over a wide span, as does the general public.]
[76:
Seal study "reported that family-group identification was supported
through nudist practices because of the unifying influence of nudism on
all family members, particularly the children. There was a
greater degree of family cohesiveness resulting from the shared nudist
experience during weekend and vacation periods."] [78-79:
Weinberg and Blank/Roth studies found "there is relatively little
psychopathology among nudists, and this is particularly true for the
female nudists.... They also reported nudist females to be
better
adjusted than those in several nonnudist groups."] [79-80:
Robinson study found "nudists are very heavily represented in the
educational groups whose achievements are much above the typical United
States averages."] [86-87: "We found a relatively high degree of
educational achievement on the part of our respondents... If
the
comparison is made with the United States as a whole, three times the
proportion of the nudists respondents have four years of college or
more as compared to the U.S. population at large. ... income
of
our respondents was approximately 50 percent higher than the income for
the most comparable nonnudist group that would represent the California
population for the same year."] [97: The indication clearly
is
that nudists come from the higher socioeconomic groups rather than from
the general population, as they sometimes claim.]
PERSONALITY: [99: "All of
these average
profiles are within normal limits. The married men are on the
average a self-assured group of active and perhaps somewhat impulsive
people... They are free from anxiety and worry, although they
take a mildly pessimistic view of the state of the world and of their
lives. They are inclined, as a group, to derive their
principal
satisfaction from the activities of the moment more than from long-term
goals pursued through hardship. They are generally free from
hostility and do not appear to be frustrated or resentful.
Indeed, they may be seen by some as a passive group of men, since they
do not show any aggressive or truculent masculinity of attitude and are
likely to be considered somewhat gentle by the average American
standards."] [99: "The married women are quite
different...
They are utterly normal. There is nothing in this mean MMPI
profile to distinguish it from that of the average American
wife.
Some writers have described groups of women like this as full,
uninteresting, and placid. The lucky ones are married to one
of
them. These are the women whose central interest lies in
their
families and their homes. They are serene, calm,
self-assured,
contented women, and they derive their greatest satisfaction from their
husbands and their children. They very likely form the
foundation
of the American character."] [100: "the mean profiles reveal
a
group of men and women who are generally normal in their personality
characteristics. As a group, the men are somewhat gentle by
the
usual American notions of masculinity and may be, like students and
professional men, sensitive and perhaps with cultured tastes and
interests.... They are somewhat unconventional and do not
depend
on their male sexuality for their identity or their definition of their
role or their feelings of worth. They are self-assured and
possessive of high ego-strength. As a group, their wives are
also
self-assured, self-respecting, and confidently feminine in their
identification, deriving their satisfaction and feelings of self-worth
from their families and homes."] [103: "On the average, the MMPI
suggests that a man who practices social nudism is within normal limits
in his personality. Within these limits, he is somewhat of a
nonconformist in many ways, active and physically restless, a little
discouraged by the world as he perceives it, but quite free from
anxiety and personal concern."] [104: "women who fit with this range of
MMPI ratings are very effective. They are stable, dependable,
contented, and invest most of their interest in their husbands and
children. They are not usually active outside the
home. The
family provides them with satisfactory identity and feeling of
worth. They, like the nudist males, are confident and self
assured."] [104: "In short, the MMPI shows this to be a group
much like any other in our population, containing its rebels and
malcontents, its disturbed individuals and its unhappy ones, but
over-all consisting mostly of normal men and women seeking their own
way to fulfillment."]
SEXUAL BEHAVIOR: [107: "the majority of
nudists
report frequency of sexual relations remains unchanged as a result of
nudism."] [107: "better than one-third of both males and
females
indicate that nudism had contributed positively to their sexual
happiness in life, while only about 2 percent of our respondents
indicate that as a result of practicing nudism, their sexual happiness
had decreased. ... there is little difference between male
and
female responses."] [113: "Many respondents, both male and female,
indicated that if they had been raised as nudists, they would have
developed much healthier attitudes toward sex and the human body, and
much earlier than they eventually did."] [122: "In their own
summation, many nudists suggested that their sexual behavior was no
better and no worse than that of nonnudists--a conclusion that is
certainly neither condemning nor congratulatory."]
MARITAL ADJUSTMENT: [132: "Most of our
respondents
reported that nudism had been a positive influence in their lives and
marriages."] [134: "Viewing marital adjustment through the
eyes
of practicing nudists generally reflected nudism to be a unifying and
positive influence. Wives particularly reported the benefits
nudist practices had on their husbands and children and thus on their
marital and family situations. Our data support the idea
expressed in the nudist literature to the effect that spouses who
practice nudism are generally happy in their marriages."]
NUDIST YOUTH AND CHILDREN: [139-140:
"... nudist
children may have an advantage over a great many other children in our
culture who have never been exposed to the same or opposite sex in the
nude. We view this as a positive aspect of nudism, for both
the
children and adults. It not only gives children the
opportunity
to see that they are like other boys and girls, but it gives parents
the opportunity to notice that Johnny and Jane are developing at the
same maturational rate as the other youngsters their age."]
[140:
"We feel that nudity is helpful in developing relationships, especially
with the opposite sex; if the individuals are not 'hung up' on body
taboos, they can feel comfortable and at ease in viewing their own
bodies as well as that of another. If they can be comfortable
nude, the probability is a great ease in clothed
situations."]
[140: "Some writers claim that social nudism destroys sexual
interest... Our research does not support this; it indicates
either an increase of interest within marriage or no
difference."] [140: "Some nonnudists have contended that
experiencing nudism as children would lessen sexual interests as
adults; we, however, are more inclined to view it as a shift in area of
importance, from sex per se to that of a total
relationship."]
[141: "The nudists to whom we spoke bout their children and nudism,
frequently noted that nudism provides a natural form of sex
education. If children are freely able to observe sexual
differences, they develop a better understanding of the physical
differentiation between genders when parents talk about sex with their
children."] [141: "Many parents point out that their children
exhibited no shame or curiosity about their bodies."] [150:
"Since nudist children appear to be well adjusted, nudism can't be a
major factor in childhood trauma."] [152: "Money notes that:
'Fanatical modesty and a phobia of being seen naked, apart from
hampering medical care, may severely limit or even destroy sexual
functions in adulthood. Some people cannot have intercourse
unless clad. More extremely, there are some whose
pathological
modesty prevents sexual arousal in the presence of a partner.' "] [153:
"Margaret Mead has made significant observations about the effects of
nudity on children in both South Sea Island and American
cultures. Briefly, they are summarized as follows:
(1)
Clothing is an alienating factor in establishing our body image and
separates us from our bodies. The dichotomy of the self apart
from the body develops in childhood. (2) Nudity in
clothed
Western culture involving children and adults may provide a traumatic
distortion for the child because of lack of comparative
elements.
In an unclothed society all ranges of humanity of varying sizes,
shapes, and descriptions are to be found and compared. It is
significant that comparison of all anatomy be made. This
involves
breasts and penises in our society in particular.] [154: "(5)
Because of absence of nudity in our culture, the child loses an
important link in learning since he cannot observe the growth process
of nude bodies at various maturational states that his body will go
through. (6) Nudity or partial nudity by no means
indicates
a lack of modesty among primitive people."] [155: "We see
nudity
as a learning experience for a youngster, and as Comfort says, 'The
young boy learns not so much that father is bigger and hopelessly more
virile than he, as that all men are bigger than he is, and he will one
day be a man.' "] [155: "The child needs to be aware of
himself
as a developing person and to see nudity in adults so as to be aware of
what lies in his future."] [155: "A prominent Midwest doctor,
writer, and counselor dealing extensively with young people attended
camp with us, and, as usual, we asked his reaction to the
youth.
His impression was that the children were very cooperative with each
other, with no conflict situations developing in the course of the
observations. He seemed to think this quite interesting
because
there seemed to be no concept of 'mine' as found generally in the
larger culture, where children seem to be very egocentric in their
behavior. There seemed to be a much greater willingness to
share.
He was impressed with what he observed and never fails to mention it in
correspondence with us."] [155: "A well known female family
counselor, after leading a weekend conference, took the occasion to
visit a nudist park with us so as to satisfy her own curiosity about
the effects of nudism on families and children. She, too, was
impressed with the children at play. She observed that there
was
no appearance of any sense of shame or embarrassment in the boy-girl
relationships, and she felt it was a positive, wholesome
environment."] [157: "A warmth and openness among the
children
existed that we had seldom perceived in a clothed society ..."]
WHY DO PEOPLE BECOME NUDISTS:
[160: "We found
that one of the most valid ways of accepting one's basic biological
self is to practice nudism in a social situation."]
THE EFFECTS OF NUDISM: [190:
"... religious
faith remained the same for the majority of our respondents.
It
appears that where nudism does affect religious faith, it is much more
likely to increase than decrease the religious feelings of
participants."] [190: "Several of the men reported an increased dislike
for smutty jokes or dirty stories that they had routinely listened to
before they began to practice nudism."]
NUDIST DROPOUTS AND
MALCONTENTS: [195: "It
appeared that practicing nudists virtually never give up nudism, even
though they may resign from the national organization for reasons not
directly related to nudism per se."] [195: "There was no
significant difference in length of membership between males and
females."] [198: "It appears there is a minimum of sexual or
racial discrimination among nudists."] [214: "It is
remarkable
that a genuine dropout from nudism was virtually impossible to
find. As mentioned earlier, out of 257 respondents we
discovered
only three. Almost inevitably, the reasons for discontinuing
membership have to do with factors common to any social group in our
culture and are certainly not unique to nudist organizations.
Our
research shows, overwhelmingly, that nudists rarely drop out of nudism
per se. They may become disillusioned with an individual, or
a
camp--or with an entire organization--but they do not renounce their
commitment to the concept of body-acceptance and the value of family
and social nudity. This was, to say the least, a most
informative
aspect of our research."]
NONNUDIST REACTION TO SOCIAL
NUDISM: [279:
"Apparently the ability to be nude with strangers of both sexes goes
along with a psychological openness and ease in relating, a
friendliness and lack of defensiveness which is easier to appreciate
than describe. This situation shatters the idea that the
taboo
against nudity is strong and deeply ingrained."] [279: "The
speed
with which the sexual cue value of nakedness is lost in the nudist
environment is amazing as a first experience."] [279: "The
women
are not seductive, busy primping, swishing skirts, or tugging at
hemlines as occurs when clothed. There is a quality of
honesty or
forthrightness..."] [279: "In this situation there is a reduction of
tension and a developing sense of exhilaration."] [281: "This
reduction of hostility was strikingly evident in the kindly way in
which children were treated. They were dealt with by parents
and
others as worthwhile individuals. There was none of the sharp
direction, shoving, pulling, or threatening behavior that adults can be
seen exhibiting to children in stores and other public
places.
Children were energetic and outgoing, playing together or with adults
without bickering and without any show of sexual curiosity or sexual
naughtiness."] [281: "There seemed to be more male-female
equality in this context. both sexes participated in all of
the
camp activities and there was less segregation into male and female
groups than there is in usual social gatherings. This could
relate to reduced need to accentuate or defend sex
differences."]
[281: "The sensations of moving air, sunlight, or water on the total
body surface provide an unusual total body awareness that adds to the
psychological well-being."]
NUDISM AS A THERAPEUTIC
COMMUNITY [301:
"The ability to be nude and accept one's basic biological self seems to
have positive therapeutic value."]
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS AND REACTIONS
(HARTMAN):
[313-314: "I was impressed not only by the large number of professional
people in nudism, but the presence of ordained ministers of various
denominations. ... it was impressive to me to see the number
of
such religious individuals who felt nudism was a human experience in
which they received much satisfaction."] [314: "It has been
suggested that some kind of trauma occurs when children observe adult
genitalia. My impression is that it is not the nudity per se
which is important but the emotional climate in which the nudity takes
place."] [315: "Another impression is that our culture has
done a
magnificent job in creating much ado about nothing. This is
to
say that denying the individual his basic biological identity in social
situations is possibly one of the major contribution factors to our
mental health problems of the day."] [315: "I wonder if
clothing
as a status symbol has not been a major factor encouraging individuals
to lose their true identities and to establish false ones."]
[316: "While completely unwilling to allow nudists the opportunity to
engage in their legal programs, these people insist on religious
freedom and the right to engage in their own legal
activities.
This behavior seems contrary to our American heritage. Our
way of
life was designed by farsighted individuals who authorized all kinds of
group activities to exist and to be engaged in as long as they did not
jeopardize or harm the welfare of other individuals, or groups, in our
society."] [317: "It seems to me appropriate that scientists
should study all phenomena. Science could, through such
research,
discover truths that could free modern man from prejudice and
misunderstanding that currently exist about various social
phenomena. We have described nudists as carefully as the
tools of
modern research allow."] [317: "It is to be hoped, however,
that
valid scientific data, such as we have provided in this report, will
make it possible for the moralist of tomorrow to adjust society's rules
and regulations to leave room for the greatest possible individual
human growth, joy, and happiness."] [317: "But it is within
my
right as a researcher to raise the question as to whether nudism, which
has been demonstrably beneficial to many individuals, should be
suppressed legally or morally, or whether a more widespread use of
experience of such a phenomenon might be contributory to the growth of
the human individual in a particular cultural setting."]
[320:
"Not only are there therapeutic implications in nudism but there also
is a dimension to biological honesty and self-revelation provided by
nudism that has never been considered by any researchers of my
acquaintance."]
THE FUTURE OF NUDISM AND NUDIST
RESEARCH: [359:
"More general circulation of this viewpoint in the future may
contribute to the salubrious conditioning of individuals in our society
to accept the nudity of all human beings as wholesome, normal, and
natural. Nudist publications, if judicially presented, may be
the
most desirable type of material of this kind to be published.
This may diminish the market for other more objectionable materials for
which there is so much current demand."] [349: "Until our
society
takes a more realistic view of providing opportunities for individuals
to be educated about the basic biological differences between the
sexes, the current unwholesome climate can be expected to generate
curiosity that will, in turn, produce sex offenders in the
future."] [350: "The In-Depth Personality Inventory confirmed
our
judgment that nudists are relatively normal, well-adjusted
individuals. This is particularly true of
females."] [350:
"Female participants in social nudism seem to be unusually well
adjusted. It would be difficult to find a group of adult
females
in our culture who would provide more normal profiles on in In-Depth
personality test than those we have obtained."] [350: "There
are
important mental-hygienic implications in social nudism....
In a
culture where sizable proportions of the population require the
services of professional persons in the alleviation of their mental,
emotional, and social problems, the reported relaxation possible in
nudist settings is significant. This shift in emphasis of
benefits accruing from nudist practice over the past three decades
suggests that the physical benefits primarily significant in the early
days of nudism in America now have been replaced by mental
benefits."] [351: "An outstanding finding of our research,
completely unsuspected at the beginning and closely related to mental
hygiene, is that nudism may be regarded as a therapeutic
community."] [351: "Our four years of research of the nudist
phenomenon has confirmed the position taken in 1934 by Dr. Howard
Warren that the body taboo is not universal, that its usefulness as a
concept is questionable, and that the changing of this supposedly
biological taboo may be not only desirable but beneficial for the
health and welfare of many individuals in our society."]
[352:
"... former nudists almost never discontinue practice.... One
is
almost persuaded to say, 'Once a nudist, always a nudist.' "]
[352: "Critics who decry a loosening in moral fiber or a trend toward
immorality in America may be confusing nudity per se with immorality."]
NEW RESEARCH AND GENERAL UPDATE:
[360-361: "Of those
subjects professing a religious faith, we find a decline in active
church membership from approximately 50% in Hartman's study to
approximately 25% in the present sample. ... These changes are probably
indicative of a general sociological phenomenon rather than an effect
of social nudism."]
OTHER STUDIES: [375: "The
studies by Dr.
Marilyn Story covered two separate aspects of social nudism.
The
first study dealt with body self-concepts.... She found that
the
body self-concept ratings of nudists and males were higher than those
of nonnudists and females, but that nudity as a variable was more
important than those of nonnudists and females."] [375-376:
"Her
second study dealt with the sexual experience of social nudists
(including sexual guilt and sexual inhibitions) compared with that of a
matched nonnudist sample. She found that (a) fewer nudists
had
experienced less socially acceptable sexual outlets, (b) more social
nudists felt guilt about their sexual behaviors, and (c) more social
nudists wished they had engaged in a sexual experience they had not
experienced. She also concluded that there is no direct
relationship between [social] nudity and sexually permissive
behaviors."] [376: "Dennis Craig Smith, a professor and
writer
living in Northern California, began a study of adults who had been
raised in a nudist environment.... Their conclusion was that
children raised as nudists experienced fewer sexual problems as they
matured and that they were more satisfied with themselves and with
their bodies than were the nonnudist subjects. Most nudist
responders expressed an intent to provide their children with the same
nudist background they had enjoyed as they developed."] [377:
"The Smith-Sparks study generally indicated a continued move toward
higher education among nudists. They found that 30 percent of
their group had finished high school, 50 % had graduated from college,
and 18.4 percent had received a graduate degree. These
percentages are considerably higher than that for the general populace
as well as showing a rise from those of any of the earlier
studies."] [378: "Clearly, nude recreation continues to be
more
attractive to those with a higher education than to those whose
schooling is restricted to public school."] [379: "It appears
from our study (and confirmed by Smith and Sparks) that nudist
affiliation--even from childhood--in no way damages normal sexual
development and enjoyment."] [391: "After some research, the
FBDC
commissioned the Gallup Poll to conduct a national survey.
The
principal question asked was: Do you believe that people who
enjoy nude sunbathing should be able to do so without interference from
officials as long as they do so at a beach that is accepted for that
purpose? The results were startling. The Gallup
Poll
reported that 71.6% of the general population answered yes."]
[391: "A second question, Have you ever personally gone skinny dipping
or nude sunbathing in a mixed group of men and women either at a beach,
a pool, or somewhere else? drew the following responses... By
rough calculation, this translates into something like 30 million
Americans over the age of 18 who have had some experience with social
nudity. A generation ago the yes responses probably would
have
been far less. We may reasonably assume a greater increase in
the
future."] [392: "There appears to be something about nudism that
changes the mental outlook of persons who experience it. This
change appears to be irreversible."] [-- Thus the need to
demonstrate naturism/nudism directly within the context of a
communication! Experience of the reality is how minds and
hearts
are persuaded.]
APPENDIX ONE: SOCIAL NUDISM
AND THE BODY
TABOO, BY HOWARD C. WARREN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: [400-401:
"...
it had never before been my fortune to bathe without a suit, in any
body of water larger than the household tub. The new
experience
exceeded all expectations. The difference between bathing
with
even the scantiest suit, and bathing in the nude, can only be compared
to the difference between a partial and the total solar eclipse--the
phenomena in each case belong to two distinct categories."]
[402:
"... I found a vast difference between sunbathing in the solitude of
one's own garden, apprehensive lest a neighbor peer through the hedge,
and this sunbathing in a group of friendly men and women, without fear
of prudish comment. The first is a task, the other is a
recreation. There is also a peculiar joy in wandering naked
through the cool pine woods, whether by day or by moonlight, which is
far superior to airbathing in a restricted garden."] [403:
"Foremost in interest to psychologists is the basis of the body
taboo. Is it a fundamental human trait, as many have
maintained,--inherited, or at least an inevitable consequence of man's
social life?"] [403: "No one who has been through an
experience
of social nudity in favorable and proper circumstances will hesitate to
answer this in the negative. In some cases the taboo and its
customary responses slough off at once. On questioning the
men
stopping at Klingberg, I found that for some the maladjustment lasted
only a few minutes, for others it persisted during the first day--after
that social nudity seemed perfectly natural and the power of the taboo
was entirely broken. I had no opportunity to find out the
duration of the taboo in the women. It certainly vanished in
every case after a short time."] [403: "But my observations
and
the reports of others, make it certain that for the normal human
individual who is not entirely dominated by the taboo the habitual
responses disappear in a remarkably short time."] [404: "Soon the
effect is merely the appearance of the 'organism as a whole;' one
notices the general contour of the body, whether male or female, rather
than any specific sex-distinguishing features."] [405: "During my stay
at Klingberg I observed the tendency of men to seek women and chat with
them in an unconstrained way. The slight sex barrier usually
noticeable in social gatherings was absent; but there was no petting or
flirting, nor trace of ribaldry, no presumptuous behavior based on the
exposure of the body."] [405: "My observations, and the wider
experience of others, lead to the conclusion that social nudism does
not in any way foster eroticism--that it tends if anything to promote a
saner sex outlook and more natural relations between men and women,
even during the years of early sexual maturity."] [406: "The
most
striking phenomenon in the life at a nudist park is that this taboo
disappears almost at once, and without any detrimental effect to one's
world view or morals. One quickly realizes that the human
body is
not indecent."] [407: "Two conclusions of considerable
psychological importance were satisfactorily established: (1)
Since the traditional body taboo can be readily, almost immediately,
broken without detrimental results, it is not a fundamental human
trait. (2) Social nudity is not in itself indecent; only a
widespread and persistent social convention has made it so."]
[408: "The writer's observations and the testimony of others indicate
that social nudity is not productive of eroticism. There is
less
sexual excitement, less tendency to flirt, less temptation to ribaldry,
in a nudist gathering than in a group or pair of fully clothed young
people."]
Hibbard, R.A. "Genitalia in human figure drawings:
childrearing
practices and child sexual abuse," Journal of Pediatrics
116(5),
822-8 (1990). [824-825: "Child-rearing practices. As shown in
Table II, no significant differences were found in practices related to
sleeping, nudity (very open--not uncommon or unusual for the child to
see a nude person--to very modest--uncommon or un-[825]-usual to see a
nude person), bathing, discussion of birth, or showering with adult men
or women."] [828: "Examination of potentially intervening and
confounding variables did not identify child-rearing practices (such as
sleeping, bathing, nudity), exposure to sexually explicit materials, or
developmental issues that related to either the allegation of abuse or
the drawing of genitalia on a human figure."] [828: "However,
the
patterns of children sleeping all or part of the night at least once a
month with parents and bathing with siblings or parents is consistent
with other reports of healthy children."]
Ilfeld, Fred, Jr. and Lauer, Roger. Social Nudism in
America. New Haven, CT: College and
University Press,
1964. [Nudists better educated but otherwise socially and
demographically representative of cross-section of American public.]
Jones, Elise F. et al. Teenage
Pregnancy in Industrialized
Countries. New Haven: Yale UP,
1986. Esp. 11, 18,
223, 229. [Industrialized nations with fewer hangups about
nudity
have lower rates of teen pregnancy and abortion.]
Katz, L. "Nudity at home," Parents, 208 (May
1989). [Fence
sitting, but makes a good point about difference between modesty and
shame.]
(To be continued in one more installment.)
Bibliography: Abstracts for
Legal Defense--Part 5
by Marvin Frandsen
Nudity--Psychological Health and Positive Social Effects (continued)
Kinsey, Alfred C., Pomeroy, Wardell B., Martin, Clyde E. Sexual
Behavior in the Human Male. Bloomington,
Indiana: Indiana
University Press, 1948. ISBN 0-253-33412-8. [365:
"In many
cultures, the world around, people have been much exercised by
questions of propriety in the public exposure of portions or the whole
of the nude body. There are few matters on which customs are
more
specific, and few items of sexual behavior which bring more
intense reactions when the custom is transgressed. These
customs
vary tremendously between cultures and nations, and even between the
individual communities in particular countries. The
inhabitant of
the Central American tropics has one custom, the Indian who comes down
from his mountain home to trade in the lowland has totally different
customs. There is neither rhyme nor reason to the
custom--there
is nothing but tradition to explain it. The mountain Indian
of
the warmer country of Southern Mexico is thoroughly clothed, the
mountain Indian of the coldest part of Northern Mexico is more
completely nude than the natives of the hottest Mexican
tropics."] [365: "The English are more or less justly reputed
to
be the most completely clothed people in the world, and Americans have
been slow in breaking away from the English tradition. The
American visitor to foreign lands is often amazed at the exposure which
is allowed in some other cultures ... The German nudist movement is
assumed by the average American to be immoral in intent, and its
counterpart in this country survives only after considerable public
discussion and continual wrangling in court over the obscenity of such
activity. Although Anglo-American law has tried for six or
seven
centuries to define indecent exposure, this is no legal agreement on
the decency or indecency of nude art, nor on the rights of art schools,
photographers, magazines, and books to portray the nude human
form. Public sentiment, backed by sporadic police action, has
dictated the styles of bathing suits, from the gay nineties down to the
present. It is only within the last decade or two that the
male's
right to appear in swimming trunks without tops has been established
for public swimming beaches and pools."] [365: "More definite
limits may be set on nudity than on more overtly sexual
activities. The kissing which is commonplace in American
films is
considered most immoral in some of the foreign counties to which the
films are distributed. A completely nude art production may
be
shown in a Latin American moving picture theatre to an audience which
takes the film complacently, for its artistic value, although it will
hiss the next picture off the screen because it contains a Hollywood
kissing scene."] [366: "The acceptance of nudity may even
vary
with the hour and the place of the exposure. The costume
which is
accepted on the swimming beach is strictly forbidden in most other
places. In the middle of the day, the female may safely
expose
her arms in public, although she is then limited in regard to the
exposure of her back. At the formal affair in the evening,
she
may expose the whole of her back, but she is then most proper if she
covers her arms with long gloves. In a Latin American tropic
town, inside a public building, there may be considerable objection
when one rolls his shirt sleeves to the elbow, even on the hottest
summer day; but out of doors both men and women may go stripped to the
waist through the streets of the town, and all of them may come
together for nude bathing in the nearby stream."] [366: "Most amazing
of all, customs in regard to nudity may vary between the social levels
of a single community. In our American culture, there is a
greater acceptance of nudity at upper social levels, and a greater
restraint at lower social levels. Compared with previous
generations, there is a more general acceptance of nudity in the upper
social level today (Table 95). There is an increasing amount
of
nudity within the family circle in this upper level. There is
rather free exposure in the home for both sexes, including the parents
and the children of all ages, at times of dressing and at times of
bathing. Still more significant, there is an increasing habit
among upper level persons of sleeping in partial or complete nudity
(Table 95)."] [367: "Many persons at this [lower] level
strictly
avoid nudity while dressing or undressing. They acquire a
considerable knack of removing daytime clothing and of putting on night
clothing, without ever exposing any part of the body. This is
less often true of the younger generation which has been exposed to the
mixture of social levels encountered in the CCC camps, the Y.M.C.A, and
the Army and the Navy."] [367: "Exposure of the upper half of
the
male body on swimming beaches started as an upper level custom, but the
democracy of the public beach has fostered a much wider acceptance of
nudity among social levels today."] [367: "There are some
cases
of lower level males who have been highly promiscuous, who have had
intercourse with several hundred females, and who emphasize the fact
that they have never turned down an opportunity to have intercourse
except 'on one occasion when the girl started to remove her clothing
before coitus. She was too indecent to have intercourse
with!'
"] [575: "Breast manipulation of the sort in which the upper
level engages is a source of considerable arousal to the male who
provides the manipulation. There is reason to believe that
more
males in our culture are psychically aroused by contemplation of the
female breast than by the sight of female genitalia. In the
light
of this fact, it is interesting to observe the lengths to which censors
and law enforcement agencies got to prohibit the exhibition of
genitalia, although they frequency allow the display of the nude female
breast. How much of the American male's interest in female
breasts is cultural, and how much of it is biologically based, would be
an interesting matter to investigate, especially in view of the
frequent display of breasts among primitive peoples elsewhere in the
world."] [575: "There are many females who find some specific
arousal in breast stimulation, but there may be even more who are not
particularly aroused by breast contacts. Only a few females,
perhaps not more than a few percent, are ever brought to orgasm by
breast stimulation unaccompanied by genital contacts."] [575:
"It
is important to note that females rarely attempt to manipulate male
breasts. This may be due to the greater prominence of the
female
breast and to the wider knowledge of its eroticism.
Conversely it
may be due to the lesser prominence of the male breast and to the
general lack of knowledge of its erotic capacities. It may
also
be due to the fact that the female is generally less responsive than
the male erotically, and for that reason as well as because of social
custom less often takes the initiative in any sex play. At
any
rate, most males whose experiences are confined to the heterosexual
have never had their breast eroticism tested, and it has, therefore,
been impossible to obtain data on the percentage in the population as
whole who have particularly sensitive breasts. Among males
with
extensive homosexual histories, however, breast manipulation
is
fairly frequent and it is commonly known in such groups that many males
have highly sensitive breasts. The data from such cases
indicate
that there may be as many males as there are females who are sensitive
to breast stimulation."]
Kinsey, Alfred C. Sexual
Behavior in the Human Female.
Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1953, 1981,
1998. ISBN 0-253-33411-X. [586: "The breasts of
both the
male and the female may be more sensitive than some other parts of the
body. Because of the greater size of the female breast its
reactions to tactile stimulation are quite generally known.
Among
the infra-human mammals, the breast rarely plays a part in
sexual
activity, but among human animals there may be a considerable amount of
manual or oral stimulation of the female breast."] [586-587:
"All
of this usually stimulates the male erotically, but the significance
for the female has probably been [587] overestimated. There
are
some females who appear to find no erotic satisfaction in having their
breasts manipulated; perhaps half of them do derive some distinct
satisfaction, but not more than a very small percentage ever respond
intensely enough to reach orgasm as a result of such stimulation
(chapter 5). Some females hold their own breasts during
masturbation, coitus, or homosexual activities, evidently deriving some
satisfaction from the pressure so applied; but there were only 11 per
cent of the females in our sample who recorded any frequent use of
breast stimulation as an aid to masturbation."] [587:
"Because of
their smaller size the sensitivity of the male breasts has not so often
been recognized except among some of the males who have had homosexual
experience. This is undoubtedly not due to differences
between
heterosexual and homosexual males, but to the fact that relatively few
females ever try to stimulate the breasts of their male partners,
whereas such behavior is rather frequent in male homosexual
relations. Our homosexual histories suggest that there may be
as
many males as there are females whose breasts are distinctly
sensitive. A few males may even reach orgasm as a result of
breast stimulation."]
Laver, Modesty in Dress,
Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1969.
[37: "The truth seems to be that in imagination the whole female body
is a desirable object. In practice this is not so, as anyone
can
testify who has ever visited a nudist camp. Complete nudity
is
anti-erotic, as soon as the shock of novelty has worn off; and it does
wear off, surprisingly quickly. If complete nudity were
common we
should probably become seasonal in our impulses, like the
animals. Our characteristic permanent eroticism is kept alive
by
clothes."]
Lewis, R.J. and Janda, L.H. "The relationship between adult
sexual adjustment and childhood experiences regarding exposure to
nudity, sleeping in the parental bed, and parental attitudes toward
sexuality," Archives
of Sexual Behavior 17(4), 349-362
(1988). [351: "Gardner (1975) reported that 75% of the
world's
children sleep in the same room with their parents and others report
this observation of parental sexuality to be not harmful
..."]
[357: "The results suggest that childhood exposure to nudity and
sleeping in the parental bed are not related to poor sexual
adjustment. In fact, for boys, exposure to nudity in early
childhood appears to be modestly related to greater comfort levels with
regard to physical contact/affection."] [357: "It is possible
that the nudity experiences are related to increased comfort with
sexuality and one's body, and this enables one to feel more comfortable
pursuing sexual relationships."] [357: "It is noteworthy that
late childhood (6-11) nudity exposure was modestly related to increased
self-esteem and sexual knowledge for males, but not for females,
suggesting that there may be a positive side effect of seeing others
nude during childhood."] [359: "Perhaps one of the most
important
findings of this research, however, is the absence of any relationships
between retrospective reports of parental nudity, exposure to nudity in
general, sleeping in the parental bed, and sexual adjustment
problems."] [359: "It is clear, however, that there is no
basis
for the warning of the Cassandras of parental permissiveness regarding
sexual issues. Indeed, it appears that parents who have a
casual
attitude toward family nudity and who permit their children to sleep in
their bed may have children with better self-esteem and who feel more
comfortable with their sexuality."]
"Look and Function", 5. (Reference missing from "205
Arguments.") [References 1985 study by Guttmacher Institute
which
found that rates of pregnancy and abortion among teenage girls in
America 2x that of Canada, France, Sweden, England,
Netherlands.
Disparity not explained by differences in sexual activity, race,
welfare policies, or availability of abortion. Disparity
explained by American youth particularly ignorant of biology and
sexuality, partly due to a climate of moral disapproval for seeking
such knowledge. Lower levels of unwanted pregnancy correlated
with factors such as amount of female nudity presented by public media
and extent of nudity on public beaches.]
"Nude Beaches Help" 5 (Reference missing from "205 Arguments.")
[Nations with liberal nudity attitudes have lower teen pregnancy and
abortion rates.]
Okami, P. "Childhood Exposure to Parental Nudity,
Parent-Child
Co-Sleeping, and 'Primal Scenes': A Review of Clinical Opinion and
Empirical Evidence," Journal of Sex Research
32(1), 51-64
(Feb 1995). ["Some of these writers ... have noted the
ubiquity
of childhood exposure to nudity world-wide and have complained about
the lack of empirical data supporting the positions of those who look
askance at the practice."] ["In the second study, Story
(1979)
described positive effects of exposure to nudity in the context or
social nudism. ... it is interesting that no pathogenic
effects--indeed, positive effects (more positive 'body self-concept')--were found for a group of children raised in the context of families who had intentionally adapted a nudist lifestyle because its members apparently believed in it--in spite of social disapproval."] [The authors of the third study (Lewis & Janda, 1988) reported mixed results that may be viewed as positive, negative, or neutral, depending on one's social ideology."] ["Surprisingly then--especially considering the vehemence with which these behaviors have been condemned in much of the clinical literature--there is little evidence to support dire predictions. In the case of exposure to parental nudity, the very scant available evidence points to generally neutral or perhaps even positive correlates, particularly for boys."] ["... scholars in the field of human sexuality recently have emphasized the importance of cultural context in the interpretation of behaviors. ... Experiences such as exposure to parental nudity or sexuality may be constructed of very different 'meanings' within a family whose values include beliefs in the 'naturalness' of nudity and sexuality than within the context of family whose values include endorsement of 'conservative' attitudes toward nudity and sexuality."]
Okami, P., Olmstead, R., Abramson, P., and Pendleton, L. "Early childhood exposure to parental nudity and scenes of parental sexuality ('primal scenes'): an 18-year longitudinal study of outcome," Archives of Sexual Behavior 27(4), 361-384 (1998).[363: "Given the vehemence with which clinicians and child-rearing specialists often condemn childhood exposure to parental nudity, it is paradoxical that their dire predictions are not supported by the (scant) empirical work that does exist. Findings are at worst neutral or ambiguous as to interpretation, and there is even the implication of possible positive benefits in these studies (particularly for boys) in domains such as self-reported comfort with physical affection (Lewis and Janda, 1988) and positive 'body self-concept' (Story, 1979). Although these investigations are methodologically limited, their results are consistent with the view of a smaller group of child-rearing specialists and other commentators who have stressed the potential benefits to children of exposure to nudity in the home, in areas such as later sexual functioning, and capacity for affection and intimacy ... the cross-cultural record is not generally explicit on the question of actual exposure of children to parental nudity. It does, however, present a strong case for the universality of parent-child cosleeping or room sharing ... It may be tentatively inferred that under such conditions large numbers of the world's population of children are exposed to parental nudity."] [372-375: "Exposure to parental nudity predicted lower likelihood of sexual activity in adolescence, but more positive sexual experiences among that group of participants who were sexually active. Exposure to parental nudity also predicted reduced instances of petty theft and shoplifting, but this was mediated by a sex of participant interaction indicating that this effect was attenuated or absent for women. Similarly, exposure to parental nudity was associated at the level of trend with reduced use of drugs such as marijuana, LSD, Ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms, but again, this effect was mediated by a significant sex of participant interaction suggesting that this effect was experienced primarily by men. Indeed, exposed women were very slightly more likely to have used these drugs."] [376: "This study, using a longitudinal design, is the first to examine long-term correlates of early childhood exposure to parental nudity and primal scenes. Consistent with the cross-sectional retrospective literature (and with our expectations), no harmful main effects of these experiences were found at age 17-18."] [377: "Exposure to parental nudity was associated with positive, rather than negative, sexual experiences in adolescence, but with reduced sexual experience overall. Boys exposed to parental nudity were less likely to have engaged in theft in adolescence or to have used various psychedelic drugs and marijuana."] [377: "All findings were independent of the effects of SES, sex of participant, family stability, pathology, 'pronaturalism,' and beliefs and attitudes toward sexuality."] [379: "... the interesting question becomes: Why is it so widely believed in the United States and certain European nations that these practices are ultimately detrimental to the mental health of children? ... Such notions, certainly where exposure to parental nudity are concerned, are perhaps better conceptualized as myths."]
Palmer, Gabrielle. The Politics of Breastfeeding. London, England: Pandora Press, 1988. ISBN 0 86358 220 6. [20: "Any woman who is working in a paid job must certainly not flaunt any signs of fertility. If her breasts are functioning she must discreetly withdraw to feeder her baby or express her milk, because to suckle a baby in daily public life is too disturbing a sight for the men in charge. After work those same men may well pay to watch a woman in a strip club expose her breasts for the sexual stimulation of strangers."] [20-21: "Though every [21] part of a women's body has been a focus of eroticism, our era is the first in recorded history where the breast has become a mass fetish for male sexual stimulation, while at the same time its primary function has diminished on a vast scale. Perhaps the only parallel is the phenomenon of foot binding in China, when the primary use of a part of the body was sacrificed to serve the cult of a sexual fetishism which symbolised female helplessness. In our century, women have been presented with an illusion of liberation through the bottle-feeding of babies, only to find their breasts appropriated by men."] [24: "In the modern world, status and often self-esteem come from a person's role in the structures of wealth creation. If a woman joins the industrial economy she must be seen to be like a man and it is taken for granted that she must adapt to the 'norm', not that social and economic organisation must adapt to all human beings."]
Renbourn, E.T. Materials and Clothing in Health and Disease: History, Physiology and Hygiene. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd., 1982. British Standard Book No. 0 7186 0377 X. [473: "Nudity is the garb of primitive man in the tropics and may be accepted in spite of desert heat or mild near-zero cold. In the early Christian church, nudity was accepted as being proper for baptism. With the naturist, nudity is a means of escaping from self-consciousness and obtaining stimulation by the elements of sun and moving air."] [473: "The clothing of the Ku Klux Klan may be frightening to the simple, ignorant or superstitious person especially as the mask may cover the unknown assassins or the mob out for lynching; but almost identical clothing is to be seen in Spain during Holy Week by the congregation wearing the medieval masked costume of the penitents. Clearly, it is the symbolism and not the clothing which modifies behavior."] [511: "It is somewhat difficult to understand the psychological basis of nudists. The naturists are, in general, modest and moral people, intellectual and may be religious or, on the other hand, humanists. Nudity, it is said, not only gives a sense of freedom, a oneness with nature, but undoubtedly stimulates love of humanity and dislike of aggression and war."] [511-512: "Nudism is likely to dispel the belief that utter nakedness is synonymous with sin, immorality or obscenity. It is doubtful
whether there is any close relationship between morality, religious
beliefs and the amount or type of clothing [512] worn in bed, during
the holidays or at any other time."] [523: "By general
medical
consent the expression Exhibitionist--Indecent Exposure--refers to an
individual, usually a man, in whom there is a periodic, uncontrollable
urge, when otherwise fully dressed, to expose sex organs to a female,
especially those young and innocent, whilst obtaining sex
gratification. ... He normally makes no attempt to expose in front of
men or prostitutes, and there is no evidence that he finds any comfort
in a nudist camp."] [557: "This resistance to exposure of
what
has for so long been covered may explain the early attitude of most
women to the mini-skirt and more so to the 'topless' line. In
any
case beautiful legs are easier to come by than perfect
bosoms.
After a time a new Body Image gets accepted as the norm--a sort of
perceptual adaptation. Men no longer goggle as they did over
the
mini-skirt as happened when it first appeared."]
Robinson, Julian. Body
Packaging: A Guide to Human Sexual
Display. Los Angeles: Elysium Growth,
1988. ISBN
1-555-99027-4. [32: "This phenomenon of sexual recompense
created
by the wearing of various forms of clothing was a remarkable incentive
for our ancestors to acquiesce to the church's demand for concealment;
particularly with the additional bonus of heightened sexual
awareness. It can be seen, therefore, that modesty is so
intertwined with sexual desire and the need for sexual
display--fighting but at the same time re-kindling this desire--that a
self-perpetuating process is inevitably set in motion. In
fact
modesty can never really attain its ultimate end except through its own
disappearance. Hiding under the cloak of modesty there are to
be
found many essential components of the sexual urge itself, without
which our sexual appetites would greatly diminish."] [100:
"The
19th century colonials, of course, condemned native body painting as a
pagan and barbaric custom, accentuating nakedness, lacking any sense of
Christian modesty and encouraging sexual promiscuity.
Fortunately
in more recent times people have come to realize that body painting,
like western-style clothing, was just another manifestation of the
human desire to belong to a particular cultural group. And
after
much study, anthropologists like James Teit declared that body painting
had great cultural, social, religious and sexual
significance.
Writing on the styles of body painting used by the native Indians of
British Columbia he concluded that: 'much of it was ornament,
but
much also had a strong connection with religion, dreams, guardian
spirits, cure of disease, protection, prayers, speech, good luck, war
and death.' And he went on to say that when the young Indians
painted themselves 'it was usually to fascinate the opposite sex.' "]
[146: "Realising that clothing is a form of self-expression, some
governments have, at various times, attempted to control all clothing
styles. They wanted to control the people's hearts and minds,
so
they started with their exterior symbols--their garments.
They
decreed that these garments conform to certain moral and social
standards, that they were comfortable and easy to work in, practical
and unadorned and that they cover areas of the wearer's anatomy that
they thought people may find offensive. Political control of
clothing has been attempted in China, in Cuba and in certain Eastern
bloc countries, with the result that the very items of clothing
themselves, far from becoming symbols of solidarity and the joy of
working for the common good, become highly visible symbols of
repression. Drab and bleak and anonymous, such garments deny
man's essential 'humanness'--denying an individual's right to free
expression in exactly the same way as a prison uniform."] [146:
"Creative dressing is a powerful means of individual expression and is
often the first right to be denied by a repressive government."] [170:
"We tend to think that our current way of dressing is the only way, the
natural way, almost an extension of our own bodies, and we find it
almost impossible to view other modes of dress objectively.
Yet
we still have an apparent unwillingness to continue with one style for
very long, and our obvious dissatisfaction expresses itself in an
appetite for constant change--a kind of chain reaction created by the
eternal compromise between modesty and display."] [176: "There is a
great deal of truth in Robert Burton's contention made in The Anatomy
of Melancholy more than two centuries ago: 'The greatest
provocations of lust are from our apparel.' "] [177:" 'It is
the
adorned and the partially concealed body, and not the naked body, which
acts as a sexual excitant.' Havelock Ellis, Studies in the
Psychology of Sex, 1901."] [177-179:"... it has been
generally
and traditionally accepted that women are not interested in such
displays, and that only homosexual and bisexual males find them of
interest. Recent research has found this belief to be quite
inaccurate, and tests on the automatic dilation of the pupil of the
female eye, which is only brought about by keen sexual interest, has
shown that most women are just as [179] sexually interested in a
well-proportioned nude male as most males are in a well-proportioned
naked female."]
Rudofsky, Bernard. The
Unfashionable Human Body. Garden
City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. ISBN
0-385-05995-7. [26:
"In so-called civilized countries the perpetuation of these fears is
guaranteed by the letter (and the arm) of the law. If
legislated
modesty serves no other purpose, it makes us acutely aware of our
physical self, which is of course exactly the opposite of what it was
intended to do in the first place. In other words, our brand
of
garment-conditioned prudery is self-contradictory and eventually
self-defeating."]
Smith, Dennis Craig and Sparks, Dr. William. Growing Up Without
Shame. Los Angeles: Elysium Growth
Press, 1986. ISBN
1-55599-001-0. [18-27: Theories positing harm to children
exposed
to nudity lack any empirical basis and are disputed by prominent
authorities.] [27-29: Barbaric superstitious cultural
traditions
underlie today's common anti-nudity theories.] [108-114: Cultural sense
of modesty as per nudity is only a cultural habit, not
innate.
Nudity does not equate to sexual stimulation.] [126: No good
studies as to what would offend or harm a child concerning nudity.]
[174: "... no one income or social group dominate the free-beach
scene. All age groups are represented, as well as nearly
every
social level. If one unifying factor exists, it is that
nearly
70% rate themselves as politically moderate or liberal. Only
14%
rate themselves as politically conservative, and 16% say they are
politically 'uninvolved,' or 'unconcerned.'" ] [175: "Many
married women said their husbands wanted to come and they just went
along. Of this group, only 15% said they would stop going if
it
was left up to them. An amazing 85% said they would come on
their
own now and were glad their husbands had brought them
there."]
[180: Regarding guilts and frustrations developing in a child exposed
to nudity, "We didn't find them in the people we interviewed.
We
found normal childhood problems of adjustment, but we also found a
group of adults seemingly satisfied with themselves, and very willing
to raise their children as they were raised, with nakedness as part of
their everyday lives."] [181: "Some even mention that they
were
able to develop into adults without fear or shame because of the nudity
that surrounded them. None speak of overstimulation."] [181:
"It
seems clear to us now, after five years of study, that this unfounded
bias and conjecture has been very misleading. But, more than
that, it has caused real harm to more than one generation of American
children. It has been, in a way, something akin to doctors
telling women in third-world countries that breast feeding could be
harmful and that artificial formula was better for their babies."]
[182: "We insult ourselves by calling our bodies obscene, pornographic,
lewd, base, dirty, immoral, or evil, and in so doing deny the basic
truth of our own existence. Our anatomy is us--and it is none
of
those terrible things."] [183: "What we learned was that the viewing of
the unclothed human body, far from being destructive to the psyche,
seems to be either benign and totally harmless or to actually provide
positive benefits to the individuals involved."] [187: "The notion that
social nudity during childhood is detrimental to the child's normative
course of development is largely a cultural belief rather than a
demonstrated outcome."] [187: "Prohibitions against nudity are part of
the tapestry of our cultural myth, or what Rokeach (1968) calls
'primitive beliefs' which '...have an axiomatic, taken-for-granted
character (p. 6).] [187-188: No data to support conjectures of social
harm or individual psychological harm from nudity.] [203:
"Few of
the respondents indicated any regrets or negative effects about being
raised social nudists. The respondents generally described
their
childhoods and adolescence as being 'healthy,' 'normal,' and
'unemotional.'"] [203: "Finally, the social nudists provide an
endorsement of their upbringing by having indicated that 73.3% of them
plan to raise their children as nudists."]
Smith, Jan. "Breasts." Clothed with the Sun
1.3, 77
(1981). Quoting from Male
and Female by Margaret Mead.
[Margaret Mead writes, "clothes separate us from our own bodies as well
as from the bodies of others. The more society ... muffles
the
human body in clothes ... camouflages pregnancy ... and hides breast
feeding, the more individual and bizarre will be the child's attempts
to understand, to piece together a very imperfect knowledge of the life
cycle of the two sexes and an understanding of the particular state of
maturity of his or her body."]
Smith, H.W. "A modest test of cross-cultural differences in
sexual modesty, embarrassment and self disclosure," Qualitative
Sociology 3(3), 223-41 (1980). [224: "Hartman,
et al. (1970:329)
reached a number of conclusions in attempting to distinguish active
nudists from other groups. Their findings can be summarized
under
six statements: (1) the only distinguishing feature of nudists is that
they tend to be upper-middle class Caucasian; (2) psychological
characteristics of American nudists as measured by the Minnesota
Multiphastic Personality Inventory [MMPI] show them to be normal,
well-adjusted individuals; (3) social nudism has mental-hygienic
benefits (i.e., less obsession with eroticism than among non-nudists);
(4) the body taboo is not innate and universal but is cultural and
learned; (5) former nudists almost never discontinue their nudist
practice; and (6) nudism appears to be increasing in acceptance in the
United States."] [244-245: "The changes which are now taking
place on the American scene had occurred some time ago in France and
Germany. For some four decades, the German federal government
has
reserved parts of public bathing areas for nudists; and it is a common
practice in German cities for local governments to open municipal pools
to nudists on alternate days. Public surveys indicate that
over
one-third of West Germans claim to practice nudism. While the
French had a later start on the nudism scene, they would appear to be
catching up fast with the Germans. Since about 1970
increasing
numbers of municipal governments on the French Riviera, while not
officially condoning the nudism movement, have judiciously [225] looked
the other way while nudists take over public bathing areas.
Indeed, public survey results indicate that over half of the French
view nudism as acceptable and wish their government would officially
recognize and legalize at least portions of public beaches for
nudism."] [225: "While no comparable statistics exist for the
United States, present indications are that only a fraction (albeit a
fast-growing fraction) of Americans have engaged in nudism.
Public polling data indicates that less than one out of ten Americans
feel it is acceptable to show theatrical productions with nude
scenes."] [225: "Using a typology of low and high context
cultures, Hall (1976) presents evidence that Germans are extremely low
in cultural context. They are characterized by individualism,
alienation, estrangement from other people, little body contact, low
sensitivity to nonverbal cues, segmentation of time and space,
etc. By contrast, he characterized the French, in their
personal
lives as extremely high context: interacting within closely knit
groups, sensitive to nonverbal cues, relatively high amounts of body
contact, blurring of time and space scheduling of life events, and so
forth. Americans are characterized on Hall's continuum as
somewhere between the French and the Germans on the high-low context
continuum."] [226: "Weinberg concluded that nudists, like
non-nudists, have developed a system of norms to regulate and control
immodesty, sexuality and embarrassment. He argues that the
basic
difference between nudists and non-nudists lies in their differently
constructed definitions of the situation."] [235: "In
Hartman, et
al. (1970) evidence was presented showing that teenagers are
disproportionately underrepresented. Generally, American
nudist
families find it hard to interest their teenage children in nudism
during the period of formation of their secondary sexual
characteristics. This study indicates that this is true among
both French and Germans. Teenagers were rarely observed on
nudist
sections of either beach. At both beaches, parents
interviewed
provided several extemporaneous laments that their budding teenagers
were shy of displaying their new signs of sexuality, although the same
children had numerous uninhibited prepubescent experiences on nudist
beaches."] [235: "These systematic and standardized
qualitative
observations show marked and patterned differences between German and
French nudists. These differences are consistent with the
proposed theory on the effects of high and low context cultures on
French and German self-disclosure through body contact, sexual and
bodily display and embarrassment, and are indicative of considerable
divergence with American nudist norms, particularly in the French
case."] [235: "It is interesting to note that the Germans are much more
similar to Americans than are the French."] [236: "The
correspondence between German and American nudism is not surprising for
two reasons. First, the American nudist movement got its
start
(and norms) from German immigrants in the first quarter of the
century. Second, the German culture, as Hall points out, is a
low
context culture which supplies high amounts of information usage and
low amounts of body contact."] [239: "Weinberg (1964) in summarizing
his typology of immodest behavior (see Figure 1) stated that the only
difference between American nudists and non-nudists was cell 1-1: the
act of showing one's body in public. While data on verbal
expression was not collected, it has been shown that nudist behavior on
French beaches requires different standards. Erotic overtures
of
commission and omission were observed frequently enough on French
beaches to: (1) question the appropriateness of the Weinberg typology
of what is considered immodest there (although not at the German
beaches); (2) to suggest that cell 2-1, looking at displays of body or
erotic overtures, is specific to low context cultures like Germany and
the U.S.; (3) and to suggest, by contrast, that high context cultures
like France are more able to routinize sexuality because they have
already relatively routinized sensuality. Hence, such high
context cultures may more easily separate sensuality from
sexuality."] [239: "Earlier, this paper noted that nudism
practice is expanding and changing rapidly in the U.S. along lines
which occurred earlier in Germany and then France. The
earliest
nudists were disproportionately urban and upper-middle class.
The
rapid expansion of nudism in Germany and France indicates diffusion to
other groups. Since nudism is undergoing a similar expansion
in
parts of the U.S., it is likely that similar equalitarianism trends are
and will be taking place. This has implications for normative
change, given the first adherents to social movements tend to be
predictably different from later joiners ..."]
Smith, H.W. "Does shedding one's clothes imply shedding one's
culture? A cross-cultural test of nudism claims," International
Review of Modern Sociology 10(2), 255-68 (1980). [German
and French
cultural views of use and meaning of territory not affected by nudist
practices, implication being that basic cultural views and habits are
not affected by nudism, implication being that nudism isn't going to
turn people into mindless criminals.] [266: "Nevertheless,
the
mostly non-verbal, unobtrusive nature of our five indicators of
territoriality support the more verbal studies by Weinberg (1965-1970)
and Hartman et al. (1970) that nudists differ from non-nudists only
basically in their desire to sunbathe in the nude. Their
territorial behavior appears quite 'normal' from the analyses presented
in this paper. What nudists do appears to be quite normal
when
compared to what certain groups say nudists do or say nudism does to
people. Deeply embedded cultural differences of the type
tested
simply are not shed by shedding one's clothes."]
Story, M.D. "Factors associated with more positive body self-concepts
in preschool children." The
Journal of Social Psychology 108, 49-56
(1979). [49: "Research over the past two and half decades has
consistently supported the premise of this study that body self-concept
is an important part of overall self-concept because a person must
function within the physical reality of his/her body ... Negative or
lower body self-concept scores have been associated with undue anxiety
regarding pain (26); an increased number of somatic symptoms (9); a
lessened ability to enter into intimate expressive relationships (5,6);
and a decrease in motor abilities (22)."] [50: "Nudity
classification of the family also appeared to be a factor related to
body self-concept, but no previous studies including body self-concepts
of social nudists were found."] [53: "... nudism was found to
be
a more important variable than sex. Social nudist males
scored
higher than nonnudist males and higher than nonnudist
females.
Social nudist females scored higher than nonnudist females, and also
scored higher than nonnudist males."] [53-54:"... the
relationship between body part liked least and nudity classification
was significant (p < .001) with nudists most often answering
they
had no body part they least liked while nonnudists most [54] often
named genitals as least liked."]
Story, M.D. "Comparisons of body self-concept between social
nudists and nonnudists." Journal of Psychology
118(1),
99-112 (1984). [99: "Research dating from the first body self-concept
studies ... has consistently supported the premise of the present study
that body self-concept is an important part of overall
self-concept. Little research, however, has been done
examining
the differences in body self-concept between subculture groups, such as
social nudists, and their nonnudist counterparts in the United
States."] [103-104: "Contrary to Meares's theory (1980) and
the
correlations between body self-concept and interpersonal relationships
found in other literature [104] ... no difference in body self-concept
scores was found according to ratings on any of the four relationships
questions."] [105: "Social nudist males had the most
effectiveness ratings, followed in order by social nudists females,
nonnudist males, and nonnudist females. The reverse ordering
was
true for the most attractiveness ratings. These findings
generally support those of other studies on reasons for body
self-concept ratings ... and indicate that persons with higher body
self-concepts are likely to judge their body aspects more on
effectiveness than on attractiveness."] [107: "No strong
factors
were found for either social nudist males or females. The
strongest factor, Relationships (with the same loading items as with
nonnudists) accounted for 7.8% of the variance in nudist males' scores
and 5.8% of the variance in nudist females' scores. No other
factor accounted for more than 5% of the variance for either nudist
males or females. The lack of ability to extract strong
factors
from the body self-concept ratings of social nudists seems to indicate
that nudist body self-concept is either so variable from individual to
individual that it follows no pattern structures or so general that it
does not relate to particular perceptual groupings of body
aspects."] [111: "This study found that body self-concept
ratings
and reasons for those ratings varied more according to nudity
classification than according to traditional sex differences.
The
body self-concept ratings of social nudists were higher than those of
nonnudists and were based more on effectiveness and holistic thinking
than those of their nonnudist counterparts. The results from
this
study's nonnudist sample generally reinforced the belief that a small
number of factor structures accounts for a majority of the variance in
body self-concept ratings."]
Story, M.D. "A Comparison of Social Nudists and Non-Nudists
on
Experience with Various Sexual Outlets." Journal of Sex Research
23(2), 197-211 (1987). [Nudists have significantly less
casual
premarital and extramarital sex, group sex, incest, and
rape.]
[197: "The issue of the effects of nudity on sexual behavior is rampant
with opinion and emotion but has been the subject of very little
research."] [198: "In contrast, Prescott (1978) exemplifies
many
professionals on the other side of the issue when he testified that
'you see no great problems of sexual disturbances in such families that
practice family nudity' (p. 21). Smith (1981) studied 60
adults
raised as social nudists and found that overall they had better mental
health than the general population as well as quite positive attitudes
about their nudist upbringing and that 73.3% planned to raise their own
children as nudists. The key to these apparently
irreconcilable
views of nudity's effect on sexual behavior may be that nudists
mentally separate nudity and sex and see nude bodies as 'natural' and
'pure' rather than sexually arousing ..."] [204-205: "The
first
hypotheses was partially supported, as social nudists were found to
have had less experience than non-nudists with 6 of the 12 items
hypothesized to have lower nudist than non-nudist
participation.
Social nudists were less likely than nudists to have (a) had premarital
intercourse with a person other than an intended marriage partner ...
(b) had sexual experience with a person of their own sex before or
during adolescence ... (c) had extramarital [sic] sexual experience ...
(d) had group sex experience ... (e) taken unfair advantage of a person
for selfish reasons ... or (f) had sexual contact with a family member
other than a spouse."] [205: "As expected, there were no
differences between social nudists and non-nudists on the seven sexual
outlets viewed as more socially acceptable or less influenced by social
mores ..."] [205: "Social nudists were more likely than
non-nudists to find it difficult to forgive themselves for a sexual
behavior they had done ... Although about equal numbers of nudists and
non-nudists regretted a sexual behavior, nudists were more likely to
hold on to their guilt by not forgiving themselves for sexual
behaviors."] [207: "No differences in responses on the 22
items
were found within either the social nudists or the non-nudist group by
education level or marital status, rejecting the sixth hypothesis of
differences according to these variables."] [208: "The results support
the idea that, for social nudists, nudity is not related to more
permissive sexual behavior. The results actually suggest
nudists
and non-nudists are alike in many of their sexual
behaviors."]
[209: "... nudity is usually a more important variable than sex in
determining experience with less socially acceptable sexual outlets
because nudist men had less experience than non-nudist
women."]
[209: The lower rate of nudist participation in less socially
acceptable sexual behaviors lends support to the view that nudists hold
a stricter code of sexual conduct than non-nudists. This
conclusion agrees with those of Weinberg 91971) and Hartman et al.
(1971), as well as the beliefs of most authors writing about nudist
behavior; they conflict with these of DeMartino (1969). It
appears that nudists, or at least those who are members of nudist
clubs, may identify with the conservative mores of organized social
nudism rather than seeing nudity as directly connected to sexual
arousal. The fact that more nudists compared to non-nudist
were
found to retain sexual guilt, even though fewer of them had experience
with socially less acceptable sexual outlets, is further evidence that
nudists judge themselves by a stricter code of conduct than
non-nudists."] [210: "... this study illustrates that there
is
not always a direct relationship between nudity and sexually permissive
behaviors."]
Story, M.D. "Personal and professional perspectives on social
nudism: Should you be personally involved in your
research?" Journal
of Sex Research 29(2?), 111+ (1993).
[Personal review of advantage of being a nudist when researching
nudists. Review of peer and other controls on quality of
research
so that objectivity is not compromised.]
Sussman, S.A. "Body disclosure and self-disclosure -- relating two
modes of interpersonal encounter." Journal of Clinical Psychology
33(4), 1146-1148 (1977). [1146-1147: "A social nudity experience was
provided for one group (a day at a local nudist campground), an outing
day was provided for the second group, and the naive group received no
treatment. Two weeks post-treatment, mixed-sex pairs of
S[ubjects]s reported for testing ..."] [1147: "These experimental
results supported the hypothesis that Ss who participated in a
body-disclosing treatment would relate significantly more openly to
each other in a future, clothed meeting than would control
Ss. In
addition, it was discovered that the effect on each person's level of
self-disclosure generalized beyond a body-sexual content of disclosure
topic. This is impressive because it might be expected that,
at
best, one's experience of body disclosure would affect only his
disclosures on topics of similar experiential reference.
Although
persons in our culture are often defensive, this research suggests that
when they undress with others in a socially acceptable environment,
their experience of body disclosure can help them to suspend verbal
defenses and participate in honest dialogue, even after they are
clothed again. Furthermore, they experience accepting and
warm
responses from others during the body-disclosing episode and tend to
like themselves better afterward."]
Vingerhoets, A. and Buunk, B. "Attitudes toward nudist and public
beaches: Some evidence of dissonance reduction and gender
differences." Journal
of Leisure Research 19(1), 13-21 (1987).
[13-14: "Over the past decade, nudist recreation in the Netherlands
has, from a somewhat sectarian lifestyle, developed into a practice
attracting large seg- [14] ments of the population. An
increasing
number of both official and unofficial nudist beaches have cropped up,
and since a change in the law took place in 1985, many beaches can be
used for nudist recreation if the visitors feel it is
appropriate. It is estimated that there are currently far
more
than a hundred nudist beaches in the Netherlands, attracting at least
one million visitors annually. In Dutch opinion polls this
development is clearly reflected. For example, the percentage
of
those opposing nudist recreation in especially designated areas
decreased from 71% in 1968 to 33% in 1981 (Weeda, 1983). A
similar, though less pervasive, development seems to have occurred in
other Western countries. As Smith (1980) has noted, nudism in
the
United States has grown at a rate neither predicted nor anticipated and
has spread to public bathing areas on both sea coasts so that the
original voluntary association flavor has been lost ..."]
[14:
"Two specific hypotheses are tested. The first hypothesis is
derived from cognitive dissonance theory ... According to this theory,
people who have to choose from two alternatives, both of which have
their advantages and disadvantages, will experience cognitive
dissonance once they have made a decision. The more negative
aspects there are to the chosen option, the greater this dissonance ...
people who practice nudism recreation will in most cases have made a
conscious decision to practice a pattern that is still more or less
deviant. They will therefore experience more cognitive
dissonance
than visitors to public beaches."] [14: "Dissonance theory
would
predict that such dissonance will be reduced by emphasizing the
positive aspect of the chosen alternative, i.e., nudist recreation, and
devaluating the rejected alternative, i.e. recreating in bathing
attire. A similar need for dissonance reduction will be less
prevalent among visitors to public beaches. Thus, the
tendency to
emphasize the positive aspects of their own type of recreation, and the
negative aspects of the non-practiced form of recreation, will be less
pronounced in this group."] [14: "A second hypothesis
concerns
gender differences. Opinion polls indicate that men are more
in
favor of nudist recreation than women (Weeda, 1983). The most
plausible explanation for the observed gender difference is that ... a
number of men are attracted to nudist beaches by the possibility of
watching nude female bodies. There is plenty of evidence that
men
are in general more interested in, and more sexually [15] aroused by
the sight of a nude body of the opposite sex than women are ...
Furthermore, it is not unlikely that this is the same reason women are
not attracted to nudist beaches: they do not like the idea of having
their nude bodies exposed to men."] [15: "However, it seems
likely that these perceptions hold only for people who do not practice
nudist recreation themselves. For men who start going to
nudist
beaches, the numerous female bodies will, probably within a short
period of time, lose much of their originally exciting value, if it
ever existed ... As a consequence of this, women might feel comfortable
on a nudist beach and find it particularly attractive given the
possibility of getting a tan all over. It is therefore
expected
that among visitors to normal beaches, nudist recreation will be more
positively evaluated by men than by women, while the opposite may occur
among visitors to nudist beaches."] [15: "The subjects were
approached on four inland beaches in the Netherlands. Two
were
'open' beaches where nudist recreation was officially
permitted.
Nudist recreation was not allowed at the two other beaches (referred to
here as public beaches)."] [19: "... subjects judged their
own
recreational form as being more positive than the other. As
expected on the basis of our fist hypothesis, the difference between
the opinions of both types of recreation was greater within the nudist
group than within the public beach group. As predicted on the
basis of cognitive dissonance theory, the attitudes in the nudist group
were more polarized: they evaluated their own recreational form more
positively and the other recreational form more negatively than the
public beach group."] [19-20: "... men in the public beach
group
evaluated nudist recreation more positively and recreation in bathing
suits less positively than the women in this group. [20] Noted
differently: among women who go to public beaches, attitudes were
relatively polarized. They were more positive about
recreating in
bathing attire and more negative about nudist recreation than the men
were. These data are in line with the second
hypothesis.
However, other data were only partially compatible with this
hypothesis. Although, the women within the nudist group
judged
recreation in bathing attire more negatively than the men did, men and
women had the same opinion about nudist recreation."] [20:
"Following dissonance theory, we can argue that nudist recreators
experienced cognitive dissonance by choosing a socially less accepted
form of leisure time spending, and reduced this dissonance by
describing their behavior as, among other things, much more healthy,
natural, modern, open and peaceful. Of course, persons going
to
public beaches, too, evaluated their own behavior as more positive, and
viewed their own behavior as, among other things, more meaningful and
cozy than nudist recreation. Thus, among both groups there is
a
clear tendency to describe one's own recreational behavior in more
positive terms."] [20: "Further, in contrast to the assumed
importance of getting tan all over, women on the nudist beach
did
not evaluate their own recreational form more positively than the men
did. This could be the consequence of a 'ceiling effect', in
the
sense that a more positive evaluation in any group could hardly be
expected. Another explanation is that the positive aspects
are
overshadowed for women by negative experiences, such as 'peeping' and
other annoying male behavior. That such behaviors are far
from
uncommon on nudist beaches, is indicated by the Study of Douglas et al.
(1977)."] [21: "Finally, some limitations of the sample must
be
pointed out. First, the differences between both recreational
groups can partially be confounded with differences in educational
level and political preference, since the two groups differed in these
respects. It is unlikely, however that these differences can
explain the polarization of attitudes in the nudist group.
There
is no reason to assume that persons with higher educational backgrounds
and liberal political ideas, have a relatively pronounced tendency to
give more extreme answers."] [21: "A second limitation of the
sample is the fact that the data were collected on inland beaches in
The Netherlands, and probably cannot be generalized to coastal beaches
and other countries. Thirdly, the findings presented here
concern
only non-organized nudist recreation. It could well be that
members of nudist organizations would make different evaluations and
have more outspoken opinions than the group studied here."]
[21:
"Despite these limitations, the present study offers a beginning of
insight into the attitudes and motives with regard to an increasingly
popular form of recreation."]
Warren, Howard C. "Social Nudism and the Body
Taboo."
Psychological Review
40, 160-183 (1933). (Reprinted in Nudist
Society.)
Weinberg, Martin S. "Sexual Modesty, Social Meanings, and the
Nudist Camp." Social
Problems 12.3, 311-18 (Winter 1965).
{Also in Deviance: the
Interactionist Perspective. Eds. Early
Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg, Rutgers University. New York: The
MacMillan Company (1968). pp. 271-279.} [312: "The
assumption underlying this focus is that stable social meanings are
products of a social standardization process, being controlled by the
'molds' which social organization imposes on patterns of
sociation."] [312: "Modesty is a form of reserve."] [313:
"The
manifest function of sexual modesty (i.e., those consequences evaluated
by common-sense rationality) is maintenance of social control over
latent sexual interests. Common-sense conceptions of modesty
also
put most emphasis on the covering of the body when in the presence of
the opposite sex for the performance of this function.
Considerations of a breakdown in clothing modesty bring forth images of
rampant sexual interest, promiscuity, embarrassment, jealousy, and
shame."] [314: "The ideology of the nudist camp provides a
new
definition of the situation regarding nudity, which in effect that
maintains [sic]: (1) nudism and sexuality are unrelated (2) there is
nothing shameful about exposing the human body (3) the abandonment of
clothes can lead to a feeling of freedom and natural pleasure (4) nude
activities, especially full bodily exposure to the sun, leads to a
feeling of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being."]
[314:
"These definitions are sustained by nudists to a remarkable degree ...
The results of the field work and formal interviews indicate how the
social organization of the nudist camp has developed a system of norms
which contribute to sustaining the official definition of the
situation."] [318: "Our results make possible some general
conclusions regarding modesty: (1) Covering the body through the use of
clothes is not a necessary condition for a pattern of modesty to exist,
nor it is [sic] required for tension management and social control of
latent sexual interests. Sexual interests are very adequately
controlled in the nudist camp experiment; in fact, those who have
visited nudist camps agree that sexual interests are controlled to a
much greater extent than they are on the outside. Clothes are
also not a sufficient condition for a pattern of modesty, the
manipulation of clothes and fashion in stimulating sexual interest is
widely recognized. (2) Except for clothing immodesty ... all
other forms of modesty are maintained in a nudist camp (e.g., not
looking, not saying, not communicating erotic overtures).
This
suggests that the latter proscriptions are entirely adequate in
achieving the functions of modesty when definitions regarding the
exposure of the body are changed. (3) When deviance from the
institutionalized patterns of modesty is limited to one cell of our
typology, (i.e., clothing is dispensed with), and the definition of the
situation is changed, the typically expected consequence of such a
breakdown in this normative pattern does not occur. Rampant
sexual interest, promiscuity, embarrassment, jealousy, and shame were
not found to be typical of the nudist camp."]
Weinberg, Martin S. "Nudist Camp, Way of Life and Social
Structure." Human
Organization 26.3, 91-99 (Fall 1967). [94:
"Nudist camps cater primarily to married couples and their
children. For example, 82 percent of the people in the
interview
sample were married."]
Weinberg, Martin S. "Becoming a Nudist." Deviance: The
Interactionist Perspective. Eds. Earl Rubington
and Martin S.
Weinberg. New York: MacMillan, 1968.
Library of
Congress catalog card number: 68-12719. Reprinted from
Psychiatry: Journal for
the Study of Interpersonal Processes, Vol. 29,
No. 1 (February 1966). [240: "Thus when nudist members were
asked
what they had thought of nudism before visiting a camp, 50 percent
stated that they had never really given it any thought."] [241: "...
the highest percentage of men mentioned magazines as the source of
their interest, and the next largest source was other persons
(exclusive of parents or parents-in-law). For women, the
pattern
was different; the highest percentage were first informed about nudism
by their husbands. In 78 percent of the families, the husband
had
been more interested in visiting a camp."] [242: "Even though
they had enough confidence to make the decision to visit a camp, the
respondents did not necessarily anticipate becoming nudists
themselves. For many the first trip was merely a joke, a
lark, or
a new experience, and the main motivation was curiosity."]
[244:
"Asked if they ever had any doubts that becoming a nudist was the right
decision, once they had made up their minds, 77 percent reported that
they never had any doubts. Fourteen percent had doubts at the
time of the interview."] [244: "And this new reality imposes
a
different meaning on the everyday life of the outside world:
'My
daughter told us today the boys and girls don't sit together at school,
but it makes no difference to her. Several times they're out
playing and the boys get excited when they see their panties.
My
children don't understand that. They have a different state
of
mind toward different sexes.' "] [244-245: "Persons who
became
nudists--that is, became members of a camp and conceived of themselves
as nudists--usually demonstrated an autonomy of motives, in the sense
that their motives for doing so differed from their motives for first
visiting a camp."] [245: "Three of the benefits cited are of special
sociological interest--the concept of nudist freedom, the
family-centered nature of the recreation, and the emphasis on
friendliness and sociability."] [247: "Participation in nudism did not,
however, always lead to increased family cohesiveness. For
example, if one spouse did not appreciate the experience, the family's
continued participation resulted in increased strain. And
although nudist ideology claims that nudist participation brings the
family closer together, 78 percent of the interviewees, and 82 percent
of the questionnaire respondents, reported no change in their family
relationships."] [247: "In addition, nudists extended the
concept
of 'family' to include fellow nudists; they cited a 'togetherness' that
is rare in the clothed society."] [247: "Several blue-collar
workers remarked that one of the things they liked about nudism was
that, without their uniforms or customary clothes, they and their
families could associate with a better class of people.
Status
striving decreases with the removal of these important props of
impression management."] [248: "Although these statements may
be
somewhat idealized, the nudist camp does effectively break down
patterns common to country clubs, resorts, and other settings in the
outside society. Sex, class, and power lose much of their
relevance in the nudist camp, and the suspension of the barriers they
create effects a greater unity among the participants. This
is
not to say, however, that there is no social hierarchy ..."]
[248: "Clothing modest is a ceremony of everyday life that sustains a
nonintimate definition of relationships, and with its voluntary
suspension relationships are usually defined as closer in character."]
Weinberg, Martin S. "Embarrassment: Its Variable
and
Invariable Aspects." Social
Forces 46, 382-88 (1968).[385:
"Nudists were found to be resocialized to view heterosexual nudity in a
special way. The official rules of interpretation to which
participants are socialized are that: (a) nudism and
sexuality
are unrelated, (b) there is nothing shameful about exposing the human
body, (c) the abandonment of clothes can lead to a feeling of freedom,
and (d) nude activities, especially full exposure to the sun, lead to a
feeling of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. The
first
two statements, which refer to the acceptability of heterosexual
nudity, are the 'deviant' aspect of the ideology. The fact
that
these definitions of the situation are, however, effectively sustained,
precludes embarrassment as an emotion relevant to nudity."]
[387:
"Since the nudist camp provides its participants with new
interpretations of heterosexual nudity, the old interpretations can be
kept out of play, emotions such as shame, guilt, or sexual jealousy
lose any relation to heterosexual nudity."] [388: "If people
are
effectively socialized to a non-sexual interpretation of nudity and
this rule of interpretation is sustained, then sexual, moral, and
emotional responses that are commonly associated with heterosexual
nudity become phenomenally absurd. Because interpretations
become
tied to social establishments, the reality sustained by the
establishment determines what elicits an emotion."]
Weinberg, Martin S. "The Nudist Management of Respectability:
Strategy for, and Consequences of a Situated Morality." Deviance
and Respectability: The Social Construction of
Moral
Meanings. Ed. Jack D. Douglas. New York:
Basic,
1970. 375-403.
Westheimer, Ruth and Louis Lieberman. Sex and Morality: Who
Is Teaching Our Sex Standards? Boston:
Jovanovich,
1988. [Young people who had casually seen both of their
parents
nude in the home were far more likely to feel comfortable with their
bodies and also feel more satisfied with the size and shape of their
genitalia and breasts.] [61: "We can't help but believe that such
repeated messages about how the body must be covered, even in front of
parents and siblings, helps to create a negative body self-image and,
consequently, lowered self-esteem. Many persons who work with
problems of youth have come to recognize the social and mental-health
implications when young people do not think very highly of
themselves. There are even suggestions that the euphoria of
drug
use is sought by many to overcome these negative feelings about one's
self. In our private practices, where we treat people with
sexual
dysfunctions as well as other interpersonal problems, we see patients
who remember feeling uncomfortable about their bodies from childhood
on. How much of this can be traced directly back to parental
prohibitions is not known, but the frequency with which the people we
interviewed suggested this is not insignificant."] [72: "One
of
the few studies on this subject was conducted by Lou Lieberman in the
late 1960s when he was on the faculty at the State University of New
York at Albany. In a survey of over 250 students, he found
that
those young people who had casually seen both of their parents nude in
the home (with no sexual overtones of course) were far more likely to
feel comfortable with their bodies and to also feel satisfied with the
size and shape of their genitalia and breasts. This may seem
like
trivial research to some, but is body self-image not a major aspect of
self-esteem?"]
Wildman, Robert W., Wildman, Robert W. II, Brown, Archie and Trice,
Carol. "Note on Males' and Females' Preferences for
Opposite-Sex
Body Parts, Bust Sizes, and Bust Revealing Clothing."
Psychological Reports
38.2, 485-86 (April 1976). [485: "In regard
to amounts of chest hair, 24 (46%) answered that they preferred a 'Very
Hairy Chest,' 24 (46%) answered in favor of a 'Moderately Hairy Chest,'
and 4 (8%) responded that they preferred a 'Bare Chest.' "]
[485:
"Female subjects were shown photographs of the well-formed legs,
buttocks, chest, and penis of males. They were asked to rank
these from most (number 1) to least (number 4) 'sexually
stimulating.' Twenty-four subjects (51%) ranked the chest as
most
sexually stimulating. 11 subjects (23%) rated the penis as
number
1, 8 (17%) ranked legs as most stimulating, and 4 subjects (9%) ranked
buttocks number 1. The male body parts were given weighted
scores
by assigning 4 for being chosen most 'sexually stimulating,' a 3 for
being ranked second, etc. The weighted scores were:
chest,
148, legs, 111; buttocks, 103; and penis, 103."] [485-486:
"Male
subjects were asked to rank from most to least sexually stimulating the
buttocks, busts, legs, and genitals of females. Thirteen
subjects
(38%) chose busts, 8 (24%) chose buttocks, 7 (21%) genitals, and 6
(18%) legs. The female body parts were given [486] weighted
scores in the same manner as the male body parts. Resulting
weighted scores were: bust, 103, buttocks, 94; legs, 73; and genitals,
70."]
Wilson, Diane Lee. The
Impact of Gender Role Socialization and
Female Development on Adult Sexuality in Lesbians.
Dissertation,
The Wright Institute, 1987. [Childhood exposure to parental
nudity helped children have less adult sexual anxiety.]