Portal:Nudity
Introduction
In the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, from Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire, proper attire was required to maintain social standing. The lower classes might possess a single piece of cloth that was wrapped or tied to cover the lower body; the lowest classes including slaves might be naked. However, through much of Western history until the late modern period, people of any status were also unclothed by necessity or convenience when engaged in labor and athletics; or when bathing or swimming. Such functional nudity occurred in groups that were usually but not always segregated by sex. Although improper dress might be socially embarrassing, the association of nudity with sin regarding sexuality began with Judeo-Christian societies, spreading through Europe in the post-classical period. Traditional clothing in temperate regions worldwide also reflect concerns for maintaining social status and order, as well as by necessity due to the colder climate. However, societies such as Japan and Finland maintain traditions of communal nudity based upon the use of baths and saunas that provided alternatives to sexualization.
The spread of Western concepts of modest dress is part of colonialism, and continues today with globalization. Contemporary social norms regarding nudity reflect cultural ambiguity towards the body and sexuality, and differing conceptions of what constitutes public versus private spaces. Norms relating to nudity are different for men than they are for women. Individuals may intentionally violate norms relating to nudity; those without power may use nudity as a form of protest, and those with power may impose nakedness on others as a form of punishment. (Full article...)
Selected general article
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The number of nude beaches in some countries is relatively low, and they are generally located some distance away from the city. Access is at times more difficult than at a regular beach and the facilities at these beaches tend to be very basic with a few notable exceptions. In other countries, like Denmark, most beaches are clothing-optional.
Nude beaches tend to be separate or isolated physically from non-nude bathing areas. In other instances people maintain a comfortable space between beach users. Signage is often used to warn unfamiliar beach users about the specially designated areas on the beach. This accommodates people who are not comfortable with nudity, as well as nude beach users who do not like to be watched by clothed individuals, particularly those engaged in voyeurism. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that Meghan Trainor was inspired to write "Made You Look" after her therapist asked her to look at herself naked for five minutes?
- ... that former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said that she would swim in Loch Ness naked if the SNP won more than 50 seats at the 2019 United Kingdom general election?
- ... that film critic and censor D. I. Suchianu wanted Romanian moviegoers to cease "falling asleep whenever they're not shown a naked breast [or] a hip that's getting some action"?
- ... that Chris Ernst stripped naked in 1976 with her Yale University teammates to protest the lack of showers for the women's rowing crew?
- ... that two nude bathers in Arnold Comes of Age were "nearly obliterated"?
- ... that Joachim Werzlau composed the music for the DEFA films Naked Among Wolves and Jacob the Liar?
- ... that vampire amoebae are naked?
- ... that Ettore Sottsass's design of the Olivetti Valentine typewriter was inspired by the pop-art nudes of Tom Wesselmann?
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General images
- A group of naturists at a nude beach in
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Susanna and the Elders, 1610, Artemisia Gentileschi. This work may be compared with male depictions of the same tale. (from Nude (art))
- People bathing naked after the
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Daumier (from Nude (art))This year Venuses again... always Venuses!... (1864) by
- Zoë Mozert was one of the Earl Moran's first nude models in the 1930s. (from
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East Germany (1958) (from Nudity)Bathing in the center of East Berlin,
- Naturist couple at the
- The far west end of Zipolite Beach, Oaxaca, Mexico (from
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John Singer Sargent (from Nude (art))A Nude Boy on a Beach (1878) by
- In many European countries women may sunbathe without covering their breasts. (from
- Florida naturists (from
- Couple walking naked in the streets of Barcelona, Spain (from
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Düsseldorf-Unterbach, Germany (from Naturism)Public naturist recreation area at Lake Unterbach; Strandbad Süd,
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Lake Senftenberg in 1983 (from Naturism)Naturist family on
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World Naked Bike Ride in London, 2012 (from Nudity)People taking part in the
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2017 (from Nudity)A woman breastfeeding in
- Naturist swimmers in Australia (from
- Signpost at Mpenjati Naturist Beach (from
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Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw as a teaching material (from Nude (art))
- Nudist hiker in British Columbia (from
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John Vanderlyn. The painting was initially considered too sexual for display in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Although nudity in art was publicly protested by Americans, Vanderlyn observed that they would pay to see pictures of which they disapproved." (from Nude (art))Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos (1808–1812) by
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Nude men at thePrzystanek Woodstock festival, 2014 (from Naturism)
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Nude people at the 2007Seattle, Washington (from Nudity)
- Photograph by
- A woman naked on the beach at Valalta, Croatia (from
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David (1504)
"What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?"
— Michelangelo (from Nude (art)) - Naked participant at
- Randonue in
- A Naga
- Families bathing nude at a hot spring in Taiwan (from
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A necklace reconstructed from perforatedUpper Palaeolithic Europe, dated between 39,000 and 25,000 BCE. The practice of body adornment is associated with the emergence of behavioral modernity. (from Nudity)
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1855 (from Nude photography)Photograph by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu, c.
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Taitung County, Taiwan (from Naturism)Sunrise on the beach,
- A publicity photo showing a mature naturist couple making tea. North America (from
- Outdoor bathing at
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World Naked Bike Ride in London, 2016 (from Naturism)
- Naturists in a river, 2014 (from
- Nudist couple at Terra Cotta Inn, Palm Springs, California, US (from
- Using birch branches in a Finnish sauna, 1967 (from
- Finnish Sauna (1802) (from
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Venus of Willendorf (made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE) (from Nude (art))The
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Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal: a naked prisoner being forced to crawl and bark like a dog on a leash. (from Nudity)One of the photographs of the
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Eugène Delacroix, a painting with similar pose (from Nude photography)Odalisque (1857) by
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The Barricade (1918), oil on canvas, byhuman shields. (from Nude (art))
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