Of late I've been doing some interesting reading about the spread of ideas and why and how things catch on.
Among a handful of reasons is social currency. That is, if people see visible signs that other people are doing something, they will do it as well.
This applies to both positive and negative things. During the famous "just say no" anti drug campaign, drug use among teenagers actually increased. Why? They received the message that everyone else was doing drugs. There is a similar example with anti piracy. When the movie industry published how many people were pirating movies, people started wondering why they were actually paying for theirs when everyone else was just downloading them.
That got me to thinking about nudism. It seems people are a bit sheepish about promoting the idea or even admitting they take part. Ideas catch on because they're driven by what people see others doing. If nudism remains a hidden secret, it will continue to maintain its stigma.
On the other hand, if people get the impression everyone does something, they feel more inclined to either join in so they're not the odd ones out, or at least be far more accepting of it. After all, everyone does it.
I wonder if a clever anti nudity campaign would actually turn people's thinking around.
"There is too much toplessness and public nudity on public beaches. People are skinny dipping as though it was a nude beach."
In a similar reverse psychology I wonder if you started putting up, "No public nudity" signs, or people wore, "Less public nudity" tee shirts it would actually put the concept forefront in people's minds, and therefore make it more popular.
What are people's thoughts on this? Can you think of any other ideas that would make people realize nudity is a wide spread popular pursuit.
It might. but I also think that the upswing in members of Pagan beliefs is having a positive effect as well. Many do their rituals skyclad (naked) . I always figured If the God and Goddess dont ming looking at my bare arse why should i worry about mere mortals?