Why

I’ll be the first, last and anything in between to admit that nudity is fun. Whatever the excuse, whatever the venue, if nakedness is permissible, i am for it. The why in question is, why do we defend some folks find some nudity permissible and other types not? Frankly, i don’t care. Your opinion and mine don’t matter. Society’s opinion however, makes all the difference and that why does matter. We have seen historical evidence, from time to time, about how some presidents of the U.S. skinny dipped, or this writer or that one was a nudist, or how this or that actress is a nudist, and the articles on nude baptism and nude swimming at the YMCA . So, why is it verboten in so many places around the world, and even more so in the U.S.?

When did the prude curtain fall? Why did it fall?

I have a theory. A bit outlandish, but nonetheless possible(?). Around the early days of movies, and i mean real early days lime the 1890’s, no one in the mainstream public realized how big movies would get. The industry wasn’t as shortsighted. The folks in the industry knew it would be big. The competition to get thw audience’s money lead to sound , color, big theatrical event movies, panoramic, cinamascope, Dolby sound, Surround Sound, 3D, etcetera and prudery. Somewhere, early, pre-Hays code, nudie movies were also being made. The stag film/porno has been around for almost as long as any other kind of movie. And with almost every film advance, stag/porn movies have kept up. As the arbiters of public decency challenged the morality of Hollywood, what was acceptable for nudism also was challenged. Nudist magazines and nudist films became substituted for porn as the crack down on possession of sexually explicit material got harsher sentences. Sex education and birthing movies were labelled for “educational purposes and for adults only” and also became porn substitutes. So, in the public eye,  nudist camp frolic films became default porn.

M*A*S*H, the t.v. show, didn’t help matters , Hawkeye and his Nudist Volleyball magazine addiction played to the stereotype. When women demanded access to the YMCA, nude male swimming ceased. Nudity in mainstream movies, including full frontal male and female, put it on a big screen with a Restricted rating, and shot down the idea of wholesome nudity,  because sex sells. Keep it dirty. And that hurts the community.

Admit it, boobs and butts are boring, unless you’re 12 and not allowed to see them. Titillation or boredom?

So, i seriously (?) believe there is money to be made keeping nudity as a forbidden, naughty,  disgusting, rude, etcetera activity. Until it becomes boring, we may never get rid of the stigma.