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Should public nudity be legal?

The AANR (American Association for Nude Recreation) has the view that public nudity should be legal as long as the person is not doing anything with the intent of sexually arousing either themselves or anyone else.

The most stated reason by members is to get over "body shame", because doing so helps boost self esteem and confidence. There have been studies showing that children raised in nudist family have higher self esteem and confidence and are just generally more comfortable with who they are as a person.

On the other side there are those persons who seek out nude beaches and nudist events who have seual agendas. AANR nudist clubs don't tolerate such persons, and forcibly remove them shoudl they show up. I refer to such persons as "swingers" because they seem to fit the swinger lifestyle more than they do the nudist lifestyule

However, as a point of freedom. A freedom of expression, which does tno do harm to anyone, shoudl public nudity be legal? As atheists are nto burdened with religious mores , I was just wondering what the people here think?

I am a natuirst (nudist) and I have ridden the Portland (OR) World Naked Bike Ride, which has over 10,000 participants each year, and I have gone on nude hikes, visited clothing optional beaches

So, what are your thoughts?

snytiger6 9 Oct 18
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308 comments (151 - 175)

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2

Yes, I think people should have the right to chose as long as they are not violating other people's rights or harrasing them.

Yes, the key here is in the freedom to choose.

2

It is in San Francisco, you just need your Id and a towel to sit on.

And the desire to do so . . .

They changed the laws in San Francisco a few years ago. Except for special events nudity is now illegal in most parts of San Francisco. Still legal at the nude beaches though.

I can understand why they changed the laws. A few guys were walking around with genital piercings and/or cock rings, which kind of draws attention to the genitals, and in my view, that crossed the line where instead of just the freedom to be nude, and moved towards serializing their nudity by specifically drawing attention to the genitalia.

2

Why not?

2

I think public nudity should be allowed at designated areas.

ebdb Level 7 Apr 9, 2018
2

Sure don't see why not, what ever floats your boat.

2

When it comes to admiring a woman's breasts, most men are suckers!!! Lol. 🙂

2

Nothing wrong with making upper body nudity - in certain public areas - legal, but full body nudity does unfortunately run the risk of causing sexual harassment and possible violence. Therefore, regrettable as it may be, full body public nudity, of necessity, has to be illegal. Here in Spain there are many public beaches where full nudity is allowed, but there have to be signs warning the general public that they are entering a nudity permitted beach. Spain does however have a reasonably lax attitude to being topless on a beach.

Nudity is legal in USA....full nudity.

@DUCHESSA Anywhere, any time? Strewth!

@Petter There are hundred of Nudist resorts and beaches allover USA...I have been to several of them.

@DUCHESSA I don't mean in resorts - I mean in areas completely open (unrestricted access) to the general public, such as beaches, sports grounds, streets, etc. Here in Spain nudist beaches have unrestricted access, but must have signs to inform those who do not wish to see others naked about it. Most nudist beaches in Spain have a mix of clothed and unclothed (textile and non-textile) users.

@Petter Until Katrina did away with the dunes....you had Gunnisson Beach (Long Island), field # 5 as a "Clothes optional beach". In New Jersey you have Sandy Hook....and I don't remember the names of other beaches in the country that are, also, nudists.

The signs are to inform the people just in case they don't want to be in a nude area. I was in Costa Natura.

@DUCHESSA Much like Spain, then. Did you know that the beach, and the area immediately inland from it, are state property, and cannot be fenced off, except for reasons of national importance? I love that law!
I've just seen from your profile that you came from Argentina. That's a country my wife and I have often said we would love to visit, as it appears to have areas similar to Kenya. (We're both Kenya bred.) ...and nowadays we could even communicate easily!

@Petter Well, are you talking about the jungle in the north of the country? The south of Argentina is cold, with mountain lakes, glaciers and a chain of mountains that runs north-south and is eternally snowed. Later I tell you about "la Pampa".

@DUCHESSA Kenya has a small amount of Jungle, but most of it is pretty arid and ideal ranching country. My grandmother owned a cattle ranch that had 1.2 miles of river running through the bottom, right hand corner of it,

@Petter Argentina is not arid at all...See "the Pampa"

@DUCHESSA I shall.

2

It's a shame what religious leaders have done to people over the course of history. Telling people they were born in sin and should be ashamed of their bodies is unnatural and perverse. Nuns in the Middle Ages were ordered to shower with their habits on so as not to offend God. The purpose is to reject our animal nature, but that's precisely what we are.

I look at it as religion attempts to control us by instilling feelings of fear, guilt and shame, as a way of manipulating us. Cults do the same thing, only to a much greater extent.

Naturism/Nudism helps people get over feeling shame about their bodies and their appearance. Children raised i Naturist/Nudist homes have a great deal more self confidence and self esteem, because they were nto taught to be ashamed of their bodies and who they are.

The rest of us have to "recover" from a body shaming cultural poractice3 rooted in religion. Even many here, on this site, who have given up religious beliefs still unknowingly have kept a lot of dogma rooted in religion, such as the fear, guilt and shame regarding nudity.

2

I don't have a problem with as long as people carry a towel to sit on or hygyne reasons. For me personaly, I went topless at the beach for the first time last year. It was a big confidence booster because I'm transgender and was self consiece of my breasts. Now I go topless often anytime a man would, at the beach, hiking, etc. As far as I know it's legal in Hawaii and should be anywhere.

Good for you! Feeling positive about one's own body is a good thing. In Oregon, I have seen transgender persons go fully nude at the beach, even though they were in mid transition (breasts up top, penis down below).

I think most of our cultural taboos regarding nudity are rooted in religion, which has used fear, guilt and shame to try to manipulate us and maintain power and control over us.

2

The less clothes I wear the better I feel

2

I personally think it should be legal. The problem with many people is they associate nudity with sex. Which is why this question is even a question. That to me can only be alleviated by allowing public nudity and showing people that just cause someone is naked does not imply that sex is involved or that there should be any shame in it.

That being said I prefer nudity over clothing as I am sure many do. Hopefully one day we can change the mindset and show people there is no shame in it and not to feel threatend by nudists.

2

I have no issue with it in principle IF it respects one of the most neglected of personal freedoms: freedom of association.

Maybe others don't want to see, much less learn to appreciate, my gnarly old bare ass. I should respect that.

Maybe some people don't want their gnarly old bare ass judged. That doesn't make them prudes or repressed or part of a clothes-ist conspiracy. Such people should not have to choose between being uncomfortably exposed or being thought of as holding back society. Some of us are more withheld then others, and that is okay.

Besides, it's not like all our problems would be solved and no new ones created if we all put Duluth Trading out of business because they can't sell any more Buck Naked Underwear (tm). I think modesty has upsides. For one thing it leaves a little bit of mystery, something for the imagination to engage with, rather than turning the human body into a clinical slab of meat. I submit that if nakeness were rendered basically asexual by widespread societal nudity, it would completely change the psychodynamics of sex, and probably not for the better, either. Foreplay, and, yes, un-dressing, is part of the fun.

Finally, as a pratical matter, clothing is not just to cover our sex organs, it has practical protective purposes. People aren't going to be frostbitten or scratched up by brambles just to prove a point.

2

Are we all carrying towels for hygiene, I FERVENTLY hope!?!

I'd hope to too. In naturist/nudist clubs that is the general etiquette.

2

The Scottish author Sir Compton Mackenzie campaigned for women to be allowed to be topless back in the 1920s. Mind you he lived in the Hebrides where its pretty cold for most of the year. While Th this would be acceptable in public open spaces I think restaurants, cinemas, theaters and public transport would not be suitable for nudity.

2

Only with lot and lots of education. We'd have to educate adults more so than children... likely be a never ending education (especially me)... maybe in the next world, when we populate another warmer, liveable planet, with beaches, lots of beaches and sunscreen.
No, none, zero religion allowed... ever... under the threat of crucifixion.

Tomas Level 7 Mar 15, 2018
2

It sounds like you have plenty of options for going naked. Good for you, and enjoy! I enjoy nude resorts and spas myself from time to time.

If you are advocating for the freedom to be naked at any time, in any public space, I would have to take exception to that. Just as "freedom of religion" should imply "freedom FROM religion", so should "free to enjoy nudity" should also imply "freedom to avoid nudity in public". Or something like that.

Excellent point. As per smoking, feel free to subject your own lungs to it, but don't force others to have to share it.

2

Don't "stone me", but I think no. These are my reasons. I grew up in a cult with major sexual abuse. Another example is the Catholic and Baptist churches with their sexual abuse stories hitting the fan. Plus intranet child porn being at a high. All of that to say it just provides too much more "easy access", in my opinion. There are simply too many deviants in our precious USA.

At nudist clubs I hear stories about the few deviants who show up are quickly spotted and removed with the clear message that if they ever come back they will held for the police. Teh Naturist/Nudist communities watch out for such persons and let them know they aren't welcome.

Of course that is at private clubs...

2

I think it is fine to be nude in public.....just be sure to use sunscreen.

2

I say go for it. The human body is not disgusting and evryone has one. There is really no reason not to go nude. Rapes occur with and without clothiing on the victims.

2

I think it is already here in Oregon. LOL. Don't really care much, most humans look a lot better in clothes!

Bunch of giant naked no hair primates. Gross. hehe

Yeah, in Oregon the state supreme court ruled that nudity is a right under the state constitution's freedom fo expression. However, the language of the ruling was pretty abiguous, so it is only clear that it is legal when you are protesting. The rest of the ruling was kind of vague or gray. So, local ordinances against nudity are still on the books, but so far, everyone who challenged such laws got the cse thrown out based on that court ruling.

2

No as the majority of people who want to be naked in public should not be !!

Definitions of "beauty" are arbitrary and have varied from one culture to another. It is only recently, with easy world communication that that has been any general agreement. Too bad it currently centers on models with eating disorders and Photoshopped pictures that create a totally unrealistic standard of what beauty is. Nobody can maintain the current standards of beauty forever.

Naturists/Nudists in general are not so judgemental as society in general. No matter wha tyou look like, you are generally accepted. Judgements are reserved for how you act and behave and not in how you look.

@snytiger6 yeah heard that excuse countless times but I still stand by what I said

2

And the next guy I see getting a hard on while observing my granddaughter will get sprayed with the bottle of shame! ( my training tool for the chihuahuas.)

In nudist/naturist communities, erections sometimes happen, but generally it is just polite if everyone just ignores it, and nobody draws attention to it especially the person who has it. And, it goes away.

However, I definitely do like yoru idea of spraying or hosing a person down shoudl they try to draw attention to themselves.

2

Are you a doctor?

No, not a doctor. I just have a BA in sociology. I am pretty well read though. Although I only have a BA, I also completed more than twice the credits i needed to graduate, because i just love to learn about virtually everything.

@snytiger6 Dammit, Jim, I'm a sociologist, not a doctor!

@pnullifidian LMAO...

2

As long as you give them designated spots. Set up ground rules, you WILL meet here, and here. Not go off and wander down the main street or through a school. Because I know people would think "why not?" - there's always at least one. I fail to see any real problems with it. I don't think we all need to ditch the clothes and go walking around. Just make sure the beaches and buildings are marked, and people are in line and knowing what they're getting into if they walk in. I guess in theory it would be fine.

2

I'm a nudist and I'm nude a lot in my house and backyard. My friends and family know to call me before they come over. I think if nudity was legal the whole sexual arousal thing would not be so much of an issue. Nudist look at a nude body as just another state of dress. You wear as little or as much as you feel comfortable with. if people get used to the naked body they no longer get instantly turn on when they see it.

Exactly. I fnudity were "normal" it would nto be a big deal.

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