Celebrating Life

Advent & Christmas Stories

Daily Life

Love's Counterfeit

Coping with Dementia

Conquering Despair

Encouragement

Religious Understanding

Family Stories

Stories of Friendship

Valentine & Beyond

Marriage Encounter

Healing Music

Promoting Peace

School Days

Social Responsibility

Overcoming Trauma

Traute Klein Background

Healing Hug Guestbook

To send me your own Healing Hug story, email me by clicking on the mailbox graphic.

Webmaster's Bio
Meet Traute Klein, biogardener.

Related Articles

Nudity, what does it mean to you?

by Traute Klein, AKA biogardener

Whether you think of nudity as distasteful, erotic, pornopraphic, or simply natural is probably the result of your upbringing. This view is based on my experience and observations in different cultures in which I have lived.

Note re the graphics:
For you viewing enjoyment,
hold the mouse over each picture
to read the caption.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Not so. At least not when it comes to nudity. A fellow editor on Suite101 wrote me,
Europeans can't understand why people in the United States are so much more tolerant of violence than they are of nudity. It is very strange.
These are not just his own observations, but those which a number of Europeans have made to him.
They find it very strange that Americans make a big deal about bare bottoms on network television, but get less upset about the violence.

Why I Wrote This Article

I had been thinking of writing an article on this topic for some time, and a recent short newspaper clipping made up my mind in a hurry. An American lady by the name of Cynthia faced a possible 15 years in prison for taking pictures of her 8-year-old daughter in the bathtub. She was accused of child pornography when the photolab turned her pictures over to the police. The first thought that came to my mind was this: Every German parent who owns a camera would have to go to jail, if a nude photo were to be classified as pornographic. The story was featured on the TV show "Inside Edition" in April 2000, and the comments seem to indicate that not only Europeans consider the action against Cynthia ridiculous.

The European Experience

In Germany, you can see little children parading around naked on any beach, as long as it is warm enough. Their parents figure that they have to take advantage of every bit of sunshine to get sufficient vitamin D into their little ones' system to protect them from colds in the dreary winter months. After all, sunshine tastes a lot better than cod liver oil. When I was 9 years old, my family spent the summer at one of the world's most beautiful beaches on the Baltic Sea. All the children my age wore nothing but their birthday suits. A bathing suit would have been considered a luxury near the end of World War II. Clothes were rationed and those rations were used on necessities like a winter coat. A bathing suit would have indicated a connection to the black market. I said that all the children my age wore birthday suits? Well, not quite. I didn't. My mother was a seamstress, and she had made me a floral cotton pair of bloomers which I wore all day, every day, all summer long. And that is all I wore. No top. I had nothing to put in that top. I was only 9 years old. My bloomers were the envy of every girl on the beach. No one else's mother knew how to dress her children royally by recycling her own worn-out dresses. Actually, I did not wear those bloomers because I wanted to show off and certainly not because I was bashful. I just did not like the gritty feeling of the sand creeping into certain body crevices. Mind you, those bloomers were not the best protection from the sand. The very first evening at the spa, I slid down the steep embankment to the beach and got caught on a root sticking out of the sand. Rrrrrrrrrip! All the way down the middle. That is the way the bloomers stayed all summer long. And it did not bother a soul, least of all me.

The Canadian Experience

"Where is the change room?" That is what two university students asked me in the locker room of the University of Manitoba swimming pool. "The what?" I had never heard of a change room in my life. I had no idea what they were talking about. "Sorry. No change room here." They disappeared into the washrooms. When they came out, they were attired in black mesh. Oy yoy yoy! Why bother with a bathing suit! If you want to display your body, why not go to a nudist camp? That swimming pool was frequented exclusively by serious swimmers, who took advantage of its proximity to their classes to get their exercise break in one of their spare periods. All the women wore the plainest Speedos they could find. No frills, no support. Just a sleek second skin to fulfil the demands of society. It soon became apparent that those two students were not there to exercise. Whatever it was they were looking for, they did not find, and their first visit became their last.

Munich 1983

In the summer of 1983, I was studying in Bavaria. One Sunday afternoon, I roamed the city of Munich in search of photo opportunities. As I wandered through the English Gardens, I became aware that this was the center of nudity in this city. People of all ages were engaged in various activities on this hot day in the hottest European summer in history. The Isar River is channelled right through that park. Its icy waters flow right off Alpine glaciers. I stuck my toes into the water. No thank you! Several nudists were not deterred by the frigid temperatures but jumped right in. Now you have to understand that this river has steep, manmade banks which prevent swimmers from climbing out of the water, and the water flows at a trememdous speed. In no time, those swimmers got swept out of the park. How were they going to get back again to pick up their clothes? Where there is a will, there is a way. The following day's TV newscast soon revealed the method by which people returned to the English Gardens. The news camera shot a scene of those nude swimmers disembarking from the subway. The U-Bahn is definitely the fastest mode of transportation in Munich. No one in the subway was upset by the presence of the bathers, but people were bothered by the obvious realization that those "Nakedeis," as we call them in German, were not paying for the ride. In Germany, you pay by the honor system. No one asks you for your ticket when you get onto public transportation, but don't get caught without it by an inspector! The ensuing news discussion did not talk about nudity. Only about how and where a naked swimmer should carry a subway ticket or the money to buy one.

Winnipeg 1997

CJOB radio is planning a big promotion. A young girl takes on the challenge of parading topless down Portage Avenue, Winnipeg's most public thoroughfare. She is a university student who needs the money. The station makes headlines. Two years later, the girl is prosecuted and the station distances itself from its public relations disaster. Things had gone better for a Hamilton university student who successfully defended her right to walk topless in public, basing her defence on equality of gender.

Children and Nudity

Children are not born with a desire to hide their bodies. Which mother has not had a tough time convincing her toddler that clothes need to cover the body even in sweltering heat? My son grew up in Canada in a home where children are allowed to crawl into anyone's bed for night time security and where they may take a bath with a parent as long as they are small enough to fit into the tub. He may have been 4 or 5 years old when I watched him laughing outrageously at a picture in a German magazine. It showed a topless woman. He explained his amusement like this, "She can't even see where she is going." What? I had better take another look at the picture. Sure enough, the woman's hair was draped over her face and hid one of her eyes completely. Right! "She can't even see where she is going." Nudity? What's that?

And You?


How do you feel about nudity? Express your feelings in this poll. If more than one answer apply, Pick the one about which you feel most fervently. You can vote repeatedly, but only one vote a day will be registered. You may also post your comments in the discussion thread which follows this article. How you feel about nudity probably tells more about the country in which you grew up than about your moral values. All nudity is objectionable.
I do not want my children to see their parents naked.
Naked children fall prey to pedophiles.
Nudity is natural in our home.
I have visited at least one nudist facility.

Links

The Bible, Society, and Nudity
A study of social nudity from a Biblical and secular perspective.
Wholesome Nudity Page
A Christian perspective of nudity debunking the perceived connection between sex and nudity with many Christian links.
Nudism, Naturism, Public Breast-Feeding, and Toplessness
History of nudity and nudist organizations with a Canadian perspective and with links to other sites
Naked beneath your clothing
a well thought-out article by John Veltheim