Portal:Nudity

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Introduction

P:NUDE

Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair and living in hospitable climates. As humans became behaviorally modern, body adornments such as jewelry, tattoos, body paint and scarification became part of non-verbal communications, indicating a person's social and individual characteristics. Indigenous peoples in warm climates used clothing for decorative, symbolic or ceremonial purposes but were often nude, having neither the need to protect the body from the elements nor any conception of nakedness being shameful. In many societies, both ancient and contemporary, children might be naked until the beginning of puberty. Women may not cover their breasts if they were associated with nursing babies more than with sexuality.

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 modern era, 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 was 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

A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to use the facilities without membership in any movement or subscription to any personal belief. The use of the beach facilities is normally anonymous. Unlike a naturist resort or facility, there is normally no membership or vetting requirement for the use of a nude beach. The use of nude beach facilities is usually casual, not requiring pre-booking. Nude beaches may be official (legally sanctioned), unofficial (tolerated by residents and law enforcement), or illegal.

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 swimming is one of the most common forms of nudity in public. A nude beach should not be confused with a topless beach (or top-free beach), where upper body clothing is not required for women or men, although a swimming costume covering the genital area is required for both men and women. A nude beach should be considered as a clothes-free beach.

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 the Indian politician Diwan Chaman Lall failed to get rid of the painting Nude of Indira?
... that César Mascetti was reportedly the first Argentine journalist to interview a member of the Beatles when he met a naked George Harrison on a Rio de Janeiro beach?
... that Ettore Sottsass's design of the Olivetti Valentine typewriter was inspired by the pop-art nudes of Tom Wesselmann?
... that two nude bathers in Arnold Comes of Age were "nearly obliterated"?
... 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 Chris Ernst stripped naked in 1976 with her Yale University teammates to protest the lack of showers for the women's rowing crew?
... that according to one Turkish artist, a nude sculpture by Gürdal Duyar almost dissolved the 37th government of Turkey?
... that Loud LDN co-founder Maisi came joint last in the 2022 Maldon mud race, behind a naked runner who had been forced to start after everyone else?

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General images

The following are images from various nudity-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A publicity photo showing a North American naturist couple making tea (from Naturism)
Image 2This year Venuses again... always Venuses!... (1864) by Daumier (from Nude (art))
Image 3A woman naked on the beach at Valalta, Croatia (from Naturism)
Image 4Nude woman at Christopher Street Day Berlin 2004 (from Nudity)
Image 5Zoë Mozert was one of Earl Moran's first nude models in the 1930s. (from Nude photography)
Image 6Photograph by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu, c. 1855 (from Nude photography)
Image 7World Naked Bike Ride in London, 2016 (from Naturism)
Image 8People taking part in the World Naked Bike Ride in London, 2012 (from Nudity)
Image 9Artistic nude woman by Jean-Christophe Destailleur (from Nude photography)
Image 10Bathing in the center of East Berlin, East Germany (1958) (from Nudity)
Image 11Susanna and the Elders, 1610, Artemisia Gentileschi. This work may be compared with male depictions of the same tale. (from Nude (art))
Image 12The far west end of Zipolite Beach, Oaxaca, Mexico (from Naturism)
Image 13Nude people at the 2007 Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle, Washington (from Nudity)
Image 14Max Koch's Freilicht, ca. 1894/1897 (from Naturism)
Image 15Families bathing nude at a hot spring in Taiwan (from Naturism)
Image 16Signpost at Mpenjati Naturist Beach (from Naturism)
Image 17The Barricade (1918), oil on canvas, by George Bellows. A painting inspired by an incident in August 1914 in which German soldiers used Belgian townspeople as human shields. (from Nude (art))
Image 18Naturists in a river, 2014 (from Nudity)
Image 19In many European countries women may sunbathe without covering their breasts. (from Nudity)
Image 20One of the photographs of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal: a naked prisoner being forced to crawl and bark like a dog on a leash. (from Nudity)
Image 21Sunrise on the beach, Taitung County, Taiwan (from Naturism)
Image 22Public naturist recreation area at Lake Unterbach; Strandbad Süd, Düsseldorf-Unterbach, Germany (from Naturism)
Image 23A woman breastfeeding in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2017 (from Nudity)
Image 24Naked participant at Burning Man 2016 posing as Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (from Naturism)
Image 25Naturist family on Lake Senftenberg in 1983 (from Naturism)
Image 26A Nude Boy on a Beach (1878) by John Singer Sargent (from Nude (art))
Image 27People bathing naked after the World Naked Bike Ride in Brighton, 2017 (from Naturism)
Image 28A Naga Sadhu, or naked Hindu holy man (from Naturism)
Image 29Naturist couple at the Nambassa festival, New Zealand, 1981 (from Naturism)
Image 30Outdoor bathing at Zhiben Hot Spring, Taiwan 2012 (from Nudity)
Image 31Nudist couple at Terra Cotta Inn, Palm Springs, California, US (from Naturism)
Image 32Sunbathers at Müggelsee lake beach in East Berlin, 1989. (from Nudity)
Image 33Couple walking naked in the streets of Barcelona, Spain (from Naturism)
Image 34Photograph by Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu, part of a series made with Eugène Delacroix (from Nude photography)
Image 35Crayon-style print by Gilles Demarteau with a nude man after original drawing by Edmé Bouchardon was acquired by Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw as a teaching material (from Nude (art))
Image 36Florida naturists (from Naturism)
Image 37Using birch branches in a Finnish sauna, 1967 (from Nudity)
Image 38David (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))
Image 39Marilyn Monroe posing topless for Earl Moran around 1950 (from Nude photography)
Image 40Randonue in Les Concluses, Gard, 2008 (from Naturism)
Image 41Odalisque (1857) by Eugène Delacroix, a painting with similar pose (from Nude photography)
Image 42Nude men at the Przystanek Woodstock festival, 2014 (from Naturism)
Image 43The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1484–1486 (from Nude (art))
Image 44Nudist hiker in British Columbia (from Naturism)
Image 45Finnish Sauna (1802) (from Naturism)
Image 46Naturist swimmers in Australia (from Naturism)
Image 47The Universal Naturist Symbol was voted for by naturists from all over the world in October 2020. The purpose is to recognize naturists, even when they wear clothes. (from Naturism)
Image 48A necklace reconstructed from perforated sea snail shells from Upper 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)
Image 49The Venus of Willendorf (made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE) (from Nude (art))
Image 50A group of naturists at a nude beach in Crimea, 2008 (from Naturism)
Image 51Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos (1808–1812) by 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))
Image 52WWI era Ivory Soap ad (from Nudity)

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v t e Nudity
Nakedness and clothing	History Prehistory of nakedness and clothing Nakedness and colonialism Childhood nudity Sex segregation Modesty Nudity in religion Awrah Breastfeeding in public Public bathing Sauna Finnish sauna Massage Toplessness Topfreedom Canada United States Nudity and protest Dress code Clothing laws by country
Nudity and sexuality	Intimate part Exhibitionism Mooning Streaking Striptease Stripper Feminist stripper Voyeurism Anasyrma Candaulism
Issues in social nudity	Sexualization Sexual objectification Pornification Indecent exposure Obscenity Wardrobe malfunction Strip search
Naturism	Naturist resort Christian naturism Freikörperkultur Gay naturism Gymnosophy Naturist magazines Social nudity organizations Anarchist naturism Timeline of social nudity
Nude recreation	Nude beach Nude swimming Nude swimming classes Naked yoga Naked party Nude wedding Nude beaches Clothing-optional events
By location	Africa Asia Europe North America San Francisco Seattle Oceania South America
Social nudity advocates	Kurt Barthel Lee Baxandall Paul Bindrim Ilsley Boone Henry S. Huntington Heinrich Pudor Elton Raymond Shaw Richard Ungewitter
Depictions of nudity	Nude (art) History Nude modeling (art) Nude photography (art) Nudity in live performance Body painting Nudity in film Nudity in American television Nudity in music videos Nudity in print media Nudity in advertising Nude photography Glamour photography Erotic photography
See also	Imagery of nude celebrities Nude calendar Naked News Nudity in combat Nudity clause Nude psychotherapy Softcore pornography
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