Nudity and sexuality

The relationship between nudity and sexuality can be complicated. When people are nude, this often leads to sexual arousal, which is why indecent exposure is often considered a crime. There are also social movements to promote a greater degree of nudity, such as the topfreedom movement to promote female toplessness, as well as the movement to promote breastfeeding in public. Furthermore, some psychiatric disorders that can lead to greater nudity include exhibitionistic disorder, voyeuristic disorder, and gymnophobia.

Background

Nudity

Main article: Nudity

Nudity is one of the physiological characteristics of humans, who alone among primates evolved to be effectively hairless. Human sexuality includes the physiological, psychological, and social aspects of sexual feelings and behaviors.

In many societies, a strong link between nudity and sexuality is taken for granted. Other societies maintain their traditional practices of being completely or partially naked in social as well as private situations, such as going to a beach or spa. The meaning of nudity and sexuality remains ambivalent, often leading to cultural misunderstandings and psychological problems.

Sexualization

Main article: Sexualization

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines sexualization as limiting a person's value to sexual appeal to the exclusion of other characteristics, and equating physical attractiveness with being sexual. A person may also be sexually objectified, made into a object for others' sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; or sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person. Being sexualized is particularly damaging to young people who are in the process of developing their own self-image. Girls may have sexualized expectations imposed upon them, or internalize norms that lead to self-sexualization. Sexualization of girls includes both age-inappropriate "sexy" attire for girls, and adult models dressing as girls. In movies and television, women are shown nude much more frequently than men, and generally in the context of sexual behavior.

Some see the APA position as viewing sexual images as uniformly negative, and overestimating the influence of these images on young people by assuming that exposure leads directly to negative effects, as if it were a disease. Studies also fail to address the effect of sexual images on boys which influences how they view their own masculinity and appropriate sexual relationships.

While there has been considerable media and political discussion of sexualization, there has been little psychological research on what effect media images actually have on the well-being of young people, for example how and to what degree sexual objectification is internalized, becoming self-evaluation. In interviews with Dutch pre-teens, the effects are complicated given the general liberal attitudes toward sexuality, including the legalization of prostitution, which is highly visible.

Researchers see the cultural force of commodification (or "pornification") as resulting in the sexualization of athletic bodies, negating the naturalness and beauty of nudity. This is in contrast to the sacredness of the nude athlete in the ancient world, particularly Greece; and the aesthetic appreciation of the nude in art.

Sexual response to social nudity

Main article: Sexual arousal

The link between the nude body and a sexual response is reflected in the legal prohibition of indecent exposure in the majority of societies.

Worldwide, some societies recognize certain places and activities that, although public, are appropriate for partial or complete nudity. These include societies that maintain traditional norms regarding nudity, as well as modern societies that have large numbers of people who have adopted naturism in recreational activities. Naturists typically adopt a number of behaviors, such as refraining from touch, in order to avoid sexual responses while participating in nude activities. Many nude beaches serve as an example of this.

Studies have shown that biologically humans are disposed to react to nudity more than any other presentation of bodies. This biological reaction includes sexual arousal, although sexuality presents and is wired differently between sexes. Because of this there is often a separation or focus on one groups perspective of sexuality and less of an emphasis on another's, ideas can become skewed. There are also cultural differences on nudity and sexuality that often comes from their past, religious views, or region.

Naturism and sex

Further information: Naturism

Some naturists do not maintain this non-sexual atmosphere. In a 1991 article in Off Our Backs, Nina Silver presents an account of mainstream sexual culture's intrusion into some American naturist groups. Nudist resorts may attract misogynists or pedophiles who are not always dealt with properly, and some resorts may cater to "swingers" or have sexually provocative events to generate revenue or attract members.

Nudity movements

In many societies, the breast continues to be associated with both nurturing babies and sexuality. The "topfreedom" movement promotes equal rights for women to be naked above the waist in public under the same circumstances that are considered socially acceptable for men to do so.

Breastfeeding in public is forbidden in some jurisdictions, not regulated in others, and protected as a legal right in still others. Where public breastfeeding is a legal right, some mothers may be reluctant to breastfeed, and some people may object to the practice.

Psychological disorders of bodily display

Exhibitionistic disorder is a condition marked by the urge, fantasy, or act of exposing one's genitals to non-consenting people, particularly strangers; and voyeuristic disorder is a sexual interest in, or practice of, spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors like undressing or sexual activity. While similar terms may be used loosely to refer to everyday activity, these feelings and behaviors are indicative of a mental disorder only if they interfere with normal functioning or well-being, or involve causing discomfort or alarm to others. Much rarer is gymnophobia, an abnormal and persistent fear of nudity.

See also

• Nudity in film
• Sex in film

Sources

Books

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Journal articles

• Allen, Katherine R.; Gary, Emily A.; Lavender-Stott, Erin S.; Kaestle, Christine E. (2018). "'I Walked in on Them': Young Adults' Childhood Perceptions of Sex and Nudity in Family and Public Contexts". Journal of Family Issues. 39 (15): 3804–3831. doi:10.1177/0192513X18793923. S2CID 149499290.
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• Miller, Barry (2016). "On the Loss of Nudity in the Men's Locker Room". Psychological Perspectives. 59 (1): 93–108. doi:10.1080/00332925.2016.1134213. S2CID 147364697.
• Okami, Paul (1995). "Childhood exposure to parental nudity, parent-child co-sleeping, and "primal scenes": A review of clinical opinion and empirical evidence". Journal of Sex Research. 32 (1): 51–63. doi:10.1080/00224499509551774. ISSN 0022-4499.
• Okami, Paul; Olmstead, Richard; Abramson, Paul R.; Pendleton, Laura (1998). "Early Childhood Exposure to Parental Nudity and Scenes of Parental Sexuality ('Primal Scenes'): An 18-Year Longitudinal Study of Outcome". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 27 (4): 361–384. doi:10.1023/A:1018736109563. ISSN 0004-0002. PMID 9681119. S2CID 21852539.
• Prause, Nicole; Park, Jaymie; Leung, Shannon; Miller, Geoffrey (2015). "Women's Preferences for Penis Size: A New Research Method Using Selection among 3D Models". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0133079. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1033079P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133079. PMC 4558040. PMID 26332467.
• Shantz, Mary-Ann (2017). "'Nudists at Heart': Children's Nature and Child Psychology in the Postwar Canadian Nudist Movement". Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 10 (2). Baltimore: John Hopkin's University Press: 228–247. doi:10.1353/hcy.2017.0026. S2CID 148668825. ProQuest 1901236165.
• Shrum, Wesley; Kilburn, John (1996). "Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras: Ceremonial Exchange and Moral Order". Social Forces. 75 (2): 423–58. doi:10.2307/2580408. JSTOR 2580408.
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• Uebel, Michael (2019). "Dirty Rotten Shame? The Value and Ethical Functions of Shame". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 59 (2): 232–51. doi:10.1177/0022167816631398. S2CID 147719917.
• Vance, Melissa R. (2005). "Breastfeeding Legislation in the United States: A General Overview and Implications for Helping Mothers". LEAVEN. 41 (3): 51–54. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007.
• Weinberg, Martin S; Williams, Colin J. (2010). "Bare Bodies: Nudity, Gender, and the Looking Glass Body". Sociological Forum. 25 (1): 47–67. doi:10.1111/j.1573-7861.2009.01156.x.
• West, Keon (2018-03-01). "Naked and Unashamed: Investigations and Applications of the Effects of Naturist Activities on Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Life Satisfaction". Journal of Happiness Studies. 19 (3): 677–697. doi:10.1007/s10902-017-9846-1. ISSN 1573-7780.
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News

• Grulovic, Tiyana (2014). "Simply the Breast". Flare Toronto. Vol. 36, no. 10 (Oct 2014). pp. 70–71.
• Andreatta, David (September 22, 2017). "When boys swam nude in gym class". Democrat and Chronicle.
• Lis, Lea (May 5, 2019). "Eight Things to Know About Nudity and Your Family". Psychology Today. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
• Barber, Nigel (May 7, 2013). "Sexual Wiring of Women's Breasts". Psychology Today.
• Senelick, Richard (3 February 2014). "Men, Manliness, and Being Naked Around Other Men". The Atlantic.
• Sicha, Choire (December 3, 2015). "Men's Locker Room Designers Take Pity on Naked Millennials". The New York Times.
• Smithers, Rebecca (21 December 1999). "Curtains for schools' communal showers". The Guardian.
• Taylor, Zanthe (February 28, 2012). "The (Un-Erotic) Glories of Nudity". Psychology Today.
• Zadrozny, Brandy (May 14, 2015). "Are These the World's Most Graphic Sex-Ed Videos?". The Daily Beast.

Websites

• Eng, Monica (September 10, 2017). "Baring It All: Why Boys Swam Naked In Chicago Schools". WBEZ.
• Hadfield, James (December 10, 2016). "Last splash: Immodest Japanese tradition of mixed bathing may be on the verge of extinction". Japan Times. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
• Kincaid, James R. (31 January 2000). "Is this child pornography?". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
• Markowitz, Eric (April 29, 2014). "Until Fairly Recently, The YMCA Actually Required Swimmers To Be Nude". Vocativ.
• Steinbach, Paul (2017). "Designing Public Locker Rooms with an Eye on Privacy". Athletic Business.
• Williams, Pete (August 19, 2019). "Women ask Supreme Court to toss topless ban: Why are rules different for men?". NBC News.