Enjoyed your article and suggest we are about to find out just how ready America is to uncover. What could be more American then Skinny Dipping?

Guinness has just agreed to allow the "AANR - World Record Skinny Dip"

This world record will be set on July 11, 2009 at over 240 nudist and clothing optional resorts/clubs and beaches across all of North America. You will be hearing much more about this event in the very near future in The American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) press releases.

AANR is expecting this to be the largest Skinny Dip Event in history. With nearly 50,000 members of AANR, and the vast memberships of other nudist associations, inviting everyone in the US and Canada to visit a local club or legally nude beach for the 3Pm "Eastern Nudist Time" event, we are anticipating between 400,000 and 1 Million participants. Plan to come join the festivities.

I just read this and wanted to say that I think that nudity is still taboo because it's still tied to sex. It took a while of going to a nude beach for me to REALLY understand that nudism and nude sun-bathing are not sex-related, and I honestly believe that if people stopped looking at the human body as a sex object we would see less hiding and more...hmmm...reality. Imagine that - reality TV!

Sam...great article. The sensitivity to nudity in this country reaches right back to the up tight Pilgrims....and the over whelming power of conservative religious groups all over the country.

I'd agree with you....that isn't going to change anytime soon. It's going to be a multi-generational change, if it occurs at all.

You should take your comments another step and go visit a "nudist society" at any nude resort in the area. It's a real surprise to most people to see how social nudity...with a lot of people you've never met before, is relaxing, freeing....and not at all threatening.

The first 15 minutes is the only tough time...for most people. After that, the freedom and comfort takes over. Take a girlfriend....that way you get the comments from both sides of the gender gap.

Hey...you only live once. Try it. You'll be surprised at the comfort of the situation...pleasantly surprised. Wear only a hat, shoes, sunlotion...and take along a good book.
Perfect way to spend a summer weekend.

Unfortunately, all too many people are not willing to accept truth. All too many who venture to a nude beach, are shocked and even offended at what they see. What do they see that is so shocking? Is it masses of naked people engaging in orgies? Is it masses of people with no religion or morals prancing around with no abandon? Is it bunches of body-perfect people who evoke the greatest of naked fantasies?

NO. They are shocked and offended, not because they find the things they hope to find, but because they find that the people who are naked are their neighbors, friends, people they see every day...postal workers, grocery store clerks, bankers, doctors, lawyers, mill workers, food service workers, old retired folks, young carefree folks, families, students, teachers, police officers, pastors, fellow church goers, veterinarians, news reporters, etc.

They are shocked and offended because they see the truth. Real people. Real bodies. Real life. They see people who are natural, everyday human beings. People with fit bodies, and not so fit bodies. People of all religions, ethnic backgrounds, political views, and people of all income levels. They see people who, once the clothes are removed, are all equal.

SHOCKING, isn't it??? And for those of you who believe it is the conservative religious that keep our society from accepting nudity, you may be surprised to find out that in every single nudist gathering, you will find more "conservative religious" (yes, even Pastors) people than Any other "group". Our society is not willing to accept truth.

Check this blog - has a lot to say about US standards regarding nudity:
http://goodtalking.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/decent-exposure/

Nudity is an abomination to god!

Sam, in our culture, nudity, along with things we do while in certain states of undress like sex and using the toilet, is something we keep private. We're not animals and we're not robots: we are cultural beings. If people want to get nude, let them do it in their own homes or when among like-minded people, like other nudists. If they want to show nudity on the TV, make it very late at night and post warnings so that the kids don't see it and those adults who do see it know what they are letting themselves in for. I like the taboo on nudity and if anyone tries to change it, you can bet people like me are going to make a whole lot of noise in objecting to it.

Perspectives on what is decent/indecent have changed over time. The Victorian "uptightness" was a response to the more libertine era that came before that. I don't think it's a case of "we started at point A and now we're progressing toward point B". Also, what makes accepting nudity better than not accepting nudity? Nothing really. It's all a matter of preference.

British TV and French TV allow full frontal male and female nudity to be broadcast over the airwaves at night. Why must the US lag behind?

Sit down on the quad or in a mall and as people pass ask yourself if you would really like to see them sans clothing. Keep a tally and you may be surprised how few people you would really like to see naked. I believe that our general tendency to be overweight would preclude the possibility of the nation going nude anytime in the future.
RE: Nudity as an abomination to God is assinine. After tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve determined that they were ashamed to be naked in God's presence, God did not.

As usual, America lags far behind modern, civilized cultures. We are mired in the foolishness of conservative religion which is far behind everything. Ignorance has a strong grip on America. Improve our educational standards and get the religious wacko material completely out of our school curriculum.

Great article! As an outsider (I'm from New Zealand) looking in at pervasive American tendency to pixelize and 'black box' certain anatomical features I'm aways amazed that such practise's are tolerated. Censorship is theft and denies the individual the right to make up his/her own mind - this seems bizarre coming from the "Land of the Free" where Freedom of Expression is enshrined in the constitution.

I personally feel insulted when ever I see pixilation or black boxes - the implication is that there is something 'wrong' with the human form and therefor 'wrong' with me! This censorship insults my intelligence by implying I am unable to decide for myself what is appropriate and what isn't!

How rude, how impertinent it is for media producers to assume the role of moral watchdog.

Censorship of this nature is theft, it's discriminatory and it's judgemental - come on you Americans, stand up for yourselves and say No to Pixelizing and black boxing what is, after all, just skin.

Loved reading this article! Well organized, and the idea was well communicated.

I believe too much is thrown into the category of being obscene in America.