Column: Covering up - Nudity and denial

By: Sam Fisher/Columnist

Posted: 4/17/09

You may have seen the recent animated Red Bull commercial where a man goes to a nude beach and ignores the woman who tries to talk to him. There are censor bars over the usual parts of the characters. While watching it recently, I asked my friends if they thought America would ever get to the point where there would be no censor bars over the private parts.

They didn't have a quick answer and neither did I.

I'm not saying I have a strong desire to see animated genitalia, but it's curious we feel compelled to cover up what everyone has. Even more curious is the fact that shows on the Discovery Channel can show "tribal nudity" and no one makes a peep, but if the cute girl from Mythbusters walked around topless there would be a huge uproar.

Again, no argument for that, just pointing out inconsistencies. That's basically a cultural distinction, in that it's normal to wear little clothing in some cultures, but not in ours.

In our case, as civilization and technology progressed, clothing styles reflected how far from nature we had come, from our roots as savages lacking language. From the peak of prudishness in the Victorian age, we have come a long way, though considering it was once unheard of to show a woman's belly button on TV.

But why is there such a taboo with nudity?

It's still awkward to watch movies with sex scenes with my parents, and that will probably never change.

In general, America loves to cover up. Once you're naked, that's it. There is nothing left to spruce up your appearance.

It's completely final, and that is a somewhat distressing notion. Looking at oneself while naked is like beholding the truth about one's body. In a way, our need to cover ourselves up has to do with our country's quirky relationship with the truth. We know things from our history that aren't particularly heartwarming, like the inhumane treatment of the continent's indigenous people, or the atomic bombings in Japan.

It's much easier to ignore those nasty bits and talk about our valiant triumph over Hitler, or perhaps a shiny new pair of shoes.

Unspoken restrictions on clothes have become more relaxed lately, but that relates more to the need many people have for constant positive reinforcement in the form of being ogled by passerbys. In their mind, being stared at means they have worth. Being stared at doesn't have anything to do with intrinsic worth as a person, it means the person being stared at is revealing portions of their body that have a forbidden quality to them.

The taboos are still there.

Given the steady progression of society in liberal direction, and the obsession people have with pushing the envelope, we will likely see attitudes toward the human body slowly change. I'm not in favor of a nudist society, but of a calm, levelheaded attitude toward the physical realities of the human body.

You don't have to go streaking, but it's good to question and examine the things that our culture likes to cover up.

Sam Fisher is a junior geography major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.