A Wisdom Archive on Nudity in sport

As a general rule, public nudity is not considered "proper" in most societies. There are, however, many exceptions and particular circumstances in which nudity is tolerated, accepted, or even encouraged. In general and across cultures, most restrictions are found for exposure of those parts of the human body that put in evidence sexual arousal between male and female adults. Therefore, sex organs and women's breasts are often covered, eve ...

Read more here: » Nudity: Encyclopedia II - Nudity - Various modern-era attitudes

Genetic studies of the human body louse Pediculus humanus, which feeds on the body but lives in and requires clothing, suggests that humans started wearing garments 72,000 years ago +/- 42,000 years. This estimate matches that of the first appearance of physical evidence of clothing-making tools. The species Homo sapiens itself has existed for 200,000 or more years, so the 'natural' condition of humans is nude. Informal nudism has always been practiced. Ancient cultures (the Greeks and the Romans for example) sometimes h ...

Read more here: » Nudism: Encyclopedia II - Nudism - History of nudism

The depiction of nudity in art has generally conformed — with some variation — to social standards for public nudity; in cultures where nudity was accepted, nude figures in painting and sculpture were as well. However, some cultures have tolerated artistic nudity more than actual nudity, with a different set of standards of what is acceptable. As social attitudes about artistic nudity have changed, this has sometimes led to conflict over art that no longer conforms to prevailing standards. For example, the Roman Catholic Church once organized the so-called fig-leaf campaign to cover nudity in art, starting fro ...

Read more here: » Nudity: Encyclopedia II - Nudity - Depictions of nudity

Streaking is running naked through a non-nudist public place, usually for fun or as a practical joke. Nudity has sometimes been used to attract more attention to a public protest, a tactic used by the Doukhobors in the early 20th century, and later (particularly from the 1960s onwards) used more widely. Modern slogans include "Disrobe for disarmament", "Nudes, not nukes!", "Naked For Peace", "Dare 2 Bare 4 Freedom + Peace", "I'd rather go naked than wear fur!" an ...

Read more here: » Nudity: Encyclopedia II - Nudity - Nudity beyond social norms

Although scientific anthropologists and Christian Biblical literalists offer conflicting accounts of it, they agree that humans originally lived without clothing as their natural state. The former describe the adaptation of animal skins and vegetation into coverings to protect the wearer from cold, heat and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates. The latter describe the first humans Adam and Eve, after their transgression against God's rules (the original sin), being ashamed of their nakedness and making aprons of fig leaves. Nudity itself was not the original sin, but some people take i ...

Read more here: » Nudity: Encyclopedia II - Nudity - Historical overview

Scientific anthropologists and Christian Biblical literalists agree that humans originally lived without clothing as their natural state. The former describe the adaptation of animal skins and vegetation into coverings to protect the wearer from cold, heat and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates. The latter describe the first humans Adam and Eve, after their transgression against God's rules (the original sin), being ashamed of their nakedness and making aprons of fig leaves. Nudity itself was not the original sin, but some people take i ...

Read more here: » Nudity: Encyclopedia II - Nudity - Historical overview

Nudists believe that the human body is not inherently shameful, being something that we all possess and ought to cherish. The foundation for this point of view has its modern origins in a series of philosophical papers published in Germany in the early 1900's that examine the negative psychological impact of self-hate of the body based upon both religious and overly negative community views. The basic position that the human body in and of itself was neither sinful or obscene was combined with a new philosophy to create the nudist movement. ...

Read more here: » Nudism: Encyclopedia II - Nudism - General

Many non-nudists believe that nudity in a social setting is sexually stimulating and arousing. Nudists disagree, claiming that there is more sexual tension in the near-nude environment of a pool or a beach than at a nudist site. Nudists and nudist organizations maintain and enforce a policy prohibiting sex in public, and many nudist sites describe themselves as family-oriented. The possibility of spontaneous erection is a concern often cited by men who are apprehensive of nudism, but nudists do not generally consider this to be ...

Read more here: » Nudism: Encyclopedia II - Nudism - Association with sex