Contrary to common American belief, nudity is not inherently sexual or profane. Nudity should be judged by its context rather than the fact that the bare human body is present. A good analogy would be to compare nudity to medicine. When abused, both are viewed as malicious and obscene and are promptly rejected by society. However, when used with an understanding of its appropriate assessment, both are viewed as neutral or beneficial and are no longer frowned upon. Pornography is simply a genre which uses the body as a medium, and is not to be confused with common nudity. When we associate them with each other, we see the body as taboo.
One point that we as a society should acknowledge is that most nudity isn't censored because it is vulgar, but rather it is vulgar because it is censored. Anyone who has read National Geographic or seen anthropology specials on PBS knows that many indigenous peoples are not fazed by showing their breasts or even their entire naked bodies. We have made nudity vulgar by teaching our censorship as a standard and accepting it as such. In fact, people would probably not find the plain human body as erotic as we do if it wasn't kept under wraps all the time. This is not to say that we would abandon sex. Eroticism would still exist, just in a more refined context, as we would be comfortable and familiar with the human body.
In the same sense, Americans have become sensitive to child nudity. Common baby photos taken in the wrong context can lead to arrest and art can rarely feature children without ridicule and accusations of perverse intent. By sexualizing nudity we sexualize even the most innocent of it, even more so in this case. In Israel, it is typical for very young children to swim at the beach completely naked, as they see it for what it is, innocent and non-sexual. Seeing a child as something sexual is simply wrong, but we should not assume that all nudity is intended to be sexual or we jump to conclusions that many artists and parents are sickly deviant.
America as a whole needs to recognize that there is a strong difference between nudity and pornography. Once people see this and begin to recognize where the line should be drawn, they will be more accepting of innocent, nonsexual nudity and we as a nation will be able to properly assess our new standards.
2 comments:
You make a strong argument. While it is hard to change a society's view, we as a group need to be accepting of what is natural nakedness. From a young age children are taught to cover up their bodies almost to the point of embarassment. If we could cherish our bodies for what they are nudity would not be such a big deal. Im just curious who are you quoting for your arguments??
yooo... You have the word "phased" spelled wrong when you're talking about indigenous people. It should be "fazed" -- they are homonyms/phones/what haveth you but fazed is the word with the meaning you're looking for. =)
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