Why are people so uncomfortable about nudist groups?

1. 97

   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   Why are people so uncomfortable about nudist groups?
   
   There is a nudist group trying to purchase land in my area to build on for their group. People seem to be freaking out. I don't understand what the big deal is. Why do these groups make people uncomfortable?

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2. 87

   gmwilliamsposted 12 years ago

   Many people have been inculcated with the premise that the naked body is private and is not for public display.     Our society have been indoctrinated with the premise that nudity is somehow shameful, obscene, and disgusting.    Perhaps, this thinking is a legacy from our Puritan ancestors.
   
   Most of us have been programmed to view the naked body only as sexual.   The naked body is a work of art and should be considered natural.    Being nude is a part of life which should be accepted and embraced.

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3. 60

   Insane Mundaneposted 12 years ago

   Zap the power grids, slash the government, and remove the commercial, monetized aspects of life, and we'd all be running around half-naked (or totally) in the jungle once again, and not think a thing about it; ha!  However, you might want to cover up and add some attire if you're living in the arctic or desert regions, though, but who says we can't migrate..?

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      tjdavisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Insane, it may not bother you to run around naked, but most people have a little decency and try and keep their body covered out of respect.  And, I never said anything about cosmetic defects..

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   2. 97

      peeplesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      See this is what I don't understand. You are implying that nudist don't have any decency. Why because they live different? How is being naked with a bunch of other naked people make you not have respect or decency. It's just a way of life.

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   3. 60

      Insane Mundaneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      TJ, perhaps you are saying that you conform to a pre-set form of "rules," which equals the same as dogma dung in my opinion.  Do as you please, and only disrobe when you think it is legal; ha-ha!...

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4. 81

   junksellerposted 12 years ago

   Clothing isn't just about hiding the body. It often serves as a status symbol, it can represent who and what we are, it can represent membership in a group, often it is intended to enhance the body underneath, and it is often specifically intended to illicit desire. These are all pretty powerful things and for most people are constant and integral parts of their social lives. So a group which just casts all of these things off casually is kind of strange. Even so, I tend to think of nudists as some of the most harmless people on the planet (they're obviously not hiding any weapons, right). So, strange or not, I don't see why there would be any strong resistance against them.

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      Attikosposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I dunno about that illicit desire, but what caught my eye was the part about weapons. I suspect we all know people who use theirs as such.

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   2. 59

      tjdavisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      God did not intend for people to be naked..he told them to cover up in the garden of Eden. My body is just not for everyone to see.  I just can't stand the thought that some older naked man would be staring at me or my daughter..no way!!!

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   3. 60

      Insane Mundaneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      TJ, nobody cares about cosmetic defects when you are trying to survive in the jungle of Eden, as you call it; duh!

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   4. 81

      junksellerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      @tjdavis--I suspect you would mind being viewed in part because you assume impure thoughts, but some people view nudity very innocently (which actually is what God intended, isn't it?).

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5. 0

   JThomp42posted 12 years ago

   That's a great question. It is society that has made the Beautiful Human body as "Dirty". The human body is not dirty as people make it seem. Adam and Eve were nude until they bit of the forbidden fruit. Then they felt shame. Me go to a nudist colony? No. LOL But, To each his or her own. Just as long as it is kept respectable and no pedophiles or the sort are allowed.

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6. 78

   Distant Mindposted 12 years ago

   Many people are not comfortable with people with different moral standards for things like clothing, nudity and many more and being a bit narrow-minded, they try to force their view on the world around them. I believe it's a grave mistake to try to censor the world, which is the desire that drive the rejection and discomfort you are talking about. It is especially wrong if they are doing it to protect the children, since this goes against real education - parents are trying to hide the issues from the real world instead of putting them into context and talking about them with their children.

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7. 59

   manningndposted 12 years ago

   Because it is different, and people being different on purpose must be bad or else the concept of normal ceases to make me feel good. If most people were nudists you would have asked the same question about those strange clothers, clothests, clotherists, garmenteers? I think sometimes things work out because the language is easier that way.

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8. 0

   belleartposted 12 years ago

   Because society tells us that nudity is wrong and we should be ashamed of our naked bodies.

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9. 53

   Takeittopiecesposted 12 years ago

   The answer to this actually seems to change as time progresses.  As with most sociological taboo it has everything to do with engrained culture.  All of us who have picked up a National Geographic know that not all cultures view nudity with such disdain.  However not all cultures objectify sexuality quite like North Americans.  I have asked myself the question of why specially in media that violence in all but it's greatest extremes is generally accepted and sexuality or the anatomical tools for procreation are almost unanimously shunned.  If I had to hypothesize the reason for this obvious imbalance, I would have to undoubtedly have to ironically stem this from religious influence.  I say ironically because it was the escape from religious persecution that the US was founded, however the religious subset in this time was undoubtedly puritan in nature.  As history progresses we choose to accept and retain some of these values even if our religious beliefs dissolve into either entirely different belief systems or lack thereof.  We have through generations of tooling and teaching, learned that nudity and even sexuality is an act of depravity even in light of the simple fact that it is indeed a fact of every day life.  We fortunately now for the most part live in societies where we can free think and question these principals and have the power to teach responsibility rather than simply shrouding what we have learned is "naked" we can choose to accept it and revel in all of it's wondrous complexities or we can blush and continue to be curious about life's processes to the point that is creates creatures of depravity.

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10. 65

    Rosana Modugnoposted 12 years ago

    Nakedness makes people nervous because it isn't something that is accepted in our society anymore.  People that are not comfortable in their own bodies are also those that are not comfortable with these groups.  Also, they may just be ignorant to the group in general, afraid of naked men running around with boners.  I don't know.  I would assume this is a fear they may have and I could understand that if there are children around.  You would have to dig and ask the community why is it they are against it?  If it's private and sectioned off where nobody can see in, why would that be a problem to anyone?  The nakedness would be contained.

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