Cultural Awareness Of Nudism
“Each culture has a unique character. Cultures adapt to meet specific sets of circumstances, such as climate, level of technology, population, and geography. This adaptation to different conditions shows up in differences in all elements of culture, including norms, sanctions, values, and language. Thus, despite the presence of cultural universals such as courtship and religion, great diversity exists among the world’s many cultures.” (Schaefer 2009 p.69). This paper will take a brief look at the history and cultural relativism of Germany and the United States of America on nudism.
“ Nudity is a taboo in America because we primarily equate nudity or nakedness with sexuality and we have taboos about sexuality,” (Matthew Westra). “A lot of it has to do, I think, with the Puritan and Victorian heritage that we have, which say that any kind of temptation will lead you into hell.”
Of course, there are other factors of which mainstream American associates nudity with, pornography, including child pornography, and modern day strip clubs, of which strengthens the differentiation with nudity and sex, something that naturism activists work consistently to avoid. Their will always be people in America that will struggle with nudism, whether for their religious beliefs, values, morality or their own insecurities of their bodies or self-restraint. I would guess that most Americans know little of the history of nudism, how it came about and where did originate, and why?
“ It came about when socialist nudist aimed to compensate for the harsh working and living conditions of an urban, industrial society. They saw health in holistic terms-that is, as simultaneously a matter of the body, of the mind, and even the political consciousness. Nudism was a way for the working class to turn to nature for strength and inspiration. The concept of “nature” in nudist ideology was twofold-nature manifested in both the nonhuman rural environment and the naked human...
View Full Essay
