Kind of a funny question

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-24-2004
Kind of a funny question
46
Sat, 07-31-2004 - 12:00am
This is a really ridiculous question, but I honestly want to know the answer. Could I be arrested for walking down the street in a bikini? Would that be, like, indecent exposure? I've always wondered that. (Don't worry, I wasn't planning on doing it! *hehe*)
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Registered: 04-01-2003
Wed, 08-04-2004 - 4:04pm
"Its so much more natural for areas/cultures like yours, but for cultures like ours in the US, it really is a big deal."

That's just it - it ISN'T a big deal (in the US) to those who frequent places like that. Maybe to those on the 'outside' who think that a beach full of naked bodies is a giggle-giggle, teehee, smirky kind of place. Those type haven't gotten past the adolescent stage of the human body, and there are most likely those types EVERYplace. You've always got one yahoo who equates nudity with sex. But for those that are comfortable with it, it's just not a big deal, no matter what country. And most people are either going to get comfortable with the nudity or not go again.

As an aside, I have friends (and a DH) who have been on nude beaches. They said that maybe at first, it's like "OMG, NAKED PEOPLE!" but only those that are just downright silly about it continue to gawk after the first hour (the 'tourist' type, maybe). It's just not a big deal to to most of the people there. After the first dozen pairs of breasts, they're no more than someone's elbow, and just about as sexual. Leering isn't encouraged on beaches like this, in fact just the opposite. And face it, men notice breasts whether they're covered or not, so what is the difference?

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Registered: 04-19-2003
Wed, 08-04-2004 - 6:16pm

Just clearing up a couple of misleading things I may have written.

Avatar for katmandoo2001
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 08-04-2004 - 6:31pm
Too true, Tally. This is less a cultural thing than an individual choice and attitude. My English aunt is the most prudish person in our family, so her being European doesn't seem to have resulted in making her more pro-nudity or free with her body. And I was the family "nudist" when growing up, forever stripping off and running outside. LOL!




Edited 8/4/2004 6:46 pm ET ET by katmandoo2001

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Registered: 07-22-2004
Wed, 08-04-2004 - 8:46pm
>>That's just it - it ISN'T a big deal (in the US) to those who frequent places like that.<<

Incorrect Tally, that is certainly NOT it.

I'm not, nor is anyone else as far as I know of, the type of person who says that drug dealers make a big deal out of drug use, or that marathoners make a big deal out of jogging, or that garbagemen make a big deal out of garbage...LOL!!...

...or that frequent beach nuders make a big deal out of nude beaches...LOL!! So "that" is NOT it.

I thought it was pretty clear that I was referring to those who DIDN'T make frequent visits to those places, and I even included statements earlier in this string that portrayed those who don't as having their own personal reasons, whether they be religious or personal morals or whatever. It was THOSE that I was clearly referring to, not the frequent ones who go there, that would be funny. :D

Cultures in other parts of the world have populations who DON'T go to those kind of beaches too and not make as big of a deal out of it as cultures similar to the US. Again, I personally haven't been all over the world, but the dozens of people I know through the military have THEIR point of view on it just like you have YOUR point of view on it. If you disagree, then you're disagreeing with 'them' and not 'me' because 'they' are the ones who've witnessed first hand what other parts of the world are like the US much more than I probably ever will...LOL! ;D

Sickle-cell would likely be a bigger deal to me whereas breast cancer would be a bigger deal to you. Whats not a big deal to you may likely be a big deal to others, MANY others. I'd be EXPLODINGLY shocked, LOL!!, if I heard that every single US woman actually DIDN'T have a problem bringing their husbands to the nudie beach, whereas some of the other cultures in the world would have more of their population care less. Public breast feeding in Sweden or in the Orient or even in tribes just simply may not be a topic compared to cultures similar to the US. Again, if you disagree, GREAT, no problem, you win, case solved, I don't go to them so they don't affect me anyway, LOL...but nope nope, I never insinuated that I was referring to those that frequently visit those places, that wouldn't make sense at all in my opinion.

C h a r a c t e r


above all else


Mr. Para

 

C  H  A  R  A  C  T  E  R

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-2004
Thu, 08-05-2004 - 12:00am
I would also like to clarify some of the things that I said:

When I was talking about the AMerican oxymoron of sexual obsession and prudishness, I was also trying to make a comparison between conservative cultures as well. China, for example, or most muslim countries are much more conservative, but they also don't rely on sex so much in their media and they're not constantly talking about it or marketting it. Also, I want to be clear that I'm talking in generalities. Obviously there are exceptions within certain subcultures, as I believe has been pointed out. I noticed that there was a lot of discussion about those free spirited Europeans. THe concept of "sexually liberated" bare breasts on every beach porno on public tv Europeans doesn't encompase all of Europe. The Brits are famous stodgy prudes, and many Eastern European countries such as the Balkan nations have strong muslim roots and so are also very conservative.

Someone also said that America is a "new" culture and so that is why it is like it is. But of course every country in the Americas is as "new" as the US isand so is Australia. Also, US culture is just a modification of mostly western European culture and especially British culture. Additionaly, I am live in a "new" culture (Canada) and, while we are not the most sexually free people on the planet, most Canadians stared open mouths while the US went in spasmadic convulsions of rediculousness over Janet Jackson. Of course in Canada, where, at least in my prov, women are allowed to be topless anywhere that it's appropriate (at the beach, picnicing on parliament hill, breast feeding in a mall) we don't see the big deal. There was a funny joke that Canada and the US should swap celebrities. We'll take Janet Jackson, and you guys can have Don Cherry (Canadian hockey commentator who made unflattering remarks about the french.) Actually, Conan said that while in Toronto.

Avatar for katmandoo2001
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-05-2004 - 11:15am
Well, I don't know who Don Cherry is but I'm with Conan on that one! LOL! I've never been a fan of Janet Jackson's, boob or no boob!


Edited 8/5/2004 11:43 am ET ET by katmandoo2001
Avatar for katmandoo2001
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-05-2004 - 11:21am
"Of course, every country in the Americas is as "new" as the US and so is Australia."

True, but Canada and Australia, specifically, continue to maintain strong cultural, political, etc. ties with their mother countries, England and France, as does Mexico with Spain, whereas we do not. I believe that makes a huge difference in the attitudes, mores and practices of Americans.

And we have always been able to point to cultural/sexual differences between our countries, and others, so why should that be so unexpected today? Believe it or not, many Canadian ideas and practices seem strange to us, too.

Underneath it all though, we're the same so whether I am appalled at Janet Jackson's bare breast or not, it's of little significance.




Edited 8/5/2004 5:38 pm ET ET by katmandoo2001

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Registered: 09-26-2003
Sat, 08-07-2004 - 6:36pm
My point was that few Europeans would have gone totally wacko over a woman briefly exposing a nipple on TV like so many Americans did over Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction'. The whole farce showed how many prudish people there are in this country, and how vocal and influential they are, especially with the current administration.
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Registered: 04-19-2003
Sun, 08-08-2004 - 4:19am
OMD.....so what was the reaction to Janet Jackson's nipple in the USA?
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Registered: 07-30-2004
Sun, 08-08-2004 - 9:40am
Isn't it strange that everyone has forgotten that Timberlake was the one that actually expossed the (dare I say it?) nipple? Looks like the old double standard raising its head again.