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Public nudity |
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Public nudity or nude in public (NIP) refers to nudity not in an entirely private context. It refers to a person appearing nude in a public place or to be seen from a public place. Nudity in the privacy of a person's home or private grounds or facilities is not public nudity. Nudity at fitness facilities, swimming pools, saunas, or gymnasia, nudist or naturist clubs or resorts are also not public, since they take place on private grounds. Naturism promotes social nudity, but mostly on private properties or officially sanctioned public areas.
In some cases, public nudity may be legal. For example, there are many countries which have designated public areas as nude beaches, or where nude bathing is unofficially tolerated. In those places a person would not face legal prosecution merely for being nude.
Outside of those areas, community and legal acceptance of public nudity varies considerably. To avoid offending the public in general, public authorities maintain what are sometimes called "standards of decency". What falls outside these standards are usually termed "indecent exposure", or similar terminology. These standards, however, vary with time and place. Most people object to public nudity in a sexualised context, or when children are in issue. People regard those who appear nude in public as trying to draw attention to themselves. If the attention seeking is to oneself, it may be referred to as exhibitionism, otherwise it may be to draw attention to a cause (see nudity and protest). There are also some people who disrobe in public to attract publicity to themselves, as a career move, such as some streakers at sporting events. There are also others who spontaneously disrobe in public, as an expression of their freedom and the shedding of inhibitions; an example being skinny dipping.
There are some people who object to any public exposure of a naked human body, on moral, religious or decency grounds, and regard the exposure of a naked body as inherently sexual. (See also gymnophobia.) The degree to which a person can be exposed to be considered "indecent" varies with cultural standards. At one extreme is the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan which considered the exposure of any part of a woman's body in public as indecent, and required all women to wear a burqa in public. Less extreme is the requirement for women who enter a church to wear "modest" clothing and to cover their heads. This is not entirely analogous, because this sort of requirement is not made in respect of a public place. (See also modesty.)
In recent times, it appears that public nudity is becoming more common with nude sporting and other activities being held. These include naked hiking, canuding (nude canoeing), the World Naked Bike Ride, Bay to Breakers, Solstice Cyclists, and modern art movements as seen in the work of Spencer Tunick and others. No general public outcry has accompanied these events.
There are some people who consider nudity in art as public nudity, and by analogy nudity in the media and on the internet; to which others retort that one can always "turn off the switch" or not enter a cinema or art gallery. However, the same cannot be said for some advertising which contains images of naked or semi-naked people on public highways (or which can be seen from a public road) such as billboards, or displayed in shop windows, or magazines of naked people on the cover displayed on news-stands.
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It is generally accepted as a basic principle by most judges in western countries that a naked human body is not in itself indecent. That principle is reflected in depiction of the human form in art of various forms. This is the position, for example, in Germany1, Scandinavia and Spain. In Barcelona public nudity is a recognised right. Associations Addan, the organisation defending the right to nudity, Aleteia and Barcelona Council have published the "Tríptic de Barcelona" that express this and clothes free rights.2 In the Netherlands public nudity is allowed on sites that have been assigned by the local authorities and other suitable places 3 which effectively means any complaint will cause one to be arrested as a complaint is indication that the place was not "suitable".
On the other hand, it is also recognised that there are large numbers of people, for various reasons, who are offended by and even distressed with displays of nudity. To accommodate these apparently conflicting principles, the courts will, in general, only intervene if there is more than the mere fact of nudity to consider. Courts will therefore usually consider the issue in terms of "indecent exposure". However, the exact standards of "decency" is subject to local community standards, which vary with time and place, and circumstances. In general, public nudity with a sexual element will be prosecuted, as will one involving children.
In many countries public nudity is forbidden outright on the basis that nudity is inherently sexual. Many states of the United States fine offenders on that basis.4 (See indecent exposure in the United States.) In many contexts, public nudity has been more accepted, especially at designated areas such as nude beaches and, even in the United States, e.g. during World Naked Bike Ride events or Bay to Breakers. In some states, such as Oregon, public nudity is legal and protected as free speech, as long as there is not the "intent to arouse".[2]
Not all people who engage in public nudity see themselves as nudists or naturists or belong to traditional naturist or nudist organizations. Several activists, such as Vincent Bethell, claim that associations with naturism or nudism are unnecessary. Others will point out that many people who participate in events such as clothing-optional bike rides or visit clothing-optional beaches do so casually and without association or formal affiliation to groups or movements. Activist Daniel Johnson believes that labels and affiliations overly complicate a relatively simple phenomenon, alienate others from a fear of over-commitment or undesirable stereotypes, and thus get in the way of integrating nudity into everyday life.
Public 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", and PETA's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur!".
Although ceremony and traditions usually involve dressing up, often with some preferential attire, certain cultural or religious traditions actually prescribe(d) nudity, e.g., in the gymnopaidia or the sect of the Adamites.
This may be symbolic, especially for 'rebirth' to a new life phase, as in the case of baptism (originally taken by an adult, later often as a child - to symbolise the washing away of original sin - and/or at least partially covered up) or certain coming of age rites, such as cow jumping by young men of the East African Hammer people before they are eligible for marriage. Another example is the neo-pagan tradition in some Wiccan covens of going skyclad for certain rituals.
In other cases, the physical exposure is a functional part testing endurance, e.g., to undergo scarification, as among various Australian Aboriginal and Sepik River tribes in New Guinea.
Certain activities in public areas are more readily accepted to be done while naked, such as bathing and swimming. Hiking, bicycling, and other sports may also not be viewed as unusual to be done while nude, especially in rural areas in northern Europe. Everyday activities such as riding a train or bus, shopping, or attending school or work are almost never considered by the public to be appropriate without clothing.
Examples include going skinny-dipping at hot springs, nude beaches, naked hiking, streaking and even skating. Sandy Snakenberg has organized nude skating and rollerblading events in San Francisco, the largest of their kind in the world. Nude beaches are found in many Western countries.
Throughout history, poverty has forced some warriors and sailors to be without clothing,8 but these instances are unlikely examples of public nudity. The closest western historical example of free public nudity was ancient Sparta, a society with rigorous codes of training and physical exercise, yet also having art and music. Spartan women wore briefer clothing than other Greek women, yet they sometimes dispensed with these garments and went nude in the town if they wished.9 (Customarily, they and other Greek men and women were nude at festivals of the Classical period). In Spartan society naked women or men in the city would probably have been treated with the same respect as clothed people.10 In general, however, concepts of either shame or offense, or the social comfort of the individual, seem to have been deterrents of public nudity in the rest of Greece and the ancient world in the east and west, with exceptions in what is now South America, and in Africa and Australia.
Public nudity may be non-sexualized or sexualized in nature.
Some people regard flashing, streaking and mooning as indecent exposure and as examples of sexual public nudity, though usually of a partial nature. Similarly, dogging, exhibitionism, and voyeurism are regarded by some people as offensive behaviour. Not all people regard these acts as offensive sexualized acts.
Burning Man camps are examples of a range of contexts from non-sexualized nudity to overtly sexually themed camps, while the Folsom Street Fair held in San Francisco is a leather and BDSM themed fair.
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