A Brief History of Nudism & Nudity
The history of naked humans is neither brief nor linear. This
reference is strictly to this brief overview of the renewal of
social nudity in modern European and American cultures.
Before the Judeo-Christian-Moslem concept of body shame, most of
the tropical and temperate world was one big nudist camp. Greeks
and Romans wore clothing when necessary or for certain social
functions, but bathing and sports were openly enjoyed while naked.
As exhibited by their sculpture and ceramics, the Greeks revered
youth and physical fitness. To them the body was truly a work of
divinity to be admired in its entirety. The Olympics were an
offering of the best young athletes, unencumbered by restrictive
and concealing clothes. Gymnos, or naked, was how the athlete
trained and competed.
THE GENERATION GAP
Organized Nudism, the ASA, and landed clubs became the
establishment. The rebellious youth of the 1960s weren't about to
go behind the walls of a nudist cloister. A new free light and
free love culture, based on an honest body acceptance, asked why we
didn't do it in the road. Acceptance of the nude body was only
natural, and young people across Europe and America experienced the
freedom of being nude at the beach, in the stream or wilderness, or
on their back porch or sundeck. Often called "The Free Beach
Movement," in the seventies, it was a philosophy of open nudism
that would be called
child nudism.
Because they escaped our history of overbearing religious prudery,
mainland Europeans have enjoyed more personal freedoms than
Americans. For years most European tourist beaches have allowed
topfree bathing for women. Nude beaches are now common and popular
throughout the continent, including Eastern Europe.
Modern nudism began in Germany and France. France now has a nudist
resort city, Cap d'Agde, on the Mediterranean. Since the early
seventies, Denmark and the Netherlands have become quite accepting
of nudity in general, and there have been nudist activities on city
streets and parks of both countries. All but two of Denmark's
beaches are clothing optional.
In 1980, the Nude Naturist Society was formed in the U.S. to provide
information and support for the free beach and other naturist
groups around the country. The Naturist Action Committee monitors
and assists in the ongoing nationwide struggle to keep clothing
optional beaches and recreational areas from being closed by the
narrow-minded fanatics who still echo Comstock's 19th century
prudery.
National opinion polls in 1983 and 1990 revealed that 72% of
Americans approve of designated clothing optional beaches. To
date, over 30 million Americans have experienced mixed social
nudity. With the growing number of naturists here, and tourists
from Europe, South Florida now has an established clothing optional
beach at Haulover.
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