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For other uses of nudity, nude, and naked, see Nudity (disambiguation) and Nude (disambiguation)


Nudity or '''nakedness''' is the state of wearing no Clothing . It is sometimes used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected by the conventions of a particular Culture and situation, and in particular exposing the bare Skin of Intimate Part s.


TERMINOLOGY


Although ''nude'' and ''naked'' have the same objective meaning (i.e. not covered by clothing) and a common origin, they have differing subjective connotations, which partly match their differing etymologies ("nude" originally had a meaning of "plain, bare, unadorned" in a broader sense when introduced into English from Latin "nudus", while "naked" derives from the common early English word for "unclothed" that is Cognate with "nudus"). Some consider one term more appropriate than the other. The book ''Nude, Naked, Stripped'' suggests that these three terms define a continuum ranging from Art istic or tasteful absence of clothing by choice at one end, and a forced or mandatory condition of being without clothes (e.g. Strip Search ) at the other; another euphemism for the embarrassing nudity is 'exposed' to glances, no less then to the elements; not only the expression 'to show skin' refers to nudity in terms of the dermis, in Manx Gaelic ''jiarg-rooisht'' and Scottish Gaelic ''dearg rùisgte'' 'stark naked' is literally 'red' naked as either exposure makes one 'blush'.
  • As the concept nudity often refers more to perception by the observer than the mere description whether someone's body is covered or not, there can be a grey area. Thus, while someone exposing 'private parts' is often called 'naked' regardless of garments on other body parts (indeed, an 'undressed' state is considered by some more Sexually Arousing than full nudity) hence the terms half-naked and, ''a fortiori'', '''near-naked''' refer to a body that is not completely exposed, but showing more than is customary or considered quite acceptable, at least in a given context. Thus even wearing Boxer Shorts , sufficient to guard the modesty of a Shooto fighter, is described as near-naked in Japan because the kimono-type uniform associated with traditional martial arts is missing. Half-naked is also used for a degree of skin exposure that is not offensive (as no delicate zone is shown) but still barer than 'fully dressed', such as a man in Bare Torso .

  • As the exposure of specific, usually intimate, skin zones suffices to be offensive and/or sensual, it is not surprising that specific terms are commonly used for such cases. More specifically:

  • --- Terms like ''bare-butt'' and ''bare-arse'' or ''kaalgat'' in Afrikaans (literally 'bald {Link without Title} hole)', also an illustration that one's own dense body hair is considered to undo or at least mitigate nudity; animal furs are probably the oldest form of warm clothing focus only on the Buttock s.

  • --- Terms like ''bare balls'' and ''bollock-naked'' are used to explicitly emphasize the naked exposure of the most private parts, often as a dysphemism for total male nudity, even in a context where another part of the anatomy is functionally more relevant.

  • --- The term '' Topfree '' or '' Topless '' is sometimes used — especially in reference to females — to describe the lack of clothing covering the Breast s.

  • --- See also Cleavage (breasts) and Cleavage (buttocks) .

  • As a counterpart, some expressions explicitly express total nudity. A special case is ''stark naked'', ''starkers'', as these terms were erroneously changed from 'start naked' (start is an old Germanic word for tail, as above fixating on the buttocks) to 'stark', an old Germanic word meaning 'strong' but used as 'utter(ly)'. Euphemisms may be used, such as ''birthday suit'' and ''au naturel'' (French for 'in the natural state') or the Dutch words ''spiernaakt'' ('muscle naked', since one sees every muscle under bare skin) and ''poedelnaakt'' (refers to the often ridiculed shaving of Poodle dog breeds); the French ''à poil'' "to the hair" emphasizes that human hairgrowth is generally too thin to be less than naked without clothes (while the Pubic Hair is often thicker, this zone is also most critical in the Christian tradition).


Full Frontal Nudity is usually considered the most far-reaching form of nudity.


HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

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Scientific Anthropologists and Christian Biblical literalists agree that humans originally lived without clothing as their natural state. The former describe the adaptation of animal skins and vegetation into coverings to protect the wearer from cold, heat and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates. The latter describe the first humans Adam And Eve , after their transgression against God 's rules (the Original Sin ), being ashamed of their nakedness and making aprons of Fig leaves. Nudity itself was not the original sin, but some people take it so, perhaps explaining the taboo against it.

In various Mediterranean basin cultures in Antiquity, even well passed the Hunter-gatherer stage , such as Minoa n and Ancient Greece , athletic and cultic nudity of men and boys–and more rarely, of women and girls–was still widely practiced, often in association with Pederastic practices. The Greek word Gymnasium means "a place to be naked". Athletes commonly competed nude, but many city-states allowed no female participants or even spectators at those events, Sparta being a notable exception. The Greeks were conscious of the exceptional nature of their nudity, noting that "generally in countries which are subject to the barbarians, the custom is held to be dishonourable; loves of youths share the evil repute in which philosophy and naked sports are held, because they are inimical to tyranny;"Plato, ''Symposium;'' 182c In both ancient Greece and Ancient Rome , public nakedness was also accepted in the context of Public Bathing . It was also common for a person to be punished by being stripped and Whip ped in public; in some legal systems judicial corporal punishments on the bare buttocks would persist to or even beyond the feudal age, even till today but rarely still in public. In Biblical accounts of the Roman Imperial era, Prisoner s were often stripped naked, as a form of Humiliation .

In the 6th Century , Benedict Of Nurcia advised in his Rule that the monks sleeping in the dormitory should sleep fully dressed. Until the beginning of the 8th Century , Christians in Western Europe were Baptised naked, emerging from the water like Adam and Eve before the fall. "The disappearance of baptism by Immersion in the Carolingian era gave nudity a sexual connotation that it has previously lacked for Christians" (Rouche 1987 p 455). About the same time it became common to represent Christ on the Cross wearing a long tunic, the ''colobium''. European men wore long tunics until the 15th Century , when Codpiece s, Tights , and tight Trousers gradually came into use; these all covered the male Genitals but at the same time drew attention to them.

During the Victorian Era , Public Nakedness was considered obscene (though reports that this prudish obsession led to the covering up of piano legs which suggested bare female limbs are fictional exaggerations). In addition to Beaches being Segregated by Gender , Bathing Machine s were also used to conceal the naked body. In the early 20th Century , exposure of male Nipple s was considered indecent at some Beach es. Ironically, as in the Middle Ages , the Bathing Suits worn by Men , while covering the genitals, often nonetheless made them quite obvious.


VARIOUS MODERN-ERA ATTITUDES

As a general rule, Public Nudity is not considered "proper" in most societies. There are, however, many exceptions and particular circumstances in which nudity is tolerated, accepted, or even encouraged.

In general and across cultures, most restrictions are found for exposure of those parts of the human body that put in evidence Sexual Arousal between male and female adults. Therefore, Sex Organ s and women's breasts are often covered, even when other parts of the body may be freely uncovered.