I can't speak for society in general, but in my lifetime I have seen, on the one hand, a drive for modesty in things like communal showers, and on the other hand, greater skin exposure in the media, with that exposure invariably linked so a sexual come-on. I think that one thing is feeding the other.
When I was a lad, I regularly took nude showers in schools and summer camps and such. And as a young man, there were times when I went skinny-dipping or hot-tubbing with friends. These were normal social occasions, without the focus on nudity that you'd see in naturist/nudist venues. From what I can tell, these occurrences are rarer among young people than they used to be.
On the other hand, we see more exposed female skin in movies, on television, or in advertising. Since it's usually in a sexual or semi-sexual context, we've come to accept that nudity = sex. So women feel uncomfortable being nude, because the expectation is that they will be seen as sex objects, and that their ordinary bodies are going to be unfavorably compared to those of actresses and models. If Jane exposes a lot of skin, she's going to have to expect that guys will be hitting on her.
I appreciate your approach to this conversation. I think it is important to ask why? Why is society less open today? Is it just nudity? Are there other factors that we overlook?We had a time before 1990 were we had a progressive modernity. People were nude, also in school, for example showering was possible. Then came 1990 and everything went backwards. The regressive modernity started. Since then people are much more conservative. People want to go back to something, maybe back to the 19th century?
I was just in Queensland for a swim event and nearly every woman under about 40, and some over, wore a thong type bottom, a couple were topless but nudity is not legal there. It seems that the thong bikini style is about the tanned butt look and small areas for tan-lines seem preferred. At least more men are wearing swim briefs and not long shorts I guess.
What was the swim event? was it promoted as clothing optional?
Also, encountering girls sunbathing topless while poking around the Shipwreck Coast near Warrnambool. I was more embarrassed than my Mum....
My memory is seeing topless women and the odd nude swimmer at beaches up till 1984.
Prior to 1984 my parents took me on many holidays from Tasmania to Cairns. I have distinct memories of there being topless women at 'most every beach'.
We did spend a lot of time on QLD's Sunshine Coast and would call at the Gold Coast on the way south. The Sunshine Coast beaches were largely off the regular route and most women would always be topless there, and I recall one time seeing a man swimming naked. Gold Coast then would have had a one in four women being topless.
In 1985 working for the airline who owned Great Keppel Island I got to holiday there at a large discount. Every second woman was topless and some even while playing tennis, not just on the beach and in the pool.
My closest friend always swam topless up until we had our own families. My wife never followed suit though. But it was always nice to see her topless as we had swam nude together from a very young age and we had stopped at about 15.
As a preteen I spent many weekends on Sunshine Coast beaches in the late 60s early 70s but recall never seeing topless females. As a teen in the late 70s I encountered nudists and topless at a variety of beaches at Noosa, which continued into the 80s. On some of the quieter Sunshine Coast beaches in the early 80s Id occasionally see a woman topless or a surfer naked whilst they changed or showered, but it wasnt common. In my experience behaviour varied from beach to beach, some were known to be more liberal than others.
As a preteen I spent many weekends on Sunshine Coast beaches in the late 60s early 70s but recall never seeing topless females. As a teen in the late 70s I encountered nudists and topless at a variety of beaches at Noosa, which continued into the 80s. On some of the quieter Sunshine Coast beaches in the early 80s Id occasionally see a woman topless or a surfer naked whilst they changed or showered, but it wasnt common. In my experience behaviour varied from beach to beach, some were known to be more liberal than others.
So women swimming topless is uncommon in Queensland? Is it illegal or do women just prefer not to?
I know Queensland is less tolerant of nudity than some other states in Australia, but hadn't heard anything about topless women.
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