(no subject)

[bubosquared]

Melle: *kicks Ann Landers* dude, okay. <<I do not believe it is wise to have your teenage daughters running around nude in front of their father and adolescent brother. >> WHAT THE FUCK?
Tri: Um, you did hear that Ann Landers died, right?
Melle: My dad and brothers have seen me naked THOUSANDS of times! They're not SCARRED or anything, and neiter am I!
Melle: And yes. But I still want to kick her.

Comments

[asilvahalo.livejournal.com]

My stepmom once yelled at me for, when we were staying in a hotel (her, me, and my dad in one room), sleeping in just a teeshirt and underwear. Like, for fuck's sake, woman. He's my *dad*. American "nudity" morals are kinda fucked up, man.

And was it Ann Landers or Dear Abby that died?

Well, it's not quite so easy

[msallegro.livejournal.com]

It all depends on the standards of the culture in which you're raised.

Most of US culture automatically sexualizes nudity, especially the nudity of young women. Nearly everything that is supposed to represent sex is represented by images of nude or near-nude young women. This is what young women in our culture are faced with, so they are faced with automatically considering their own bodies sexualized as well. And, of course, men see this the same way, too. At the same time, we also stigmatize sexuality, especially healthy sexuality between mature and loving partners. So basically, the only concept of sex most people here have is 18 year old nubile sluts doing something "naughty" and "forbidden" and the only image of nudity--especially that of young women--is as something sexual. (which is also why so many older or non-conventionally attractive women fear their own nudity even in non-sexualized contexts)

Of course, this sucks, and a lot of well-meaning parents have tried to combat this, but it's very hard, and what unfortunately tends to happen is that because of the culture in which they reside, even family nudity takes on a sexualized air, and sometimes intimacy lines can get crossed. It's possible for people to get beyond this, but it takes an awful lot of work because you're fighting a very subtle and pervasive sort of cultural brainwashing. It takes a very mature child who has been very well conditioned to ignore all the messages about sex and nudity she gets in her surrounding culture to not have some ill effect from nudity in a family situation, even in the best-intended circumstances. Until the larger culture changes (hopefully by starting to expand on the idea that sex isn't just for young, slender strangers) it's going to be hard for Americans to accept completely non-sexualized nudity.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

christ. I doubt my dad's seen me naked beyond the age of ten, but that's mostly because we were never a big naked family - before the age of ten I was a right little streaker. Brother, yes, because we've shared hotel rooms.

Mind you, I've posed naked and walked around naked in front of strangers. So, actually, more people *not* of my family have seen me naked than not. Especially if they've seen the photos I posed for. Think it's an art school thing - "Hey, will you pose for me?" "Hell yeah!"

[sonatine.livejournal.com]

*rolls eyes* Well, according to the nice people at CAP Alert (http://www.capalert.com/), I should be a left devil-worshipping feminist lesbian basketcase because my dad walked around in his underwear when I was little. Hurrah for prudish American mores. It really irritates me that my country can't get over the fact that nakedness is not necessarily sexual. I think we need more topless mags that don't have paper coverings over them so the teenage boys (and the skanky middle-aged men) will just get the fuck over themselves and realize that nudity loses its sexual connotations when you see it in places other than a porn site or a wanker mag.