BLOG ARCHIVES:
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
- 2008
RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
Spare the Children!
On the air and on on the site, today's public nudity conversation kept coming back to what's appropriate for children to see. And it led to some striking comparisons.
Waynekline pointed to guns:
I, as a parent, feel that guns and violence are far more damaging than adult nudity. Do I have a right to protect my child from seeing a gun in public? At a school? Absolutely not. And if I sought to protect my child by passing an ordinance forbidding guns to be carried in public spaces, the NRA would explode.
And dennislee wrote about other parents' parenting styles:
What about a parent's right to choose that their children are damaged and thus should be protected from other behavior, such as seeing other parents verbally abusing their own children, as in a supermarket where a parent is yelling threats at their own disruptive children? Should the abusive parent be arrested, taken to court and then have to prove that they were not being abusive?
If you're a parent, what common images do you wish you could keep from your children's eyes?
-
Comments are now closed.
I cannot believe I am the first to comment when this was posted as long ago as Jan 13th! No matter...
I believe it is wrong to assume that children and nudity don't mix. Children only have a problem with nudity if they are taught to by adults. Often, far too often, this leads to body shame; being told to cover their bodies, to hide their bodies away as something shameful. Equally if their only impression of what adults look like naked comes from the air-brushed pictures in the media, they will grow up with a poor view of themselves which cannot be a good thing.
It is interesting to note that those nations where nudity is accepted as a part of everyday life, have much lower rates of teenage pregnancy, abortions and STI's. Germany and Denmark are just two examples where nudity is common in parks and on beaches whenever the weather is warm enough and they have one-tenth the teenage pregnancy rate of the US.
I have also come across this comment posted elsewhere by the author of a book about nudity in childhood:
"I spend eight years researching the effects of nudity on children and found that one of the most positive things you can do for your offspring is leave them with a feeling that the body is not evil. Because of what we found while writing the book, we called it Growing Up Without Shame. That is one of the greatest advantages of a clothing-optional lifestyle: Having no body shame."
I think that says it all.