Childhood nudity

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Children in the Sea (1908) by Joaquin Sorolla Joaquin Sorolla - Ninos en el Mar, Playa de Valencia (1908).jpg
Children in the Sea (1908) by Joaquin Sorolla

In contemporary societies, the appropriateness of childhood nudity in various situations is controversial, with many differences in behavior worldwide. Depending upon conceptions of childhood innocence and sexuality in general, societies may regard social nudity before puberty as normal, as acceptable in particular situations such as same-sex groups, or unacceptable.

Contents

Until approximately 20,000 years ago, all humans were hunter-gatherers living in close contact with their natural surroundings. In addition to sharing a way of life, they were naked much of the time. In prehistoric pastoral societies in warmer climates adults might be minimally clothed or naked while working, and children might not wear clothes until puberty. [1]

Before the final decades of the 20th century, the nudity of all small children, and boys until puberty, was viewed as non-sexual in Western culture. Since the 1980s, there has been a shift in attitudes by those who associate nudity with the threat of child abuse and exploitation, which has been described by some as a moral panic. Other societies continue to maintain the need for openness and freedom for healthy child development, allowing children to be nude without shame in safe environments.

Stages of human development

A report issued in 2009 on child sexual development in the United States by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network addressed the questions parents have about what to expect as their children grow up. Preschool children have a natural curiosity about their own bodies and the bodies of others, and little modesty in their behaviors. The report recommended that parents learn what is normal in regard to nudity and sexuality at each stage of a child's development and refrain from overreacting to their children's nudity-related behaviors unless there are signs of a problem (e.g. anxiety, aggression, or sexual interactions between children not of the same age or stage of development). [2] The general advice for non-family caregivers is to find ways of setting boundaries without giving the child a sense of shame. [3] Both parents and caregivers need to understand that a child's explorations of their own and others bodies are motivated by curiosity, not adult sexuality. [4] [5]

Early childhood

Sexual awareness begins in infancy, and develops along with physical and cognitive abilities. Preschool children have little sense of modesty, and will seek bodily comfort by removing their clothes and touching themselves. [6] They are curious about the difference between boys and girls, and learn mainly by sight and touch; wanting to see and touch the bodies of others their own age. They usually learn the difference between boys and girls, including themselves, by the age of three or four. Preschool children have little understanding of the effects of their behavior on others. As their language use grows, they will use words they have heard (either euphemistic or accurate) for body parts and functions. [7] At age four to six they will ask questions about bodily functions, attempt to see other people when they are naked, and explore the bodies of others their own age. [2]

Normal sexual play includes behaviors such as playing doctor and other sexual games, looking at or briefly touching other children's genitals, sexual talk and jokes, and masturbation. Normal sexual behavior is exploratory, spontaneous and infrequent. It is voluntary, none of the children being upset. The behavior is easily diverted when privacy rules are explained. These behaviors occur occasionally between peers or siblings who are of similar age, size, and level of development. Caregivers must determine when behavior becomes problematic and requires intervention. In some families any sexual behavior, such as masturbation, may be seen as problematic or unacceptable, even though the behavior is generally viewed as normal by child behavior specialists. [8]

Late childhood and adolescence

Between the age of 7 and 12 children may prefer to be alone for dressing and undressing, [2] although there are differences in norms regarding family nudity. There may be social difficulties depending upon individual differences in sexual development of children of the same age, in particular the beginning of puberty. Children's understanding of these changes depend upon correct information and educational materials being provided as they grow. Parents may be uncomfortable providing such information, and their children may turn to inaccurate information and values contained in movies, television, and the internet. [7]

Pre-pubescent children tend to have friends of the same sex. They may participate in sex play that is motivated by curiosity, and does not reflect upon sexual orientation. Parents may respond to such behavior by providing age-appropriate guidance regarding social rules. [7]

Puberty occurs between ages 10 and 17, generally a year later for boys than for girls. [7] Although an adult-level capacity for logical thinking may be reached by 16, psychosocial maturity, the ability to make decisions under stress or emotions may not occur until after 18, creating a maturity gap. [9] Sexual behaviors between adolescents of the same age are generally considered normal by professionals if it does not involve coercion or purely sexual motivation. Otherwise, appropriateness of sexual behavior depends upon family and cultural traditions regarding physical expression of affection, privacy accorded to children, and openness about sexuality. [10]

Non-Western cultures

In tropical regions of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, casual nudity existed as a social norm until the colonial era. Many Indigenous peoples with little or no contact with outsiders continue to practice traditional dress, including nudity. [11]

In contemporary rural villages of Sub-Saharan Africa, prepubescent boys and girls play together nude, and women bare their breasts in the belief that the meaning of naked bodies is not limited to sexuality. [12] In Lagos, Nigeria, some parents continue to allow children to be naked until puberty. Some parents now express fears about pedophiles and strangers taking photographs, but they typically want their children to have the same freedom as their own childhood and grow up with a positive body image. [13]

A Chinese boy wearing open-crotch pants in Beijing Chinese boy with open rear pants closeup.jpg
A Chinese boy wearing open-crotch pants in Beijing

In China, toddlers traditionally wear open-crotch pants that expose the genitalia, buttocks, and anus to allow them to urinate and defecate without removing clothing. [14] However, their use has greatly declined from industrialization and concerns related to the health effects of open defecation.

Several Asian cultures have dated cultural practices of nonsexual touching of young boys' genitals by family members and community members as a way to show affection or remind a boy to cover his genitals. [15] These behaviors have largely ended outside of a few rural areas and have resulted in cultural conflicts with the modern world. [16]

During the post-WWII era, Israeli kibbutzim pursued a program to create a society which included social and gender equality. For a time, some kibbutz children were raised communally, and boys and girls played naked outdoors on hot days. [17]

Islam

There are prohibitions in Islam regarding at what age or level of sexual awareness the intimate parts (awrah) of a child may be touched by or looked upon by adults, with some difference between the five major schools of Islamic law. [18]

Four of these schools are Sunni Islam. For the Hanbali school (that predominates in Saudi Arabia), it is not prohibited to touch or look at the body of a child below seven years. The Hanafi school (Central Asia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey) does not prohibit looking at any part of a boy under four, but above that age his rear and private parts are prohibited. After the age of sexual awareness, modest dress for adults applies to all children. For the Maliki school (North Africa), it is permissible for a woman to look at and touch the body of a boy less than eight, and only look until twelve, after which a boy is dressed similar to an adult. It is permissible for a man to look at and touch the body of girl under the age of two years and eight months, and to look at, though not touch, until she reaches the age of four years. The Shafi'i school (East Africa, Levant, Indonesia and Malaysia) defines the need for modest dress for boys as beginning with his own interest in sex. For girls, modest dress begins when she arouses sexual interest in others. [18]

In Twelver Shi'ism that includes 85% of Shia Islam, which predominates in Iran and Iraq, it is permissible to look at any child below the age of five, but it is prohibited to look at them with a sexual interest at any age. [18]

Japan

In Japanese culture, bathing is for relaxation and purification as well as cleanliness, and is part of both Shintoism and Buddhism. Purification in the bath is not only for the body, but the heart or spirit ( kokoro ). Traditionally, the concept of indecent exposure did not exist, so all ages and genders bathed together. Some public baths may now offer gender segregation, but the option of mixed bathing continues. [19]

In the Tokugawa period in Japan (1603–1868), lacking baths in their homes, entire communities frequented public bathhouses where they were unclothed together. [20] With the opening of Japan to European visitors in the Meiji era (1868–1912), mixed public bathing became an issue for leaders concerned with Japan's international reputation. [21]

Public baths ( sentō ) were once common, but became less so with the addition of bathtubs in homes. Sentō were mixed gender (konyoku) until the arrival of Western influences. [22] Home tubs in Japan are also for soaking and relaxing, not for washing. [23] Some parents in contemporary Japan continue to bathe with children up to adolescence without regard to gender. [24]

Western cultures

History

Anthropologist David MacDougall states that in Western cultures: "The sense of shock at seeing children naked seems to be mainly a recent phenomenon." [25]

England

Despite the prudery of the Victorian era in Britain, children being unclothed was accepted as natural and ordinary in many circumstances. Children were free to play naked in the nursery, and the children of the British royal family were photographed nude in the 1920s and 1930s. Images of nude children appeared in soap ads and fine art. [26]

Children were featured in British nudist magazines during the interwar period Health and efficiency 1925 03 cover.png
Children were featured in British nudist magazines during the interwar period

The British view of childhood as innocent did not extend to America during the same period. [27] In 1891 an American visiting England wrote to a travel columnist that he could not bring his young daughter to the beach without their being surrounded by naked boys. The columnist replied that Englishmen have no problem with their daughters playing with naked boys to the age of ten, but draw a line at fifteen. [28] In England during the interwar period (1918–1939), a number of schools were established which practiced an educational program that included coeducation and nudity while playing sports or sunbathing. Children were often on the cover of nudist magazines because nude adults could not be displayed on newsstands. [29]

A 1940s film showed an outing for Scouts and Girl Guides in which boys to the age of about ten play nude, while older boys and all girls are dressed. [30]

Sweden

In a 1927 Swedish documentary about the benefits of swimming, [31] there were four situations depicted:

  1. At a lake for family swimming, small children of both sexes were often nude.
  2. At an outdoor swimming competition for boys with no female spectators, suits were optional, and boys changed in the open.
  3. Suits were worn for a women's outdoor competition with spectators of any age and gender.
  4. At an indoor pool for men, all wore suits.

United States

Precolonial and colonial eras
A Hopi boy in Walpi, Arizona (1898) Small Hopi boy, the son of a Snake Priest, at the pueblo of Walpi, Arizona, ca.1898 (CHS-4637).jpg
A Hopi boy in Walpi, Arizona (1898)

Precolonial Native American tribes did not stigmatize or impose any association of sexuality onto childhood nudity. [32] In warm weather, Native American children might not wear clothing until puberty. [33]

Enslaved African American children wore only partial clothing when the weather permitted; the youngest were often naked. Boys only had a shirt that hung to their knees with nothing underneath. [34]

The beliefs of early colonists in America varied based upon religion. The Puritans viewed complete nudity, even in private for bathing, as immodest, and limited hygiene to washing the hands, face and regularly changing undergarments. Bathing remained uncommon until the 18th century. [35] Other denominations of Christianity thought of early childhood up to age 7 as a period of innocence, during which nudity was unremarkable. Having no sexual urges, family members of both sexes at this age slept together naked. Sexual urges were thought to emerged between age 7 and 12. In contrast, Puritans thought of all children as naturally wicked, having inherited original sin. [36]

Race and childhood nudity
Three newsboys, two white and one African American, share a communal shower (1908) Service-pnp-nclc-03100-03174v.jpg
Three newsboys, two white and one African American, share a communal shower (1908)

During the era of racial segregation in the United States, public facilities often excluded or separated people of color, particularly African Americans. This type of racial segregation near universally existed in the Southern United States; racial segregation at swimming pools and communal showers in other regions varied depending on the exact location. However, a strict social taboo against interracial relationships prohibited African American men and boys, even if not nude, from swimming in front of white women and girls. [37]

White residents often justified the exclusion of African Americans from swimming locations through a pseudoscientific claim stating that African Americans served as disease vectors and could easily transmit infectious diseases to white Americans. Several instances of violence erupted when African Americans entered formerly segregated facilities during the civil rights movement. [38]

Historical American attitudes toward childhood nudity occasionally involved double standards on the basis of race. Early European colonists often perceived Native Americans as uncivilized and ungodly for allowing their children to remain nude in public, yet culturally appropriative activities focused around stereotypical portrayals of Native American culture often featured childhood nudity. [33] [39] Ernest Thompson Seton described nude swimming as one of the first activities of his Woodcraft Indians, a culturally appropriative forerunner of the Scout movement, in 1902.

Late 19th and early 20th centuries
Boys take off their clothes for nude swimming in the Mississippi River in Wisconsin (1900) 1005000176-l.jpg
Boys take off their clothes for nude swimming in the Mississippi River in Wisconsin (1900)
Nude Swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys in Wiley, Georgia (1925) Nude Swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys.jpg
Nude Swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys in Wiley, Georgia (1925)

Early America saw the rise of a subculture of boys and young men who swam nude in any available body of water. [40] Local ordinances often prohibited nude swimming, but they frequently went unenforced or involved very young children who did not receive punishment. [41] In 1907, Nashville, Tennessee deputy sheriffs took no action to stop men and boys from swimming nude in the Cumberland River outside of populated areas. [42] As urbanization in the Northern United States brought this activity into public view, cities and towns responded by constructing swimming pools that continued nude swimming. [40] Outdoor nude swimming in isolated American summer camps also existed as a socially accepted practice usually, but not always, segregated by gender. [39]

Photographs, some published in LIFE, depicted boys swimming and showering nude while behaving as they would while dressed. [43] [44] Although American society banned and near universally disapproved of homosexuality during this time period, these activities did not have homoerotic overtones and did not receive disapproval from conservative movements of the time. [45] [46]

Nude swimming in indoor pools
A nude swimming lesson in a YMCA in 1915 YMCA swim lessons - 1915.png
A nude swimming lesson in a YMCA in 1915

Until after World War II, indoor swimming pools often could not maintain their water quality to limit the spread of disease. [47] Studies found that swimsuits served as disease vectors, resulting in frequent bans on swimsuits for men and boys in indoor pools. [48] [49] Facilities also required boys to use communal showers before entering the pool because they often lived in dirty and overcrowded tenements without showers or bathing facilities. [50] In 1909, the New York Times reported that boys in the 80 pound division (age 8 to 10) at an elementary school swimming competition competed nude after finding that suits slowed them down. a

In contrast, girls' swim classes almost never featured nude swimming. In 1947, the superintendent of schools in Highland Park, Michigan directed girls aged 9 to 13 at the Liberty School to wear swimsuits in response to a protest by mothers to the board of education. Boys in the schools had not worn suits in their classes for years and girls requested to do the same in order to give them more time in the pool. While following the wishes of parents who believed girls should behave modestly, all the board members disagreed, stating that there was "no moral issue involved." [51] [52]

Nude male swimming in indoor pools largely vanished after the passage of Title IX in 1972, which prohibits sex based discrimination in public education and government funded programs. [53] Outdoor nude swimming also largely disappeared around the same time because of concerns related to child sexual abuse; Scouting America now prohibits all forms of nude swimming during activities to prevent abuse. [54] [55] However, youth nude swimming still exists in several naturist summer camps and resorts. [56] [ original research? ]

Communal showers
A group of boys shower in Denver in the early 20th century Boys showering in the early 20th century.jpg
A group of boys shower in Denver in the early 20th century

The use of communal showers, a relatively recent invention at the time, increased rapidly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [57] Communal showers often existed near public pools, at summer camps, to wash children after child labor, and as public facilities for children living in overcrowded tenements without personal showers. [50]

Communal showers often existed in public bathhouses shared by residents of multiple different tenements established by Progressive Era social reformers to promote hygiene and stop the spread of infectious diseases. [58] These public bathhouses often provided services to thousands of people from one community; the Rivington Street municipal bath accommodated 224,876 bathers, of whom 66,256 were women and girls, during the first five months of 1902. [59]

Most public bathhouses closed during the early 20th century when newer building codes required homes to have showers or bathtubs. [60] The use of single-gender communal showers in educational settings and summer camps began to decline in the 1970s because of a desire to cut costs and concerns related to violence, bullying, and same-gender sexual harassment. [61]

Contemporary practices

Nudity in the home

Siblings bathing together, Greenbelt, Maryland (1942) Ann and Pierce (three years old) Atkins taking a bath together8d21019v.jpg
Siblings bathing together, Greenbelt, Maryland (1942)

American writer Bonnie Rough lived in Amsterdam and the US while raising her children, and learned that Dutch families typically experienced mixed gender family nudity growing up. In the US, children are not likely to have similar experiences; family nudity typically being nonexistent or gender-segregated. [62] A US survey of 500 mental health and child welfare professionals who were predominantly female, white, and middle-aged indicated that siblings of the same gender bathing together was acceptable to the age of 6 to 8, but of mixed gender only to the age of 5 or 6. [63]

Americans avoid talking about the body and sex with their children, in particular not using real or specific names for body parts and functions. Yet giving children correct vocabulary is part of teaching them how to accurately report if they are touched inappropriately. Also, the basic vocabulary is the starting point for a lifetime of sex education, which cannot wait until adolescence to be learned thoroughly. This is made more difficult since most American parents did not learn these things growing up, so they cannot be role models for appropriate behavior. In the Netherlands, sexual education begins at age 4, but in many US communities, early childhood sex ed is thought to be inappropriate. [64]

In a 2009 article for the New York Times "Home" section, Julie Scelfo interviewed parents regarding the nudity of small children at home in situations which might include visitors outside the immediate household. The situations ranged from a three-year-old being naked at a large gathering, to the use of a backyard swim pool becoming an issue when the children of disapproving neighbors participated. While the consensus of reader comments was to allow kids unsupervised play to the age of five, there was acknowledgment of the possible discomfort of adults who consider such behavior to be inappropriate. While opponents of child nudity referred to the danger of pedophilia, proponents viewed innocent nudity as beneficial compared to the sexualization of children in toddler beauty pageants with makeup and "sexy" outfits. [54]

Although a serious social issue, the American public often greatly overestimates the prevalence of pedophilia, particularly in conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and QAnon. This phenomenon has been described by Michael Karger as a moral panic, a social movement against an exaggerated or fabricated threat from individuals or groups believed to undermine the safety and security of society, resulting from restrictive norms surrounding nudity and sexuality. [65]

Parent-child nudity

In 1995, Gordon and Schroeder contended that "there is nothing inherently wrong with bathing with children or otherwise appearing naked in front of them", noting that doing so may provide an opportunity for parents to provide important information. They noted that by ages five to six, children begin to develop a sense of modesty, and recommended to parents who desire to be sensitive to their children's wishes that they respect a child's modesty from that age onwards. [66] In a 1995 review of the literature, Paul Okami concluded that there was no reliable evidence linking exposure to parental nudity to any negative effect. [67] Three years later, his team finished an 18-year longitudinal study that showed, that childhood exposure to nudity was associated with slight beneficial effects in adolescents, with better social and sexual adjustment. [68]

In 1999, psychologist Barbara Bonner recommended against nudity in the home if children exhibit sexual play of a type that is considered problematic. [69] In 2019, psychiatrist Lea Lis recommended that parents allow nudity as a natural part of family life when children are very young, but to respect the modesty that is likely to emerge with puberty. [70]

In an article by sociologist Jacqui Gabb, the relationships between fathers and children is recognized as a potential source of anxiety that requires setting boundaries to manage intimate relations. It was found that contemporary family relations placed the response of the child as the controlling factor; it was the children who decided, usually in adolescence, when nudity became embarrassing and privacy was required in bathrooms. [71]

In Northern European countries, family nudity is normal, which teaches from an early age that nakedness need not be sexual. [72] Bodily modesty is not part of the Finnish identity due to the universal use of the sauna, a historical tradition that has been maintained. [73] [74]

Peer group nudity

Societies have various norms regarding children of similar age being nude together when needed, such as changing clothes or bathing. When very young, this may be in mixed gender groups; with sex segregation beginning at or before puberty. Different norms may apply to girls, on the assumption that they are more modest. [75]

Preschool daycare

The normal behavior of very young children may become an issue outside the home. Daycare in Denmark had traditionally been tolerant of nudity and sexuality among preschool children until the beginning of the 21st century, but differences of opinion have arisen with the possibility that not only caregivers but other children may be accused of inappropriate behavior or abuse. [76] [77]

Communal showers in an East German kindergarten (1987) Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0609-302, Koritz, Duschraum des Kindergartens.jpg
Communal showers in an East German kindergarten (1987)

In New Zealand, school staff confront different points of view between those that think children are sexual in age appropriate ways that begin before puberty, versus those that think children are asexual until after puberty. In the former view, behavior involving genitals may be seen as normal play; the latter view, any childhood sexuality is seen as a sign of abuse, which may include labeling one child as an abuser. [78]

In the 1980s and 1990s, a number of charges were brought against daycare providers, mainly in the US, alleging sexual abuse and satanic rituals, but were rarely sustained; being based upon improper techniques for interviewing children, using leading questions and sometimes coercion to elicit the desired result. [79]

Pedophilia panics in France and the United States were found to be due to sensational media reports and political crusading rather than any increase in molestation incidents, which remain rare. [80] However, the term moral panic should not be used to claim that a social problem is not real, as sometimes occurs. [81]

Researcher Steven Angelides finds that the social movement to address the issue of child sexual abuse has had the unintended consequence of reinforcing a public perception of pre-pubescent sexuality as nonexistent, which erases the normal sexual development of children. [82]

Schools and recreation

By the 1990s, communal showers in American schools had become "uncomfortable", not only because students were accustomed to more privacy at home, but because young people became more self-conscious based upon the comparison to mass media images of unrealistic bodies. [83] The trend for privacy is being extended to public schools, colleges and community facilities replacing "gang showers" and open locker rooms with individual stalls and changing rooms. A 2014 study of schools in England found that 53% of boys and 67.5% of girls did not shower after physical education (PE) classes. Other studies indicate that not showering, while often related to being naked with peers, is also related to lower intensity of physical activity and involvement in sports. [84]

The change in privacy also addresses issues of transgender usage and family use when one parent accompanies children of differing gender. [85]

A shift in attitudes has come to societies historically open to nudity. In the Netherlands children up to age 12 used mixed gender communal showers at school. In the 1980s showering became gender-segregated, but in the 2000s, some shower in a bathing suit. [86] In Denmark, secondary school students are now avoiding showering after gym classes. In interviews, students cited the lack of privacy, fears of being judged by idealized standards, and the possibility of being photographed while naked. [87] Similar results were found in schools in Norway. [88]

Communal nudity

Some societies, many in Northern Europe, are tolerant of nudity in places designated as appropriate for clothing optional recreation. Young children in the Netherlands often play outdoors or in public wading pools nude. [89] While this continues, parents must now be more vigilant of strangers taking pictures. [90] A school in New Zealand decided in 2008 that it was safer for five-year-old students to change poolside rather than use the crowded changing room at a public aquatic center. After two weeks, the practice was abandoned due to complaints made by other users. [91]

In their 1986 study on the effects of social nudity on children, Dennis Craig Smith and William Sparks concluded that "the viewing of the unclothed body, far from being destructive to the psyche, seems to be either benign or to actually provide positive benefits to the individuals involved". [92] As recently as 1996 the YMCA maintained a policy of allowing very young children to accompany their parents into the locker room of either gender, which some health care professionals questioned. [93] A contemporary solution has been to provide separate family changing rooms. [94]

Naturism

Praia do Abrico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2006) Nude people at Praia do Abrico.jpg
Praia do Abricó, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2006)

The naturist/nudist point of view is that children are "nudists at heart" and that naturism provides the ideal environment for healthy development. It is noted that modern psychology generally agrees that children can benefit from an open environment where the bodies of others their own age of both sexes are not hidden. However, there is less agreement regarding children and unrelated adults being nude. While some doctors have taken the view that some exposure of children to adult nudity (particularly parental nudity) may be healthy, others—notably Benjamin Spock—disagreed. Spock's view was later attributed to the lingering effect of Freudianism on the medical profession. [95]

Many tend to view naturism as indecent, and possibly a danger to children, based upon the assumption that nudity is always sexual. Naturist organizations have worked to present their own view, that naturism is respectable, maintaining rules such as favoring family membership and excluding single men, and offering evidence of the benefits in terms of both physical and mental health and wellbeing. [96] Farm & Wilderness, a summer camp system in Vermont was clothing optional from its founding in 1939 until the 1980s when nudity was allowed only for swimming, and banned in the 2000s. [97]

Sex education

In general, the United States remains uniquely puritanical in its moral judgements compared to other Western, developed nations. [98] [99] As of 2015, 37 U.S. states required that sex education curricula include lessons on abstinence and 25 required that a "just say no" approach be stressed. Studies show that early and complete sex education does not increase the likelihood of becoming sexually active, but leads to better health outcomes overall. [100]

The health textbooks in Finnish secondary schools emphasize the normalcy of non-sexual nudity in saunas and gyms as well as openness to the appropriate expression of developing sexuality. [101] The Netherlands also has open and comprehensive sex education beginning as early as age 4. In addition to good health outcomes, the program promoted gender equality. Dutch illustrated books for children depict naked bodies when appropriate. [89]

Tous à Poil! (Everybody Gets Naked!), a French picture book for children, was first published in 2011 with the stated purpose of presenting a view of nudity in opposition to media images of the ideal body but instead depicting ordinary people swimming naked in the sea including a teacher and a policeman. [102] Attempts by the Union for a Popular Movement to exclude the book from schools prompted French booksellers and librarians to hold a nude protest in support of the book's viewpoint. [103]

As part of a science program on Norwegian public television (NRK), a series on puberty intended for 8–12-year-olds includes explicit information and images of reproduction, anatomy, and the changes that occur with the approach of puberty. Rather than diagrams or photos, the videos were shot in a locker room with live nude people of various ages. The presenter, a physician, is relaxed about close examination and touching of relevant body parts, including genitals. While the videos note that the age of consent in Norway is 16, abstinence is not emphasized. In a subsequent series for teens and young adults, real people were recruited to have sexual intercourse on TV as counterbalance to the unrealistic presentations in advertising and pornography. [104] A 2020 episode of a Danish TV show for children presented five nude adults to an audience of 11–13-year-olds with the lesson "normal bodies look like this" to counter social media images of perfect bodies. [105]

A 2009 report issued by the CDC comparing the sexual health of teens in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States concluded that if the US implemented comprehensive sex education similar to the three European countries there would be a significant reduction in teen pregnancies, abortions and the rate of sexually transmitted diseases, saving hundreds of millions of dollars. [106]

Depictions

In public media

Until the late 20th century, nude children appeared in artwork, photography, advertisements, and film to evoke positive associations of innocence in childhood. [26] A photograph of nude boys in a communal shower from a 1941 article on high schools included a caption indicating a perception of male communal nudity as symbolic of social equality. [107] This held particularly true for boys; the 1960 film Pollyanna [108] begins with a scene of boys swimming nude in a river in a 1910s rural American setting. As late as 1990, A Cry in the Wild depicted a nude adolescent boy diving into a lake. [109]

The level of nudity considered socially acceptable to depict varied by medium. Life routinely published modestly posed photographs of nude boys to illustrate articles on American life. [44] [107] In contrast, the 1968 film Robby, based upon Robinson Crusoe, shows full frontal nudity of the main characters (two pre-pubescent boys) for most of the film. [110]

Photographs by family

For decades, parents have taken and shared photographs of their infants and young children naked, often while bathing. Some contemporary parents see such photos as records of ephemeral childhood innocence that are precious, while others view the practice as an intrusion on private behavior that can rapidly spread online. [71] During the final decades prior to digital photography, labs processing film photographs occasionally reported nude photography of children as possible evidence of child sexual abuse, with some charges being filed, but few sustained. [111]

Sally Mann's book Immediate Family includes nude photographs of her three children under the age of 10. Mann stated that she decided to include every aspect of everyday life on their family farm with her children's consent and advice from experts. She attributes any negative response to the book's publication coinciding with a moral panic over depictions of child nudity, combined with debate over government funding of the arts. [112] Mary Gordon criticized Mann, perceiving her work as sexualizing children despite its artistic merit. Mann responded that any sexual connotations came from the viewer, not the images. [113] In her 2015 memoir Hold Still, Mann recounts that during her own childhood in rural Virginia, she had resisted wearing clothes until the age of five. [114]

In social media

Facebook policy prohibits nude images of children from its website, citing the possibility of abuse by others. [115] In 2014, Facebook removed a mother's photo of her two-year-old daughter showing her bare bottom, an image intended as a parody of a Coppertone ad from the 1950s. [116]

Pornography

Child pornography laws in the United States (18 U.S. Code § 2251) prohibit the depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving any person under 18, although what constitutes "sexually explicit" depends upon interpretation. [117] In the absence of explicit conduct, the determination of whether a particular image violates the laws results from speculation as to the intent of the creator and the response of the viewer. [118] [119] In 2010, Project Spade convicted numerous Americans for possessing child pornography that did not involve sexually explicit conduct, but instead included "lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area" of a minor. [120] [121]

In recent years, the identification of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has led to the development of programs that use artificial intelligence to flag images that are then reviewed by humans before further action occurs. [122] The advocacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation views these programs as a dangerous violation of the integrity of end-to-end encryption, which promotes privacy in online communications. [123]

Childhood exposure to nude images

Following a controversy over the inclusion of a photograph of Michelangelo's David in a Florida school lesson, a survey was done of the general population. Seventy-five percent of Americans say they do not find the depiction of nudity in paintings and sculptures by classical artists to be problematic, and only 14% say they do. A smaller majority (55%) agreed when the question was whether children should view nudity in art. [124]

In a 2018 survey of predominantly white middle-class college students in the United States, only 9.98% of women and 7.04% of men reported seeing real people as their first childhood experience of nudity. Many were accidental, such as walking in on parents, and were more likely to be remembered as negative by women. A majority of both women (83.59%) and men (89.45%) reported seeing their first depictions of nudity in film, video, or other mass media. Only 4.72% of women and 2% of men reported seeing nude images as part of sex education. [125]

See also

Notes

a. ^ "The athletic prowess of the very small boys in the eighty-pound championship was of less moment to the spectators than the enthusiasm of the youngsters, who discovered in their trial heats that their swimming trunks impeded them, and that they could swim faster nude. Thereafter the rule about trunks went into the discard, and very small boys in a state of nature swam like tadpoles through the many heats necessary for a decision." [126]

Citations

  1. ↑ Gilligan 2018, p. 16.
  2. 1 2 3 APA 2009.
  3. ↑ Marder 2020.
  4. ↑ Rough 2018, p. 90.
  5. ↑ Today's Parent 1993.
  6. ↑ Yanek 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 NCSBY 2023.
  8. ↑ DePanfilis & Dubowitz 2000, p. 228.
  9. ↑ Icenogle et al. 2019.
  10. ↑ DePanfilis & Dubowitz 2000, p. 41.
  11. ↑ Gilligan 2018, pp. 3–4.
  12. ↑ Akas 2017.
  13. ↑ Sofola 2022.
  14. ↑ Chen 2003.
  15. ↑ Eisenbruch 2023.
  16. ↑ BBC News 2019.
  17. ↑ Fogiel-Bijaoui n.d.
  18. 1 2 3 Mughniyya n.d.
  19. ↑ Clark 1994, Chapter 5: Bathing Naturally.
  20. ↑ Kawano 2005, pp. 152–153.
  21. ↑ Kawano 2005, pp. 153–163.
  22. ↑ Hadfield 2016.
  23. ↑ Clark 1994, p. 2.
  24. ↑ Murphy 2016.
  25. ↑ MacDougall 2020, p. 214.
  26. 1 2 MacDougall 2020.
  27. ↑ Bolin et al. 2021, p. 212, Sexuality through the Life Stages, Part I: Early Childhood Sexuality.
  28. ↑ The Sunday Herald 1891.
  29. 1 2 Pollen 2023.
  30. ↑ Huntley Film Archives 1945.
  31. ↑ Bathing is Health 1927.
  32. ↑ Gilligan 2018.
  33. 1 2 LA Times 1995.
  34. ↑ Parent & Wallace 1993.
  35. ↑ Little 2019.
  36. ↑ Bullough 2004.
  37. ↑ Martin 2008.
  38. ↑ Rotenstein 2024.
  39. 1 2 Seton 1951, p. 297.
  40. 1 2 Wiltse 2003.
  41. ↑ Wichita Daily Eagle 1895.
  42. ↑ Nashville Tennessean 1907.
  43. ↑ Hine 1908.
  44. 1 2 LIFE 1940.
  45. ↑ Chimsky 2017.
  46. ↑ McKay & McKay 2012.
  47. ↑ Gage 1926.
  48. ↑ Manheimer 1914.
  49. ↑ Gage 1918.
  50. 1 2 Hoagland 2011.
  51. ↑ The News-Palledium 1947.
  52. ↑ Iowa City Press Citizen 1947.
  53. ↑ Tarapacki 2018.
  54. 1 2 Scelfo 2009.
  55. ↑ Scouting 2025.
  56. ↑ Allen 2004.
  57. ↑ Chua 2017.
  58. ↑ Tasse-Winter 2024.
  59. ↑ Riis 1902.
  60. ↑ Curbed 2014.
  61. ↑ Owen 2009.
  62. ↑ Rough 2018, Ch. 1.
  63. ↑ Johnson, Huang & Simpson 2009.
  64. ↑ Rough 2018, pp. 39–42.
  65. ↑ Karger 2022.
  66. ↑ Gordon & Schroeder 1995, p. 16.
  67. ↑ Okami 1995, pp. 51–64.
  68. ↑ Okami et al. 1998, pp. 361–384.
  69. ↑ Bonner 1999, p. 211.
  70. ↑ Lis 2019.
  71. 1 2 Gabb 2013.
  72. ↑ Rough 2018, pp. 19–26.
  73. ↑ Engberg & Bjorkroth 2022.
  74. ↑ Sinkkonen 2013.
  75. ↑ Weinberg & Williams 2010.
  76. ↑ Leander, Larsen & Munk 2018.
  77. ↑ Leander 2022.
  78. ↑ Flanagan 2011.
  79. ↑ Young 2003.
  80. ↑ Neuilly & Zgoba 2006.
  81. ↑ Tiffen 2019.
  82. ↑ Angelides 2019.
  83. ↑ Johnson 1996.
  84. ↑ Johansen et al. 2017, p. 42.
  85. ↑ Steinbach 2017.
  86. ↑ Rough 2018, p. 26.
  87. ↑ Frydendal & Thing 2020.
  88. ↑ Johansen et al. 2017, pp. 51–55.
  89. 1 2 Rough 2018, pp. 23–24.
  90. ↑ Rough 2018, pp. 32–35.
  91. ↑ Booker 2008.
  92. ↑ Smith & Sparks 1986, p. 183.
  93. ↑ McCombs 1996.
  94. ↑ Peavey 2008.
  95. ↑ Shantz 2017.
  96. ↑ Parry 1996.
  97. ↑ Kardashian & Yahm 2009.
  98. ↑ Uhlmann et al. 2011.
  99. ↑ Zafirovski 2007.
  100. ↑ Zadrozny 2015.
  101. ↑ Honkasalo 2018.
  102. ↑ Cherrier 2016.
  103. ↑ Melvin 2014.
  104. ↑ Steffensen 2017.
  105. ↑ Erdbrink & Sorensen 2020.
  106. ↑ Feijoo 2009.
  107. 1 2 LIFE 1941.
  108. ↑ Pollyanna 2025.
  109. ↑ A Cry in the Wild 2025.
  110. ↑ Robby 2025.
  111. ↑ Higonnet 1998.
  112. ↑ Mann 2015, p. xi.
  113. ↑ Mann & Gordon 1997.
  114. ↑ Mann 2015, p. 17.
  115. ↑ Facebook 2025.
  116. ↑ Today 2014.
  117. ↑ United States Code 2023.
  118. ↑ Stanley 1991.
  119. ↑ Tamer 2011.
  120. ↑ The Walrus 2017.
  121. ↑ USDOJ 2015.
  122. ↑ NPR 2021.
  123. ↑ Mullin 2022.
  124. ↑ Dumitru 2023.
  125. ↑ Allen et al. 2018.
  126. ↑ The New York Times 1909.

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