Should all beaches be clothing-optional?

[David]

[think positive]

My point, and I admit that it's conjecture, is that people who are offended are a minority. If you go back to my opening post, I pointed out that Australia has a reputation for being one of the most laidback countries in the world. If that still has any truth to it, and I suspect it does (rampant social conservatism aside), then I think it really would only be a minority who would be genuinely offended by sharing beach space with nude swimmers.

No, we are not a minority. That's the whole POINT. Or you'd be winning the poll!

[David]

[Morrigu]

My point, and I admit that it's conjecture, is that people who are offended are a minority. If you go back to my opening post, I pointed out that Australia has a reputation for being one of the most laidback countries in the world. If that still has any truth to it, and I suspect it does (rampant social conservatism aside), then I think it really would only be a minority who would be genuinely offended by sharing beach space with nude swimmers.

See now you have caused yourself a world of pain - what is genuine offence?

I wonder how many people are " genuinely" offended by the things that they say, post, tweet that they are offended about - and yes guilty on occasion as charged Your Honour!

Personally I think Australia has become less laid back than it once was - and I reckon there would be general uprise in the name of the it must be " family friendly" brigade ( I am way over this crap - no you cannot have a drink in public this is a family friendly event ) if they came across nude bathers.

My beef with the cover up ban in the article was this is just more restriction to appease a minority group - again no issue with specific times for any group but it cannot and should not be applied in a more general way i.e public events open to all comers.

As I said I avoid any place with lots of humans clothed or not I prefer critters they tend not to be as judgemental and I just like them better

[Tannin]

I prefer critters they tend not to be as judgemental and I just like them better

^ Yes, they don't have so many human hangups and perversions. Probably because they almost never wear clothes on the beach.

[think positive]

[think positive]

I prefer critters they tend not to be as judgemental and I just like them better

^ Yes, they don't have so many human hangups and perversions. Probably because they almost never wear clothes on the beach.

Most have fur or feathers hiding their bits too! Except baboon arses, now there's a pretty sight!

[David]

It's just overload David. I don't think many blokes really want to see naked bodies everywhere. And I know darn well that woman DONT! Woman like to see things aesthetically, maybe that seems too simplistic, but gees, there is a roaring trade in nice decorative prices, wether furniture, clothes etc, and just like hawthorns colours, there ain't no way to make dangly bits attractive.

A key point here, though, is that nude swimmers (or non-nude swimmers, for that matter) aren't generally choosing what they wear for your benefit. It's actually considered rude to stare at people. Why not just not look at them?

I can't see how it should be a fundamental right to only have people who you like looking at within your line of sight at any point in time. You may not like looking at obese people in speedos or bikinis, but if you have any respect you would choose not to stare, leave them to swim in peace or, if you must, make an effort to look in the other direction. Is a naked person at the beach so different?

[What'sinaname]

The only tackle we need to see at a beach is what's used to catch fish.

The lack of body hair tells me humans aren't meant to be nude.

[David]

Traditional hunter-gatherer societies in Equatorial climates beg to differ.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_nudity

In some hunter-gatherer cultures in warm climates, nudity (or near-complete nudity) has been, until the introduction of Western culture or Islam, or still is, the social norm for both men and women.

Complete nudity among men and complete or near-complete nudity among women is still common for Mursi, Surma, Nuba, Karimojong, Kirdi, Dinka and sometimes Massai people in Africa, as well as Matses, Yanomami, Suruwaha, Xingu, Matis and Galdu people in South America. Many indigenous peoples in Africa and South America train and perform sport competitions naked. Nuba people in South Sudan and xingu tribe in the Amazon region in Brazil, for example, wrestle naked, whereas Dinka, Surma and Mursi in South Sudan and Ethiopia, arrange stick fights. Indian male monks Digambara practice yoga naked (or sky-clad, as they prefer to call it). With the ever increasing influences of Western and Muslim cultures, these traditions may soon vanish though.

In some African and Melanesian cultures, men going completely naked except for a string tied about the waist are considered properly dressed for hunting and other traditional group activities. In a number of tribes in the South Pacific island of New Guinea, men use hard gourdlike pods as penis sheaths. Yet a man without this "covering" could be considered to be in an embarrassing state of nakedness. Among the Chumash people of southern California, men were usually naked, and women were often topless. Native Americans of the Amazon Basin usually went nude or nearly nude; in many native tribes, the only clothing worn was some device worn by men to clamp the foreskin shut. However, other similar cultures have had different standards. For example, other native North Americans avoided total nudity, and the Native Americans of the mountains and west of South America, such as the Quechuas, kept quite covered. These taboos normally only applied to adults; Native American children often went naked until puberty if the weather permitted (a 10-year old Pocahontas scandalized the Jamestown settlers by appearing at their camp in the nude).

[swoop42]

I'd post a picture of my body hair but I'm scared some NRA card carrier would want to hunt, kill and eat me.

[stui magpie]

I'd post a picture of my body hair but I'm scared some NRA card carrier would want to hunt, kill and eat me.

You're sexy and you know it.

[What'sinaname]

I'd post a picture of my body hair but I'm scared some NRA card carrier would want to hunt, kill and eat me.

You're sexy and you know it.

lol that he's losing the hair on his head.

[Tannin]

The only tackle we need to see at a beach is what's used to catch fish.

The lack of body hair tells me humans aren't meant to be nude.

Correct. We should always cover up everything except the hairy bits.

[think positive]

The only tackle we need to see at a beach is what's used to catch fish.

.

Yep!

Laying on the beach in my wetsuit today, happy no one rolled me back in!

God I love summer!