Post by ShivaTD on Dec 28, 2013 13:34:23 GMT
With all of this said it is also true that "Americans" (including Canadians) are very prudish predominately due to religious beliefs that suppress the sexuality of the person. The "missionaries" were aghast at the topless Polynesians. In Hawaii the missionaries and Europeans were shocked to see women surfing topless and actually banned surfing because of it. Even today topless sunbathing is all but banned in the United States and is only allowed at a few beaches.
In Polynesia as well as many other cultures nudity was not "sexual" but it was to Europeans because of religious oppression of sexuality. Nudity became a taboo and came to be "sexual" in the minds of Europeans because of the oppression of sex by the church. It became the "forbidden fruit" and that which is almost forbidden is always desired.
BTW I wonder if there is even a Biblical passage that condemns nudity. I don't recall ever reading that during my "religious" period of life. Of course since I asked the question I had to do the research....
www.openbible.info/topics/nudity
Apparently the Bible isn't oppose to nudity per se and often endorses it. So why does the Christian religion seem to condemn it?