Here's what's interesting. I think we can all agree that not just the US, but the world at large is experiencing a strong resurgence of traditional morality. Of course, the process is significantly dampened in Europe (surprise!), but there's no arguing that a backlash is in process, and "the good guys" are winning. (Hint: the "good guys" aren't in your camp. We're talking traditional families with children and church-goin' folk). However, this isn't the Middle Ages, pitchforks and torches are in short supply, and no backlash is possible on faith alone. There is a societal undercurrent that supports it, and in the end it's this undercurrent that may very well make not just public nudity, but perhaps over-revealing garments history as well. In my other thread, I linked a great article about the "death" of topless sunbathing in France. One of the reasons listed there was the fact that modern young women (18-30, the primary "fuel" of public exposure) are covering up because they feel that the cannot measure up to the modern "body beautiful" standards. If you look at the overall trends, particularly in the US, the population is trending towards overweight and less "conventionally" attractive with each passing year. Lifestyle and food choices are great contributors to that, and, let's face it, unattractive people are most likely to breed with each other, producing unattractive offspring. At the same time, the media keeps showering us with the images of the "beautiful people", reinforcing the beauty standards for both genders. For population at large, it is more and more difficult to keep up - and since the underlying message is "you must be THIS good-looking to be worthwhile", a tremendous sense of insecurity is being cultivated. While the vast majority of people on nude beaches are those whom you do not want to see naked, "body acceptance" as such isn't a terribly popular concept amongst those who fall below the conventional standard of beauty. Therefore we can conclude that any kind of exposure - not just public nudity - will become less and less popular with the "real world" and slowly become confined to "fantasy lands" of imaginary nudist colonies and beaches that are full of young, attractive, fit women who want to do nothing but frolic in the surf naked. Unfortunately, the said "fantasy lands" will only exist in the form of porn sites, as they should. Bottom line: general trend towards unattractiveness and insecurity when compared to conventional body standards spells even greater doom for the nudist cause than any faith-based initiatives. Perhaps you can beat the preacher and the moralistic senator, but you can hardly stand up to the clientele of the local Mickey D's. Discuss.
The issue you have raised is one with the media, not with nudity. It is sad that people are buying into these "fantasy" images. But there will always be those of us wise enough not to, and to realise that bodies are just our bodies, naked or not. I'm certainly not bothered about whether or not I fit anyone elses standard when I'm nude (or clothed) This is what I've been given. If someone like yourself was judging me that'd be all the better, it'd weed out the shallow, backward idiots from the start so I could more easily identify those on my wavelength and get some good conversation
But here's the thing - the people who "buy in" vastly outnumber the people who do not. And people who do "buy in" develop not just an insecurity, but powerful resentment of your cause and are far more likely to support toughening of laws and shutting down of nudity-friendly places.
There are always going to be jerks with chips on their shoulders. Luckily a lot of us still have common sense
