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Indeed Sam. I didn't mean to hang all of that change on the missionaries. Traders, slave trade, empires, invasions etc all have had their effect and yes some of it wasn't forced but a need to copy, to fit in, to act like sheep, to act like an equal to the supposed more civilised Westerners. We still see tourism taking its toll on countries natural behaviour and even the effects of having armies using your country.
I didn't really want this topic to be one that looked at why aspects of humanity started covering up for covering up sake, but instead imagine a world where all of humanity in all countries never found shame or embarrassment with nudity. Like within our own family homes, where we may wear clothes because it is cold or because we are removing brambles, but we do not worry about being seen naked or being naked at other times or ever decide to cover up purely to hide certainparts of our bodies.
If the world was like that then how would it be different. Would it function differently, would somethings not exist (like topless bars or swimsuits), would families be more honest and open, would there be less cosmetic surgery, would parks, beaches and pools be generally used naked, would many sports be competed naked....
And of course if we were to imagine that the world has always been that way, we would have all generations equally comfortable being nude and people of all sizes, shapes etc. A world where body confidence and awareness is something that we have all grown up around. How would this world be different? This site, naturist clubs, federations and magazines wouldn't exist for a start because no one would have ever had to take a stand and say we need a word and a cause to support the idea of social, natural, non-sexual nudity - it would just be part of every day, normal, life for all.
What would that world be like and how would it differ to the world we currently know?
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Anna, I guess the closest we could find to a world you've described, would be in those remote areas to which I referred. There are entire tribes of people who don't even think about nudity because they don't think about clothing. Our modern cultures look at them as 'backward' and 'ignorant;' but within their sphere of life and influence, are they really? We would look as out of place trying to survive in their world as they would in ours. Surely...?
So if looked at in the way that you describe, do they not have and live in that world?
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Anna, I guess the closest we could find to a world you've described, would be in those remote areas to which I referred. There are entire tribes of people who don't even think about nudity because they don't think about clothing. Our modern cultures look at them as 'backward' and 'ignorant;' but within their sphere of life and influence, are they really? We would look as out of place trying to survive in their world as they would in ours. Surely...?
So if looked at in the way that you describe, do they not have and live in that world?
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Yes you are right.
I guess what I was thinking was for us to imagine a world where every nation/the whole of humankind has not taken to wearing clothes unless there is a specific point to that clothing (ie keeping warm) and not because of the fear of being naked or being seen as lewd. A world where no one is shocked at seeing their neighbours naked in their garden or others dropping their children off at school naked - because we have not learned to be shocked. Not because we have learnt to reavulate nudity or because we are pockets of society that deal with it or live naturally but because the world as a whole never learnt to be concerned about covering our genitals or breasts or anything else.
That is the world I want us to imagine and how it may have made us different as human beings and how life may be different and possibly society itself.
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I wonder if, for that world to exist, it would necessitate all of humankind being oblivious to the differences and not attracted to one another by visual stimulation. Even with a non-sexual, platonic approach, I still deeply admire the beauty of the female form and I don't think I would opt for that attraction to "never have started." If there was no such thing as cold, the word "hot" would mean nothing to us. Those things you're wishing away (in imagination) are only bad when they're perverted. Are they very frequently perverted? Yes. Are they intrinsicly bad? No. It is in human nature to pervert. I would prefer a world where all of the attractions exist without being tainted by lust, avarice, greed, selfishness, and all else that drives human beings to spoil everything good.
I think I understand what you're driving at, Anna; so I feel rotten for my inability to ride that road. I hope someone here with brighter thoughts will help you develop it.