I had many mixed messages growing up when It came to nudity.  Up until the age of 5 my younger sister and I would occasionally bathe together, run around the house in only underwear or less.  The baths ended when my 4 yr old sister asked me when her penis would grow in like mine did.  I had no idea.  I looked to see if it was there somewhere and saw what I thought was a tiny penis about to grow.  Later discovered that it was a clitoris.  Mom and dad shut down sharing baths after that point.  We would shower and bathe behind a locked closed door from then on.  Whenever i was staying with one of my grandparents things were different.  While younger I was bathed in a deep sink, with whoever was around, then as I got a bit older I would be put in the shower with my grandpa.  It was no big deal for either of us other than I didn't get enough of the hot water usually.  Whenever we would go to the country club golfing there was a locker room and showers after we finished where we would shower and change so we could go up and eat in the dining room.  When I was a boy scout age 11 and up to 18, there would be many times when we would go skinny dipping in streams, lakes, and rivers.  That was just us boys though.  Anyway I seem to have gone off on a tangent.  Outside of those first few years at home everything was locked bathroom doors, shut bedroom doors,  taking turns in the bathrooms in a hotel room.  I was probably around 17 before I say a completely naked girl (this was before born was available on the internet)and it was completely on accident.  I walked into the house after I got home from work and o0ened the front door and walked it.  My sister was walking from the bathroom to her bedroom completely naked and didn't see I was there.  That was it.  I found out as I was older that I wasn't the only one in the family that like to wander naked around the house when I was the only one at home.  I grew up thinking the nudity was not just bad but it was evil.  Especially in front of someone of the opposite gender.  Needless to say I believed some of the things I had been taught.  I enjoy going to hot springs near my home and frequent as much as possible.  I met a nudist group at one of them and I said what the hell....then why the hell not.  I joined them and have never looked back.  I look for opportunities whenever life takes me, whether they are a landed resort or just a quiet private place in the wilderness on my own or with friends.  I have discovered that even though my penis is on the smaller side and, my gut is on the larger side and I don't even know how to describe my ass....I am fine with it all.  I am comfortable in my own skin and more confident in my dealings with people clothed or naked.

I think many families in the 1950's bathed their children together.  I can remember times when my mother bathed both me and my younger brother at the same time.  I'm thinking there might have been one time when she put all three of us in the tub at the same time (me, my brother and my sister) but three small bodies in one tub was difficult.  We did not bother closing doors until we all got much older.

There are so many fascinating story in this topic and really this whole theme would make a revealing exploration of how society works, how it's views of nudity have changed and how families have changed. 

I am also thinking of Julius recent blog https://anaturistworld.com/member-blog/46833 My story (of not making a big deal out of it) that touches on the difference between his parents and his grandmother when it comes to sharing nudity. 

I feel that there is a pattern developing that could be seen as one that is relevant to recent human history and our approach to nudity. 

We could I feel take this beyond the last hundred years but last just look at life during what is basically living human memory. 

My mother grew up with a tin bath in the living room and sharing a bed with her two sisters and for some time a female cousin too. Where was the an option for privacy? My siblings were 7, 10 and 13 years older than me so there was some age gap, but they grew up sharing baths as this made sense. We had one bathroom and the water tank held limited hot water. When I came along they were that much older but I do remember sharing baths with my sister who was 7 years older than me, and my brother who was 10 years older. I am not sure about the 13 year older sister or whether it was just one sibling at a time, but I definitely shared baths. But other than that we were never naked together. I also remember sharing baths at different times with both my father or my mother. But at some point all this ended probably around the age of 4 or 5. Where as my siblings had continued for at least another 5 years.   

Today so many people have private bathrooms and ensuites, instant hot water and along with this comes an idea that bath time is a private thing not shared with family and even wrong to do so. If a celebrity mentions sharing a bath or shower with a child it seems to cause all sorts of negative reaction. The ability to have space seems to have encouraged the idea that privacy is not a luxury but a moral necessity. Nudity between adults and children upsets people rather than gives the impression of connection and closeness. A sad and worrying development. 

If we look at scouts, school, children's sport rooms, adult sports rooms, YMCAs we see a similar shift from shared naked swims, shared showers, even shared baths (my father would have a big bath with his fellow footballers after a match), to just being naked in changing rooms in the 1970's onward, to not even being naked in changing rooms in the 2000's. Our boys are just never naked at school or doing sport and the attitude of others is that it is completely wrong and very odd to imagine.    

And it is reflected in how we view nudity and naturism. In the 1970's when people heard about naturism it was seen as quite daring, a little eccentric but never perverse or dangerous.

With the new ideas of keeping children away from naked siblings and parents and no nudity in school, sports, scouts etc  we also see the idea growing that naturism is not just eccentric but also dangerous. Nudity around others is seen as a threat and a worry. 

Our individual experiences seem to reflect these changes and it is hardly surprising that grandparents seem more at ease than parents, and that we will see current youngsters being even worse when they are parents themselves.

It's somewhat worrying.  For the majority of human history nudity was completely divorced from sexual intent. 

Bath time was purely that, bath time. Time to wash and clean. In some ancient societies it was also social but the intent was never sexual.   

When i went to school, the changing rooms and showers were communal, same was true of public swimming pools. In fact at school showering after sports was a requirement and the only sensible way to wash wash naked.

As a kidvi remember sharing baths with my siblings and on some occasions parents and grandparents. No one thought anything of it.

I think it's a concern that people now view this as a completely private function.  You are losing the connection that used to occur.  In fact these days I notice people using spa pools and swimming pools with underwear on as well. The same is true for saunas. I am totally certain that super heated swimwear isn't good for you. Where this is originating from im uncertain but I suspect media has a lot to do with it.

I also fear the next generation will be even worse.

On a personal note when we built our house we constructed wet rooms for showering. Some have multiple shower heads. While we are now older, our kids and grandkids wander in while we are showering for conversations and think nothing of it. But I guess that's what they have always done. Lol

So true Grahame. If you keep up the habit of causal nudity in the family it will hopefully always remain. 

The double layer swimming is very weird. Our son used to go swimming with his friends and was the only one who just wore proper trunks. All the other wore underwear or swimming trunks or swimming shorts with outdoor shorts on top. After weeks of feeling the odd one out our son started doing the same. Usually underwear under swimming shorts. He knows it makes no sense but has no want to be teased about wearing real swimwear which happens! The main issue - you can see the existence of the penis due to the fit of the material. It is crazy and shouts out that the modern youth is afraid of their body. Ironic really (but also inevitably linked) as nudity is a constant presence on the various apps they are bombarded with on the internet.