![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 29. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 5:02:53
Man, this article is winding me up today.
Its about a woman sunbathing in her own back garden nude, and being done for indecent exposure or something.
What on earth is wrong with sunbathing nude in your own back garden????????
I remember my mother doing it frequently when I was a child.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5014450.stm
In particular, the comment from the woman attacking the nude sunbather:
"I have been extremely shaken by this. It has been very upsetting and worrying. I don't want to bring up my children in such an environment."
What??!?!?! What on earth is wrong with the naked human body????????? What sort of message is she sending to her childen?? That the naked human body is shameful???
How are her children supposed to have realistic ideas about what a naked human body should look like, if they never get to see one, and the only ones they do see are the ones in magazines, films etc, which obviously bare no resemblance to real bodies in real life???
Its crazy.
Maybe I'm more liberal - I've been to nudist beaches on holiday and of course, had plenty of saunas the Finnish way (ie nude) with a bunches of strangers in finland and the UK. But still.
Posted by ClearSkies on May 25, 2006, at 7:13:33
In reply to Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden??, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 5:02:53
If I had a back garden that was secluded I wouldn't hesitate. I live in Florida so I'd have to take a bath in sunblock! but really, what people do in their homes and on their properties should not be up for public comment.
There was an issue in Ontario a few years ago about being topless in public. A woman protested that while it's perfectly acceptable for men to go without t-shirts and wash their cars in their front driveways, it's considered obscene for a woman to do so. So she did it herself and sued when she was charged with the offense. I think it resulted in a revision of the law there. Personally I wouldn't want my body parts all over a wet car :-) but obviously it was the principal of the thing that was an issue.
ClearSkies
Posted by wildcardII on May 25, 2006, at 8:13:20
In reply to I don't, but » Meri-Tuuli, posted by ClearSkies on May 25, 2006, at 7:13:33
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 8:31:31
In reply to I don't, but » Meri-Tuuli, posted by ClearSkies on May 25, 2006, at 7:13:33
Wow, florida, that must be nice!!!
Yeah, I wouldn't wash the car top half naked in the driveway or anything either. But I don't think its obscene if some woman wanted to.
But thinking logically about it, why is it obscene in the first place?? I mean, naked bodies aren't obscene. What is obscene about being naked?? It seems silly to have laws saying that we must be clothed in public areas at all times. When you think about it, it seems strange. Babies are born naked into the world, and thats not obscene.
Its sort of the same with breastfeeding in public. Some people don't think it 'right' to breastfeed and ask mums breastfeeding to go somewhere 'private' or something.
Its funny how we try to hide the fact that we're mammals.
Oh well. I guess it depends on the culture. At one end of the sprectrum you have have the women in Afganistan etc having to wear the hajib and then some women in one of those 'tribes' in Africa going completely topless all the time. I even remember reading about a group of indigious people in the Amazon and there the women were naked all the time.
Kind regards
Meri
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 8:32:47
In reply to yep, even 9 months pregnant..lol (nm), posted by wildcardII on May 25, 2006, at 8:13:20
Posted by wildcardII on May 25, 2006, at 8:44:35
In reply to Good for you!! Must be nice!! :o) (nm) » wildcardII, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 8:32:47
Posted by gardenergirl on May 25, 2006, at 10:12:56
In reply to Re: I don't, but » ClearSkies, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 8:31:31
I don't sunbathe, as my family has a history of skin cancer. I wouldn't do it nude if I did, because I'm too shy, and also because of the neighbors. :)
However, I did go to public baths when I was visiting Japan. I had a great way to get over my shyness. I took out my contacts. Since I couldn't see anyone else clearly, they couldn't see me, right? Right? (humor me, please)
gg
Posted by Sobriquet Style on May 25, 2006, at 10:17:09
In reply to Re: I don't, but, posted by gardenergirl on May 25, 2006, at 10:12:56
Posted by llrrrpp on May 25, 2006, at 10:49:23
In reply to I don't understand, someone post a picture? :-P (nm), posted by Sobriquet Style on May 25, 2006, at 10:17:09
yes, there's nothing like public nudity to help one get over icky-body issues.
I've been to the beach in France. there are all shapes of bodies there. One tries not to compare, but it's inevitable.
I've been to a nudist campground and seen an old withered man barbecuing in the nude (I'm not sure why he felt the need to grill his sausage, but whatever floats his boat, it's his body)
I've been to spas with nudity. it always helps me to think that someone who works on bodies all day long has seen it all. they probably won't even remember me in a week.
Our N. American puritanical culture has tried really hard to equate nudity with sex, which leads to all kinds of complexes. Nudity is nudity. nothing more than absence of clothing. Going to another country really emphasises that the way N. America views nudity is not the "only way" or even the "healthiest way". But, our society is pretty stubborn to change this particular attitude. I'll get off my soapbox now, because I'm starting to sound *political*
oops!
Posted by wildcardII on May 25, 2006, at 11:33:45
In reply to Re: I don't, but, posted by gardenergirl on May 25, 2006, at 10:12:56
~my 18 month old does something similar to that ;o) he believes it works!
cancer of all types runs in my family so i just lather on the sunscreen and i'm hidden by acres of woods except the time the medivac chopper had to land in my field..lol
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 12:01:02
In reply to Public nudity, posted by llrrrpp on May 25, 2006, at 10:49:23
Hi!
I agree wholeheartly.
> Our N. American puritanical cultureWell, that article was about a case in the UK -- people are pretty prudish here too, you know!!
Kind regards
Meri
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 12:12:13
In reply to Re: I don't, but, posted by gardenergirl on May 25, 2006, at 10:12:56
Actually, about having 'body issues' I have to say that I was brought up in a 'nude' family ie because of my Finnish mother we had family saunas (cousins, uncles, aunts even the dog) together nude. And people in Finland all go to the sauna without clothes, even with strangers, but its strictly single sex, unless in a family setting. Now, I'll go to the sauna with my finnish relatives, but only actually be in the sauna with the female ones.
hahaha, I just remembered at a public baths in Iceland, they had an attendant who made sure every one has naked and had a shower before they went in the pool!!! My english friends didn't like it!!
Anyway thats not my point. Even through I've had all this 'nude' experience, I still have *major* body issues, mainly because I have rock bottom self esteem.
Oh well.
Posted by llrrrpp on May 25, 2006, at 12:18:11
In reply to Re: I don't, but, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 12:12:13
yeah, I guess it kind of depends on 'comparative thinking'. If you compare yourself to some people, you may feel better. If you compare yourself to other people you may feel worse. Who you choose to compare yourself to, and indeed *if* you choose to compare yourself to anyone at all (including yourself when you were at your all-time fittest) is probably a function of your self-esteem. A lovely chicken and egg problem... what comes first, seeing beauty and realising it's not me or seeing myself, and trying to find someone more beautiful, to "put me in my place?" hmm. I was a little too casual in my earlier argument about the wholesome benefits of nudity.
Posted by verne on May 25, 2006, at 12:45:35
In reply to Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden??, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 5:02:53
I'm not a "nudist" but I wish I could go naked in my backyard. My prudish neighbors, an older couple, scowl at me when I go without a shirt and shoes. Once he chided me for being barefoot - like I had committed sacrilige. He simply couldn't wrap his mind around my being "barefoot" all the time.
I like nature and planted a natural "privacy fence". Sometimes, my neighbor will come over and tell me how much he hates it. He wants to trim every tree in the vicinity to death and have a better view with his binoculars.
If I had a completely private backyard I'd go naked. I don't get dressed at all most of the time while indoors. When an unexpected visitor knocks on the door, I'm usually yelling for them to wait while I get dressed.
verne
Posted by wildcardII on May 25, 2006, at 12:49:35
In reply to Re: Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden?? » Meri-Tuuli, posted by verne on May 25, 2006, at 12:45:35
~go out however you want. it's your yard w/ a privacy fence...and it bothered him you weren't wearing shoes??? i hate shoes so i understand. very weird..lol
Posted by B2chica on May 25, 2006, at 13:50:04
In reply to Public nudity, posted by llrrrpp on May 25, 2006, at 10:49:23
> I've been to a nudist campground and seen an old withered man barbecuing in the nude...
i'm sorry but that sounds SOOOOOOOOOOOOO dangerous!!! ouch just thinking about it.
Posted by Phillipa on May 25, 2006, at 19:20:29
In reply to Re: Public nudity » llrrrpp, posted by B2chica on May 25, 2006, at 13:50:04
I was once married to a European man we traveled Europe and it was natural to see women take off their tops and bras on their lunch hour and sunbath on the rocks by the Seine. And I've been to topless beaches in the Caribbean no big deal. I guess I feel this way after having worked as a nurse and having to do a complete assessment on my pts each shift. A finger is a penis in my opionion just a body part. Love Phillipa
Posted by Phil on May 25, 2006, at 19:31:06
In reply to Re: Public nudity, posted by Phillipa on May 25, 2006, at 19:20:29
A finger is a penis in my opionion....
Do they make an eleven pack of condoms? WooHoo!!
Posted by Kath on May 25, 2006, at 20:20:00
In reply to I don't, but » Meri-Tuuli, posted by ClearSkies on May 25, 2006, at 7:13:33
You're right. The law has changed!!! Women can now appear in public bare-topped!!!
When it first changed, I wondered if many women WOULD go 'topless'. Few did - mostly young women - maybe 17 yrs old or so. I only heard of about 4.
K
> If I had a back garden that was secluded I wouldn't hesitate. I live in Florida so I'd have to take a bath in sunblock! but really, what people do in their homes and on their properties should not be up for public comment.
>
> There was an issue in Ontario a few years ago about being topless in public. A woman protested that while it's perfectly acceptable for men to go without t-shirts and wash their cars in their front driveways, it's considered obscene for a woman to do so. So she did it herself and sued when she was charged with the offense. I think it resulted in a revision of the law there. Personally I wouldn't want my body parts all over a wet car :-) but obviously it was the principal of the thing that was an issue.
>
> ClearSkies
Posted by gardenergirl on May 25, 2006, at 23:35:29
In reply to Re: Public nudity » Phillipa, posted by Phil on May 25, 2006, at 19:31:06
Posted by Phillipa on May 25, 2006, at 23:50:47
In reply to Re: Public nudity, posted by Phillipa on May 25, 2006, at 19:20:29
Yup sometimes it is. Love Phillipa
Posted by Jakeman on May 27, 2006, at 0:37:49
In reply to Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden??, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 5:02:53
i think topless sunbathing is allowed in all City of Austin parks. Nudity is allowed at Hippie Hollow, a Travis County Park in Austin.
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/hippie_hollow.asp
Man, this article is winding me up today.
>
>
Posted by milly on May 27, 2006, at 9:06:39
In reply to Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden??, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 25, 2006, at 5:02:53
I read this in the paper too and admired her greatly as we are talking england here!!! like how many days a year could we really manage to be outside naked and not get rained on or our nipples frozen off!!!
Anyway isn't it against the law to video someone on their own property?
milly
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 28, 2006, at 9:51:24
In reply to Re: Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden?? » Meri-Tuuli, posted by milly on May 27, 2006, at 9:06:39
> I read this in the paper too and admired her greatly as we are talking england here!!! like how many days a year could we really manage to be outside naked and not get rained on or our nipples frozen off!!!
LOL!! Good point!!
> Anyway isn't it against the law to video someone on their own property?
I dunno....actually there's weird copyright law where you can't just take a picture of someone without them knowing, you have to ask permission first...I can't remember where I learnt that. But maybe that only applies if you are using the image, outside of your private collection I mean...
Kind regards
Meri
Posted by wildcardII on May 28, 2006, at 10:12:51
In reply to Re: Do you sunbathe nude in your back garden?? » milly, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 28, 2006, at 9:51:24
the person taking the picture IS NOT on the property itself but it varies by state is the US.
Go forward in thread:
Psycho-Babble Social | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.