guioconnor’s posterous

I remember when I first came to France, my North American friends and family would comment that I lived in a country where nudity was allowed on TV.

At first I had to really think hard. And then I remembered that the commercials for soap showed a naked women, but the shot was made so that the vital body parts hidden from the camera.

Then I noticed the reactions my European boyfriend had to certain commercials on North American TV. Oh, the women were fully clothed, but men watching the TV definitely got strong sex signals by the postures the women were taking... Vulgarity does not mean less clothes. This type of "communication" was in all sorts of commercials, totally unrelated to personal hygiene or bedrooms.

It is interesting what different cultures tolerate and how different cultures interpret things.

...Going even further, it makes me wonder if some cultures have more hangups with regards to sex than others. The French treat North Americans as puritans (this is supposed to be an insult). And virgins as a reward for anything is just wacky.

I think that it is very easy for anyone to take up any cause and to go completely overboard. Fanaticism pops up in funny places. The only hope is in common sense.

You're certainly right, each culture has its own take on the subject, but the one thing that IMO is just not true is, as you said it well, the strong correlation between sex and nakedness, neither nakedness is necessarily sexual, nor there's any need of nakedness for it.

And having said that, there's also the point that there is sex and sex, on the one hand is a healthy, natural and fun way to live (and preserve the species ;-)), on the other, is a collective sick obsession all around.

I'd say people just really want to keep the children away from the second one. Personally, I'd mind less of a child on a nude painting class than watching cosmetics advertising.