Cultural differences amaze me. In Europe, nakedness is simply that. Newspapers publish topless and nude pictures routinely, its on TV and on the coast, its down at the beach. In the USA, nakedness appears tantamount to a sin in some quarters. Why?

I recall a few years ago, there was a big furor about police trying to prosecute a Scandinavian couple living in the US for letting their small (toddlers) kids run around naked. Apparently, this was offensive to the residents. Quite normal in Europe and no one would bat an eyelid. It almost caused a diplomatic incident and in the end charges were dropped.

I think its got a lot to do with the sanctimonious religious right influencing life and culture in parts of the US. These people consider nakedness not just offensive but sinful (despite the fact that apparently God made us that way). I actually think it says more about their hang ups and perhaps weaknesses than it does anything else.

Naked is not pornography folks - its natural. Its the way we are without clothes. Nude is not evil - its natural beauty. Apparently, for some, its just too much.

I'm not the first or the last to comment on this, for example, see this USA Today article from 1998... http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-20409128.html