---
title: "Nudity"
chunk: 4/11
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudity"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:58:11.011168+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Western societies ===
The Western world inherited contradictory cultural traditions relating to nudity in various contexts. The first tradition came from the ancient Greeks, who saw the naked body as the natural state and as essentially positive. The second is based upon the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—which view being naked as shameful and essentially negative. The interaction between the Greek classical and later Abrahamic traditions has resulted in Western ambivalence, with nudity acquiring both positive and negative meanings in individual psychology, in social life, and in depictions such as art. The conservative versions of these religions continue to prohibit public and sometimes also private nudity. While public modesty prevails in more recent times, organized groups of nudists or naturists emerged with the stated purpose of regaining a natural connection to the human body and nature, sometimes in private spaces but also in public. Naturism in the United States, meanwhile, remains largely confined to private facilities, with few "clothing optional" public spaces compared to Europe. In spite of the liberalization of attitudes toward sex, Americans remain uncomfortable with complete nudity at the end of the 20th century. A poll in 2025 found that Americans are divided: 25% saying they like or love being naked, 25% saying they dislike or hate it, and 50% saying they are neutral or refused to say. Two-third of Americans responded they are self-conscious about their physical appearance.

==== Moral ambiguity ====
The moral ambiguity of nudity is reflected in its many meanings, often expressed in the metaphors used to describe cultural values, both positive and negative.
One of the first—but now obsolete—meanings of nude in the 16th century was "mere, plain, open, explicit" as reflected in the modern metaphors "the naked truth" and "the bare facts". Naturists often speak of their nakedness in terms of a return to the innocence and simplicity of childhood. The term naturism is based upon the idea that nakedness is connected to nature positively as a form of egalitarianism, that all humans are alike in their nakedness. Nudity also represents freedom: the liberation of the body is associated with sexual liberation, although many naturists tend to downplay this connection. In some forms of group psychotherapy, nudity has been used to promote open interaction and communication. Religious persons who reject the world as it is including all possessions may practice nudism, or use nakedness as a protest against an unjust world.
Many of the negative associations of nakedness are the inverse of positive ones. If nudity is truth, nakedness may be an invasion of privacy or the exposure of uncomfortable truths, a source of anxiety. To be deprived of clothes is punishment, humiliating and degrading. Rather than being natural, nakedness is associated with sin, criminality, and punishment. The strong connection of nudity to sex produces shame when naked in contexts where sexuality is deemed inappropriate. The connection of nakedness with the corruptibility of flesh and death may have biblical origins, but gained real world associations during epidemics in the Middle Ages.
Confronted with this ambiguity, some individuals seek to resolve it by working toward greater acceptance of nudity for themselves and others. Although psychologist Keon West found positive effects from short-term participation in social nudity, such as an improved body image, sociologist Barbara Górnicka found that lasting change is a gradual process of social learning similar to other forms of group socialization. However, philosopher Krista Thomason notes that negative emotions including shame exist because they are functional, and that human beings are not perfect.

=== Abrahamic religions ===

The meaning of the naked body in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is based upon the Genesis creation narrative, but each religion has their own interpretation. What is shared by all was various degrees of modest dress and the avoidance of nakedness.
The meaning of the creation myth is inconsistent with a philosophical analysis of shame as an emotion of reflective self-assessment which is understood as a response to being seen by others, a social context that did not exist. The response of Adam and Eve to cover their bodies indicates that upon gaining knowledge of good and evil, they became aware of nakedness as intrinsically shameful, which contradicts their intrinsic goodness "before the fall". According to German philosopher Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, interpretations of Genesis have placed responsibility for the fall of man and original sin on Eve, and, therefore, all women. As a result, the nudity of women is deemed more shameful personally and corrupting to society than the nakedness of men.