75. Children who grow up in a nudist environment witness the natural body
changes brought on by adolescence, pregnancy, and aging. They have far less
anxiety about these natural processes than children who are never exposed
to them except through layers of clothing.
76. Research has demonstrated that countries with fewer reservations about
nudity (and sexuality in general) also have lower teen pregnancy and abortion
rates.
A 1985 study by the Guttmacher Institute found rates of pregnancy and abortion
among teenage girls in America to be more than twice those of Canada, France,
Sweden, England, and The Netherlands. The disparity couldn't be explained
by differences in sexual activity, race, welfare policies, or the availability
of abortion, but only in cultural attitudes toward nudity and sexuality.
The study found American youth to be particularly ignorant of biology and
sexuality, partly due to a climate of moral disapproval for seeking such
knowledge. It found that lower levels of unwanted pregnancy correlated with
factors such as the amount of female nudity presented by public media and
the extent of nudity on public beaches.
77. Clothes-compulsion intimidates millions of mothers from breast-feeding
their children, even though breast-feeding is healthier and often more convenient
for both the child and the mother.
In the U.S., barely half of all mothers breast-feed; only 20% do so for a
full 6 months, and only 6% for the Surgeon General's recommended 12 months.
Breast-feeding is also declining in developing countries.
Gabrielle Palmer writes: "In Victorian England, famous for its prudery, a
respectable woman could feed openly in church, yet in contemporary industrialized
society where women's bodies and particularly breasts are used to sell
newspapers, cars and peanuts, public breast-feeding provokes cries of protest
from both men and women." Lisa Demauro notes that "our society is far
more at home with the idea of sexy breasts than functional ones." "Millions
of boys and girls have grown up never having seen a mother breast-feeding
her baby," adds Marsha Pearlman, the Florida Health Department coordinator
for breast-feeding. "This is a sad commentary on our culture."
Naturism is especially consistent with feminism and the struggle for women's
freedom.
78. The repression of healthy nudity, especially for females, has been one
of the chief means of mind and destiny control by the patriarchy. Breaking
this pattern shatters the invisible bonds of an inherited sex role.
79. Limitations on women's nudity, an acceptance of pornography, and demanding
fashion requirements may, individually, seem like minor issues. Taken as
a whole, however, they form a pattern of repressive male-oriented expectations.
