Are children traumatized by nudity?

[Danee]

Are children traumatized by nudity?

Why would breasts be terrifying to children?

From: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-inner-bonobo/201004/are-children-traumatized-nudity

I was talking to a  student who just got back from Australia, and since he was hanging out at the  beaches, I asked him how he enjoyed perving on all toplessness (it's usually the young American male's favourite pastime down under).

'Topless?' he asked, aghast. 'Are you serious?'

He must have been on a deserted island in the middle of the barrier reef, because every city beach pretty much looks like this:




his is something about America that puzzles me. What do children
stare at for the first year of their life? I think it's a female
breast. Did this young student think at the sight of naked breasts,
every child under 5 would be lining up for a feed, like at an ice
cream truck?  What is it, exactly, about breasts, that would be so
terrifying to children?

Granted, I do live in the South, but at no time have I seen a woman in
public pull down her top and breast feed her child - which is totally
common place in oz. And my friends here have told me it's not socially
acceptable.

Can someone explain it to me? Why is a wadrobe malfunction a threat to
moral authority? When Janet Jackson had a wadrobe malfunction, JT
didn't exactly look like he was fighting back uncontrollable animal
appetites. Or about to start suckling them.

Discuss.

**there is a discussion section at the end of the article (see the link), so....add your comments!!!!**

[brandon]

Granted, I do live in the South, but at no time have I seen a woman in
public pull down her top and breast feed her child - which is totally
common place in oz. And my friends here have told me it's not socially
acceptable.

I have never seen a woman breast feed her child in the U.S., but I have seen it very openly when visiting Canada. Women did not seem at all hesitant to breast feed right in front of me.

Just different social norms and expectations I guess.

[rc]

different places have there different norms but we need to kick the clothing

[Dario Western]

Hey Danee,

Thanks for putting this up.  I had my say on this matter a couple of days ago and this is coming from somebody who is a long term resident of Australia and not just a casual traveller:

"I live in Brisbane in Australia, and I think that it trivialises Australia to some degree. Yes, some women go topless on Aussie beaches and it's legal but isn't so common as it's made out to be. Most of them (at least in Queensland) only sunbathe topless but put their tops back on when they go for a swim or when taking a walk along the beach.

Female toplessness is banned on TV, but sexual titillation and trivialisation as in shows like "Sex & The City" is not.

Australia has become a lot more like America in the last 20 years in its attitudes to breasts and nudity in general. I think these neurotic thought patterns are more dangerous to a child's personality than simply accepting the human body for what it is - a form of nature that does not harm anybody.

I think America needs to take a chill pill and lighten up. It's not the end of the world if a child sees female breasts in any context."

[Nude_not_rude]

...

Female toplessness is banned on TV, but sexual titillation and trivialisation as in shows like "Sex & The City" is not.

...

Sorry Dario, perhaps it is in Queensland, but not everywhere. Here in Sydney bare female breasts are not banned on the Tv. Just they can't show them before 9pm.

[Dario Western]

I remember seeing female breasts on the current affairs show Today Tonight a number of years ago when they were running an article on how to detect breast cancer.  Plus the show "The Goodies" used to be on at 6pm weekdays and there was one episode where they had a pinup of a topless model on the wall of their house.  ;-)

I don't see why they can't show female breasts before 9pm on Australian TV - it's okay for the guys.  That is sexist in my opinion.