From a sense of shame 4 for aesthetic reasons as decoration pleasure beauty and to entice the opposite

sex; 5) for apotropaic reasons, to turn away the effects
of magic, sorcery, the evil eye, and hostile spirits. We
shall see that one or more of these concerns can
Though it doesn't function as a protection against the
weather (1), nakedness, like clothes or armour, was
used to recognize social groups (2), in life and in art.
Clothing, in fact, recognizes human society, civilized
Individuals, from animals and wild creatures, which are
Nude. People wear clothing, creatures do not. In a
clothed society, however, nakedness is particular, and can
be used as a "costume."
came to mark a contrast between Greek and nonGreek, and also between men and women. The latter
Differentiation is linked with the most fundamental connotation of nakedness, the sense of shame, exposure and
exposure it arouses in person (3), and the associated sense
of shock aroused by its sight. Garments was created to
Prevent such strong emotions by covering the human body, especially the male genitals, the phallus, and female genitals and breast. Nude, and the signication of nakedness as something very, very private and " against nakedness in
public is pretty universal.3 There initially existed in

diazoma, as the Greeks usually called it. The attractiveness of
the nude body (4) has regularly been exalted. Its lusty and
aesthetic attractiveness, as Kenneth Clark has shown, has
caused an alternative word to be used: this aspect of nakedness is known as "nudity."4
In the early Near East Ishtar,5 and in the West
Aphrodite,' the goddesses of love, were traditionally
Nude. The beauty and strength of the naked male
body were also commended, and heroes, such as the Master of Animals, were symbolized naked, or wearing
culture the ideal of male nudity as the best type of
Attractiveness. Greek art and sport exalted the attractiveness of
the youthful male sportsman, whose figure provided the
The picture of the
Bare young male, the kouros statue of early Greek art
was kaloskagathos, "beautiful and upstanding."8
Due to the strong emotions of shame, shock,
lust, admiration, irreverence, pity, and disgust aroused
by the sight of the naked human body, the most frequent organizations are with taboo, magic, and ritual
(5).
was unleashed. Apotropaic and magic nudity, involving the exposure of male genitals and female
breasts, and the exhibit of the enlarged male phallus have been used from early times, and testify to the
Bearing power of this elaborate image. As a taboo, it
can protect against the evil eye.
gaze, it can paralyze or protect.
exposure of a girl's breast or genitals, for instance,
can signify weakness and powerlessness; but it can
also function as strong magic.9 In art and in life,



cultures throughout history, and has survived into our
own times. Phallic or "priapic" figurines and amulets,
as well as obscene gestures, still serve as protection
against the evil eye in many parts of the world. When
A Summary of the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival with Morley Schloss is normal, exhibitionist acts of nakedness often
have a magical meaning. In the realm of magic, nudity
wards off a spell or other harmful type of magic, compels love, and gives strength to one's own practice of
witchcraft and conjuring."1 Since, then, in a clothed
society nudity was special, monstrous, dangerous, and
Strong,"1 entire nakedness was averted in regular life. It was saved for special scenarios or specific
ritual ceremonies.
Language, also, maintained traces of this magic power
of nakedness. Nude Artwork & Photography Or Pornography , like the fact, had to be
avoided, so that its magic power could be preserved. A


linguistic taboo so caused the form of the word for
"naked" to change, in all the Indoeuropean languages.
Though gymnos, nudus, nackt, etc. were all originally
related to each other-so linguists ensure us-they
were all transformed in varied and unexpected ways,
so that their initial likeness is almost unrecognizable.12 For most parts of the body, there's what
Devoto called a "compact" terminology:13 the words for
"heart," "eye," "foot," "knee," "nose," "tooth," "eyebrow" are essentially the same in all the Indoeuropean

languages. Differences can be accounted for, even clarified, by linguistic "rules." But words for "nude,"
Along with the names of specific parts of the bodyfinger, tongue, hand, and hair-are distinct in the
Distinct languages. How can this be described? Indoeuropeans clearly had fingers, tongues, hands, hair,
and nakedness; and they must have had names for