Then the club put up a new sign in the change-room: "Shower in your swimming costume / change with a towel around you." Pantle then received a letter in February from the club, warning she had breached their no nudity-in-change-rooms policy. "The club is a family friendly environment and … nudity is not acceptable," the letter read. "Should you continue to ignore the rules, you will be subject to disciplinary action, and/or … termination of your membership." The purpose is to protect young people, said Jon Harkness, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving Central Coast. Harkness pointed to situations when young people had been exposed to nudity in the change-room and felt "uncomfortable". (Rafqa Touma)
Having grown up in a sauna culture, I find this Australian surf club ban on nudity to be a sad indictment of the present state of many western societies. What makes young people "uncomfortable" with nudity is the shame their elders foster and generate through their own behaviour. Instead of treating the human body as a marvelous and simple organism that fulfils numerous biological functions, the rule against nudity in showers in effect does the absolute reverse. This policy sexualizes everything about the body. By hiding the body, you create shame. You make nudity something to be avoided, to be shunned. You body shame and build a negative and perverse image of nudity. You are not protecting young people! What you are doing is debasing their self image and alienating youth from a simple and healthy appreciation of their own bodies. What stupidity surrounds us in this world!
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