To miss Mary Whitehouse?

[crunchymint]

Okay not her racism, sexism and anti gay views. But there is so much explicit sex and nakedness on TV now, I do wish there was someone in the public eye speaking out against it.

I caught a couple of Carry On films over Christmas. Is that nice clean family entertainment?

If your children are awake and watching TV when Naked Attraction is on, they're old enough to self censor or you need to put the TV somewhere safer.

There's a huge problem of sexual violence for titillation, that's offensive and dangerous. Likewise, the sexualisation of dead female bodies as PP said above.

But naked bodies and consensual sex scenes are fine. Sex is a healthy beautiful part of adult life. Maybe if we talked about it more people would have fewer unhealthy hang ups!

Can you give me an example of the worlds best culture that has come from sex and nudity?

You’re kidding me right? Have you never visited an art museum? Or read stories from old - whether fables of Ancient Greek or Roman, or just history itself where the Celts used to run naked into battle? Even the Bible so (rightly or wrongly) entwined in our British culture is absolutely full of sex and violence. There’s never been anything wholesome about our culture, there’s always been something to show the truth of human nature. However, you can avoid it if you choose to.

I think the most positive thing that came from Mary Whithouse protests was The Mary Whitehouse Experience.

Me too.

See Mary Whitehouse. That's the OP that is

Yes I regularly visit art museums. The female nude was often painted as an erotic painting. There are many great works of art that do not rely on that.
I suspect you don't know that much about great culture from your answer.

Have you actually watched naked attraction ? It sounds like not.

It's a fab show! Not overtly sexual, open minded and promotes having a healthy attitude to "imperfect" bodies.

Personally I wish there were more larger people on it (I'm quite partial to a dad bod) but I suspect that's lack of applicants out of embarrassment rather than down to the producers. Anna the presenter is lovely.

In general terms no I don't agree with censorship unless for legal purposes. The "innuendo" you speak of was far more objectifying and degrading to women.

And there was certainly nudity/half naked bodies back in the day!

Benny hill
I, Claudius
Baywatch

Geez carry on films were shown on Sunday afternoons!

Or is it male nudity you have an issue with? Because that's the main difference with naked attraction.

I can't stand shows like Benny Hill either. Not a fan of their misogyny.

And just as I posted -

"The female nude was often painted as an erotic painting."

So were male nudes. Absolutely nothing wrong in celebrating and admiring the human body in all its forms.

crunchymint neither do you if you cannot accept that sex and nudity has always been part of the fabric of humanity, it shows in our stories and way of life ever since we could record these things. To try and censor them from storytelling or even real life, keeping it all ‘private’ would only leave us poorer for it as a society. We should talk about/show it even if it’s not all positive, it all should be represented because it’s part of real life. Repression isn’t healthy, it leads to making things taboo and that rarely ends well.

Well said Edmund

And op you came across rather snotty in your earlier response.

It is perfectlt acceptable there are programmes not suitable for children on television.

It is perfectly acceptable to not enjoy a show and not watch it.

It isn't reasonable to expect that because you don't agree with something it shouldn't be on television.

I don't watch Naked Attraction, however I watched an episode to see what it was about. I was impressed with the range of body shape/type/age - I would far rather my DD saw a programme like that with a realistic view of the human body! Nakedness and sex shouldn't be forbidden topics.

No male nudes were about celebrating the perfect idea of a man. Female nudes were often kept in a private room as an erotic painting. They were not usually in public display. And the poses are very different.
Most celts did not fight naked. A few tribes adopted this to intimidate their enemy.
The Bible is full of stories justifying rape and incest. The fact something is in the bible does not automatically make it right.
You can read more about why Greek statues are often naked.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11333473/British-Museum-explains-why-Greek-statues-are-naked.html

I sort of agree (not specifically about Mary whitehouse) but I think we’ve al become inured to a lot of stuff on tv, film etc. I read an interview with Keira Knightley yesterday, saying how she avoids doing anything now where female characters get raped as it’s so prevalent and being normalised. I thought ‘really?’. Literally the next thing I watched (Hard Sun) had a female raped and murdered and it wasn’t a massive part of the plot and if I hadn’t just read the interview I suspect it wouldn’t have registered much with me. And I thought, shit, she’s right.

Yes she is right about rape scenes, they are all over TV now

I miss Robert Newman

I miss Robert Newman

Most celts did not fight naked. A few tribes adopted this to intimidate their enemy.

Which tribes, out of interest ? Brigantii, Atrebates, Silures ? There were hundreds of Celtic tribes, so I'm fascinated to learn how homogeneous they were ...

If you don’t like the naked body then might I suggest you don’t watch. Naked dating, rather than tell us adults what we should be watching.

I hate people who think that because they don’t want the option to watch or do something then we should all give up the opportunity to watch or do that thing.

Pre-Christian Celtic warriors are mentioned as going into battle naked on a number of occasions. The Celts that invaded Italy in the 4th Century BC fought naked, as did the Gaesati mercenary band that the Boii and Insubres called upon late in the 3rd Century. The consul Manlius Volso told his men that the Galatian tribes still fought naked in the 2nd Century, and as late as the 5th Century AD the Picts are still alleged to have fought naked.

We have references in Polybius, Histories, II-28 (emphasis added):

The Insubres and Boii wore their trousers and light cloaks, 8 but the Gaesatae had discarded these garments owing to their proud confidence in themselves, and stood naked, with nothing but their arms, in front of the whole army, thinking that thus they would be more efficient, as some of the ground was overgrown with bramblesb which would catch in their clothes and impede the use of their weapons.

In Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, V-30 (emphasis added):

The clothing they wear is striking — shirts which have been dyed and embroidered in varied colours, and breeches, which they call in their tongue bracae; and they wear striped coats, fastened by a buckle on the shoulder, heavy for winter wear and light for summer, in which are set checks, close together and of varied hues. For armour they use long shields, as high as a man, which are wrought in a manner peculiar to them, some of them even having the figures of animals embossed on them in bronze, and these are skilfully worked with an eye not only to beauty but also to protection. On their heads they put bronze helmets which have large embossed figures standing out from them and give an appearance of great size to those who wear them; for in some cases horns are attached to the helmet so as to form a single piece, in other cases images of the fore-parts of birds or four-footed animals. [...] Some of them have iron cuirasses, chain-wrought, but others are satisfied with the armour which Nature has given them and go into battle naked.

It seems to have been mainly poorer celts on certain occasions and places who fought naked. Not their leaders or the better off. We know that celts often wore armour. So simply saying the celts fought naked is a gross over simplification. Some celts did in specific locations and specific circumstances.

Fuck me! Bloody long history lecture now too!

As for "male nudes were not about eroticism" are you serious? Many of the male artists were gay/bisexual so I highly doubt that. How the art was treated afterward is irrelevant in those terms.

There was no such thing as an identity of gay or bisexual.

There was no such thing as an identity of gay or bisexual.

What?! It may not have been openly discussed at times but it certainly existed in feelings and practice!

May Whitehouse spent a lot of time decrying bands like The Tom Robinson Band and The Sex Pistols as if they were responsible for the decline in moral standards and all the time it was the national treasure likes Jimmy Saviile, Rolf Harris, Stewart Hall et al who were abusing children. I don't think John Lydon has done anything worse than swear on TV. She was targeting the wrong people.

Yes men have sex with men, and women had sex with women. But the idea of cal;ling that gay or lesbian, was as alien as calling someone who masturbates a masbert and having masbert pride and venues.

I don't care if people don't agree with me that we should not have explicit sex or nudity on TV. But I wish they wouldn't use historical examples they clearly don't understand, to justify their viewpoint.