I can't believe you're actually attacking art on this one.
I wasn't attacking art, if thats what it came off as, I'm sorry.
The naked body as a form of human perfection has been lost since the renaissance era. It surely took a different path after Picasso and Matisse had there way with the form. Today, there are many different representations of the nude body, and there are many pictures of grotesque naked people.
And yes I realize that comparing ant artistic nude to an actual nude is a stretch in many cases, yet I think that is primarily from our social perspectives on nudity.
Your point that we clothe ourselves for respect of the children is rather in interesting one, because for one I see children in American society as being one of the most neglected subset of people. And the fact that there exists many cultures in Africa that have developed with nudity, and their children are just fine. (Excluding the poverty that western civilization has placed upon them.)
My point was to ask the question: Why is it that we are offended by nude people?
Is it because we truly don't want to see what anyone looks like on the inside, and would prefer the deceptive clothing styles that6 conform many to brand names. It might create a sense of unity, but it would hide our true selves. I think that its because people don't like the way they look. Either they are too fat, too scrawny, too disfigured ect. This fear to show the rest of the world what we really are like sickens me.
Honestly, it think it would do our culture a lot of good, so long as we still keep our ways of criticizing those who do not meet up with our standards of human form. In other words, the ugly people who wanted to go naked would be ridiculed into wearing clothes.
It would create a new urge for people to get into shape, something that our society has really lost track on. Maintaining a healthy body in a traditional sense has really gone out the window. BAH I'm digressing...
To sum up a general idea that is not indicated anywhere before, but to which I am alluding towards, our society sucks because were too stuck up to realize that were not better than any other culture, and the only reason we think we are better is because were a bunch of bastards who like beating up people with little means of fighting back.
None.