The Nudity Problem

In the past six weeks the beaches of Venice, Calif., have become dimpled moonscapes of posteriors slowly ripening in the sun. There are other views. "If you got 'em, you should show 'em," crows Yolanda Davis, 20, a brown-breasted Tetonesque dancer who bathes in the buff at Venice. "There's nothing nicer than a totally tan body with no white stripes of civilization in between," philosophizes Peter Simon, 27, a freelance photographer on Martha's Vineyard. On a sunny Saturday the secluded dunes on Free Beach in Truro, Mass., reveal 500 bare beach bunnies of all ages. Defying the garment industry, New York vestiphobes invade Jones Beach early weekday mornings and shed their clothes. Every summer brings a flurry of nude bathing, but this year more Americans than ever, it seems, are stripping down for a gymnophiliac season in the sun.

But if nakedness comes, can sex be far behind? "Most forms of nudity are not sexual," maintains Boston Psychiatrist David Spiegel, who feels that in and of itself there is nothing wrong with nudism. "There is a difference between displaying genitalia and sexual behavior. Scientists who have gone to nudist colonies have repeatedly observed that when people take off their clothes, they are less sexual." In Brooklyn, N.Y., Federal Magistrate Vincent Catoggio had another opinion. "I don't know where these people get the idea they have a constitutional right to strip naked and parade in front of other people," he said, then set bail on a man who had been seized in the nude at Jacob Riis Park beach in Queens, L.I.

Cottontail. Among the skinny-dippers across the country, men seem to outnumber women by about three to one. In some areas--Cape Cod's Provincetown and New York's Fire Island, for instance--male homosexuals pioneered public beach nudity. Now joining them are the straights, mostly young adults and teenagers, many of whom picked up the idea on the shores of Europe. Some, who have only recently unraveled their String bathing suits, still show the untanned, telltale skin area known as "the cottontail."

In most states, nudity itself cannot be prohibited under the law, nor can lewd be presumed from nude. Official reactions tend to reflect community attitudes, which range from indifferent to amused to enraged. Asked to rule on the "nudity problem" early in July, the Los Angeles city council voted 9 to 4 in favor of establishing "clothing optional" areas on city beaches. After a volley of protests the issue was re-voted. This time the decision swung 12 to 1 against public nude bathing.

No sooner had the ban gone into effect than the local American Civil Liberties Union got a temporary restraining order. "People are indignant, and many are threatening civil disobedience," reported ACLU Spokesman Rod Ridenour.

"The '70s issue of privacy has replaced the '60s issues of equality and self-determination." "This is nonsense," said Southern California Psychologist Paul Bindrim. "Why not just put up a sign:

DANGER--NUDE BEACH?"

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