I always thought the French were uninhibited as far a nudity went, but I was surprised to find
that early to mid 20th Century French nudist magazines rarely showed frontal male nudity.
At least I was able to find this bevy of sunbathing men cascading down a stone stairway.
It's not that the French were particularly at ease so much as from the Enlightenment to the Edwardian era, the Anglosphere was almost uniquely repressive; honestly only Wahhabism is comparable.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, English-speaking countries take two separate tracks. Most start to lighten up, but the US becomes further repressed. And then the US takes a "hets-only" approach, portraying boys as young as five(!) as interested in girls, but deciding men's swimwear must cover the knees.
Don't forget navels. Bathing suits and movie Tarzans didn't officially show them until after World War II.
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