Naked

Naked provides a well-organized overview of nudism in twentieth-century America, documenting the contributions of nudist leaders, intellectuals, court battles, and milestones for the nudist community. Though it bills itself as a cultural history, the volume connects the social history of nudists in America with the cultural history of how they portrayed themselves and were portrayed by the media. The ability to unite the two approaches is critical to the monograph's success. By skillfully weaving together practices and representations, Hoffman has provided the long-overdue volume that explains nudism, which served as a backdrop to so many other aspects of radical, commercial, and liberationist sex culture. Hoffman dates the emergence of a nudist culture in America to December 5, 1929, when a group of German immigrants launched the American League for Physical Culture. This group was inspired by the German physical culture movement and saw nudism, sun-bathing, and physical culture as measures to ameliorate the ills brought by industrialization and modernization. Associated with bohemian radicalism, alternative medicine, and physical fitness, early nudist organizers sought to counter shame of the body and promote sexual liberalism. Though they lost a number of early court and publicity battles to anti-vice agencies, nudist groups eventually tied nudism to religious and therapeutic goals while nudist organizations moved from major urban centers to more isolated rural retreats by the 1930s.

Cultural history · Culture of the United States · Economic history · German · League · Media studies · Political science · Popular culture · Publicity · Sociology · Gender Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law