The Shocking Truth About Germans and Nudity 🇩🇪
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After moving to Germany and living in Germany for nearly 3 years, one thing I am continuously shocked by is the lack of awareness of FKK in Germany. I come across Americans in Germany all the time who don't realize that Germany paves the way for nudity in Europe! But then I remember, my first time in Germany, during a study abroad in Germany, I was also completely unaware until my host family taught me about it through the German sauna culture...so here are a few of our shocks and tidbits of information we have learned about naked Germans 😅😊
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00:00 - Intro
1:33 - The Naked Truth
3:03 - How did all this get started?
6:01 - It's Everywhere!
8:23 - Everybody is together??
10:56 - What're you looking at?
13:05 - Not sure that makes sense...
15:17 - Bloopers
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These are not pornographic magazines in the stores. In Germany erotic and pornography are two different things. To qualify as pornograhphy the images have to impose sexual acts onto the viewer. Like a close up of vaginal , anal or oral sex would be considered porn. Naked people are erotic. Split labia or erections are could be both pornographicc or erotic depending on the artistic value of the imagery. If a head in front of a mans loin area or man between a womens legs without explicit show of something going in or out is erotic and might well be suitable for above 16y olds as that's also the content of all teenage movies like "Eis am Stiel" .
And simply nude people are even in German teenage music magazins (at least 30 years ago)...Bravo lässt grüßen.
If you realy want to buy truly pornographic magazines you would have to go to a 18+ shop for "marriage hygiene products"...
But that's only a thing for old people who don't know how the internet works.
LOL you ever amaze me what you can "see" as a problem, while not talking about gun violance that happens every day in the USA.
And than there is the biggest porn-industry on the planet. Where is it tho? In the USA? Ah, you don't count California when it comes to that, right? And since they never show their IDs in the camery, we also can't see, that these "girls" (not allowed to drink) come from especially the christian southern and mid-western states, where prudes live and preach.
Only the perverted minds can't handle nudity!
One "cultural difference" between Germany and the US is very obvious in this very videos.
For a German, there a no "porn magazines" in grocery shops or gas stations or bookshops. These are "erotic magazines".
"Porn" is limited to restricted adult-only areas.
The majority of Germans would never call a magazine like "Playboy" "porn".
Exactly. There is no hardcore porn on TV, there are no hardcore porn mags on shelves. Nobody would call even St. Pauli Nachrichten or Coupé "porn".
but it's called a "Wichsvorlage"
Of course we call it soft-porn!
@@KanalJoel nah... it's as much soft-porn as a 2 stroke 50ccm is a real motorbike
And most germans don't think it's harmful for Kids seeing that. So we... just don't mind.
As a german, I always find it weird that the act of creating live is so censored in the US while the act of taking lives can be seen in detail without any censorship. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Violence can’t always been seen without censorship though. This is often very over exaggerated, although I understand your point.
@@PassportTwo violence just seems to be generally more accepted than sex/porn which is rather strange in my opinion.
@@qinn1996 American value killing as a virtue, that finds it's expression in the second amendment, while sexual intercourse is seen as a vice that should be consored. This finds its expressed in the first amendment, that goes like this: "if people display love or affection or express themselves in a way that reay harm no one, then it needs to be sensored, delted, whiped from the public record and these people need to be registered as sexual offenders for everyone to attack in their neighbour hood. All legal forms of expressions are given by the church."
@@TremereTT ah yes, that sounds just like the first amendment to me
@@TremereTT I don't think Americans value killing as a virtue but seldefense and self-determination and they have historical reasons for that. I don't say stricter gun rules shouldn't be applied but I for myself would wish that germany has less strict gun rules. For example as a law abiding citizen I wished I could carry a gun with me after I obtained a weapons license which is pretty hard to obtain (and should be hard to obtain) but what is if you are a 5 feet young woman and are encircled by 5 guys if you had a gun you could properly defend yourself but in germany the most you can have is a pepperspray...
When I was in the USA there was brutality, violence, murder in very explicit way visible on TV at any time. Killing people was shown everywhere without any sense of humanity. This was seen as normal. But whenever there is a little bit too much skin visible the Americans were upset. For me it's definetly crazy, because nudity and sex are part of every persons life but dead people shouldn't. I don't think that porn-like nudity should be for kids but natural nudity is no problem. For me the senseless violence seen on TV is a problem. People should have fun with their bodies and life in peace - and not see permanent violence.
I´m glad someone spoke it out, like you did.
What is porn like nudity? Makes no sense.
For me as a German, Americans' attitude towards nudity is strange. Violence is not a problem, but nudity is an absolute no-go. When I was in the Army, we had an American partner unit. During an combat training, I noticed strange behavior. Americans seemed ashamed of their bodies, hiding in their sleeping bags when changing clothes. They reacted with surprise when, on the other hand, German soldiers walked through the barracks dressed only in shorts.
I would also like to add an appropriate quote from Colonel Kurtz from "Apocalypse Now": "We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write "f**k" on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
Men shocked at the view of other guys walking in shorts and no top?! That's so ridiculously prudish...
I have to say,that I would always prefer nudity over violence on television. I think that young people watching violence, especially gun related violence, does more damage to their minds than watching boobs and asses.
"I think" you either don't, or fail, hard.
@ Sorry, I don't understand your post.
@@ekponlima6816 he’s just trolling from his parents’ basement; pay no mind. Your point was spot on.
@@nunyabiz012 Thank you!
This answer will get much more thumbs up in no time, because it is one of the main cultural differences between the US and Germany. It always comes down to this and nothing else very much.
Nudity in public was much more common 20 years ago, when there were no smart phones around. Today any moment anywhere any time can suddenly and uncontrollably be multiplied and spread across the world.
Which is forbidden by German law. It's prohibited to publish pictures of people without consent (das Recht am eigenen Bild).
@@a.riddlemethis795 Not just for publish, in most cases it's even forbidden to make pictures without consent.
@@a.riddlemethis795 Lots of things are forbidden but still happen. Thus you probably will lock your doors although other people are not allowed to come in without permission and steal. Why are there so many people on the internet posting insults or threats, and much less in a restaurant or bar where everybody can be held responsible?
In Reallife, most things are temporary, you see or hear something and at most it will be remembered by few and heard about by not too many either. With smartphones today, everybody can take photos without you noticing, use them for whatever purpose, they are propagated around the world to potentially millions and billions of people, and maybe months or years later you encounter them (or the reaction of other people to having seen them). And even if the person who took the photo illegally is later caught, did you ever try to successfully retract something from the internet that someone spread without your consent ?
Good point, probably that's why most people are much more okay with being nude in the sauna, because you don't have to be afraid of smartphones there.
@@DonSchorschi Only if you take exclusive pictures of somebody. Otherwise people on pictures are "Beiwerk" and don't have to agree...
I went to the Sauna with my parents quite often (haven't been since Covid sadly) and I can say when I first started to go with them as a teen I still felt a little weird about it. But once you're in there and everyone is naked and no one cares you just stop caring about it yourself. You sit there and the only thing you think about is relaxing. And in a Sauna you also get to see how regular bodies look like. Not models or actors and their unattainable "perfection" but just normal people and their normal looking bodies just like your own.
In general I think not treating a human body like something inherently sexual or shameful is a good thing.
That is the exact reaction my daughter had the first time we were in a sauna together.
That's exactly why I love saunas. It gives you real human bodies with all their supposed imperfections which are not imperfections to me but rather variety
I just wanted to comment exactly the same. Went to the sauna with my father at the age of 15 and it quickly grew to me after feeling embarrassed first. Almost 20 years later I see gping to the spa as one of the best ways to spend my holidays.
my mother took me to the saune when i was very young. i thought of it as wired when the frends i took with me (as my birthsay is in febuary i always went swimming) (its a family bath with a big sauna area) they were so ashamed. what is a prepubecent girl ashamed of ?? mostly we were in the non-sauna area, but atleast once per visit i went to the "dampfbad" (steam bath?)
I think the thing about the magazines is that mostly what I´ve seen in supermarkets and petrol stations is that the pictures just show nude bodies. Even though models are shown in sexy and sexualised poses they are not shown in sex acts, I think that´s the reason why they are not censored. They basically show a still image of a nude body, which in my opinion and my personal understanding of German culture is not considered pornography.
👍
Hi Maike I think so, too. The differenciation that has to be done is, the one is "just" erotic and the other ist pornography. Both might be a sexualized image, but one might show naked bodys, the other shows people in act. I do not remember having seen a hardcore porn magazine open in the shelf... but to be fair... I don't realize the erotic magazines in the shelfe, either. 😅
Porn isn’t censored in Europe, we have sex shops where explicit movies and magazines are openly displayed. Things like playboy might be found in a few grocery stores but definitely not all.
As an Austrian, to me the big difference is not in how many people participate in nudism but how they react to it. I was always super freaked out by the thought of being naked around strangers, especially as an insecure and developing teen. But I never really gave a shit if someone else was topless at the swimming pool or whatever. And while the practice of going to nude beaches may be dying out, the attitude towards other people being naked remains fairly the same I think. So the thought of someone complaining about a woman being topless at a swimming pool is frankly absurd to me
That's also the point for me! Personally, I wouldn't participate in FKK or nude saunas, just because I wouldn't feel that confident. Although I expect this to change when I get way older.
But I never ever felt offended by naked people on beaches, chilling in parks or even on magazine covers. That was always totally normal to me - even if I'm not participating in this lifestyle.
Yes - it's the same with computer games. Many of them come with an American and a European version. The American version has no nudity but all the graphic violence, bloodshed, people dying etc. The European version has the nudity, but the violence is censored.
This isn't true. The games that has nudity will have it in the US, but it will have the rating of MA which means for mature audience only and I think you have to be 18 to purchase the game. The main example of a nudity game is Grand Theft Auto. From what I remember the game Mafia also had nudity in it. It's been awhile since I played Mafia. Kids in the house makes it hard to play those kinds of games. You have to remember games don't make violent kids. My generation, brother, and I played violent games when we were 14 or 15 because there was no rating on them. We didn't turn out violent and neither did my generation. Not being able to escape bullying and mental illness can cause violent children. Mental illness is rising among teens these days.
then there's the Swiss version which is completely uncensored... lol
@@jessicaely2521 I spoke with some german psychologists working in divorce aftercare of children and we talked about that "rising" of mental illnesses in the USA. There is none, USA has only developed that habit if you are not seeing a psychologist/having a therapy you are not normal and thats why there is a rising of people in therapy. The American Journalist Scott Stossel wrote that Million of American meet their psychotherapist once a week and, I think that is the cause that are so many allegedly ill, pay thousand of dollars a year for them. It's a business for an American Psychotherapist /Psychologist to support the idea everyone has a mental illness. Nowhere else in the world so many children are getting Adderall and the same is with addicting pain killers in the USA. Where a German use nothing or a NSAR American get an opioid that they already speak of an opioid crisis in the USA because of how many people misuse and get addicted to prescribed opioids. Another problem is that many parents are over-worked, have no time for their kids and instead of parenting, they send them to psychologists.
Make love not war
Remember the game Command&Conquer the very first part ? In Germany the infantry, human soldiers were replaced by robots. Why? Because when units died the replaced the red blood with black oil, but only in the German version. 😁
The "missing context" with magazines at gas stations is probably: Why are you at the gas station? Normally to buy gas, for which you normally come with the vehicle to fill it into. The earliest you can get any gas driven vehicle licence is the AM-Licence (moped) at 15. More usual you get a A1 (small Motorbike) with 16 or B (car) with 18. I dont think there is any 15 year old that has not already seen boobs, either on the internet or even - as you said - on TV. So why the need to cover it up?
I can definitely see your logic there, but I would also say that children often accompany their parents in when they pay and the parent doesn't want to leave them alone. Or there are times where kids younger are walking home from school and may pop-in a gas station to buy a drink or snack. When we were kids, we would ride our bikes across town and would often stop into our gas stations for a drink when it was hot in the summer. So, I don't believe it is exclusively adults (or those of driving age) going into gas stations who might see them...🤔
@@PassportTwo I just don´t understand why children seeing naked bodys should be problematic. I get that pornography shouldn´t be available to them because it may convey an unhealthy approach to intimacy, but most of these magazines are just pictures of single people, and I don´t think most children would even get the sexual context of it since they probably aren´t sexually active yet, and if they are they probably already seen worse. But of course that´s just my opinion.
@@toterkanalkeinmotodesgmehr8956 Genau so ist es, mit 12 wird es spannend für die meisten Kinder
@@PassportTwo Then again, children who accompany their parents most likely don't even notice these. I never noticed any porn magazines as a child when being in a gas station, it's just something that goes over childrens' heads most of the time.
@@PassportTwo Most of the time, the adult magazines and books are on the top shelf, while the kids magazines are displayed on their height. I think that’s also so that young kids don’t notice it as easily. And the focus is more on making it inaccessible for kids, not hiding it :D adult content speaks to a pretty basic human instinct, so where’s the point in condemning it :)
People might missunderstand the phrase "in public". It means places where you swim or sunbath. This is common. In other places, like a hiker in the park is really rare and still can be considered harassment. People are judged for this. Nudism in the meaning spending your day naked, is really limited to some ressorts, it exists but is not very popular and on decline - as your already mentioned. Major difference is how people react to nudism. Germans are more relaxed. If you have regular contact to nudity, you don't get excited that much any more.
you'll see countless naked people sunbathing at the tiergarten right in the middle of Berlin...
As for the nude hiker I think , yes most germans would officially consider it harassment but still would not make a big deal of it and call the cops but rather only roll their eyes and just quickly pass by pretending they didn't notice. And possibly tell it as a funny story to their friends afterwards to laugh about it. Most germans would not act as if they were really heavily offended by the situation. You would consider this hiker a crazy person but not a dangerous one. Just on the same level like someone taking care for 15 cats or something. They don't intend to hurt anybody, so you might just ignore them.
@@JunisGiehl I would consider it weird, but not harassment. Walking around minding one's own business isn't harassing anyone, even if they're naked.
Lol, just walk along the Rheinwiesen in Düsseldorf or cologne or look at the Isar in Munich. That is the very definition of public and it is very normal of seeing naked people lying around and even doing sports just a few meter from the public path where people walk. And I know many other parks were nudity is normal.
My club has a small parcel at a pond where about half the people go naked (of the club and of all the other parcels). Nobody cares. That is no special FKK or so just people at the water. Perhaps mainly for publicity there was even a nude cross-country skiing trail in Austria (don't know if it still exists).
Several years ago there was a man in a public pool showering naked in an open shower. The pool attendant came and he had to wear his trunks again. But otherwise no big deal (as far as I could see). So there are borders, but as far as he wouldn't try that again or do something aggressive (especially to children) he wouldn't be seen as sex offender. Just as someone taking cleaning the body a bit to far.
For the topless allowed news: I didn't think it was forbidden ? I haven't been to public pools lately but at least several years ago (in Austria) it was completely normal for women going topless at pools. There is even a comical song which was a hit in Austria "Oben ohne" which played with this theme.
And another one for nudity without more. I did Martial Arts once. In one gym we only hat one shower room and men and women used it together without anyone caring or setting up a special timeplan.
Ten years ago I went on a long vacation to California. After a dip in the sea, I dried myself off and changed my swimming trunks for underpants. Of course on the beach and without a bath towel. so I was naked for nearly 1.5 seconds. Half a minute later, two armed beach guards showed up yelling at me. That was shocking.
How are you supposed to change clothes on a beach in the US?
@@xaverlustig3581 well at most beaches (at least in germany) there are changing rooms. I guess and hope there are some in the US too.
@@Jrostily6400 There are changing rooms in most of the guarded beaches, but certainly not on those without official guards - which are probably the majority
@@Jrostily6400 sorry, thats not true, at the baltic see in eastern germany there are NO changing rooms ...i do vacation there all my life at different points and never saw any
Naked at the beach for 2 sec: No! This is harmful.
A beach guard with a gun: Totally normal. What if the Kraken shows up? They need to kill it!
When I was young a popular magazine for 10+ was called Bravo (it still exist but to my knowledge not with dr sommer). The most popular part of the magazine was the Dr. Sommer pages where users could send in questions about their body/body changes and sexuality. Additionally the middle was a double page of mostly 18-20year old (always one female and one male) being naked. So every month there would be 2 naked people and you could see that each of them have different shapes of body sizes and all are normal. So nudity is something kids are interested so they used it to educate people on it and giving them a platform to ask questions.
Edit: I'm from Germany
Bravo was known all across Central Europe at least. I'm from Czechia and Czech mutation of Bravo was exactly like that and just as notorious here as well- the sex questions and answers section was spectrum from hilarious to pornographic but always amusing and it was, for us teenage guys, sorta cheep pre-internet erotica.
Important to add that Bravo played a big role in sex ed, but also shaped the views on relationships in general. Aside from the question and answer pages, there were also always those "photo stories" which were always about how a non-toxic relationship between teenagers should look like. One has to consider that this was pre-internet, and sources which discussed such topics on an at least halfway serious level were rare.
My experience with Bravo was in the late 70s/early 80s and they didn't have the 'centerfolds' then. Instead in addition to Dr. Sommer there was Dr.med. Alexander Korff section with an about 2 pages long in depth sex-ed subject being discussed with a full page photograph of a nearly nude teenage model. And yeah, as Dr. Sommer sometimes bordered on the absurd, that other section was totally taken to be serious.
I still own a handful of Bravo-Magazines from the 90's. Just checked one edition from '95 and in the series where the girl and guy photopraphed themselves naked they were not limited to being over 18. In the Bravo I just had in hands the guy was 15 and the girl 16.
@@FallGuy79 Nude modelling from age 16 on was legal. Not sure if still is. And it sort of makes me wonder if I need to get rid of all the old Bravos since the contents may be considered CP today 😳
About the magazines: Can you tell me the difference between a tastefully naked woman drawn by an ancient artist, and a tastefully naked woman on a pic taken by a Hustler or Playboy Photographer? I guess the point is, that the US understanding of "sexual context" is different from ours.
Yes, such a magazine may contain stuff that even a German would call porn. But most of the times it doesn't. We think of "a sexual context" as soon as a sexual action is started or pictured. Means: A nude man is simply a nude man. No sexual context. A nude man with an erection IS sexual context. I guess it is that simple.
Well, Hustler and Playboy in the same category? I'm not really sure about that...
Also breastfeeding is just giving nutrition to the baby and has no sexual context.
I read somewhere what angle the erect penis has to be to be considered porn. They defined that.
Herzschreiber one very distinctive difference, between the ancient model and the modern model, should be, that the modern model should still be alive.
@@trueSconox haha, agreed!
I can't get whats the matter with nudity. You are born nude and it is just your body, which is similar to the bodies of all the others. And then US, some states have even a problem with breastfeeding in public but no problem whatsoever to close up show a body gets ripped apart in detail (while still hiding the private parts at the same time)
True. Imagine we never invented clothes all kids would be traumatized 😂.(IRONIE)
I was at a hotel in Spain once and there were two young German women sunbathing topless in the pool area. The only two topless young women there during that moment. And I overheard chatter from two American guys who were also there and apparently kind of got the wrong idea about the situation, as they proceeded to order drinks for the two women totally out of the blue (which is just slightly imposing anyway according to German sensibilities). The Americans seemed to figure that because they had their tops down, they were somehow loose and up for meeting someone. I then watched it turn into a quite awkward conversation between all of them, where the girls didn't seem sure what to make of the whole thing.
Watched "Ronia, the Robber's Daughter"* with my (not German) husband yesterday. In one of the scenes the robbers casually play in the snow completely naked, genitals dangling in full view. The movie aired on ZDF (one of Germany's public Broadcasters) at 4pm as part of their holiday family movie special. My husband was shocked after watching the scene and asked whether this was a soft porn. To be fair the movie was first released in 1984 and the mindset was different back then, more recent children's movies do not contain that level of nudity. Personally I don't see anything bad in the way nudity was shown in the movie. The character played/bathed in the snow naked (as is custom in some European countries). There were no sexual actions, just nudity. If anything it might contribute to body positivity by showing that genitals come in all shapes and sizes.
*"Ronia, the Robber's Daughter" is a famous children's novel by Swedish authoress Astrid Lindgren
I was thinking about that scene while watching the video ... 🙂
I think it's not only that we have different perspectives on nudity in Germany depending on the context. I think we also have a different perspective on sexuality in general. We don't hide it, we just try to protect kids from potentially harmful content. Seeing a naked body isn't harmful in itself. And we all have a sexuality, no matter what it may look like. It's natural. Not shameful, not dirty, not bad. But sometimes this is the vibe I'm getting when I hear Americans talk about nudity & sex. There's always this undertone of "oooh we're doing something forbidden" or "you have to do it the right way otherwise you're ____" (or something along those lines) that truly baffles me.
I think it also shows in the way how both countries educate children on sexuality. I'm not saying it's perfect in Germany (we also hardly talk about consent or pleasure which are vital parts of sexuality in my opinion) yet it's not up for debate *if* we should teach kids about sex. Again: we don't try to hide it to prevent things from happening. And I'm glad we don't because -as much as I respect anyones view- I don't think hiding sexuality from kids has ever worked or achieved the intended goal. :-)
I love Mezzo Mix & Spezi equally.
Sauna culture was imported to Germany from Finland (and their neighboring countries). Finnish sauna culture is way older than the invention of the swimsuit. And as Germans try to incorporate imported culture as authentically as possible, we obviously also imported the rule that you don't wear any clothes in the sauna.
Some Germans still feel a little uncomfortable when going to a public sauna for the first time. At least I did.
As a musician, my biggest culture shock was appearing at the church in street clothes after having driven 3 hours to the place, and after the rehearsal, we were told there was a dressing room for the choir, one for the strings in the orchestra and one for the winds. So I take my instrument and garment bag to the winds room open the door and two men and three women are in various stages of changing from their street clothes into their concert clothes. Which meant all were in various stages of undress. No one was staring at anyone or their "junk" which, depending upon who needed to change what was there to see if one looked. But, no one looked.
Context.
Changing clothes is a normal, non-sexualised thing to do. No one is going to molest anyone with 20 witnesses hanging around.
1977 (when this happened) is a long way away, but this has not changed.
In the meantime, I run into unisex rest rooms in restaurants where there are simply 2 stalls with doors which can occupied by either man woman or child and no one is worried about rape or molestation. You go in and do your business in private in the stall, come out, WASH your hands and leave. Mission accomplished. In fact, I saw at one restaurant, a sign on the door:
WC
(picture of man and a woman)
(and text in English)
Men, women, whatever - welcome
As a german I never understood TV in the US in this regard. Severed heads? No problem. A woman's nipple? Stop right there!
i have to say i never noticed the magazines but that's probably just further proof of how normal nudity is here in germany.. i apparently don't bat an eye 😅
That is a great example of the difference I think! 😅 Different cultures, different perceptions 😊
I don't see why you need an argument for public display of nudity. The question is simply "Why not?".
I go swimming several times a week and at some point around the time when I leave to shower, so do a bunch of elderly ladies. And this is such a great experience. Everyone is naked and these girls are having the time of their lives with their "imperfect" bodies. It reminds you that you want to keep your body healthy, but aside from that it really just is not a topic.
There is a difference between regulated nudity in TV after 20 or 22 h and on magazins for everybody to see like there is a difference between actions between two people (after 20 or 22h) and the normal display of a nude body in TV allowed the whole day. A picture of a nude woman or man is not dirty, it's just how a human being looks. It will not offend or molest a child, it's just a picture. I am so happy not to live in a country where bigotted, uptight people restrict and confine everything they don't like ... and even under the coat of christianism. But on the other side they think that it is acceptable that everybody may have a gun and shoot people at their whim.
I'm German. I'm in a Sci-Fi group on Facebook. I was amazed one day when a mom talked about introducing her child to "Stargate SG1". The pilot features aliens abducting a female soldier who later is disrobed and presented as a host for a snake-like alien (which attaches to the brain stem, not below the belt!) The mom said she remembered just in time to cover her child's eyes for this scene, which simply features a long shot over a naked woman's body and then focuses on the snake burrowing in her neck.
The episode also features multiple combat scenes with different weapons. People are killed on-screen (though without showing blood or gore). The mom obviously had no problem to let her kid watch that. But ohhh, boobs!
Were I that child, you bet that suddenly covering my eyes would really pique my interest!
@@ReginaRegenbogn Of yourse it would LOL Everything forbidden is interesting and I would never introduce my child to such a display of violence before the age of 13, and only if he/she could handle it.
I worked for many years as a flight attendant for Lufthansa, back in the 70's early 80's. Lufthansa had to add to the flight instructions for Dallas the info, that we could not go nude into the sauna at the Dallas hotel. I laughed, because I knew this, but many of my friends were confused. What do I wear in a sauna? I loved the natural acceptation of the German culture of the human body. We all have one, nothing to see here.
Having lived in both the US and Germany, the rating systems for film / TV / streaming services (e.g. MPAA in US, FSK in Germany) appear to judge what is age-appropriate content very differently. Somewhat over-simplified, the respective guidelines seem to be:
US: "Violence okay, nudity bad"
Germany: "Nudity okay, violence bad".
There is also a big difference in the consequences of the ratings. In Germany, ratings are legally binding, meaning you are not permitted to show an FSK16 movie to a 12 year-old kid. In the US, a guardian may decide that this particular 12 year-old is very mature and may watch an R-rated movie without consequence.
I watched the video hoping you would explain why Americans are terrified of nudity. Since you are aware that a large proportion of your viewership is German, would you consider doing a series on explaining American culture?
American culture is actually part of my field of studies but some stuff I still don't get. Yeah, I'm aware of the influence of the Puritans since they were the first settlers and so on. But to me that doesn't really explain why modern Americans are still afraid of a bit of skin.
Americans have a problem with nudity? And parallel they have the biggest porn industry? In german language: verlogen und scheinheilig.
Petra, it's very easy why Americans are terrified with nudity. Once kids get ablactated as babies, they're being taught that nudity is bad. and you cannot talk about certain parts of the body. Don't assume Americans to be thinking as liberal as we are in Germany. They are overly religious (in a strange, very egoistic way) and if they're not actually religious, they still have this pseudo-prudishness. Why pseudo-prudishness? Because I don't think it's real. They don't want to be that way but they are because society dictates to be that way.
As a result the average American is OBSESSED with the nude body. Americans see penises and vaginas everywhere. An American friend once told me the first thing he noticed on the 1-Euro coin was that Finland looks like a scrotum. Imagine seeing the Euro coin for the very first time and instead of inspecting the dual metal inlay you notice that Finland resembles a penis the way it was drawn on the Euro coin....
@@klauswerner Well, when the bar for what is considered porn is so low it's no surprise they have the biggest industry. ;)
Yes please. Someone told me one has to wear a one piece bathing suit in certain States. This is unthinkable for a German woman!! But I think it is one of the things that isn't so much about nudity more that it proves whats really wrong with equality in the USA. We don't take nudity so serious because our bodies differences doesn't define us That much (work in progress). And a nude woman on a cover, even if it is a sex Magazin is just that a nude woman. I never saw actual sex on a cover or was I buying the wrong magazine?
Becouse American politics they have the same mind of the puritans of the past.
One example, in USA is prohibited on pg-13 movies showing a consensual sex scene, but you are allowed on pg-13 movies showing a rape attempt scene.
I am German of the older generation and for me nudism is and never was an idea. I just don't feel comfortable naked. But especially in times like these, when body shaming is a popular term, I think it's great that there are many people who feel comfortable naked. This means that they are in balance with themself and their body. Diversity is totally normal on the nudist beach. And that's good!
I remember going to a beach during a trip to Greece. It felt rather odd to be the only ones wearing swimsuits. We only did for like 30 minutes. Wasn't there a saying like "When in Greece, do like he other tourist do" or similar? Later found out there are more tourists at German Baggerseen than I ever would have thought ...
Haha I'm from the younger generation and my parents (despite being christians and not that open about sexuality) I always had the impression it was way more normal in their generation (or even in my grandparents generation for the boys) to just undress and jump into a lake or river. But I think while not everybody is comfortable to be naked in public; we are used to tolerate it when somebody is. Even if one doesn't do it himself you wouldn't feel angry or uncomfortable if someone is sunbathing naked in their garden or on a beach. I think in most places in the US people would get offended and you'd get a fine and maybe even accused of sexual harrasment or exhibitionism within a short time.
I've noticed something similar to the "Playboy magazines near the checkout"-thing. In Thalia (a book store) I was looking through the young adult fiction aisle and right next to the manga isle there were just a bunch of erotic calenders (bunch of topless women and men staring at you).
I was a little weirded out at first because I don't see a lot of nudity in my city but I think it's incredibly important to normalize the human body.
I've always found it horribly sexist that women are supposed to cover their nipples while men (sometimes with bigger boobs than the females) can just go around topless.
Going by that logic you could censor female boobs by putting male nipples on them.
Calendars not only topless but completely naked, but of course not the primary parts. Boobs and asses are OK.
There was actually an initiative that sold "male nipples" stickers to apply to pictures of naked women, to point out the absurdity of this distinction. You can also buy pasties of nipples that some TH-camrs and instagrammers used for a while to get past the "no nudity" rules they had (in the end, I think the services insisted on non-nipple-looking pasties for things to be acceptable, though).
@@uliwitness Interesting.
If you're naked in the grocery store you'd get arrested very quickly, if you're naked on the beach that's fine.
There was this guy called "der nackte Jörg" living in Frankfurt. He used to walk all around the city all year round totally naked but a pair of sandals. We saw him twice and both times it was in November and it was pretty cold at this time of the year. Some year ago he disappeared and nobody knows where he's gone.
"porn magazines": First of all, honestly, I don't think that you saw what I would call a porn magazine, i.e. explizit show of sexual intercourse. Those are not allowed to be on public display afaik. I would call those at gas stations and magazine stands in grocery stores erotic magazines. I remember that I could easily purchase them when I was 15 (so in the 1980s). I mean I could have. I mean of course I did, probably with a red head :)
Also they seem to be disappearing more and more, probably because you get much more explicit pictures much more easily and for free on the internet.
English Garden Munich:
It get's even better since there was a time in the 90s where Nudists swam in the little river running through the park to a certain point, then enter the tramway fully nude and went back to the starting point.
That ended - not because of nudity but because..........?
They didn't have tickets 💪
I had my most remakable nudist experience around 2005 while I was scuba diving in a local lake. We surfaced after a 60 min dive at a very small strip of sand (~5m), but now there were two pair of female feet facing us.
While were under water these women went to the same remote and hidden beach for sunbathing, that we used as entry- and exit-point for our dive.
So we announced ourselfs and took some extra time while readying us exiting the water, as to not scare them. They looked at us, sat up and started smalltalking. All the usual questions: "what did see down there?" "Is it cold at the bottom?" etc.
Thats when we realized, they were completely naked. We told them that we have to use this beach to leave, as there are no other places to exit with our heavy equipment and that we can wait until they covered themself.
They told us they did not mind and so we went on-shore and prepared to leave... all the while chatting.
I'm thankfull that these Ladies were super cool and relaxed, by far cooler than I was. While I'm usually relaxed around nude people, the totallity of circumstances made me uneasy and it was hard for me to keep the normal conversational eye-contact...
We all laughed at the ridiculous situation when we left the beach.
The magazines are not considered "pornographic" in the legal sense of the term. There are clearly defined features (of course, it's Germany after all...) for porn, for example erect penises, visible female genitalia (i.e. labia, full frontal is ok otherwise), etc. There are also some oddly secific and quite funny rules like "all fingers must be countably visible". Magazines that fall under this category are either sold "under the counter" (means you have to ask for them) or with a sleeve like you mentioned in the U.S..
One thing that wasn't mentioned in the video: If you go to a regular indoor swimming pool in Germany, be prepared for two frequent types of changing rooms.
The first one would be one big changing room without stalls for women, one for men. In these, many people will strut around naked confidently.
The second one would be a big mixed changing area with benches and lockers. There usually are some stalls that you can use, if you want to, but only a limited number. Also, most people find it quicker and more practical to change in front of their locker, so that they can directly put their stuff inside. Here, people usually change quickly and discreetly, sometimes facing the wall or covering themselves up a bit with a towel.
But you can also face the room and take your time if you want to. As long as your behaviour remains adequately non-sexual, nobody will mind.
Mezzomix or Spezi, I don't care. I usually avoid soft drinks.
About the topic of this video: I remember an educational video that explained WHY we should be open to nudity: "prudishness never served anybody and only contributes to the development of body complexes."
I'm french, living in France and I watch german krimi serien in OV too improve my german. I just beginn a serien München Mord. It's beginn with a couple in bed during the day, no boob or bottom in view, but a car is parking, the woman says "My husband ...! " So the naked lover jumps out of bed, takes his cloths and rushs to the balcony (could have see his bottom) then he jumps from the balcony and you can see everything !
I though, "Ah yes it's german and they less prud !", here you could have see just a naked bottom. I didn't find that shocking at all, it will be more strange if the lover took time to cover himself as the husband was entering the house ! :D
There are no porn magazines on open display in Germany. What you can see, are "lads' mags", i.e. magazines with sexually suggestive nudity. Everything with penetration is 18+ only and must only be sold in shops or separate areas where no minor is allowed to enter.
Dang, "lads" mags was the sort of term I was looking for for my own comment :)
@@EyMannMachHin Having lived for a couple of years in England, definitely helped in finding the appropriate term.
Hi Donny.
Can you explain to your German readers what the reason is that nudity is not allowed to be shown in the United States? Is it for religious reasons or is it more because the US culture is very much focused on the individual, who is not allowed to reveal anything of himself? Does this go back to Adam and Eve? What would an average US American say we are doing wrong by showing our bodies?
To be naked is a concept of your society you live in.
In Kabul a woman is naked when she shows her face, in victorian time she was naked when she shows her ankle, in germany they start getting naked when they show their breasts and in some south american tripes they just wear a string around their privat parts...and guess what...when they put it off...they feel naked !!
While watching this video I was thinking about the last time I've seen someone naked somewhere but I coudn't remember any occasion. Only at the end of the video I've remembered that I see naked people every week at my voleyball club. We are a mixed team and we use the same changing room and shower so after our training everyone (men and women) takes a shower completely naked and we are talking about work, life and so on. For me this is completely normal and there isn't anything sexual about it so I forgot it :'D
Thats not only in germany like this. All western Europe allowes partly nudity and sex in TV and under 16 movies. But violence is only allowed in 16+ movies. So it is strange for whole europe that you have strong violence in movies allowed for kids
My thoughts exactly. In the USA they go bonkers when there's only a nipple shown briefly on TV, but excessive violence is no problem. From a European point of view that's pretty fucked up.
As far as I know, the 'adult' magazines are usually in the higher shelves of the magazine stand (above eye level) that smaller children simlly cannot see. Also, fun fact: some major negotiations between the russian president Jelzin and the german chancellor Kohl were done in the sauna.
Watching TV when you are in a foreign country is IMO still the best way to get a notion and context, if u stay for longer it's a very helpful way to get "accustomed" to the language until it all makes sense - one day :) (I recommend "Tagesschau" daily & TATORT on Sundays)
Its crazy how after 3 years in germany you know more about germany and german culture than I in 16 years
It helps that I have a TH-cam channel that has me constantly researching German culture and over-analyzing every aspect of my life here 😂
Passiert wenn man ignorant seiner eigener Kultur gegenüber ist
or... embarrassing.
It is a lot like the difference between a tourist and a local. Donnie is newer to the German culture while you have been living it. Talk to a farmer, or a sewer worker, and they won't be noticing the smells as much as a city slicker. You are so used to what is around you that you don't pay much attention to the things a visitor is seeing for the first time.
@@Myriip achso, ich hatte gedacht, er/sie lebt vielleicht erst seit 16 Jahren in Deutschland (das wäre schon peinlich, wenn man nix über dieses Land weiß). Aber stimmt, wenn es ein 16 jähriger deutscher ist - autsch, das wäre ja mal äußerst ignorant und peinlich
Magazines with photos of single naked people are not considered pornography in Germany. Therefore, they may be displayed openly in shops. It is only considered pornographic when two or more people interact with each other. Such material can only be found in adult-only shops.
An addition to the magazines in Gasstations: there are even more magazines hidden underneath the cash box. Those magazines show serious porographical pictures and are therefore hidden from the public
Does anyone remember "Nipple-Gate" in the super bowl halftime show some years ago. For me as German that was nothing. I was just convinced that it was part of the choreography. (...get you naked by the end of this song). I was quite surprised when I read the new the next morning what a big scandal this has been and still is in the USA
German sauna freak here: Most people from abroad think that we are naked all the time while being in a spa. That is not true! We are just naked while being IN the sauna. When we leave it we walk naked to the cold showers and then we usually 'dress' ourselves with CLEAN and DRY towels or a bathrobe.
I freak out if naked people go to the snack-shop or eat during my presence while being naked. That's a no-no for me.
Yes, it is shocking that the land of the free is not that free after all. The simplest things, the things we europeans call normal or basic human rights, those things are forbidden or illegal in the Great USA.
Yep, completely different way of thinking. You can get a weapon and even be sent to war at 18, but you can’t legally have a drink yet.
They can show the most gruesome violence on tv and in movies, but natural nudity is forbidden.
Yep, seems very “free”….
Yeah it's the influence of the far right white evangelical churches and their political power. They claim to be good American Patriots but even this is a lie they use to help them infiltrate the US government. What they really want is to overthrow the American government and replace it with a one party, fascist, protestant Christian, theocracy. In some ways we got lucky that they jumped the gun on January 6th and tried to go in for the kill way too early. Thanks to January 6th everyone can see what's really happening. We can only hope enough people will stand up for democracy to stop them.
great job as usual. excellent video!
I have a friend who is a closeted nudist and basically taught himself German... I can't help but wonder if there is a correlation between those two facts for him now after watching this video
*lol* I even had to watch the ad produced by you twice! (Usually, I skip the ads ... admittedly ...) Really fun work! No other channel is able to produce the ads for their sponsors themselves at such quality! Good work! You're a true pro! ;-)
From my limited experience with porn magazines (haven't actually seen one in years) I'd say that while they're "used" in a sexual way, they usually just show a naked model on the cover, posing, but not involved in any explicitly sexual act, so it's basically no different than a naked person on TV or in the park.
Cool observations! Concerning the „Context - but what about porn magazines on display?“ I think two factors matter: One, as you noticed, Germans aren‘t easily worked up on nudity, no matter the context. Let’s face it, it’s pretty easy to look away if you don’t want to see a porn mag up close. But two, and this is important, I feel, hiding those mags borders on censorship, and this is one thing Germans have been wary of since the Nazi regime. Also, while porn mags might be on display in regular stores, they will almost always be put up in a higher shelf, so that a kid accompanying parents won‘t see it. As an adult you are expected to deal with it - as I said, we‘d rather look away than have overbearing censors. Hope this helps!
We are talking Erotica magazines like PLAYBOY or Coupe, not actual porn magazines depicting "the act".
There even is/was a youth magazine calles "Bravo". In there always was a part named "Dr. Sommer", where Teenagers were able to ask questions about the male/female body and sexuality. And there always were pictures of different everyday guys and girls (no models or beauty symbols). I grew up with those and that was perfectly normal. When a new magazine was out and our parents noticed it, they brought one and took it home so we can read the latest issue.
Fun fact...in Munich one of the 3 nude areas in the Englischer Garten is located right in front of the US consulate, because..."reasons" 😏
lmao ist das so nah, dass die Schlingel richtig was sehen können?
@@scofield3467 direkt gegenüber der Straße. 😆
Witzig ist auch, wie die münchner FKK Gebiete im EG überhaupt entstanden sind (laut Geschichte...ich war nicht dabei 🤷♂️😏)
Es war eine Form von gewaltlosem Protest gegen das Establishment in den 50-70ern.😆
Ich kann mir das sehr gut vorstellen:
Stadtrat 1: Mia miassn was gega all de nackertn doa !!!
Stadtrat 2-5: Warum? Bist sicha? A geweida, de dern do nix...etc
It's just the US consulate, but yes.
@@holger_p ah sorry...I always mix both up.🤷♂️😔 Tho I should know better by now 😏
Correction right on its way 😇
😂😂😂😂 what i love about your channel is ,that you always find a topic (plus the way you look at it) thatt i njever thhought abut it at all! go ahead! ( and greetings to aubrey +)
I appreciate that and glad you enjoy 😊
I find it a bit strange how you describe nudity. America has a huge problem with topless women but no problem at all with topless man. On the contrary. Men go topless in America more often than in Germany and in situations where it would be weird not to wear a shirt in Germany.
Ich habe das Video nicht angeschaut, aber ich frage mich was so schockierend sein soll am Nackt sein. Immerhin sind wir alle nackt auf die Welt gekommen, somit ist die Nacktheit das natürlichste überhaupt. Ich verstehe nicht wie man damit so ein großes Problem haben kann.
I've seen nude bike riding, body painting, Fantasy Fest and similar events in the US on the internet. Such things don't take place in Germany, nudity in the streets is still not usual and can be punished by the police.
"Erregung öffentlichen Ärgernis"
I remember about 30 years ago in France the 100 franc note had the image of a half nude woman (Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix) which shocked the American tourists.
Thank you very much for finally explaining the difference between nudity and sex. 🙏
there is something about legality in germany and austria to know. there is the misdemeanor "Erregung öffentlichen Ärgernis" (causing public outcry) in germany and austria and "Belästigung der Allgemeinheit" (angering the public) in germany. that means, that if you go shopping nude, and nobody is angered, it's perfectly legal. the limits are at performing sexual actions, starting with presenting your genitals.
oh, and it's not enough if the only angered person is the policeman, there need to be others who are disturbed. I'm not even sure if one disturbed person is enough.
I am in my mid-fifties and I've been doing FKK all my life; it is an enjoyable facet of my life that I would not like to do without. I am also a regular sauna-goer and my staff and I traditionally go to the sauna together three times a year. (We find trips to the sauna as a group more enjoyable than the usual company Christmas parties, the company excursions, and what have you that other companies have.)
A colleague and I were on a business trip to the United States a few years back and the hotel we were staying at had a sauna, a jacuzzi, and pool on the roof. We decided to take advantage of the sauna as we had been travelling all day. I'd say we were in there relaxing for a good six or seven minutes when there was a knock on the sauna cabin door: a male member of the hotel staff (who was doing his level best to look everywhere but at us) explained that a swimmer had seen us and reported us to reception and now it was his job to "remind" us that this wasn't the sort of establishment for "this sort of thing". We wrapped the towels we had been sitting on around our waists, rolled our eyes, and decided to forego a dip in the pool afterwards. :-|
Last but not least, I don't like either of the two drinks you mentioned. They're a bit too sweet for me.
Concerning "porn" magazines in stores, gas stations and so on:
These magazines are not considered pornographic. To be this, they would have to feature scenes in which the sexual act is presented very harshly - e.g. by showing actual genitalia "ready for action". Even if not, it can be seen as pornographic if it isolates the sexual act from its interpersonal context, if the display is degrading for one or all participants, or if it promotes the abuse of a real or fictional person. In these latter (rare) cases, it even doesn't need to show any nudity to be pornography.
German jurisdiction in general is very careful when it comes to decide wether productions (in print, TV or cinema) are "okay" or not, and if they are to be displayed legitimately. They are protected under Art. 5 of the basic law (German constitution). In this context, it doesn't make any difference, what the general public thinks, if there is an "outcry of the well-meaning citizens" or not. There are just some relevant questions, for example: Is the way how it is displayed able to provide a basis for artistic, social or political interpretation and debate? And is the relevance of this value able to outweigh the risks for children or adolescents, if they are confronted with it?
"Playboy" and so on are quite easy cases: The Photos have some artistic value. It may not be that great, but since a German child does not not see so much new in them, it also doesn't hurt (you will have seen more on any beach). When you reach an age, in which the erotic hints in these photos get interesting for you, you should have learned how to deal with that. A very interesting new question could arise under the banner of women's equality (why are those who lose their garments always women), but that is another problem.
One different example is quite interesting, because it shows where the boundaries are running: The Novel "Josefine Mutzenbacher oder die Geschichte einer wienerischen Dirne" ("Josefine Mutzenbacher or the Story of a Viennese Hooker"), presumably by Felix Salten, the Author of "Bambi" of Walt Disney fame. This novel is plain hardcore, it even describes child abuse in a rather explicit manner. But it is also considered by critics (and academics) as a masterpiece of literature for its use of the viennese dialect, its criticism of the social circumstances, which led to the sexual deviations it describes, and for several other aspects. After being sold only in back-alley-pornshops for decades, a mayor German publisher produced a critical edition in the early eighties. In 1982, the "Prüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften" (the German Federal Agency for the Protection of Minors against Endangerment by Displays of Violence, Sexuality and so on) banned the open sale of this book as pornography; the Federal Administrative Court confirmed the ban. The Federal Constitutional Court lifted this ban because the argument of being pornographic was deemed unsufficient, considering the artistic value of this novel. But it didn't just lift it, it sent the decision back to the lower courts for new consideration. They again banned the novel, but this time for the reason of displaying and trivialising child abuse - which was held up through all judicial instances. Around ten years later, the "Bundesprüfstelle" reexamined its old decision. Then it came to the conclusion that its fears for endangerment were not legitimate (at least not anymore), or not that grave in comparison to the artistic value, and it lifted its own sales ban.
That shows a bit of the complexity of this question: This is not so much a question of nudity and society, but of artistic freedom. Whether a publication is porn under German law, depends not only on what is displayed, but also if it has artistic or other value, if it actually endangers juveniles (depending on the circumstances of the case), and which of these aspects outweighs the others. This can also change with time: I would think that the main reason for the lifting of the ban could be, that juveniles find novels just boring in general, so they just wouldn't come to the "juicy bits" and thus, get no chance of being endangered. Those who still read it are critics and academics on the quest if a Disney author really wrote porn - and it needs no ban to regulate this.
With regard to nudity (sauna, etc) , there are big differences between Southern Europe, catholic and Northern Europe. Even in Germany, Bayern and the South is different in many aspect from Northern Germany.
The naked hiker! :-))
No seriously, why does anyone do that.
The backpack chafes directly on the skin.
You need a lot of sunscreen to protect yourself from skin cancer, and then you're so sticky that everything that grows along the way gets stuck.
And then the mosquitoes...
Racks... Next to the cashier
Niice
I see what u did there 😂 well placed pause lol 🤣
10:40 this is the most accurate summary of how (I guess) we Germans think about nudity. At least it summs up my view completely.
The question I have on top of my mind when thinking about this. Why is displaying a human naked body so bad and need to be censored. We all have one and it comes in different shapes and sizes. Why should it be censored how we look like ? Children probably see their parents and siblings (if they have siblings) naked too. What's the big deal about it if you see someone naked on TV ? But showing gun violence isn't ? But than they "wonder" how so many mass shootings happen ... Well if gun violence is normalized to that level and to have easy access to weapons ...
Never heard of any harm to children and others because people saw naked bodies on TV ...
I live in Greece and know a lot of families where children never see their parents naked. As a German I found that very weird.
Regarding the last question... obviously "Schwip Schwap" ;-)
Something I noticed with the rules of films or TV is that, in the US to see nudity is very rare but violence is not so stricted and in Europe its exactly opposite.
So in other words, the US has messed up priorities.
On your last topic the rule is if there's no obvious sexual pose or reference to the sexual act there's no need to hide the covers. That means if it is only the display of a human body than its just that: a human body. Otherwise sexual explicit content is not to be displayed in public. Believe me there's a regulation for everything in germany...
Germans have lesser problems with nudism and sex. And US-americans have lesser problems with weapens and force.
Thats the prejudice I have often heard. If they are true or not, I don't know.
Ya, this is what we often receive comments about and hear. I think it is more or less true, although I do think the difference is still significantly greater in our acceptance of nudity than with violence...maybe will be a topic of another video I should do more research on! 😊
^thats what makes the movies shitty in germany ... the americans cut the nudety and we remove the action ...
@@PassportTwo for americans its totaly normal that your children go to school with bulletproof vests while for german children ist normal to see a playboy on a shelf, btw playboy is not considered as porn in germany
@@PassportTwo I beg to differ. I and everyone I know despise guns and brutality (in *real life* mind you!) even more than Americans could ever be shocked by nudes in the Englischer Garten …
It's actually very easy to see this being true by the way media functions in each.
In America it's unheard of for games or movies to be censored for violence, for example a game like Left 4 Dead 2 was considered tame for American standards at the time but was heavily censored in Germany for the gore. In America games sooner get banned entirely (Like Manhunt) than get edited down in content.
On the flip-side, In Germany media with nudity in it wouldn't even get people to bat an eye, while the same content in American media would have caused outrage.
Now, things have definitely changed in the past decade, in Germany games rarely ever get censored anymore, though it's still a pain because they don't retroactively lift those censors on games that already have it (My steam version of Left 4 Dead 2 is a US version because the German version is still censored to this day, even though games have since come out uncensored that were WAY more brutal than that) and in America nudity in media has become much less stigmatized.
These days this dichotomy is becoming less and less pronounced, but growing up it was extremely noticable.
German woman here:
Going to the sauna, naked with family, friends or coworkers? Sure!
Sunbathing topless, or changing into the swimming suit in public at the beach/pool without much protection? Also no problem. Why would it be?
Swimming naked in a lake with friends? Absolutely.
But still I would not see this as an integral part of my culture. It is just something you don't think or stress to much about. It's just natural, but it is not something I would identify myself with. I'm not a "nudist". I'm just not ashamed of my own body....
Do you know that there are several hiking wavys in germany where you are allouwed to do naked hiking? Of cours it is only at summertime. I did it and it was Not an easy way of hiking. So you sweat a lot by climing hills and you feel comftible as your body is really cooled. And i saw a lot of people doing it mostly young people. So nudism is Not a Thing for only older man.
There even was a sauna at the kindergarden I went to and we used it once a week.
:-) 20 years ago i spent some time in a student exchange Programm in italy. I went on a trip with 3 Americans. We reached Lago Maggiore, sun went nearly of, i took my chance to get in while sunny - changed quickly in my swimsuits and jumped in the water. The 3 didnt say a word, didnt get in. And i didnt think about. I came out, next to them, changed back and we went for a Coffee. Years later i learned that US americans have a problem with nudity... the poor 3 must have been quite shocked :-)
I am from eastern germany. At all the eastern cost it is standard to have fkk beaches...normaly next to the dog beach :-)
People holidaying there are just used to it, it is just normal.
The point is, that you are supposed NOT to look or even stare... you mind yourself and thats it. Thats why i dont like people with sunglasses watching in my direction. Also i prefer to be topless, not completely naked - everybody as one like.
So back to Lago Maggiore: i expected the 3 mind themself and dont look at me the 7,5 seconds i am naked... and of course i hoped we swim together...it is a pitty we could not for those limiting reasons...
It took me a second to understand that with "porn magazines in grocery stores/gas stations" you mean magazines like Playboy, which aren't really viewed as porn here, since they are not really explicit.
In the 1970s and 80s and probably even around 2000 there were a lot of general/lifestyle magazines that would frequently have a topless woman on the cover (Quick, Tempo, Stern, even Spiegel had occasional nude covers). Also the BILD did have the "page 3 girl" on the frontpage, I think.
That's why magazines focussing on nudes, like Playboy can also have their covers displayed. AFAIK the more risqué stuff will not be as open or in any case the cover will be comparably "harmless". As other have said, only hardcore porn is considered pornographic and restricted (18+)
Great video! Super in formative. I have just returned from staying in 2 different resorts in Egypt and most of the other guest seemed to be german. We noticed how much of their bodies were exposed no matter what body type they had which is something we don't see as often in the US. Now I have better understanding as to why. Thanks for the insight!
I, as a german, don't know any other place as the english garden in munich, where is nudism more or less allowed, besides the closed FKK areas, open for members.
I remember seeing a commercial in Germany many years ago where a woman (topless I believe) had handcuffed a man to the bed. She proceeds to walk over to a kitchenette area, grab a Burger King Whopper and start eating it. Another commercial -- even further back in time -- a man comes up a set of stairs to a conference room completely naked. I think he is carrying a briefcase. It was a shampoo commercial if memory serves me right. The kind of completely random stuff you will find on German television. Are the commercials still that crazy there?
You forgot one topic: Breastfeeding in public. Is this a problem in the US?
And about the Mezzo mix Vs Spezi:
I have recently been to a barbecue from one of the local student clubs in Greifswald. There, I tried Schwipp-Schwapp, which I used to love.
I think that I'd rather stick with Mio-Mate Ginger and self-made Apfelschorle for now.
Ya'konw... I think I've tried Schipp-Schwapp...but I can't remember for sure. I should go grab a bottle and put it to the test!
13:22: "pornographic magazines" in public shops? Nope. That's not true. Definitely not. A magazine just showing some boobs is not called "pornography" in Germany. In Germany pornography is if certain "actions" and parts of the body are shown (in detail). All other stuff is just "erotic". So, you can see and buy all the common and "famous" American magazines "for men" in regular shops. Because they are not considered as "porn".
One big difference between FKK as seen especially in East Germany and Nude resorts in places like the U.S. is the target group. In East Germany, FKK was actually a family thing. The whole family from the toddler up to the grand parents can be seen at a FKK place. And the general rule is: If it is not explicitly stated that this is a textile beach, it's considered one where clothing is voluntary.
And when I was competing in my first triathon (that was in the early 1990ies), the swimming was in a gravel pit, which was usually used for nude swimming. And so, the contestants in their neoprene suits were fighting against each other in clearly closed off lanes, while around the limits, nude people were watching the event.
And to really fry the puritan U.S. mind, there is a famous Swedish children's movie: Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia, the Robber's Daughter), where in one scene, all the robbers of the gang are running naked through the snow. And yes, you can see their primary sexual characteristics.
#selfmixed.
I am always shocked seeing that the englische garten is bigger than the central park
I always saw it as the giant rectangular thing in a huge city and first seeing that the englische garten, which is in a much smaller city compared to new york, is bigger than the central park blew my mind.
Very good explanation. Can you make a videooo about why in the US on television the F**** Word and maybe others are always "beeped" out ?
For me it is kind of annoying because the US usually appreciates the free speech and I personally find it not offensive it someone uses it.
Mostly I smile if someone uses the words. I don't take it so seriously.
It's only a matter of time when *beep* is considered obscene in the USA and will be censored. ;)
F*%# the F-word. Can you make a video explaining why violence is so glorified in the US?
@8:49 Germans adopted the sauna culture from Norway AFAIK including the nude part.
Please. Finland! 😉
Not certain how this fits in - but in Boston, Massachusetts there used to be two nude beaches connected to the L Street Bathhouse (AKA Curley Community Center - founded by then mayor James Michael Curley) in a city known for its censorship (Banned in Boston used to be a common sticker on best selling books).
Male and female, separated by a fence., nude swimming was accepted, up into the 1970s.
The 'Brownies' used to be known for their all over tans.
My mom is an avid sauna visitor and she said, she prefers coed, because if the genders are separated they don't behave. At least on the women side. I haven't asked further. And answer: Neither. I am sensitive to phosporus and its acid and salts. So I prefer Schwipp-Schwapp.
One, iny my opnion very central part of the hostorical context, is that FKK became popular in a time when the "Middle calsses" (Bürgertum) retreated heavily into the "private space", meaning discint from the matters of public and politics. It was/is seen that whatever a person does in private is nobodies buisiness, as long as it doesnt hurt anyone.
This is also why the german FKK does not stand in contrast with the german need for privacy, but actually gors hand in hand with it: we want to be able to enjoy ourselves and be p ourselves, without anyone judgding. And this is also one of the reasons it is somewhat on the backrack, as everyone now has a camera at all times.
I do have to say it really isn't that big a thing in a lot of places. I mean, I knew about FKK for a long time, but I don't think anybody in my area really was into it.
I mean, sure, some skinny dipping in the river/the local Freibad at night maybe, but the actual nudist lifestyle wasn't a thing AFAIK. But well, as you pointed out, it all can be regionally different.
But we definitely have a different approach to nudity. I still remember that one Lätta margarine commercial with full frontal nudity on afternoon TV. I don't think it even caused any stirs in German public (and I might only remember it because I was a very horny teenage boy)
"get into the weeds". Is that a subliminal nod to your sponsor? LOL.
I don't know how to answer your question at the end of the video.
Haha, at least it wasn't an intentional subliminal nod 😂😂
original spezi .... supporting the local brewery 😛