Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy

by Ruth Barcan

We alternately think of nudity as a perversion and a state of innocence. Why is our response so contradictory and why is nudity treated so differently in different contexts? Drawing on popular culture, literature, philosophy, religion, and firsthand interviews in order to answer these questions, Barcan encounters morticians, nudists, strippers, nurses, tattooists, artists and pornographers. Shining a light on a topic that has been largely ignored despite its ability to titillate, shock and entertain, Nudity is a fascinating blend of meaningful minutiae and big philosophical questions about this most unnatural state of nature.

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2006