I think that the pixilating has to do with fear of the FCC regulatory repercussions as well as the fear of offending some of the viewers.
You are probably right, Jbee. Of course the next question is, "How can the FCC hold people accountable, assessing fines, etc., when they haven't broken a law?" That's crazy.
Now then, addressing this towel comment. Having been reared in nudist colony rules, etiquette and sensibilities for years, I never questioned the requirement of a towel until recently.
. . . it has recently come to my attention that short skirts have been putting these areas of the body in direct contact with public seating for years!
The surprise is that all of these women, since 1964, have been putting bare stuff on public places. Those who don't wear underwear might as well be nude. So, how come I'm not finding all of this fecal matter, genital juices, oils and other nasty poisons on furniture everywhere?
Mainly, you haven't looked close enough. What the potential problem is, is microscopic, i.e. germs.
It is also true that if you haven't had an infection yet, it hasn't been a problem so far. That is not to say that it couldn't be a problem. I think this is a personal choice with a sufficient reason for consideration. If you want to carry a towel and sit on it, do so. If not, so be it. And if someone doesn't want to be around you for that reason, be ready to deal with that too. That would be a perfectly reasonable reaction to inconsiderate behavior.
For me, the practice of carrying a towel and using it this way, is akin to holding the door for someone, saying "Good morning", or any number of other "polite" behaviors that we all do without getting our, "What's the nudist equivalent of shorts?", in a twist. Being considerate certainly shouldn't be viewed as an imposition or burden. If that's your philosophy, maybe you should be living in a cave on a mountain.
Simple courtesy is in short enough supply as it is.
Duane
FCC would be a Federal law with the licensed broadcaster being held accountable ie. fined. It does conflict a tad because there is no federal nudity law. It is some kind of "community standards" justification, yet here they are blanketing the entire nation with a single assumed community standard, when we are certainly diverse. It comes from olden times when people didn't question government intervention so much, regarding government as an authority with those rights to dictate morality and conformity. All in all, yup, I agree. It's all crazy.
AS for carrying towels and being courteous:Orient Land trust curiously had no towel rules that usually go with naturist resorts. DF and I tend to sit on towels to protect ourselves. When car camping and bathing is difficult we use sit-down towels for ourselves in our own chairs. In the sweat, we use small sit-down towels. Others just swash water over the wooden seats before sitting. I have provided large towels to sit on for guest in my home in the past. Sitting here on my couch infront of the computer, I always have a large towel across it. It washes and cleans easier than furniture. There are sitting towels all around the house. If I'm not recently cleaned as in showered, bathed, etc., I forgo the towel. Being in warm water as much as out of it at OLT, sit-down bacteria didn't give any concern.
As for being polite, or considerate. I don't consider wearing pants an act of consideration, it in fact often makes those of us uncomfortable when people wear pants around nudes, depending on how well I know them and the situation. I'll sometimes ask for a towel to sit on, if I haven't prepared by my usual carrying a towel around in my car. This often has to do with people who allow their pets to use the same furniture, but I don't say that to them. Experience has shown me that bare sweaty bodies do leave dirty oils which influence the lifetime of cloth furniture, which certainly includes topfree people. In Arizona heat, it is best to practice these courtesies, unless it is a bathing together situation. If you can't bathe properly, racing stripes can happen. It is not polite to leave racing stripes on furnishings.
On the other hand, It is a pain in the butt to have to carry around a towel. A light sarong is more practical. A smaller towel sometimes easier. Getting into the pool and out a good option. If I need to carry other things a towel in a bag or hanging on a strap is no imposition. A towel is often handy to cushion the strap of a shoulder bag, water bottle strap, or backpack. A rock may have bird droppings, a grass lawn some hidden critters, but a towel is preferable and more healthy than pants. It must also be remembered that we air out more efficiently without clothing. It isn't as big of a health matter as is proposed, or our species and others species, just wouldn't have survived on this planet. It is our nature to squat, perhaps that is preferable to having to handle a towel? If I'm wandering and in and out of water, the towel is often silly and I enjoy unencumbered hands and feet, etc. Barefoot all over, all over, free.
The hand washing thing seems to work. I got sick less when I taught school. But the hands transfer to mouths, to nostrils, to food, to other objects. I'm not so sure that a bare butt of an infected person will be a problem to my bare butt as far as transference goes. Otherwise clothes working like body's gloves would have all matter of infectious stuff and need to be removed with two fingers and then hands and clothing washed. Just thoughts and questioning the authority of the mass media and medical knowledge as reliable sources. I have no certainty. Perhaps we are better off to experience bacteria through the skin and its defense system. Hands are near orifices. Orifices are susceptible to viral disease.
Jbee
