Why do we blush when we see naked white members of the opposite s*x, but don't at naked indigenous peoples?

Question

In Anthropology class we watched several videos of indigenous Africans completely naked with women's b*****s completely exposed and men's p***s' uncovered. Nobody would bat an eye, and when the video was over we would have a profound, intellectual discussion about their culture. I'm trying to grow as a human being. I want to know why I feel this way. / Apparently our branch of humanity (Cro-Magnon, I believe) originated in Africa and migrated around the world. Apparently a gene test can confirm Africa was our first home. So, what is it about naked white human beings that elicits embarrassment in me, and naked African natives not? I'll give my view. I'm going to be candid. When I would watch those National Geographic videos, I didn't find myself the least bit attracted to any of the women. They were matronly, not lovely. If they'd been hot, I would have felt the heat rush to my face and felt embarrassed I was being a voyeur. They weren't, so it was school. / He who asks no questions...

Answer 1

they weren't hot.  thats your answer.  if it had been old white wrinkly ladies you would have been offended.  its just our society.  and our hormones.

Answer 2

You are viewing indigenious peoples within their social context.  They are comfortable, so it does not occur to you to be the opposite.  

However, in western culture, we put forth taboos of etiquette specifically on the amounts of exposed flesh.  Since western culture has "created" this uneasiness, and most people adhere to it, than blushing is the result of seeing something outside of the norms of western social context.  There are exceptions of course.

The fact that you were not attracted to the women you speak of isn't attributed to whether the individuals could be perceived as sexual beings in their own right, but merely your comfort level of "arousal" within your own social context.

It works both ways.  I'm sure if some indigenious people of Africa were watching a video of you singing butt naked in the shower, they wouldn't feel any instant attraction either.

Answer 3

While race might play a role (similarity to ourselves is a factor in sexual attraction), tt probably has a lot more to do with context.

Sexuality is a complicated thing, and there's a lot more to it than mere nudity. There are a number of behavioral cues that play a role in attraction, many of which are cultural. The fact is, the people in national geographic videos, despite being partially nude, aren't *acting* s**y. Further, you yourself were watching it in the context of a classroom, not a bedroom.

You probably wouldn't blush at a nudist resort or nude beach either, for the same reason.

In almost every other context you'd see nudity, from your girlfriend to p**n to implied nudity in mainstream media, it's usually accompanied by behavioral cues that indicate it's a sexual display, which is why you associate the two. But as you can see with the national geographic videos, it's not always the case that sexuality follows from nudity.

Answer 4

You're not viewing them as sexual objects.  Their nakedness is normal, the state that they are usually seen in.  In our culture, the normal state is fully clothed, so nakedness is usually sexual in nature, and that tends to embarass people.

Answer 5

I don't blush when I see anybody naked. But yeah those natives aren't s**y at all.  Don't sweat it that they aren't appealing.  Your brain is set to like something else it's no biggie.

Answer 6

Taught, it is what we are taught.

Answer 7

mm..can i say that maybe its the whole tribal v. western thing.

kind of obvious, but i hope that helps!

Answer 8

Since you are being honest, I will give you my honest opinion.  It is embarrassing as a man to have those strong feelings in inappropriate places like a classroom.  You have to stifle the feeling or risk embarrassment from being inappropriately aroused.  There is also a strong cultural influence to be "shy" in public in many Asian and European cultures.

Answer 9

Simple.  Race is a social concept we created, which explains why people react in silly ways to different things.

Answer 10

Umm, I don't blush at either one.

I am assuming you are white, and your seeing members of your race naked and being embarrassed is an extent ion of how you would feel being that exposed.  You are embarrassed for your race.   You feel a distance and do not identify with other races so you have no emotional connections to their exposure.

Answer 11

So you don't consider brown women attractive?

Answer 12

It all comes down to personal perspective.  Some of it is cultural, some of it is personal asthetics, and some of it is context.

Cultural -- Especially in American society, exposing a woman's flesh is almost taboo.  It's often considered improper to do so in public.  We tend to look at the body as a sexual object primarily, so if we see a member of our society naked we make a connection between her naked body and sexuality.  The women on the video don't attempt to hide their bodies when someone looks at them.  Nobody in the video probably had any reaction whatsoever to them being naked.  The connection to sexuality isn't the same as in our society, so as a viewer we don't feel like we're seeing something we shouldn't see.

Personal asthetics -- you simply weren't attracted to them.  Part of this does tie into culture, but as you said "they were matronly" and not hot.  You're less likely to get embarrassed or feel as if you're a voyeur if it doesn't elicit a reaction from you (if you don't find her attractive).

Context -- it was in class.  It was shown so that you could discuss their culture.  It wasn't presented in a way that would seem improper.  I've basically already discussed the context a bit, so I'm kinda repeating myself.  But, there's no reason for you to feel embarrased by it, so you're less likely to.

There's less of a stigma attached to nudity in some Western societies when compared to the US... people there are also less likely to feel embarrassed by seeing a naked women (even if they're hot) than we are here.  So the embarrassment is really a learned reaction.

Answer 13

It was probably the context in which you looked at them,and the formality you associate with white people which when removed shocks and embarasses you.

You don't see white people naked in that context,so its a shock an adrenaline thing,if something is covered/concealed usually and then suddenly revealed the feeling is heightened.

Black people are often depicted as naked and instinctive/natural so no shock there.On a national geographic program the women would not have been depicted sexually,it would be the equivalent of going down to the supermarket and getting all the obese/middle aged/pasty people in line naked.

Black women and men are usually highly sexualised by society,music clips being  a prime example and Himba women.

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/30752/mis...

http://rci.rutgers.edu/~mkstyles/blackwi...

Answer 14

Because of the way we look at them. We look at black people subjectivly, almost like animals. However with white people we check them out sexually, even if we don't realise it. It's all about how you look at them.

Answer 15

Maybe this is my age speaking, or maybe it's just my education?  But I don't blush at anyone naked anymore, man or woman, white, black or brown.  Now thinking about seeing any "traditional cultures" either by video or in real life as I have many times, there is definitely a cultural seperation that inhibits seeing these other cultures as sexual objects, but I can also say from my own personal experiences in africa that women who live "traditionally" tend to have children quickly after reaching puberty such that the time frame for them looking "s**y" is quite short lived mostly for lack of using bras and the hard labour intensive lifestyle that many of these woman maintain, especially after giving birth.  That also acts as an impedence on triggering a sexual embarasment as well.  Now personally, I'm very attracted to black women, so if I were to blush a naked black women should be better at getting me there then a naked white women if sexual preference were the prime criteria.  The problem with the video or real life, however, is that it is not just the colour of their skin.  The cultural differences actually play a much more significant part in telling your mind that this is not an appropriate mate and henceforth not to feel inclined to blush.  It is also important to note that embarasment is not just a one sided affair.  The women in the video that you watched are used to displaying their b*****s within their culture.  Typically in these cultures it is the thighs that are innappropriate to display, not their b*****s.  As of such their body language is not one that makes you feel like you are seeing something forbidden as it is in most white cultures and this suppresses any tendancy to blush.  For the sake of argument it could be asked that if there were a women of the appropriate age such that she still looked s**y to you, but instead of seeing just her b*****s you accidently walked in on her when she was changing into her traditional skirt and you saw the side of her leg from her hip to her knee.  She, however, would now feel as though you had seen her innapropriately and would send you body language that would convey her embarrasment.  Reading these new inputs you may suddenly find yourself blushing!  You might even find yourself blushing even if she were not beautiful simply because the body language would convey the message that you have crossed a line and that may be enough to bring on the red.  Alternatively, go to a beach on the French Mediterranean where the culture there finds it quite acceptable for women of all ages to walk around topless.  You may suddenly find yourself feeding off of their confidence and enjoying the view without blushing despite immense amounts of attraction.  Their acceptance of the situation might quickly make you realise that you are not partaking in anything "special" or "forbidden" with these lovely white women, hence no need to blush.  If your mom decided to partake in the freedom of the French Mediterranean, however, you might suddenly feel inclined to blush again!

To summarize, it is culture and body language which produce the embarrasment that brings on blushing, not the colour of ones skin, nor necessarily how attractive you see them.