This is like saying all Americans love McDonalds :) (I'm German) If this was voted up for fun I'm on it, if it was voted up because someone thinks it is true count me out :)
Hey chupa-chups, this thing about nudity is of course a generalization. However, I'm told all Germans absolutely adore asparagus, are passionate about them, and it is always an appropriate topic of conversation, whether discussing their many variants or how to cook them. Can you confirm this?
From personal experience I can confirm a corporate event for a famous bank consisted on a field trip for asparagus-gathering, and that once the season starts, they pop everywhere in the schnitzel sauces of daily menus every week :)
I also particularly enjoy the "Germanic Stare Down"[0] culture; being free to look at anyone and in the eyes without that being considered hostile is something I consider healthy as well. Compared to other places where lack of eye contact can make you feel isolated and alone, a pair of eyes and a smile in the street can bring a sense of belonging. [0]: https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-germanic-stare-down...
This is something I've always struggled with. I grew up in a part of the world where you just don't make eye contact. Ever. Spent many years in and around colleges where folks were the opposite - very heavy on eye contact. And so I adapted. Moved back home after college and suddenly I was "too creepy" for everyone, even my family.
Feels like much less of an issue since I moved to Texas, where folks in the smaller towns are far more on the German side of things anyway, and folks in the cities are the usual everything all at once. Only really noticeable whenever I go back home to visit. I guess now I'll always be a bit too alien for them.
Why is this only a German thing. There're nude beaches everywhere. Basic idea of freedom is to be free from the conventional norm.
> Why is this only a German thing. I'd say that German is the sense of comfort towards nudity. > There're nude beaches everywhere. Well, islamic countries are very unlikely to have them. When it comes to European countries, there are, however, some religions (ie. catholicism) are generally more conservative, and in countries with such beliefs, nudism/nudity is considered sort of "hippy", or strange in general. Someth…
Hygiene is a common excuse to enforce clothing culture. It is very similar to ban against burqa, and when France banned full-body swimwear it also cited hygienic reasons.
Here in Sweden you actually have a easier time finding a work place that accept burqa compared to a work place that accept people being barefoot. I find that to be a bit odd but then clothing is 99% cultural and has very little to do with logic.
> Why is this only a German thing. I'd say that German is the sense of comfort towards nudity. > There're nude beaches everywhere. Well, islamic countries are very unlikely to have them. When it comes to European countries, there are, however, some religions (ie. catholicism) are generally more conservative, and in countries with such beliefs, nudism/nudity is considered sort of "hippy", or strange in general. Someth…
> catholicism ... nudism/nudity is considered sort of "hippy" Nudity isn't an issue in Spain, Portugal or France from what I have seen. I am unsure where you get your categorisation from!
Spaniard here, it is a mix and match. There are plenty of nude beaches but also people that frown upon topless. In my experience people tend to separate themselves in more secluded parts of beaches for topless, away from kids (if only to avoid some more conservative people complaints); and for nudity (which is definitively looked at as being extravagant / “hippie” as said above), if there are sand dunes and some bushes, people generally go there.
But I’d say people argue way more about having dogs in beaches than about nudity.
Just an FYI, the German word for naked is "nackt", not to be confused with "nacht", which means night. Which might not seem important, unless you, like my sister in law, accidentally signed up for a "nackt wandelen" or "naked hike", as opposed to a "night hike" at her daughter's university (Freie Universität Berlin) when she went to visit her last year. Fortunately her daughter saw the mistake long before they attemp…
FYI, it's "Nacht/Nackt Wandern". No such thing as wandelen (Apparently Dutch, as noted below). German OCD kicking in, please ignore ;-)
Also of note, English speakers really have trouble pronouncing either correctly (They get conflated, really. As in, pronouncing ck/ch). Hence the confusion. (Anecdotally, I have lived for years(4) in the States.)
The fat-positivity lunatics are going to have a field day with this one...
"People who stay in shape and look good naked have 'fitness privilege' and 'naked privilege' the privilege of being able to look acceptable naked because they are able and willing to exercise and be healthy - this is oppressive and not fair"
Just an FYI, the German word for naked is "nackt", not to be confused with "nacht", which means night. Which might not seem important, unless you, like my sister in law, accidentally signed up for a "nackt wandelen" or "naked hike", as opposed to a "night hike" at her daughter's university (Freie Universität Berlin) when she went to visit her last year. Fortunately her daughter saw the mistake long before they attemp…
FYI, it's "Nacht/Nackt Wandern". No such thing as wandelen (Apparently Dutch, as noted below). German OCD kicking in, please ignore ;-)
I also particularly enjoy the "Germanic Stare Down"[0] culture; being free to look at anyone and in the eyes without that being considered hostile is something I consider healthy as well. Compared to other places where lack of eye contact can make you feel isolated and alone, a pair of eyes and a smile in the street can bring a sense of belonging. [0]: https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-germanic-stare-down...
The friendliness of a pair of eyes depends quite a bit on the context. This culture seems quite potent in (German-speaking) Switzerland as well, but at least as a visible minority I seem to experience far more less-than-kind stares that wouldn't be acceptable in the US or the UK, for instance. Giving people license to stare can certainly make others feel like they don't belong when it's indiscriminately applied.
I'm visibly not German as well, so I understand what you are saying. Though, I believe it is better than non-looking cultures, because now that they are looking I have the chance to portray the image of who I am, which is a non-hostile, open and warm person that I believe to be, and most of the time this non-verbal communication is picked up by the person staring and I get an attitude shift that corresponds to my attitude. If you immediately feel threatened by the stare, that will be displayed on you, and that will make others look at you even more cautiously. It is not the staring the problem, it is the solution. It is a body language and it can be used collectively for acknowledging who is fit and who is not for the community and also a non-violent ostracization when that one feels so uncomfortable that flees. In a non-staring culture, people never get a chance to read you, they simply glimpse and then immediately make a judgement based on their own presuppositions and then treat you as such. Not in Germany, they will stare until they understand.
I also particularly enjoy the "Germanic Stare Down"[0] culture; being free to look at anyone and in the eyes without that being considered hostile is something I consider healthy as well. Compared to other places where lack of eye contact can make you feel isolated and alone, a pair of eyes and a smile in the street can bring a sense of belonging. [0]: https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-germanic-stare-down...
This is something I've always struggled with. I grew up in a part of the world where you just don't make eye contact. Ever. Spent many years in and around colleges where folks were the opposite - very heavy on eye contact. And so I adapted. Moved back home after college and suddenly I was "too creepy" for everyone, even my family. Feels like much less of an issue since I moved to Texas, where folks in the smaller tow…