Nudity

Since my time in Spain, I have noticed that Spaniards are not shy about nudity in the media. I see at least one example every day. On my walk to the bus stop in the morning I pass by a news kiosk that has porn advertised in the windows and videos on the top shelf of the stand centrally displayed. I rarely watch television here, but one time at dinner our senora left it on and my roommate and I were trying to avert our eyes from the explicit scenes of some sort of telenovela. All that was displayed on the television was a 18 in the corner of the screen as a warning to viewers. I have not seen too much nudity printed in advertisements but I have seen nude women in ads for Farmacias all around that have surprised me. Perhaps the most obvious display of nudity I have experienced was this past weekend in San Sebastian. My friends and I went to La Concha and one on isle de Santa Clara and although I had previously been told about the nudity on beaches, it still shocked me to see topless women of all ages, scantily suited old men, and children all the way up to about 10 running around naked! I think it is different, but great that people are so comfortable with nudity. It is on my bucket list to participate at a nude beach, so who knows if this is the trip I get to cross that one off from!
I don’t know if it is just me, since I am from conservative Ohio and am not used to such open displays of nudity and sexuality. My roommate is from South Pasadena, near Los Angeles and whenever I make a comment about examples I see around town, she does not react the same way I do. She told me that she hasn’t noticed a lot of nudity but I think from where I come from, it is a lot, and used more casually in the media and in the Spanish culture. I do not necessarily think it is a bad or wrong thing to be open about showing the human body but, it is just something I personally am not used to, or have experienced at home in the States. However, this is not to say there is no nudity in American media, because there is, and up to the degree seen here, it is just less publicly shown and advertised.