Nudity - Joshua Manley 9645

Nudity in film is any presentation in films that involves people who are naked or wearing less clothing than contemporary norms consider modest". In some cases nudity is itself the object of a film or is used in the development of the character of the subject. In some cases, nudity has been criticized as excessive or being without apparent reason, cause, or justification to the plot, and some film producers have been accused of including nudity in a film to appeal to certain audiences. Many actors and actresses have appeared nude, or exposing parts of their bodies or dressed in ways considered provocative by contemporary standards at some point in their careers. American actress Adah Isaacs Menken created controversy in 1861 when she wore a flesh-colored bodystocking in the play Mazeppa, based on Byron's "Mazeppa", in which she played a Polish man who was tied nude to the back of a wild horse by his enemies. She also posed nude for photographs.

The appearance of nudity in music videos has caused controversy since the late 1970s, and several explicit videos have been censored or banned. Nudity has gained wider acceptance on European television, where audiences often view nudity and sexuality as less objectionable than the depiction of violence. In contrast, MTV, VH1 and other North American music-related television channels usually censor what they think is inappropriate and might be considered offensive to their viewers. In 1981, Soft Cell's music video Sex Dwarf, directed by Tim Pope, sparked controversy in the music industry due to Fully nude women tortured on table and covered in meat. Also being threatened by chain-saw wielding midgets while Marc Almond runs around wearing a jockstrap. This video was confiscated by the police, illustrating the shock and inappropriateness caused during this time period.

Censorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This censorship may stem from a wide variety of motivations, including moral, political, military or religious reasons. Censorship can range from the complete government-enforced legal prohibition of a musical work, to private, voluntary removal of content when a musical work appears in a certain context. An example of this latter form of censorship is the radio edit. In terms of music videos, the moving images can be censored in various ways such a blurring or black, white or colour bars are used to covered the nude areas to make it more appropriate for the viewers. Censorship tends to be carried out by companies such as MTV, the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., has come under criticism for being too politically correct and sensitive, censoring too much of their programming. MTV altered or removed shows from the channel's schedule and music videos were censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.

The acceptability of nudity in society differs in relation to the gender of the subject.From its early days the presence of nudity in a film has been controversial and even today its presence is invariably noted by critics and censors. Until the 1980s, male nudity was rarely shown on screen. Though female nudity was routinely treated with respect and solemnity, male nudity, when it finally found its way onto the screen, was generally treated humorously and mockingly. Today, though nudity in film is much more common, its presence in dramas is still expected to be justified on artistic grounds. This perhaps provides a sense of reasoning due to the fact that the media industry is in fact dominated by males, implying and understanding to why females are often used as an object or in a sexual manner much more in comparison to males. The platforms of acceptability differ between males and females. The general concurrence would be that it is deemed more acceptable for a man to be used as a form of nudity rather than a women as there is a tendency for them to be objectified. 

Despite the fact that nudity is generally more accepted in the modern day, within film and video controversy still remains. Most arguments revolving around the acceptability of nudity relate the standards of societies morality and modesty. However, the standard of controversy, disapproval and offence depends on several factors. This can be due to the actual content in which the nudity is used in and the nature to how it is displayed. This could perhaps relate to the actions, body language and acting used as well as the duration in which the explicit content is shown for. Also the parts of the body exposed and who is exposed can also cause the level of controversy to vary.