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At times it is usual, at times it is casual, at times it is sexual. Nice perspective: http://theswaggernews.typepad.com/mothertongue/2014/10/why-the-dutch-go-t

• eesmith 8y ago
  That link agrees with the Economists' observation of the decline in casual nudity: "I still live in Holland, but very few women go topless anymore. Topless just isn't cool. It's not considered very classy, much less sexy or erotic in any way. Although the topless trend has subsided greatly since I first came to this country, the Dutch attitude about the human body has not." The author writes "Our Anglo-Saxon squeamishness with nudity and bodily functions started sometime between the Middle-Ages and the Victorians and it has continued ever since." and "I still get a wee bit queasy when the soccer coaches require the 9 and 10 year olds to take group showers after the games." I do not believe the author is aware of changes in US views of nudity even over the last couple of generations. For generations, children swam nude in indoor pools in the US. Quoting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_swimming#Indoor_pools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_swimming#Indoor_pools : "The 1937 Administration of Health and Physical Recreation training manual stated, "Nude bathing for boys is practiced universally, in a few schools girls may swim nude and this is the most sanitary method." Elsewhere on that page points out "In America, skinny dipping by boys [in the late 1800s] was common." It also suggests that the 'squeamishness with nudity' was due to the 'rise of the influence of Christian Evangelicals' during the Victorian era.