Is it acceptable for an adult to be nude in front of a child?

I totally agree. Not your child, you have no right to parade around this 6 year old boy in the nude. I have totally lost respect for her.

is she 'parading around' or is the child entering her sleeping quarters uninvited?

I agree - sounds to me like the 6 year old needs to be told to stay out of the bedroom if it's that much of an issue. parents bedroom = private. stay out!

Issue? Apparently it is not an issue. That is her point. Nudity does not always equate to sexuality.

That is child abuse and she should be arrested. That is a school age child. If a school teacher went around nude in front of a student that age & it got found out she would go to jail. Some movie stars can do no wrong & then you treat some people like they can't do anything right. Kate Gosslin just barely corrects her kids and it's called child abuse.

Thing is, this child isn't hers. It's her boyfriend's. Is she that common that she has no sense of propriety around someone else's child? Sounds like she's just trailer trash.

The wholly self righteous seem to get off on trashing others with personal morals that differ from theirs. They are the ones with a sex obsession. An obsession with the sexual activities of others probably because they are sexually dysfunctional and frustrated.

I agree completely. A six year old is in first grade and completely aware of what he is seeing. If this were a man exposing himself, yes he would be charged and removed from the kids life. If I were his mother I would absolutely be furious and would take legal action and not allow my son in their home. Six years old is too old for a boy to be seeing his father's girlfriend nude absolutely rediculous that nothing else is being said about this. Men are crucified for this very same thing, why is she allowed? Look what happened to MJ and yet this is just pushed aside. Hilary, I didn't like you before I read this and now I really have no respect for you. I am not a prude but this is not an acceptable part of American culture and with good reason!

"If she were a man walking around naked in front of six year old girl, she would be arrested."

You're absolutely right about this, at least. Not exactly on-topic, but isn't the double standard here disturbing? I really can't see how men and women will ever be equals.

You're obviously NOT normal!

No, you obviously are not normal.  The US of A is one of the worst, prudish societies on the face of the earth.  The original peoples here, the Native Americans, didn't/don't have issues with nudity - the Euro's, for the most part, don't, Asians, Africans, Australians, etc don't either.  But, those "religious" leaders have made nudity/sex "DIRTY" and you folks have sucked it up.

I know many folks who are not ashamed of themselves or embarassed with nudity because it is treated as part of their natural lifestyle.  You will never hear that from the Pulpit, so get over it.

Nor do you have morals, or self respect!! Not to mention respect for a childs young mind! That's obvious!All your answer consist of is"All the others do it"!!..lmao!! It has NOTHING to do with Religion! Just good ole common sense! Short on that too, aren't ya!...lol...

For those who have been successfully brainwashed by the religious traditions of men and not God, it was not God who taught Adam and Eve to be ashamed of their sexual anatomy. There was another spirit being in the garden who they and many humans since then have chosen to believe. Who do you think that was?

It's true that most cultures don't have a huge problem with nudity. Tribes all over the world throughout time have had no problem with it. Only "civilized" cultures do. And realistically, if we didn't treat it as such a big deal, it wouldn't be. Years ago, a woman was a whore if she wore pants. Now it doesn't matter and isn't sexual at all. That being said, I do think that in this culture, where the child is going to pick up on the "that's dirty" idea from sources other than home, she should probably cover up when not in her bedroom or when she knows the child will be in the room. I can see going nude with small children who won't be corrupted by society, but with a six year old, she probably should get dressed.

The questions are only 'embarrassing' if you are afraid to tell them the truth... and you're probably one of those uptight people who want to ban sex education in school! The more our children are allowed to know about the human body and at a younger age, the fewer are going to be guests on The Maury Show wanting to know who their "Baby-Daddy" is or wanting to having babies at 13 or 14 years old!

Mommaid4,

Are you a time traveler? What century are you from?

When the kids start asking questions is the time to be the most open. Otherwise what and where do they learn. From their friends and magazines??

Indeed. I think it should be the parents who answer those questions, and they should answer them honestly, without making the child afraid to ask. I had to learn about it all from my cousin and a couple of close friends - and one of those close friends came veeeery close to getting me in trouble with a guy when I was fourteen (nothing happened, but it could have). If parents will be open and honest, the children will know that they can come to them with questions. And you won't have to worry about what answers they're getting, either.

This boy is not her child and that makes a difference! She needs to cover herself around him!

What business is it of yours if consenting adults sleep together, married or not. We aren't all close minded puritans living in the 16th century anymore.

Well, there isn't anything you or your lawyer could do about it because it is not an abusive situation. It is also none of your business if your ex husband was sleeping with 5 women that he wasn't married to - no provable abuse, no case. The fact actually is that no judge will remove a child from a home simple because it is the preference of the adults to sleep naked. They might suggest that the child be asked to knock before entering the room, or some rules be laid down concerning the privacy of the father's bedroom.

You, dear lady, are a prude. You have no say over who sleeps with whom, if it's not your son or daughter involved. I don't know which judges you are referring to, but you certainly can't speak for every judge in the U.S. I'll bet dollars to donuts I can find just as many judges with the opinion that as long as the adults are not having explicit sex or flaunting their nudity in front of the children, there is no harm.

The original poster is correct. When a friend of mine got divorced, the judge put in their final papers they neither of them could have a person of the opposite sex sleep over when it was their time with the child unless/until they remarried. Judges do that.

WOW! Project much? You seem to have alot of emotion involved in this. You might not want to assume this issue has or has not been discussed with the childs biological mother. You know what they say happens when you ASS.U.ME?

No where in the article does it say that.

Read the article again, please... the interviewer mentions she wears the nightgown, now...

Yeah, the interviewer woman wears a nightgown because she is uncomfortable with her own children seeing her. Hillary said she sleeps nude and that none of them are uncomfortable with it.

skid marks

Kinda like this?

what, do you wash your bath towel after every shower, too? even if you wear nightgowns or p.j.s to bed, you spend the same amount of time in the sheets, so what's the difference?

I don't wad my sheets up against my crotch when I sleep, so they don't get any dirtier than they would if I was wearing PJs. Geez... who are you people who get your sheets so dirty from sleeping naked, and what are you DOING!?

who are you people who get your sheets so dirty from sleeping naked, and what are you DOING!?\

Click on link in comment #8.2 for the answer

So naturally, you all must have the cleanest rear ends in the world, never have a wet dream, never go to bed with anyone, never sweat, never have accidents while on your cycle, never experience a fart you mistakenly thought was going to be dry, and always shower before you go to bed, yes?

even if you wear nightgowns or p.j.s to bed, you spend the same amount of time in the sheets, so what's the difference?

And this is just the stupidest thing I've read... this hour. What's the difference? Uh, gee, I dunno, maybe the extra layer between you and the bedsheets?

you all must have the cleanest rear ends in the world, never have a wet dream, never go to bed with anyone, never sweat, never have accidents while on your cycle, never experience a fart you mistakenly thought was going to be dry, and always shower before you go to bed, yes?

That paints one ugly picture

TMI...TMI...TMI

I know people who take the 13 year old to the nudist colony and think nothing of it.

I agree, nudity is just nudity nothing more. Only the respondents who are against it think it's about sex. They make everything in life about sex. They don't have any respect for their bodies or other's bodies. They want you to feel shame and disgust about nudity and to do that they scream at the top of their lungs that nudity is sex. They believe nudity is wrong for them therefore it is wrong for everyone. All over the world families spend time with relatives, neighbors and friends at nude beaches, nude community pools and nudist colonies without ever thinking the American thought that it's sexual.

It's funny you should say that Brian. Isn't it men who think about sex every minute of the day?

Actually we are talking about the boy seeing her nude in his father's bed. If she isn't nude at other times, he might wonder why. Is six too early to explain?

If nudity has nothing to do with sex, then what is the point of Playboy Magazine?

You need to re-read the story, too! Pay attention now as I quote from the article:

(Swank) said that Campisi’s young son Sam typically sees her naked when he comes into the bedroom in the morning.

Now, I can't see where it can be interpretted as the actress is "walking nude in front of" the boy... Don't assume more than what is in the article!

I feel I must raise a question here. What is it about being the child's mother or not being the child's mother that makes it ok or not? I mean, sleeping with family is wrong, I get it, but is the nudity really sexually appealing to the kid? And if it is, then wouldn't it be MORE wrong for a mother to walk nude in front of her son? Or are you trying to make the point that the child will never see his mother in a sexual light like he would anyone else. Because really, the mother has all the parts that any other woman has.

I remember the first and last time I saw my father nude. I must have been 10 - and he forgot his towel when he went to go and shower, so he calls out to me ater his shower and tells me to get him his towel, I ran to go get it and forgot to knock. He was just standing there naked. As soon as I opened the door he let out a yelp and coward to cover himself - and I don't think I even looked down or anything - I just screamed "sorry" and threw him the towel, closed the door and ran away.

My father was strict prude among prudes. I doubt I ever saw him without shorts and a tank shirt all my life - even as he slept. I thought he was going to turn my hide red after that. At the dinner table that night I couldn't even look at him. After I finally mustered up the guts to peek at his face, his usually stern and serious face (my father rarely smiled) turned into a smirk, and then a full-blown laugh.

Hey, it happens. :)

don't you think that this is a personal decision? I mean, what business is it of your doctor? As long as you aren't molesting your child in the tub, what's the issue??

I wanted to do the right thing, not traumatize or unintentionally sexualize my child. So, I asked the expert.

I see absolutely no problem with the advice, and I applaud you for asking the expert. Yes, it's your kid, but it's perfectly natural to seek advice from those more experienced, be it a doctor or just another mom or dad.

I bathed my kids until the point the noticed some difference in our anatomies also. When my daughter was 4 and she reached up telling me "Daddy your carebear tail is in front." That was the last time i bathed my kids with me.

Aside from that the human body is an amazingly beautiful piece of artwork. Nudity does not equal sexuality. As long as Hillary keeps it in a responsible manner than there is nothing wrong.

Don't be ridiculous, there's nothing sick about this. With parents and children, it's up to the comfort level of the kids. I think if a child of the opposite gender is uncomfortable, the parent should take steps to limit what the child is seeing (closing doors, starting a "knock first" rule) - otherwise, who cares? If a child asks about body parts being different from what they have, I think that's a great opportunity for learning and discussion. Parents who are too freaked out to discuss bodies and differences and all of those topics, end up with children who will ask their peers for infomation rather than go to their parents - and we all know how bad that information can be!

the reason there are so many rapists and sickos out there, specifically in the United States, is because of our severely repressed views about sex and sexuality. Sure, it's acceptable to invite Lady Ga Ga into our living rooms by watching her nearly naked overly sexual music videos - but step-mom sleeping naked... well that's just downright wrong!! Come on, seriously get over it. Nudity=wrong is a bad message to send kids.

Rape is about power, control, and violence, and NOT about sexuality. Maybe you should look into your statistics before you issue such statements.

Showing off body parts as though in Biology class to teach your kids about the body parts is unacceptable. That's why textbooks and models were made. They will learn about sex education soon enough if they are in public school. I agree a 'knock first' rule should be applied and very soon in this case. Sleeping naked and applying the 'knock first' rule is acceptable.

16.1 deleted, dojest trolling.

I agree with you alkimija and I think 6 is too old for that. If he was 2, no biggie and anything over 3 I'd have to say no.

This is a double standard. Everyone knows if a man had done this he's already be arrested.

I completely agree with you. Nudity is what we make it. If we were all naked, then there would be a lot less anorexia and bulemia and girls freaking out because of airbrushed photos in magazines because we would all realize that in general, we all have imperfections. Either that or we'd all have lipo, lol. But it's sad that people are scared of nudity. Nudity does NOT equate SEX!

We don't live in that world, Freddd. You might have well as said, if everyone wore chicken suits, it would seem normal. In our world, people don't usually go around naked (or routinely wear chicken suits), and in our world it's inappropriate for people to be naked around other people's children under usual circumstances.

Sara, Fredd I agree 100% with both of you.

It's a pity you don't live in that world Alkimija. I do. It exists side by side, hidden by walls, hedges and fences. I've been around hundreds of nude children while nude or otherwise. I go to family nudist clubs and have nudist friends including those with children. Those are usual circumstances. It's a breath of sanity in a world that is seeming increasingly insane, taking kids away from parents for months because of bath pictures, that kills an obviously unarmed nude person with a taser, tases grannies because they question a cop, kicks kids out of school for having a CLUE gun token treating them as if it was a real weapon and punishes severely and disproprtionately for trival recently defined "infractions". We live in a society that defines everybody as a criminal and there is nobody safe any more from being locked up if they look into your life. You can go wear your chicken suits if you like. I choose to live more sanely.

Only in North America is the nude body immoral. We seriously need to stop thinking we are the worlds only moral country. Nudity is natural and healthy, a lot healthier then the repressed religeous sickos who teach their children that people of other faiths are going to hell. Or that teach the women to cover up from head to toe. Talk about unhealthy! They are so sick in their heads that they think that rape is the fault of the girl and kill her because "SHE" tempted them!

I would much rather my children learn about life from us, rather then the objectified views of the porn industry.

Bingo! Bullseye! Be Proud, not Prude, use common sense and eductate your kids. God made the most beautiful creation in the universe - the human body. Why hide it all the time? Just being naked doesn't always mean sex. Children that see you not making a "oh my..." incident out of it, won't grow up thinking the human body is something to hide (or be ashamed of) and will respect themselves more. They will also have more respect for other peoplediverstiy, other peoples feelings.

I agree. Most countries are much more open about nudity. Nudity does not automatically equal sex. I am a single mom and my boys and I have always been okay with nudity. We do not just walk around naked all the time but if we happen to see each other, no big deal. I want them to be secure with the human body, they are both teens and very open with me. They feel comfortable discussing ALL of the changes going on with them and I would not want it any other way. It is all normal.

I still remember seeing a special about a town (in Europe) where the students go out on a ship for around 6 weeks (in High School) because many of the students will end up in that line of work. The berths were co-ed. And they were interviewing a girl and she was changing with some boys in the background. They were unfazed. I couldn't help but think that if they were here, the boys would have whistled or SOMETHING even if they had been threatened with punishment. And sadly, someone probably would have come home pregnant. (and no, I am not bashing American kids but MOST of our kids could not have handled the situation because nudity is such a big deal here). However in Europe and other countries, it is the norm and therefore no big deal. I think we need to learn from that. Again, nudity does not have to equal sex. When you look at the statue of David, do your thoughts think art or sex? Think about it.

i don't disagree except that in this case the boy is not Swank's son nor is she the guardian. If she were then i would say it's her and the dad's business alone. But she is not so this is the wrong behavior for this case.

Skallywag-572756 -- If you're going to bring God into this maybe you should read the Bible. Unfortunately I cannot remember the verse, but the Bible states you are not supposed to see your parent's nakedness. I'm sure an internet search would validate this.

The old testament does indeed have a prohibition on "uncovering the nakedness" of close relatives. However the phrase may be a euphamism for incest.

Also Roman Catholics are (in case you didn't realise this ;) ) a type of Christian, and since St. Peter's vision of a sheet filled with annimals both kosher & non-kosher, and a lot of discussion by the early church a lot of the loads of rules found in the old testament are not held to apply to christians. Incest is still banned, but Christians are not required to eat Kosher food etc. Non-sexual nudity probably isn't specifically prohibited.