If the children's mother is fine with it, then it's no one else's business. But I hope Hilary is checking the kid's cell phone for nudie pictures!

I think we in New England are more modest/prudish than on the West Coast. Maybe it's the weather?

Too cold to be in the buff here. I'm only ever naked in the shower.

No, I don't think nude parents or step-parents are creepy, so long as any opposite-sex children are pre-pubescent.

yup try being a man in the same sitution and you'll have a pissed off EX hauling you to court for child abuse, endangerment and indecent exposure. Whether you think its cute or not, whether you think it puritanical or not there are laws that can be selectively enforced with the drop of a dime.

Coming from Europe I am still amazed at the fake prudishness in the US. If you go to a beach in Germany all the little kids (0-4) are naked and if they have to pee they go behind a tree. This would be unthinkable over here. Yet if you visit a high school in the States there is all kinds of exposure...We don't make a big deal about it at home. We all know how we look naked but tell our kids to do whatever feels natural to them. That means wearing clothing most of the time because it is so cold...

I'm naked in front of all my kids, 10 year old girl, 7 year old boy, 3 year old girl.

I have no problem walking around the house naked. And I will continue to be this way even when my oldest daughter is 16. If she doesn't like it, she can avert her eyes. My 3 year old knows what a vagina and penis is and can say the words.

My kids don't have a problem with it and it's no one else's business. Period.

1. It would have sincerely screwed with me if there was a naked step-mother running around. Six is too old.

2. But beyond that, this article and the first two responses are disgustingly sexist. How so?

If a man did this in front of his six year old step daughter, he WOULD be hauled off to jail. I guarantee that. He would be a level 1 or 2 sex offender and subjected to humiliating (and far worse) conditions for life.

Swank is a woman, so it's O.K.

Sorry folks. Chauvanism isn't the only sexism. I figured people as forward-thinking and open minded might have thought of that.

As a previous poster said, if the biological parents are ok with it, then it's ok.

But on a personal level, I am uncomfortable enough about a new clothed girlfriend being around my child through my ex. A naked one would just push me over the edge. For me, it would be 100% unacceptable. It's not about nudity, but boundaries.

Yes, I can understand how anyone seeing Hillary Swank naked would be scarred for life.

If its your own child, its your comfort level that determines it. I'm ok with having my daughter see me, but my husband is not. Opposite gender makes a bit of a difference.

A step-kid, maybe not a good idea.
My stepfather wandered in his tighty-whities and I didn't appreciate it much, nor did my friends, who would occasionally witness the spectacle.

i do think gender plays into it. i live with my boyfriend, and we have joint custody of his six year old daughter. i do not parade around naked and do not sleep in the nude, however, with kids, it is unrealistic to think she wont bust in when i am in the shower/getting dressed. i am not an exhibitionist on any level, but there are times when there will just be some exposure. for instance, taking her to the bathroom when its just the two of us. its just going to happen. she always asks if i can get in the tub with her like her mom does, but i put myself in her mother's shoes. i cant imagine i would want my child naked in a tub with someone else. i just have gone with my gut.

Funny no one considers the 6 year old's opinion on the subject. Kids can transition from oblivious to painfully aware and shy practically overnight. If it bothers him, it should not be done just out of courtesy to his feelings. If he's oblivious, making a big deal about could cause more harm than good.

door locks. teach your child boundaries as well. sleeping in the nude is not the same as parading around a 16 year old (Dave). at 6, he should be learning to knock or, if he's not quite there yet, lock your door. get up, and put some clothes on. and dave, do you parade around when your children have sleepovers?

This article could only run in the United States.

In the US, society censors nudity. In Europe they censor violence.

Perhaps that explains why there's a lot of articles like this one, and very few about decades of war-mongering Presidents whose lust for power and manhood has more to do with sex than a passing naked parent ever could.

Why even bother to have a word for "nudity" and another for "sexuality", when nudity is inherently sexual to an American?

The teen pregnancy rate in the US is the highest in the developed world, and a teenager here is nine times more likely to get pregnant than a teenager in The Netherlands, a country very open about bodies and sexuality. And we think we know something that they don't?

Some of the comments here think all nudity = sex. Drop it. That attitude creates the problems. It doesn't matter what sex anyone is in this story.

If you assume that a male step-parent is likely to assault a 6-year-old girl because of what she's not wearing, you need to see a psychologist, or at least stop foisting your own salacious weakness onto others.

This brings back really bad former stepfather memories. He should have known better: He was a Psychotherapist!

Please, please, please, especially with opposite sex steps or parent's boyfriends/girlfriends, for everyone's sake please keep covered. Just because the child doesn't say anything doesn't mean that they are comfortable with your state of undress. You can communicate positive feelings about the human body by the way you care for yourself and the way you encourage a child to care for her or himself. It doesn't take exposing skin to do that!

Just because you are comfortable with nudity, and you feel like you have raised the child to be comfortable with nudity doesn't mean the children aren't exposed to sexual mores throughout our society!

I'm with Hillary. Who can sleep with clothes on? It's not a morality issue; it's a comfort issue. If you can't be comfortable enough to sleep - in your own bed - then what are you entitled to? As for the six-year-old, I'm assuming he has at least one hand and several fingers. Hillary, point his knuckles, and demonstrate the KNOCK. Until he learns to knock on the bedroom door, he is a risk of seeing things potentially far more inappropriate than nudity. And you can model the behavior by knocking before entering his room too. Still sleeping nude. Adult children unscarred.

Very well said Merillisa..... common sense dictates that clothing should be worn. Modesty is still in vogue for most of America. And poster Dave, PLEASE KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON AROUND YOUR 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. Or would someone please call Social Services!

This reminds me of a Letter to an advice therapist which I forwarded to a prominent Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in our USA. It was not just about nudity. The letter was from a new step dad whose new wife and son were, let's say, close.

My correspondent wrote to me that in her many years of prominent practice in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, here, it is her observation that some children a happy about sexual experiences and that some others are traumatized.

I would really love to hear YOUR thoughts about this.

Those advocating body-shame should think long and hard about the effect those attitudes have on children and young people. Teenage pregnancy rate, abortion rate, sexually transmitted infection rates, age at first intercourse, contraception, condom use, the list goes on and on. Try comparing the most prudish western countries, for example the USA, with the most liberal western countries, for example Denmark and The Netherlands. The differences are absolutely enormous and the reasons are well understood. Attitudes matter but there is incredible prejudice against facing up to the implications.

I will just give one figure. A teenager in the USA is over seventy times more likely to catch gonorrhoea than a teenager in the most progressive western countries. Prudery is little better than child abuse with good intentions.

I second Comment #19. Those of you advocating body shame risk inflicting *terrible* psychological harm upon children. I know, because it took me *years* to overcome the damage that I suffered.

I went through puberty *terrified* of the physical changes that I was going through. Strange things were happening to parts of my body that I had already been taught to be VERY ashamed of. Group showering in high school was made needlessly traumatic to me because of this inculcation of shame.

If there is anyone reading this who saved Playboy magazines from 1977 and 1978, look for a letter to the editor signed [name withheld by request], Dallas, Texas.

I'm the one who wrote it.

you could try actually asking the children what they want, and think about being naked or in the presence of naked adults. Then listen carefully.

These attitudes... I've never been so embarrassed to be an American.

Kudos to #13 and #19.

Nudity does not HAVE to equal sexuality, of course. And yet we all know that sexuality and nudity often, and very naturally, go together. To assume that children are not sexual beings, and do not have sexual impulses and feelings that can be triggered when being exposed to adult sex organs, is just ignorant. Also, to deny the power imbalance a grown adult has over a child is likewise ignorant and insensitive. Children ARE sexual beings and can have sexual feelings and can become stimulated when exposed to naked bodies, just like adults do. They can also feel confused and frightened, because kids are not just cute little miniature adults….they are little children with only a child’s developmental ability to process their experiences…and therefore all those edgy feelings get jumbled together into a very confusing mix made all the more so when triggered by exposure to an adult or parent they must rely on and trust. Are we all so narcissistic these days that we have no common sense anymore? What makes us think our kids want or need to see our genitals, anyway? And what is with the ‘all or nothing’ thought process? I’m so sick of this ridiculous idea that Europe somehow has all the answers to societies woes. Is there no ability to see a middle ground or use critical thinking skills anymore? Parents that aren't completely freaked about nudity or sexuality, can STILL show the decency, respect, and good boundaries to cover up when possible around children especially with opposite-sex gender, with those kids going into puberty or teens, AND for gods sake keep your clothes on around kids who are NOT your biological offspring. This is simply using common sense and teaching children about decent boundaries and having respect for themselves and others. Geeze.

Question: I was trying to find info online about my situation and this interaction here is what came up.
My son is now 18, approximately 4 years ago his older brother turned 18, which by the math made by son almost 14. Anyway, his stepmother had naked pictures of herself taken for her husband. She then decided she needed to show these pictures to the boys. They were naked, but more than that, they were sexual in nature, the poses and different "props". Now that I know this (it was just brought to my attention a week ago or so), I dont know what to do. She has never had children of her own, so thats part of the problem (I think?), but they are raising my son's cousin (a 12 year old). Any thoughts?

Hi, Pauline. I'm not an expert, but I have to say that I don't think it's OK for any adult to show sexual pictures to a minor (there's a difference between nudity and sexuality). Not having children of her own isn't the issue -- what she did was completely inappropriate, and her husband (your ex? Your kids' father?) should have intervened. -- LMA