Just finally read through this particular long forum and it is so thoughtful. As a newer member from California, I offer a few thoughts and observations:
Having lived awhile and via a childhood in the U.S. that had a different, more puritan culture, today is vastly different from those days. I think nudity is now non-controversial for newer generations here. It is basically legal nearly everywhere, with the usual restrictions that you do not engage in lewd acts where anyone could see you. There are free beaches everywhere, some official and some just word of mouth. The 'top free' and "free the nipple" movements are gaining a lot of ground (from which maybe the naturalist world could learn some lessons). People are posting nude pictures of themselves carelessly and everywhere in social media. In short, I think we're getting close to universal acceptance of nudity in the U.S. but that doesn't mean one goes about naked everywhere on a whim
The second observation is that, due to the death of real journalism in the U.S., the so-called "news" media now report on what shows up in social media, as surrogate for real objective old fashioned reporting and news. There's just one problem: social media is a vast garbage dump. Do not concern yourselves unduly with anything excreted from social media!
On a personal note, I've gone from being fearful and of being "caught out" naked in my younger years, worrying about damaging my reputation etc., to now, I don't much care what anyone thinks of me simply because I enjoy backyard and landed club nudism. I believe, along with that, that nobody would think badly of me anyway, except maybe a shrinking minority of puritans.
As a serious Christian, and I'm registered on the christian naturalist site, there is nothing in the Bible that defines nakedness as a sin.
One further comment for clarification: my intention here is not to defend the U.S., its social media, attitudes etc. I think the U.S. is undergoing a major cultural change which has been underway since, maybe, the Vietnam protest days. We no longer have a generally accepted set of ethical and moral standards, which we once had as a nation. To avoid drifting into the odious world of politics, I won't add any more to that theme!
All that being said, naturalism may benefit in that it likely is or soon will be no longer under attack, sanctioned, or criticized. As with any issue and any culture, there will always be an authoritarian fringe who won't fit into my optimistic outlook for naturalism, however!
Is there not a danger that the anything goes attitude towards nudity on social media actually creates an increased negativity towards the idea that naturism can be innocent and non-sexual? The world may be becoming more used to people posting naked images of themselves, but as these images are often sexual and posted to attract attention and funding are we not seeing a growth in the acceptance and sharing of porn rather than the acceptance of the human body in a harmless way.
Recently for example an image of myself, sitting with my back to the camera looking out to see was removed from social media because my two sons were sitting next to me and it broke the rules of social media because you could see their naked backs (nothing else at all). The attitude towards nudity is so sexualised in the rules and philosophy that a child's back is now seen as something that should be censored.
Is this partly because social media simply cannot accept nudity of a non-sexual level or is it because social media also knows that a lot of underage people are sharing nude and highly sexualised images and there is a great fear that if they do not 100% distance themselves from such behaviour they will at some point be dragged for the coals over it.
I think that we are seeing a shift towards it becoming more and more acceptable for people to sexually share on the internet and that is making society actually view nudity with a greater mistrust. They may not be offended but they certainly don't see it as non-sexual, non-voyeuristic and non-exhibitionist. It is rather like the whole of the internet needs to be served from under the counter in a brown paper bag.
Could it be that some people feel that the only way to deal with nudity on the internet is to have a prohibition on it, like alcohol this time 100 years ago. Which in itself drove people underground and didn't stop drinking but led to other legal issues and concerns? Is the blanket banning of nudity on sites like Facebook a sign of that idea of prohibition? Such attitudes do not differentiate between sexual nudity and naturism, but simply sees all nudity as dangerous and destructive. Allowing some people to believe there is a right to protest against naturism and argue that it is not right for society as a whole.
