How do you feel about nudity in your comic?

[Inspector_Spinda]

If you see what I said in the rest of the post. I said I'm fine with it as long as it has a point. Not here to read porn comics. I think sexualizing your own characters is disrespecting your audience and the character because it shows you're not really trying to tell a story. That is IF it is nudity without purpose.

What I'm talking about is manga level fanservice

[vothnthorvaldson]

But nudity =/= sex.

Then you have a problem with unwanted sexualization of the characters, not with nudity?

[Lucca_Vendramel]

I'd rather not show any private parts in my comic. It's not really what it is about. Plus, it's made for children.

[Inspector_Spinda]

yes exactly. and yeah nudity isn't sex

[Inspector_Spinda]

well there's that x'D got to play to the audience. dont corrupt them (not unless it's a beach scene)

[IdiotWithPencil]

as an avid manga reader I just roll my eyes and continue the story, as long as it isin't too on the nose or takes away from the actual comic I couldn't care less

[lwflouisa]

Well there is a thing called artistic nudity which doesn't imply anything inherently in that direction.

[N1ghtm4r3]

me i don;t care as long as it works with the story you make

[Cavechan]

Disregarding the Apple censorship brigade, what I've found when comics get censored by a publisher or whoever, it's because they don't see comics as art. They just see it as a product so if the product has something "indecent" or has the possibility of causing concern by parents or whoever, they decide to err on the side of caution and just censor it.

But how on Earth is showing nudity 'flashing' the reader? Why is that one should be shocked by seeing a naked body?

I think it's more so to be NSFW. I know I've scrolled Facebook at work and suddenly something super sexy will pop up and I have to scroll by quickly!! lol

As for the topic in general, I have no problem with nudity in my comics. I love breasts. I love to draw breasts and hips. So I put them in my comics. The female body is beautiful and something I enjoy drawing (well, male bodies are beautiful too but..... ......more difficult to draw........). Also in my True Power comic, the alien race doesn't mind at all walking around with their tits/chests out so that just naturally happens sometimes.

But also, I have been making the "NSFW" pages of my comic Patreon-only. So because it's "exclusive" most pages on Tapas/WT are SFW. ^^

I also use creative shadows to hide those special areas when needed.

I don't think I've ever put nudity in the comics for non-story purposes or pointless fanservice. There's always a reason why.

[vothnthorvaldson]

But it's if 'sexy', then it's more leaning toward sex that simple nudity, no? And if it's not sexy, then under what criteria is nudity considered indecent? Why? That's what I don't get.

I kind of understand the idea of SFW/NSFW, although it is something pretty new to me (in my country of origin - France - it does not exist that strongly at all; there are things not appropriate for work for sure, but it's kind of let to the appreciation of each person, with a huge variation depending on work context).
It was very difficult for me to adapt in Canada on that aspect, and I still don't understand fully how it works. Do people in NA get in trouble for watching museum collections with nudity at work, for example? Or, is it linked to what you say about comics not being perceive as art, and nudity is ok in art, but not in entertainment?
It's all so puzzling to me.

[UrMom]

I see the human body through an artsy-fartsy lens and I've done plenty of nude studies, so it doesn't bother me. My comic has some uncensored nudity as well, some of it full frontal and some from the back or partial. It's never meant to be seen as sexual, but rather unfortunate or as a sign of vulnerability, although there are people who automatically see any nudity as pornographic... soooo yeah.

If you do intend to bring in as many readers as possible I can see how you might be second guessing yourself. There are people who are absolutely appalled at the sight of breasts, or any other body part typically seen as sexual, and may not even consider your comic due to that. Personally I'm totally for anti-censorship, but it would be good to think about if that bit is absolutely important, or what having your character show skin would add to the scene. I've imagined what kind of reception my comic would get if it was more PG-13, but censoring those scenes would feel out of place given the whole story is meant to be open and uncomfortable.

[Shanny8]

I dont have an issue with nudity in my comic- but only if my story calls for it. I just dont draw it gratuitously if my story doesnt call for it.

Now me drawing some smaller self contained story or nude/cheesecake projects to the side? Sure...

[gmaximin]

I do have a problem with nudity in my comics, which is that I really can't understand nor control people's reactions to it. Especially reactions from people with cultural background very different from mine...
That really bother me because I do like to shock in order to get a certain reaction out of readers, but never based on nudity (which I never found shocking myself).
I plan some sequence with the idea to shock around some concepts, sometime in situation where it wouldn't make sense for characters not to be naked. Unfortunately, I noticed that the nudity just interfere with the message, and some readers overreact (from my perspective) on the nudity and completely overlook the rest. So it end up being a creative fail...
It's very frustrating, and not so easy to deal with. Oddly placed shadows, tree leaves and so on can similarly distract; and giving up on nudity sounds... unnatural.

[AilyneGouveia]

I'm fine with it, it's part of the story. I mean, one of the recurrent places is a cabaret and there are burlesque dancers.

But for now i tried to avoid drawing totally topless, or to show it from a front view. Guess i'm still to shy to draw it ^.^ (Also, you need to be a really goodat art to made it look acurate ! Anatomy is hard and without clothes you can't hide mistakes).

Also, there is always a way to hide somes parts. But like i said, it wouldn't bother me if it's part of the story, it's normal.

And naturaly, put a rating on it ! Nudity isn't meant for kids.

[forg]

Context is key when it comes to nudity. I think someone else mentioned earlier but depending on whether is sexual or not, you will need to think whether it's worth warning or giving a heads up about.

Otherwise, I think censoring a human figure for simply existing is very dangerous. It teaches the message that the body is inherently dirty or sexual. I could talk way more about this and how the 'think of the children!' argument is pretty BS but I would make a wall of text lmao.

[sushy00]

Most important is that it has a function in the story, if it doesn't, it just feels like the creator added the nudity scene for the sake of fan service or something. You could also "suggest" they're nude by not showing everything in the panel.

[NickRowler]

But how on Earth is showing nudity 'flashing' the reader? Why is that one should be shocked by seeing a naked body?

I think there are some creators who use nudity to shock people or to seem more edgy. However they run the risk of people who are not shocked by this stuff just finding their work not funny and desperate.

I don't find shock humor funny so when someone brought me to Rocky Horror, I mostly found it cringy, annoying, and unfunny.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I don't like shock humour either (unless it elicits a deeper understanding, questionning etc).

But I don't get how nudity can shock. I mean non-sexual nudity. Obviously, some sexual nudity coming out of nowhere may be shocking, even for me, and can be embarassing in public etc. That I get.

But just a naked body?
I mean, I understand cultural differences. I'm familiar with countries going from 'non-sexual nudity is entirely ok' to 'huge fines if not prison time for selling nude illustrations'. But I don't get why it is not more challenged, especially in countries that are generally more progressive on other questions.
Why is the general public seeing nudity as something either dirty or necessarily linked to sex? And in most cases, people can drop that idea when it comes to medical treatment. But that's all. It's very difficult for me to understand.
But thank you for your explanation. I'll understand little by little

[MK_Wizard]

I use it usually for comedy's sake as I am not comfortable with resorting to fanservice to get readers. To me, it's hard to be serious when you're naked so I play it the way I see it: for laughs

Plus, I never show the nudity. It's always censored somehow or the farthest I go is putting people in their underwear in the most ridiculous way. Like I said, it's hard to be serious when you're naked. I do this because I am a shy person.

[Cavechan]

But it's if 'sexy', then it's more leaning toward sex that simple nudity, no? And if it's not sexy, then under what criteria is nudity considered indecent? Why? That's what I don't get.

Yeah, that is a good question. I think with comics though we do at least get context of the situation the character is in. If I have a drawing of a character where they are wearing revealing clothes, then it could be seen as more sexy than natural. Meanwhile, if I have that same character and other characters are indifferent to what the character is wearing, then it would be seen as being more natural than sexy.

I would just go with the assumption that any nudity is NSFW, unless someone works in a really cool place where everyone is cool with it and it's more normalized. But even if it were an artistic photo or illustration of nudity, I'd still scroll quickly by it. ^^;

I'm surprised by people saying that they show their characters nude as a way to show they are vulnerable. The way I show nudity is actually the opposite.