Nudity. Casual or otherwise

[Menbung]

Yup, please do not censor yourself, draw what you like and how you like it, don't change things in order to please others.

My opinions on nudity in comics or art in general: I love it =] , I enjoy some casual bath scenes out of nowhere, peeps changing clothes, the usual "oops you were in the bathroom naked and I walked in", fan service in general, etc.

I don't mind if it oversexualized or not, coz in the end everyone is free to draw what they like.

Go for it, clothes are optional, no? >=D

Whatever you do, it doesn't matter what, there'll be peeps out there who ain't gonna like it, some of them may even hate it... so might as well do what you want, in the end you'll be happier and I'm pretty sure that's the way peeps are gonna like it.

[williamjbowles]

It really depends on a number of factors.
I'd say if it's just butts, it's not such a big deal. Is the nudity emphasized or detailed, or is it just kind of barely there? Also, it seems that for whatever reason, male nudity seems to be less 'mature' than female nudity.
I don't know the nature of your comic, but is the nudity important to the story/scene? If it doesn't add anything, keep in mind that different people have different tastes in things, and nude scenes may limit your comic from reaching some audiences (namely younger viewers, but it depends on how 'mature' the scenes are).

Tell your story the way you feel it should be told, but if the NFSW scenes don't add anything to the comic, you may want to consider toning it down in order to reach a broader audience. Don't bend over backwards just to try to please everyone, of course (pro tip: it is literally impossible to please everyone), but just consider things from multiple directions and do what you think would be best for your story.

[DragonPena]

Guys could you check my comic Pulta

obviously there's some nudity BUT is a spirit and its hair always covers its privates, I don't think I have even drawn its butt lol.

I made the hair super big so it would conveniently censor everything NSFWish.. So should I still put it under NSFW ..? I wouldn't show it to a kid or my mom, so I guess it's NSFW according to tapastic's guidelines.

[nocuddletime]

People sit around in nothing or next to nothing all the time (even when doing mundane things). If you think your characters would be nude in a scene you're writing for them then make them nude.

[allenthomas]

Nudity for me isn't that much of an issue. Hell I had nude posers for an art class in college. As long as its in context and it isn't extremely sexual, it shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes the use of nudity is too much and other times people just need to be mature enough to look at the human anatomy without freaking out.

[Diabolo]

I found out with my comics that very casual and natural nudity (ie in my case, the portrayal of a fat middle-aged naked lady) is far more disturbing than "sensual" nudity and fan-service, which is kind of a usual thing to see (in films, shows, and even to a certain extent on... ads.)

I will never cease to draw naked people if it has a purpose in my comic.

I've read messages stating what should automaticlally be put into the NSFW category, as if it was an objective thing. I do believe however that it varies from culture to culture. In France, for instance, you can have a baby's butt (and a baby's penis) on TV without a problem. It's like... a BABY's one, it doesn't matter. But I saw babies' butts blurred on american's ads and programs.
As for swear words, no swear word whatsoever would require a censor beep on TV in France - and so no NSFW warning. So it's hard for a French person to realize they might need to flag a page when translating a "putain" into the F-word.
I know the thread is not initially about NSFW, but it sometimes is tricky to decide when to put someting in this category and when not - including for nudity.

NSFW seems like a way to protect people from unwanted, troubling aspects of a comic (including violence & sex). However, it unnerves me to put ordinary nudity into this category ; because sometimes it's not shocking, it souldn't be seen as shocking, it's just normal, it's just someone who happens to be naked, a boob showing from breast feeding or whatever, and it feels that putting them under a NSFW alert is like flagging this nudity as shaming or offending. Which is not.

[scythe]

The men in my comic have dicks. Likewise, the women have tits. As such, if it makes sense that they'd be naked in any particular scene, there's a good chance you'll see one or more of these 'offending' body parts, and you sure as shit won't be getting any warnings.

I mean, if you're not making hentai, or showing some really extreme gore, I see little reason to warn people about your content. Also, never censor your art.

[nocuddletime]

Some of the girls in my comic have dicks too. That's reality.

[ArtistHan]

I don't mind nudity. I think some people might find it distracting, but personally, I tend to see past the nudity and see what it's being used for. If there's no point or symbolism or action behind the nudity, and it's just a bunch of naked people wandering around, then I would oppose it. But if it has a point or if the art is simply beautiful and shows good skill in figure studies, then sure!

[keii4ii]

I don't think nudity is bad, even if its sole purpose is blatant titillation. That might not be the type of a comic I personally want to read, but I wouldn't call it shameful or offensive just because it has sexualized nudity.

But that doesn't mean I'm against nudity warnings.

First of all, it's about respecting different people in different situations. "You don't wanna see nudity? Tough shit. I suppose you put on a blindfold every time you take a shower?" I've seen that kind of attitude even here on Tapastic, and I find that very disrespectful. Many people live in a culture where you get stigmatized for looking at ANY sort of nudity. Sure, it would be wonderful and brave of them to fight against irrational stigmas, but I wouldn't force my readers to fight that fight.

There was a point in time where I had zero internet privacy for months. All my possessions, including my computer, were out in the living room in a 9-people household, including one 6-year-old and her mom. If I were to be in that situation again, I would not be able to view scenes that contain nudity. And if a bunch of comics decided to go "screw nudity-phobes, no NSFW warnings for you," I would have to avoid Tapastic altogether. That would make me feel highly UN-valued as a reader.

Is that a rare, extreme situation? Maybe. But there are countless other situations (some of which are quite common) that make it difficult to view nudity.

Second of all, it's my understanding that Tapastic has to abide by iTunes content policy in order to keep the app in the app store. As a member, I ought do my part in following that policy.

And lastly,

you may want to consider toning it down in order to reach a broader audience. Don't bend over backwards just to try to please everyone, of course (pro tip: it is literally impossible to please everyone), but just consider things from multiple directions and do what you think would be best for your story.

This is a really good advice. Figure out whether the inclusion of nudity helps your project get closer to the goal(s) of your comic. Is it pure self expression? Or are you trying to target a specific demographic, or trying to go pro, etc.? There are all sorts of different goals, and they're all different with regards to what works best.

[sundanceann]

My rule is that if you're seeing anything under a bathing suit, it should be marked NSFW. I feel that's more of a common courtesy for those that don't want to see that (even if what you're showing is done in a respectful manner). I keep my NSFW off, so I see everything regardless, but there are those who don't want to see nudity and those who would like to be warned beforehand. Most fans will click anyways, but it's giving your reader a choice.

[AnnaLandin]

This is very much a cultural thing.

I'm Swedish. I was born in the 80s. I remember a LOT of tv-shows growing up that had not only partial but full frontal nudity for both genders. And I'm not talking about me accidentally watching late-night adult shows - I mean it was there in children's shows. Naked people all over the place, of all ages and body shapes. It was normal. There are less of them around now, but Sweden hasn't really, historically, had an issue with depicting nudity in pop culture.

So I'm fine with naked people. We're all naked under our clothes, and sometimes we take those clothes off; it's weird to pretend otherwise. Bathing, showering, changing clothes, being too lazy to put on your pants and just wandering around in your underwear/pjs all day - it happens. Casual nudity is a thing we all do in our daily lives, so why should it be excluded from our comics?

I'm even fine with mild/implied sex scenes (the fade-to-black is a very good technique to use, unless you are intentionally doing an erotic comic - and even then, implied stuff can end up being sexier to your readers than drawing every sticky detail) - but I do start raising eyebrows when the sex becomes explicit - unless the story is advertised as erotic/adult - or when even the casual nudity gets a sexualised, voyeuristic tone. For example; someone taking their clothes off can be drawn/written as just someone taking their clothes off - or it can be written as an intentionally sexualised striptease. I prefer the former, because the latter doesn't really give me any more depth to the story. Forced fanservice, for example, is SO not my thing - be it panty shots of the proverbial camera panning over someone's naked body just for the sake of showing a naked body. It feels exploitative and weirdly out of place.

So yeah - as long as the nudity has a point (either to the plot of the character), I say go for it.

[Jelw]

I don't feel like non sexual nudity warrants a series being flagged NSFW as a whole, but I do think individual pages should be marked
As for the actual question, I don't feel censoring is necessary. The people who don't like nudity will probably be turned off from it non-censored or not, and people who like it might end up turned off (that is to say uninterested but haha) by censoring.

[studiomik]

In a world where we are more used to guns, fights and violence. I say use all the nudity you want. (if it's done respectfull and helping the story of course) Makes us human after all, doesn't it?

[JigokuNeko]

Personally I find the human body beautiful and nude art can be gorgeous. I especially love b&w photography. There is a lot one can say about a character with nudity; it can convey vulnerability, personal comfort, the willingness to divulge one's deeper self and yes, even expression of sexuality. When used right it is an important element of visual storytelling.

That said, I detest the constant, rabid fanservice of getting boobs and butts and cameltoes shoved into my face every other panel in stories that are billed "mainstream". I find that sort of softcore porn extremely silly and often misogynist (because let's face it, the bulk of fanservice is nubile, young girls used as wankfest props). This kind of nudity adds nothing to the story and though it has a pretty clear demographic it often alienates a large portion of would-be readers. I know I stop reading when the female characters are only there to show their T&A.

In my own work I've used non-explicit nudity for comic purposes and chosen the "fade to black" for sex even though I have no problem drawing erotica. I suppose this counts as a little bit of self-censoring and I admit I do this for the readers. Not everyone's circumstances allow them to view nudity (even cartoon nudity) with equilibrium. From someone walking in on them to their own beliefs; I try to compromise between them and my story. I've seen creators balk at modifying their stuff even a tiny bit and always found it a kind of arrogant attitude. In my mind, it's not me telling a story, it's me telling a story to other people. Some of them have different sensibilities and I find it makes me a better storyteller to be cognizant of that. And in the end, is it super duper important and absolutely necessary to show someone in their b-day suit in this particular scene? If the answer is yes, then okay. If it wouldn't matter if they just wore a towel then the towel it is.

[scythe]

There are a couple of things that are often overlooked in these discussions which is how essential it is to establish your story's genre, and how foreshadowing early on can inform readers of what kind of story they're getting themselves in to.

If your'e writing a kid-focused comic, most people would find tits and ass suddenly appearing in your story as rather inappropriate.

It's so important for creator to set the tone of their stories very early on, so as not to turn their readers off later down the track.

Imagine you go to see what has been billed a romantic comedy, but then all of a sudden, a masked psycho bursts out of the closet and hacks up the couple with an ax. Viewers would be shocked, horrified, and rightly pissed off. A lot of them would probably walk out of the cinema. Back to comics, you'd probably lose all of your subscribers.

Obviously I'm not talking about twists and other unexpected plot turns here, but rather, if your readers are genuinely surprised (or shocked) to see things like violence, gore, nudity or sex in your comic, then you probably haven't done a good enough job of establishing the genre, or foreshadowing future events.

TL;DR, let your readers know from the get-go what kind of story you're telling, so they won't be unpleasantly surprised when the story takes a more 'adventurous' turn.

[UzukiCheverie]

Personally I find the human body beautiful and nude art can be gorgeous. I especially love b&w photography. There is a lot one can say about a character with nudity; it can convey vulnerability, personal comfort, the willingness to divulge one's deeper self and yes, even expression of sexuality. When used right it is an important element of visual storytelling.

But not all cultures and people see it that way, whether they just don't or choose not to.

It's not an issue of "nudity should be a beautiful expression of the human form!" it's just "respect the general consensus of all ages and don't try and shove stuff that could be considered inappropriate, even if you find it artistic, into other people's faces."

This isn't aimed at just you specifically though, I see this happen everywhere - "well I'm not gonna mark it NSFW because I believe nudity is an art form!" Yeah, well, it's not about what you think. It's about what kind of respect you have for your readers, of all ages and cultures. For all you know, there could be 10 year olds finding your comic. Do you think they - or their parents - would appreciate coming across a page that's not marked NSFW when it probably should be for full frontal nudity?

I don't see anything "beautiful" about the nude form. Not saying I sexualize it either. I just find it is what it is - a naked body. I can get why others do, and why in certain situations, it can convey the mood of your story, but I, personally, couldn't care less how artistic or beautiful it is. I actually find violent scenes with lots of fighting and anger a lot more expressive than the naked or even sexual ones. Am I a bad person or completely wrong for saying that? Probably. But that's my opinion. Am I going to let my opinion sway what I decide should be filtered out for my readers? No. I've had kids and young teenagers read Time Gate before. I am friends with some of these teenagers, some people I just got really along with, others family members. I've met middle school kids on the side of the street tell me they read Uzuki and Time Gate, both of which have had their NSFW moments, from touchy content to people getting their heads ripped off! I love those scenes for their moments, but I'm not going to let my objective views on nudity, sex, violence, etc. sway what I show my readers. It will still be there - but they will have to make the decision whether they want to see it or not.

NSFW gives readers a choice. It is not "cutting the reader off" or censoring your work. And that, to me, is a lot better than just deciding "nah it'll be fine people need to know this content is okay to me". You won't lose any readers that way, either. I don't put my art and content on such a high pedestal as to disrespect my younger or more sensitive readers by showing them stuff they would probably rather have a choice in seeing, stuff that I thought was fine because "NO i don't want to censor my art, you can't make me!!"

And in the end, you need to do it with a respect for Tapastic as well. In the end, these are the guys keeping us here and helping us grow. As someone pointed out already, they really encourage people use NSFW whenever it's possible and appropriate, because if they don't, their iOS app which they worked so hard to achieve could be booted by breaking Apple's hosting rules, and with that gone, Tapastic would be taking a HUGE an UNNECESSARY step backwards.

It's not about your opinions. It's about respect for everyone and giving them the choice they should be allowed to have, no matter how "artistic" and "beautiful" a mood you're trying to convey and feel that nudity/violence/whatever contributes to that. Their feelings should come after they've read those pages - after they've chosen to.

[JigokuNeko]

You must have found my post TL;DR because I clearly say at the end that I actually do self-censor out of respect for the readers' sensibilities. And I did that on every platform I ever posted, even those without NSFW guidelines. And yes, while I am on Tapastic any non-PG pages will be marked NSFW because it is common courtesy to follow the host's rules. Do I personally find it puritan? Yes, that is what my quote referred to. Do I find it constrains my "artistic vision"? Nope, I am not so arrogant to think a few tweaks and toning downs will be the "fatal flaws" that will ruin my "masterpiece" as I have heard people bemoan. (More often with regards to the so-called "politcal correctness" issue but sex gets thrown in there often enough.)
Plus, the OP specifically did not ask about the NSFW filter, s/he asked about personal opinions concerning nudity in a story. I understand that the filter has people up in arms and things get heated sometimes but please don't quote me out of context.

[UzukiCheverie]

Yeah, and like I said, I wasn't talking about you specifically, I just so happened to want to quote that part specifically Nothing personal at all, not trying to take anything out of context. We're cool lol

[thecokers]

I think you should do what you feel is right, and what makes you happy with your story. One of the great things about publishing an independent comic is that you're not beholden to anyone, even your audience.