In Reply to: I will be more explicit posted by Rex on Wednesday, 2. March 2005 at 11:36 Bali Time:
I read with interest your follow-up post to your original one. What you report is obviously pertinent and interesting, and indicates, to me at least, that you are a good observer of people. But I am afraid that you are not talking about "nude bathing" in the sense that we Westerners understand it, and you are not correct, from a Balinese point of view, in stating that
"Nude is nude, whether a person is swimming, bathing, getting the dirt and sweat off, or simply cooling off."
And I still stand by my statement
"Swimming nude is insulting to the Balinese people, who are very prudish when it comes to appearing naked in public places."
Bathing in Bali, a human necessity, is, like so many things there, also a ritual. People in the village greet you at the end of the day either b a "Selamat sore," but more often by "Sudah mandi?" (already bathed?). When I first lived in Bali, when one late afternoon a bunch of Balinese youths from the village stopped by at my place, on their way to the river to bath, and invited me to join them, I knew that I had "arrived" in their opinion. Although I am not a practitioner of nude bathing, I am certainly not a prude, and I had to adapt pretty fast to the situation (I absolutely could not have refused the invitation). At the river, I quickly understood the rules.
As you could imagine, of course the girls' area was "segregated" from the boys' (which is not the case in the West nude beaches, or othe rplaces where nudity is practiced). Although the Balinese boys, like all boys around the world, are rather "curious" about girls, once at the river, there seemed to be a sexual "cease fire:" one just did not look toward the girls' area. Even among us men, I noticed right away that when walking in or out of the water, or approaching another person, one would cover his private parts with ones' hand. This was my first experience with public bathing in Bali, which was repeated countless times in different parts of Bali, among different social groups, with the same scenario.
Privacy in Bali is almost inexistent (which makes life for us westerners somewhat difficult at times). Balinese have adapted to this situation (they had too) by insulating themselves in their private "mental corners," in the midst of their hectic and populous living quarters. It extends to the river, where they see (unconsciously) themselves like in a "bubble," which isolate them from the rest of the world.
I appreciate your observations, but I would say that you did not see the different situations you are relating from the point of view of a Balinese. . Regarding the two people swimming in the nude at your hotel, you certainly do not know what the Balinese management or the staff was thinking. Balinese are notorious for not confronting each other, even in embarrassing situations, and certainly not their guests (tourists). Believe me, even though one may have shocked a Balinese, even insulted him/her, it would take a long time if one were to continue in doing so, for he/she to react in a manner that you or me would react, given our upbringing. I may add that being in a hotel, a place of business, where the "customer is always right," is especially true in Bali.
I have been in Bali since 1984, and from 1990 until recently, I have spent more than half of my life there, among Balinese from all walks of life. I am not an authority on Bali and Balinese, but let's say that after some eight years living there, I think I can talk about Bali with a modicum of authority :~))