Is the Internet Killing the Nude Beach?

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To Lily Simpson, a 30-year-old from London who moved to Copenhagen about two years ago, the Danes have a refreshingly relaxed attitude toward nudity. People don’t generally bother hiding under a towel while changing into their swimwear. And there are no laws prohibiting public nudity in Denmark, so it’s normal to see topless women sunbathing along the harbor that runs through the city or people skinny-dipping at the beach. But to Claus Jacobsen, a 36-year-old who grew up in a suburb of Copenhagen, the Danes’ comfort with nudity is a far cry from what it used to be. association ( is another term for nudist) told me that he was less convinced that the rate of nude bathing is universally declining—he senses that it is increasing among older Danes—but agreed that younger generations seem much less interested in nude bathing, and in other nude activities, for that matter.