As related in the video, in earlier years when men and boys went swimming they always swam in swimming holes and lakes without suits. Swim suits were regarded as an unnecessary expense. Then when the suits did become affordable they were only worn to protect the sensibilities of any females who might happened by. When indoor pools opened up males and females swam separately, so there was no need for males to wear a suit---females did wear swimming suits only because of the perceived female propriety. The video also say that the nude male body symbolized youth and vigor, and was therefore acceptable. Aside from this, the early wool swimsuits were deemed unhealthy because they harbored bacteria that could spread deadly diseases. Because of this threat, in the mid 1920's the American Public Health Association published guidelines for swimming pool management that recommended that males swim nude, although it recommended that women wear unadorned and undyed tank suits. Having to wear swimming suits wasn't seen as much of problem to women because very few of them swam. In any case, the practice of males swimming naked was well established in the American mind. In 1947 the American Public Health Association came out with the strong recommendation that males swim nude, and that women, if they wished could also swim nude if they wished, although all swimming was to be segregated. The video goes on to point out that in 1960 Walt Disney Studios came out with the movie Pollyanna, which has a scene in which fully naked boys are pictured going into the water. So even up to this point males swimming naked was quite acceptable.
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