[removed]

A lot of states were first founded by religious people. So it probably has to do with it being blue laws.

This explains it best: The USA is not the land of the free. That's just something Americans are made to believe in order to keep them productive without complaining.

All of these laws are held at the state level, so there are 50+ different answers to this question. The easiest answer is that these laws vary widely from state to state.

If you are looking for consistency or even self awareness from Florida, you’re going to be disappointed.

The US has always had a strong puritanical streak. Part of it is that when Europeans migrated to America, many of the people who decided to make the trip were various religious sects which were just a bit too extreme and too weird to be accepted at home. And they brought along some strong ideas about what you weren't allowed to do. The prohibition laws were spearheaded by such religious groups, for example.

This all got a boost in the 50's with McCarthyism and the Cold War. America felt it was in a competition to prove its way of life superior, and so it had to become as anti-communist as possible. Whatever they did, we had to do the opposite*. Communists were opposed to religion, so America embraced religion, and became far more religious than it was a few decades earlier. And this, naturally, gave more power to the religious groups who were still around, and who still didn't approve of nudity or books with bad words in them.

Of course there's more to it than that, but America has always been quite prudish and puritanical.

[deleted]

[removed]

How cheeky are we talking about? A picture is worth a thousand words.

[removed]

Op should travel to Asian countries, where the 60"s sexual revolution never took over. Nudity is only embraced in a handful of European countries, and tolerated only in touristic locations acrossed other parts of the world.

Religious groups are a large but shrinking voting block in America they donate to campaigns and vote, so some politician pander to their wishes to get the money and votes.

Please read this entire message

Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):

Loaded questions are not allowed on ELI5. A loaded question is one that posits a specific view of reality and asks for explanations that confirm it. A loaded question, by definition, presumes that something must be true in order for the question to stand.

If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the detailed rules first. If you believe this submission was removed erroneously, please use this form and we will review your submission.

If you're not local to SC, I can speak a little more about the larger context. I spent a lot of time in MB in the 80s and early 90s. Our parents would literally just tell us to be back by lunch or dinner and we were free to roam the beach or the strip. We always felt safe, and you would constantly run into people you knew. Sure, locals knew to avoid the OD around bike week, black bike week, and senior week but overall it was a very family friendly experience.

Things changed in the 2000s. Black bike week was exploding in popularity. (BTW, don't come at me about "black bike week". This is the name that locals both black and white have called the event for decades). Atlantic Beach, it's traditional home, could no longer contain the event and the focus of the event shifted to Myrtle. For a few years, things went off the rails. Shootings and stabbings downtown, high levels of property crime, etc. Harley Week was little better. It seemed like Harley Week turned into Harley Month, and good luck trying to move anywhere between 17bypass and the water. During both bike weeks, seeing women twerking in thongs, flashing, or even couples performing sexual acts on public was not unusual. This was not casual toplessness like you might find on a beach in Europe. This was sexually charged nudity around children. The Pavilion (an amusement park) closed around 05 or 06 leaving a literal gaping hole on the strip and tons of teenagers with less options to contain them at night. Meanwhile, MB was experiencing the same woes as the rest of the country with housing shortages, opioid addiction, homelessness, etc. In other words, family friendly Myrtle Beach turned into Dirty Myrtle.

The current crop of city leaders realize that Myrtles reputation has taken a hit and its hurting tourism and local investment. (For example, I don't take my kids there and I personally know very few families here in SC that do. We go to other beaches now). They invested in more infrastructure to lure families, like the boardwalk and that big farris wheel. They are targeting a different demographic with the country music fest. Part of the change seems to be much stricter law enforcement on seemingly trivial things like vehicle modifications, traffic infractions, and revealing swimwear.

It was the land of the free around 100-200 years ago, but other countries reformed in the mean time, the US not really. From today's perspective the US seems to be a bit behind in this regard.

5"1 95 lbs. That's the weight and height of a twelve year old. Are you sure they didn't mistake her for a child?

[removed]