Nudity
Non-western peoples during the period were naked only by Western standards, the genitals and sometimes the entire lower body of adults were covered most of the time. However, lacking the idea of shame, clothing might be removed in public for useful or symbolic purposes. Children and sometimes women until marriage might be naked as having "nothing to hide". Indigenous peoples of North America also did not think of sexuality or nudity with shame. European colonizers became aware that Natives believed premarital and extramarital sex, homosexuality, and cross-dressing were normal. This furthered their efforts to convert Natives to Christianity. However, thinking of others as less than human could be used to justify conquest and removal.