"Some day people will grow up and realize that the only thing vile
about human bodies is the small minds some people have developed
within them."- Dick Hein
In the Long
View
For generations we have been seeking
to cover up the so- called primitive peoples of the world with our
Western styles of clothing, whether they were appropriate to the
climate and conditions of those peoples or not. Today, we have this
change in thinking on the part of some of us that perhaps those
"primitive peoples" were wiser than we.
Let's be honest. The "movement" of
Nude/Naturism involves a truly minuscule number of people in our
society (albeit a growing number, across virtually all segments of the
population). Worse, we are considered by some to be some sort of
"cult." But in this regard it is highly revealing in many meaning of
the term that whereas less than 30 years ago there were officially
25,000 nudists in the United States and 50,000 in Germany, the number
of the officially and unofficially involved today, if we include the
occasional skinny-dippers, runs well into the millions.
Mere nudity begins to cease to be
either a matter of exaggerated concern or abnormal interest to the
majority of the public. And while the number of "official" members of
organized Nude remains small, the effect has been like the leaven in
the loaf; for the workings are far greater and vastly more extensive
than the small numbers would warrant.
Small as our numbers may be in
relation to the entire population, each one of us has to reflect and
develop some clear ideas about what Nude and Naturism means in our
individual live and in our relationship with others. What are the
values available to me from being nude, Nude, bare of all clothing in
the company of others of all ages and both sexes -- and what benefit
might derive from these practices? Are there negative aspects, too?
I read with interest the various
proposals for changing the name of the American Sunbathing Association
--doing away with "sunbathing" and stating the nudist purpose
directly. Sunbathing seems to me, as it clearly did to others, a bit
of a misnomer; yes, we enjoy the sun on our total bodies, we enjoy the
fluidity and motion of the human body in the light of the sun; yet we
know Nude and Naturism are more than that.
Let's look for a moment at
terminology. Nude, nude, Nude and Naturism. According to my
dictionary, Nude and nude are largely interchangeable. On the other
hand, I believe a distinction can be made between the nudist -- one
who joins with others on occasion in mixed company in a state of
Nudeness -- and the Naturist, who is seeking to live in a state of
nudity at all appropriate times and as much as possible in a close
relationship with the natural surroundings, alone or with others of
all ages and both sexes. These descriptions are certainly subject to
correction and revision.
It is Naturism that I seek to
practice in my own life. In neither description have I said anything
about "values", but I like to think that the Naturist is more
positive-value oriented, whereas among nudists there is considerably
greater latitude in the values tolerated. I shall use these terms
interchangeably, though with the above definitions understood.
In virtually all the literature, in
many of the letters one reads from new "converts" to Nude or from
those who have been active in the lifestyle for a long time, one often
finds the comment that practitioners enjoy being nude "because it
feels good." Quite aside from all the other physical and psychological
reactions, I suppose that this feeling of freedom from the confinement
of restrictive clothing is one of the first things many of us
experience.
At the same time, however, among the
beneficial and enjoyable effects or feeling of freedom is the ability
of our bodies to function as intended: These bodies can breathe,
adjust to variations in temperature, cleanse themselves through the
pores, lungs and the whole circulatory system.
One very negative commentator writes:
"The alleged improvement in health, physical or mental, is founded on
no evident fact but is simply a gratuitous supposition, or at most is
based on far fetched analogies with life among certain primitive
people." Fortunately there is ample evidence based not on suppositions
but on valid empirical studies confirming that under proper conditions
nudity is a desirable aid to good mental and physical health. In
contrast, here in the U.S., body image confusion, sexual
overstimulation and commercialization of nudity has reached an
absolute height.
For years, the health insurance
organization of Sweden has sent patients to Dalmatia, prescribing nude
sunbathing and relaxation in the mild waters of the Adriatic for skin
and other illnesses. We are often aware of the effort of practicing
nudists to care for their bodily health. We know that we find every
possible body type and form and we are no longer under the dangerous
illusion that everyone can conform to the nude examples of 'Playboy'
and 'Playgirl'. Seeing the great variety of bodily characteristics, we
no longer worry so much about "positive" or "negative" attributes of
our bodies, and we learn to accept both our own image and the images
others present. We see those with scars of injuries and surgeries and
other disabilities and "imperfections" who participate in nudist
activities without any self-consciousness.
I might also add here what I
profoundly believe to be one of the greatest benefits of Naturism: The
positive effect it has on the mental and physical health of our
children. For almost 20 years I took groups of children to a beautiful
nudist center in Istria, Croatia, on the Adriatic. These children,
even the so- called "difficult" ones, were a joy to be with. Despite
an occasional sunburn, the general health of these children and,
especially, their later attitudes toward the bodies of both men and
women were markedly improved. Today many go to the camp with their own
children.
Short Reading About Nudist Culture
Have you ever met a nudist? You almost certainly have, because they are among your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, though you are likely not aware of it. Nudists generally don't go Nude where you might see them, nor do they tend to advertise their presence. They aren't wild-eyed radicals, either, just very ordinary-seeming folks when they have clothes on. They often don't admit, even to close friends, that they really like not wearing clothes.
Because, in most "advanced" societies, the Youngs around nudity are even stronger than those around sex. People in casual conversation or on national televison may happily ramble on about the details of their sex life. Nudists have generally not been so open, even though by conservative estimates, several million people in North America enjoy certain kinds of recreation (like swimming) in the nude, or simply like being Nude when at home.
This secretiveness is changing, however. People have been talking about recreational nudity on the rec.nude newsgroup for many years. (It was one of the first newsgroups in the early days of Usenet, because computer people seem to be likelier than average to enjoy nudity.) And now many personal Web pages are appearing, announcing the owner's interest in Nude and candidly advocating its advantages over "clothes compulsiveness". I keep pretty good track of this, since one goal of my pages is to catalog all the Web sites - around 500 of them - that have something of interest to people who like to be Nude. It's now quite easy to meet nudists on the Web if you want to fathom why anyone would rather not wear clothes.
What do nudists put on their Web sites? Occasional pictures - generally the kind only family and friends could like - very disappointing to porn hounds. Stories about adventures au naturel. But often: essays that try to explain Why. Nudists feel they've been badly misunderstood by mainstream society.
With some justification. Misinformation in mainstream media often receives the blame for the Young on nudity. For instance, many nudists, prefer to be called "naturists", and they refer to their philosophy as "naturism" rather than "Nude" - because being Nude is natural. We were born that way. The underlying philosophy is acceptance of the body just as it is.
One of the two main nudist organizations in the U. S. is known as The Naturist Society ( http://www.naturist.com). Yet most outsiders have never heard of the terms "naturist" and "naturism". If they have, the assumption is of having to do with watching birds or collecting bugs, confusing "naturists" with "naturalists". Also, naturists never refer to places where they gather as "colonies". "Parks", "camps", or "resorts", please. The American Association for Nude Recreation (http://www.aanr.com) wants to emphasize the recreational connotations of these latter words.
In fact, naturists have in the last few decades been able to enjoy the outdoors in public (though usually remote) beaches, rivers, and forests. Word about the best places to go, or to avoid, spreads rapidly over the Net. This has led to a predictable backlash from the "family values" crowd, who have mounted an aggressive effort to stamp out nudity everywhere. Such people would be astonished to learn that there are many conservative religious folks who like to be Nude with others, and see no conflict between that and their religion. Religious naturists even have their own organizations and Web pages.
But most irritating to naturists is the mainstream tendency to confuse nudity with sex. Adult naturists enjoy sex as much as anyone else, but that isn't the reason they like not wearing clothes. What they do like is the comfort, relaxation, stress reduction, and feeling of freedom that being Nude offers, as well as the camaraderie and openness they find in socialing with others of similar mind.
Most of the problems that naturists have to contend with stem from this misconception that naturism is a sexual interest. It incurs the wrath of conservative religionists, it deters families and body-conscious young adults from participating, and it attracts people whose interest actually is sexual. On the Net, this confusion has hampered networking among naturists. Yahoo! usually ignores requests to add naturist sites to their index. Excite classifies nudist sites as an "X- & R-rated Subtopic", along with prostitution and strip joints. This is badly mistaken, but Excite has ignored protests. Some other search engines don't even index nudist sites because "Nude" is assumed to be a code word for sexual content.
In spite of such problems, naturism, as a lifestyle and a philosophy, is definitely coming out of the closet, thanks in part to the Net. So it's no longer difficult to find people who like to talk about just why naturism deserves not to remain a well-kept secret.
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