Justin Timberlake wants to strip off on a nudist beach after spotting
one in France. He said, "I was born Nude and I’m going to die Nude
so I don’t see anything wrong with it."
AS A WOMAN THOUGH, IF I'M HAVING MY
PERIOD, PRESUMABLY I CAN'T GO Nude.
Not true. It depends largely on how
comfortable you feel. Naturists understand that menstruation is a
perfectly natural part of life for all women, and you won't be singled
out for special notice! The use of tampons enables women to take part
in most naturist activities. If you prefer to use pads instead, or if
you would just feel more comfortable doing so, wearing shorts is
perfectly acceptable during your period.
IF GOD HAD
WANTED US ALL TO BE Nude, HE WOULDN'T HAVE INVENTED CALVIN KLEIN.
Guys, have you ever been to a tailor
to be fitted for trousers and been asked what side you 'dress' on? Why
do they do this? Simply because most men know that if you get this
wrong, it can be somewhat uncomfortable! Any woman who's ever worn a
bra will know that lifting and separating might give a pleasing
outline through a sweater, but that the instructions might just as
well say pinch and strangulate. Clothes often force your body into
shapes and positions that don't feel natural. How many men truly enjoy
wearing a collar and tie? How many women have pulled on a girdle
because they really wanted to? Next time you've dressed yourself up to
the nines, take a look in the mirror when you've taken it all off.
Have a look at the crease marks around your waist from the belt that
was too tight, or the deep gouges in your shoulders from your
wonderbra, or the ribs around your shins from socks, and the redness
of your little toes that have been squashed into fashion shoes.
Nudity is the most natural thing in
the world. Despite the fact that the catwalks of the fashion capitals
would have us believe that we cannot do without their latest
creations, we are all born Nude! There are those, of course, who
would no doubt prefer all baby boys to emerge pre-clad in a
three-piece worsted business suit, and baby girls to pop out wearing
pinafore dresses and woollen tights. We live in a society that has
grown to view the human body as something to be covered - even ashamed
of. Naturism takes the opposite view. It sees the human body as good,
normal, varied - and something that only needs covering if the owner
wants to cover it. There is nothing lewd, crude or distasteful about
the unclothed body.
This will be
our first experience and we're apprehensive! What should we expect?
No matter how long experienced people
have been doing this, (and for some of us, it has been many years), we
all had a first time. The fact that you're apprehensive tells us that
you're just like the rest of us.
We remember how uncomfortable it was
to think about, before actually experiencing clothes-free recreation.
We know that it takes courage and trust to try Nude.
"You gain strength, courage and
confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear
in the face... You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." —
You Learn by Living, 1960, by Eleanor Roosevelt Yes, it takes trust.
Going without clothes among others allows us to bare everything but
our souls. That takes trust in the people who are helping us get
started.
Women who are experienced nudists
remember worrying that people might stare, or ogle, or compare, or
come on to them. Some were afraid it would be a beauty contest and
they'd be the only one without a "perfect" body (they're relieved to
learn that we're really all pretty much the same).
Men remember being afraid that they'd
get an erection. Once in a while, no matter how much we assure people
that it's not a sexual experience, there's a man who thinks that HE
has so much more testosterone than everyone else, it'll be sexual for
him.
What all of us have learned, is that
the first ten or fifteen minutes, we are so intimidated that our
equipment doesn't work the way we thought it would . . . and most
experienced nudists of both sexes will say that the next thing that
happens, is that you'll FORGET you're Nude! Hard to believe, isn't
it? I repeat, almost ALL of us found it to be true, and you probably
will too.
© Charles Myers. Used with
permission. One of our members tells about his first visit to a
"landed" nudist park. He fell asleep on his blanket, on the grass
between the tennis courts and the swimming pool. Upon awakening, he
lay with his eyes closed, feeling the warm sunshine and the gentle
breeze, listening to the sounds around him, the tennis balls volleying
on one side, and the splashes, conversation and squeals from kids down
around the pool.
He thought, "My God, I really am
lying here Nude". Then he opened his eyes and looked around a little,
and thought, "And so is everybody else." Then, "And nobody seems to
notice." And then, "AND IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER!"
You'll quickly come to the
realization that nobody who has been doing this for a while pays
attention to you. Unless you're dressed, of course, then you'd stick
out like a sore thumb. As you might imagine, a person who is clothed
differently from the rest of us is the one who feels most
uncomfortable.
We also know from experience that the
easiest way to ease into this is to get your clothes off as quickly as
you can, as if you've been doing it all your life. It is far easier to
jump right in, than to drag out the process. It's like jumping into a
pool of water. Just do it, and get it over with. Very soon, you'll
start to realize that "This isn't so bad, in fact they were right, it
feels pretty darn good!"
Bare Buns has a free orientation,
presented at the beginning of our Rec Center parties, for people who
are attending for their first time. It's packed with information,
sensitively presented, and with a touch of humor to help you relax. It
is designed to help make your first-time nudist experience as
comfortable as we can possibly make it. In addition, we host a "Meet &
Greet" before each Rec Center party at a nearby restaurant.
Many people like being able to meet a
small group of our members over a bite to eat, in a neutral, clothed
environment. Then when they arrive at the Rec Center, they feel like
they at least know a few of the people there. Participation in the
Meet & Greet is optional.
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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