Friday’s Come As You Are blog gave a good answer to the question of whether naturists are non-sexual or anti-sex. Please read the referenced post for his answer. I really don’t have any deeper insights on the topic.
In his answer he brought up an interesting point regarding the Naturist perspective and how Naturism may be more of a perspective than a practice.
Naturism is simply the perspective that clothing is extraneous covering and not the essence of a person. Naturists are people who prefer to be, and relate to others, unencumbered by extraneous coverings, and accept people for who they are and not for what they wear.
I’ve held much the same idea although I’ve usually referred to it as the Naturist attitude. There are plenty of people who occasionally go skinny-dipping or participate in events such as the World Naked Bike Ride, the Bare to Breakers run, or pose nude for an art class. There are also those who take clothing-optional vacations. Many of these people do not consider themselves nudists or naturists. I know people who have reasonable attitudes or are casual about nudity but they don’t have that perspective.
I don’t participate in social nudism very often, perhaps visiting a resort once or twice in the summer and maybe a couple of nude swims during the winter. I’m not even nude at home as often as I’d like to be. Still, I call myself a naturist because that naturist perspective is a part of my core values and my lifestyle. I’ve come to consider the naturist perspective or attitude at least as important, if not more important, than participating social nudism.
However, I’m inclined to believe that nudity, both socially and in private, plays a major role in developing and maintaining that perspective. It’s through casual nudity that we learn to accept our own bodies and through social nudism that we learn to accept others as they really are.
Excellent point!
I have found in my own life that I am more tolerant of my own body and I have more realistic views of what normal bodies look like because of nudism. It is through nudism, or naturism if you prefer, that I learned that there is a huge range of variation in the human form. No where else could I have had such an experience. I interacted with people from all over the place nude without the trappings of our various social stations. Without the armour that shields us from others and yet also prevents social inter-changes that could now take place. I learned that we are more alike than we are different. Some of the greatest conversations I have ever had were at nudist venues whether it was gazing at the stars from a hotsprings or sitting down to dine at a potluck dinner together. People seem to open up more when they leave their clothes behind. We seem more positive and confident and I dare say happy, to the point of giddiness. I have no scientific proof of any of this it is simply my own personel opinion. I just know I feel so much better about everything else in my life when I get the opportunity to have a little nude time, and that can not be a bad thing.
Well said, Alan. Yet it is very difficult to explain this wonderfully simple concept, that social nudity can be non-sexual, to most non-nudists since it’s counter to the powerful messages they get from the news and entertainment media, their churches, and other authority figures. They may acknowledge what you’ve said and say they understand but it’s completely outside their frame of reference and until they’ve experienced social nudism, they can’t really understand it.
I cross-posted this on a couple of social networking sites and I think some people may have misunderstood my intention here. The post isn’t about whether or not nudists are "non-sexual or anit-sex." I agree that it’s a worthy topic of discussion but I don’t feel qualified to discuss it. I only mentioned it in reference to the original post on another blog. Perhaps I erred in even referring to the subject. If readers were expecting more, I’m sorry for the confusion and the poor introduction.
Over comming the stereotypes that our society has about nudism may not occur in my lifetime. That does not mean we should not strive for it. The question is how do we make the textile world see what we see? That is our delima especially if the way many of us have that, “ah ha,” moment is once we experience nudism for the first time. Add to that the embaressment many of us feel about our nude life and how we keep our naturist tendencies private and we have the current situation. That is part of the answer. We must not hide our naturist side from our friends and family. By allowing those we know and trust to know about our naturist side we will in effect be our own best advocates. What I mean is that those who judge us harshly do so partly from ignorance. They simply don’t know any nudists so they make some uninformed snap judgements. However if they know us in our everyday lives and then come to know of our naturist activities they may have another impression. If they hear a conversation of nudism and it is giving false information they may be able to offer another point of view. So let others know, wear a naturist t-shirt once in a while, put a bumper sticker on your car. The fear of how others may judge us is irrational. I am not saying you must take out an add or shout it from the roof tops just don’t hide it. The best advetisement in the world is word of mouth. That is how we will make progress if we change the public perception of nudism the rest will take care of itself.
I agree. Much of the opposition to nudism is based on ignorance and propagated by the media. I have advocated that we promote nudism however we can in our own sphere of influence and try to correct the misinformation and the stereotypes. Far too many of us are “secret nudists” who keep our activities private. We need to get a little more evangelistic.
I wear my Naturist Society cap everywhere and there’s a TNS decal proudly displayed in the rear window of my truck. I’d like to find another one for my car along with AANR bumper stickers. I can’t seem to find either on their web sites.