Come out naked.

by

It can seem as though fear is what drives so much of what we call "society". Fear of what the neighbours might think, or what if the boss finds out (insert thing here), and so on. What a terrible way to live your life, in perpetual fear, just like a politician, always being terrified of someone finding out something about who you really are. It's a far better thing to do what the gay movement did, and come out naked. Period.

This is why it's important to use your real name, and not hide behind a pseudonym, or alias. This is why it's so important to realize that you do have the confidence to, for instance, show a naked photo of yourself and not be ashamed who sees that. This is me, if you don't like what you see, then stop staring.

Be yourself.

44 thoughts on “Come out naked.”

  1. We don't need to get hung up on semantics. Nude Awareness March or some other name would be perfectly acceptable. The title of this particular blog is "Come out naked". It's not really a coincidence that a traditional gay term is used here, and we shouldn't have any hangups about the obvious link the public and media will make to gay pride. The important thing to recognise is that it is exactly the same type of event that is needed to quickly raise the general public's awareness that naturists exist, and that we're not sex craved perverted wierdo's.

  2. That's true Yvonne. What I'm trying to get across, is that if they want to call it Nude Pride, then that may signify how they recognise the message of the event as being a campaign for freedom of expression and the right to be yourself.

    • Did it? Surely that proves the voracity of the "Pride" concept. As I said previously, there is great similarity between the gay movement and the naturist movement in the way they are seen by the general public. We may not want to call it "Nude Pride", but it seems that THEY probably will.

  4. We seem to have run out of "Reply" space, Darren, so I'm re-posting/replying here. I entirely agree with you that reactions of bigots is NO reason to NOT hold a nude pride march. I am merely saying it might be something to consider while planning the thing.

  5. This is one of the ways in which I hope this new Naktiv social network (the Naktiv site) can help to promote "it's ok to be naked, online or in private, alone or in groups, with or without clothed people, in front of the camera or behind it, and, (finally a nod to the naturist contingent) with any age or body shape.

  6. I've said for a long time that being a naturist is the closest a straight person can be to knowing what it feels like to be gay.

    As soon as anyone finds out about your sexuality/naturism, it concentrates their mind on the sexual aspect of your persona. They see things from a different angle where you are concerned and you have to try much harder to be just an ordinary person again. This is where the naturist community is far behind the gay community in campaigning. Brave individuals came out as gay in the past and have shown the world that they are not ashamed and are just regular people. Gay pride marches gave visibility and led to anti-discrimination laws that people have now grown up with and taken to heart.

    What we need to do as naturists is follow that lead, come out as naturists and be proud to be seen. Only from there will we gain acceptance and legal protection.

    In the UK the law is accepting of naked protest. Is it time we had "Nude Pride" marches?

    • The only problem I see with a "Pride" march, is that this *now* has the connotation of being gay. I don't think you can really get too far away from that though (unfortunately) given the prevalence of gay parades and the like. In any case any naturist parade would be inundated with gay people, so you're screwed, basically 😉

      However, the entire point of "coming out naked" is essential for us to put across to the naturist and nudist communities. They have done nothing for public acceptance of their lifestyle by hiding behind fences and being frightened to be seen or photographed, or for anyone to know who they are. I know people who are happy to join me on a naked hike, and to be photographed, (in fact they leap in front of the camera), but then turn around and say "you are forbidden to put that on the internet!". WTF! Not on MY walks!

      • What's the problem with there being a lot of gay people in a "Nude Pride" march? To be honest, I think a march advertised as Nude Pride would get the message across much quicker, just BECAUSE of earlier gay pride marches, and how people see them as marches for equality and diversity.

        As long as the emphasis was kept on non-sexual nudity, it doesn't really matter what initial perception the public have. Those that actually see the march would see the diversity of ordinary people that call themselves naturist.

        • Not everyone loves a gay guy. You only have to witness the appalling behaviour of a car load of thugs driving past the WNBR one year, when a man jumped out of the car and punched a naked cyclist to the ground shouting "Faggot!", or something like that. http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2011/06/suspects-arrested-in-naked-bike-ride-assault/

          My point was not that it's a problem that people might be gay, but that people might think everyone in the group were gay and that this does have repercussions. You can see the same issues in Cap'd'Agde where the mainstream, traditional, nudists set fire to a gay/swinger nightclub in the town. The point clearly being the nudists are saying: "we don't want that kind of thing here."

          I'm not saying the aggression is the correct response, far from it, I'm merely pointing out that there are other reactions to consider besides "oh, how wonderful, lots of naked boys!"

          Having said all of that 🙂 I stand by my original post where I stated categorically: "It's a far better thing to do what the gay movement did, and come out naked. Period."

          • So some bigoted idiot doesn't get the point and makes an assumption that the nude pride march is a naked gay pride march. Big deal. I'm sure it wasn't very nice for the victim of the WNBR attack, but you have to look at the big picture. You can't NOT do things just because of the bigoted reactions of idiots. Anyway, do you think there would be no police near this hypothetical nude pride march? They would be EVERYWHERE!

  8. They'll change if we push the envelope. If we accept the status quo, and hide behind our hedges, nothing will change. People like Gypsy and Gough are doing great works for changing people's ideas about public-nudity. It might not be for everybody, but it's clearly harmless, AND fun!

  9. The biggest fear is not of being seen by friend or neighbours, but rather of being arrested for the non-crime of being naked in public (not illegal in the UK) and, when the police/CPS realise they can't actually prosecute you for that, having them charging you under (something like) the totally inappropriate Sexual Offences act.

  10. Yup.
    For me though, "upsetting" the neighbours is a real concern, as they are all nice friendly people and I would hate to spoil that. I suspect that they would probably be quite unconcerned if they saw me naked in my garden, but I am still reluctant to deliberately test it.

      • True Richard,we have just recently last year moved to where we are now and found out that one of our neighbors is a naturist and well in his 60s,I have been putting the finishing touches to privitising my back garden and am just waiting on the weather to try it out.
        Also my partner just in conversation has told another woman that we are naturists and she didnt mind one bit….each to their own is what she said.I do not think nudity should be forced upon someone if they are against it or for some other reason hence why I/we will only go naked at an official place ie nude beach/resort/club or the like.
        At home in the garden I would try my utmost to ensure the neighbors didnt see us unless by complete accident…..just my opinion

  11. Here…here, or whatever they say in the House of Commons in approval. You speak about the way that I live, Rich. My mother is sitting next to me now as I write this (in the nude). All of my family knows, my boss knows and jokes about it. My coworkers, textile (and naturist) friends, even many of my business clients know. Calvin Hobbs with his little naked butt lives on my office computer desktop wallpaper, front and center. It's just so much easier that way.

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