Naturisum whats it all about

Naturism – What’s it all about?

This post is aimed at experienced and newbie naturists alike.

(Since posting this, couple of people have disagreed my personal take on the word nudists, I would just like to acknowledge that I am aware that in other parts of the world Nudist is used interchangeably with Naturism, I made this clear in my Post below. I did not intend to express that ALL Nudists are swingers/sex perverts or similar, only that those I see doing these things, I don’t call them naturists, I call them nudists because they are naked and they don’t fit into my understanding of Naturism.. that is all )

(For another girl’s explanation on being a Nudist you could check out this blog http://samanthagilmour.wordpress.com/category/nudist/)

I apologise for any grammatical errors, I just don’t have the time to proof read, otherwise I would not be able to post it for another few days!

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about ‘Naturism – What it means’ and invited you to comment on what Naturism means to you and you were very generous in your response. Some of you asked your comments to be kept private, which I have done and about 50 of you were happy for me to publish your comments. If you have not seen this post and comments, it is here;

Naturism – What it means

I know most of us are very busy so I would very much like you to know that I appreciate the time and effort you made to draft your comments. Thank You.

I have read the responses and using my experience and what you have said on the above post, I shall try to express what I think Naturism is all about at present.

I am very aware that most people do not read long posts so I am going to try and keep it short & to the point. If you wish to discuss anything further, please comment on this post and I shall respond.

Acknowledgement

I will acknowledge that I am not a scholar of naturism, nor do I hold a Doctorate in human behaviour. However, over the years, I have been fortunate enough to have interactions with some very senior and knowledgeable naturists and some of their knowledge and understanding has rubbed off on me, as you would expect and I thank them for educating me.

I am not going to try and provide any definitive answers on naturism, because as you will see, it obviously means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. However I will try to express what I think people see or use Naturism as and touch on what needs to be improved.

A lot of what I’m going to write here is about you, the Naturist, some of you may be offended by what I say, I do not apologise for that, if you find yourself being upset then feel free to express it in your comments because it is only through discussion that we can learn about the rights and the wrongs in order to progress Naturism in a way that we would like to see it.

What is Naturism

Naturism to me is a life style which involves some of the philosophies/Understanding noted below, you may or may not agree;
1.Naked human body is the natural state and needs to be enjoyed in much the same way as we see and admire Animals’ bodies, furs, skins and shapes.
2.Clothing/covering was invented by our predecessors in the early years of evolution primarily to survive in climates that our bodies are not naturally designed to survive in. The Polar Bear would not survive in the Sahara desert, but the nomads could kill the Polar Bear & Survive on the Arctic Ocean.
3.Clothing was also developed for another reason – To prevent unwanted sexual attention. For example, most living things, Humans, Animals, Plants tend to use parts of their bodies to attract partners or method of re-production. So as the Humans evolved, some bright spark must have hit on the idea that if they cover up the sexual organs, perhaps they can avoid unwanted sexual attraction. This was probably the worst invention ever because instead of covering up the sexual organs to avoid unwanted attraction, our ancestors became more & more inventive and started to ‘decorate’ the covering to make it look nice, which in turn made the sexual organs even more obvious and attractive to the eye and so began the fashion industry!
4.So what is more attractive, naked human body or one that is covered up to make it look sexy? Well I guess both because some naked bodies are attractive (the original problem remember!) They are the right shape or size for the attracted (regional variations accepted!) and you can take any body & dress it up to look sexy. However the important thing to note is that no matter how sexy the body is, after you’ve seen it a few times, it becomes ‘Normal’ and the sexiness is reduced to mild attraction or no attraction at all. HOWEVER, if the sexy (or made up sexy) bodies are re-decorated with different colours, shapes, materials, places, the attractiveness is reinvigorated and the sexiness is back. Therefore you will agree that as there are probably no more than 10% of the population with naturally attractive bodies, rest of the world uses clothing to look more attractive/sexy.
5. Based on the above, you may begin to understand that when naturists see each other in the nude, it is not long before the nakedness becomes natural & sexiness can only be achieved by dressing up! This is very apparent when you visit some well-known naturist resorts. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying that naturists somehow become sexless angels. There is a degree of enjoyment derived from being nude as a group, this enjoyment will no doubt be pleasurable but it doesn’t have to be overtly expressive. I suppose you could say that some naturists may get a kick out of being nude amongst others and NOT being sexual. It’s a bit like looking at a bed of flowers and relaxing rather than plucking them & spoiling it all just for short term pleasure. The same is true for those who participate in nude protests like the WNBR, people enjoy being nude as a group but don’t go about assuming that just because someone is nude that they are somehow less than normal or open for sexual advances.
6.Based on what’s been noted above, you perhaps can understand that because there is less focus on the shape/size/colour of the body, naturists tend to accept people as they are much more so than the same people would be on textile sites, where fashion and beauty are more sought after than amongst naturists. Naturism is one of the few activities where money and good looks have less of an advantage than in normal life. In my view, sometimes this is used by naturists to become lazy and not look after their body/health. Whilst I am fully behind the body acceptance culture, I am however against that being used to avoid looking after your health.
7.What about the environment? Some have asked me before. Do the naturists follow the same principles as naturalists or environmentalists? The short answer is NO. Very few naturists share the same thoughts as environmentalists, they enjoy the nature yes, but they don’t necessarily go out of their way to protect it. This, in my own opinion, is not good, Naturism principles include respecting nature, so if you respect it, you should look after it. I believe majority of the naturists pay little attention to global warming, re-cycling and good countryside practices. I have not seen many articles in Naturist publications where they discussed environmental issues. This is not to say ALL naturists behave this way, but in my view majority of them fall into this category. We should not be surprised about this, because after all, Naturists are part of the society in general and this is the state of the society in general. I make this statement even though most of the Naturists I know are much more conscious of the environment needs than I am, this is because I know them through my involvement with the WNBR.
8.Why is there is need to go naked? This is a common question asked by those who have not experienced it. In my view and in my life, nudity is normal. It is part of my life and wearing clothes is only necessary to protect against the weather and to get along in society as one cannot fight the world every day in the same way as Stephen Gough does and has dedicated his life to it. So I guess the question is not whether there is a need to go naked but what is the need to get dressed.
9.Am I a Naturist? Do you have to be naked to be a naturist? This obviously differs for different people, some have to be dressed 24/7 other than when in the Bathroom, others live their whole life in the nude and only dress when absolutely necessary. You, I guess are somewhere in the middle. How often you dress or not is not an indicator as to whether you’re a naturist or not. To me Naturism is a life style as well as a state of mind. So you may only go nude on holidays but you have your naturist mind set all year around.
10.Is Naturism Important? YES! Why? Because naturists are in general very liberal people, they accept others and look out for each other, this is a GOOD human characteristic that should be promoted in any way possible. Life is not about wars and killing and fighting.. maybe not all Naturists are from the 60s with their ‘Spread the Love’ attitude but most love life in general. It is better to have people around you who love life than those who just wish to destroy whatever is in their way.