Naturism

Bredene nude beach in Belgium.

Social nudity is a general reference to a cultural and political movement practicing, advocating and defending social nudity in private and public spaces. It has been called "clothes free".

The movement includes a range variants including naturism, nudism, Freikörperkultur (FKK), the free beach movement as well as generalized public lands/public nudity advocacy. While there is a large amount of shared history and common themes, issues, and philosophy; differences between these separate movements are sometimes contentious. Practice of the various philosophies also varies regionally and historically. The predominant movement centers on established, family-friendly, non-sexualized variations. The inclusion of the topfree equality movement within this movement is under debate.

The movement also works in parallel to and sometimes influences and is influenced by popular culture as well as individuals and activists (see The people behind naturism) as well as organizations (see Naturist organizations).

Terminology

A woman naked on a horse

• A naturist or nudist community (club, resort or facility) usually insists on complete nudity when practical (to ensure that no one feels inappropriately undressed, and other reasons). Nudist colony is no longer a favored term. The word "naturist" is not to be confused with the word "naturalist". (Likewise "naturism" and naturalism.)
• Clothing compulsive Disallowing or discouraging nudity, thus requiring the wearing of clothes, especially swimsuits, e.g. on beaches, as opposed to toleration of nudity. Can also refer to how a person feels--that they feel compelled to wear clothing. One nick-name for those kinds of people is "textiles".
• Clothing optional and nude optional can describe a policy or a venue that allows or encourages nudity but tolerates the wearing of clothes.
• A cottontail is someone whose buttocks are paler than his or her legs and back, caused by sun tanning while wearing a swimsuit, making that person, when nude, look somewhat like a bunny with a white tail.
• A free beach is not so much one without an admission cost, but one in which people can be entirely free of wearing their clothes.
• Freehiking or free hiking is the practice of hiking in the wilderness while nude.
• Freikörperkultur (FKK) (see article in German) or Free Body Culture is the name for another variant of the general movement in Germany.
• Gymnophobia is an irrational fear or anxiety about being seen naked, or about seeing others naked.
• A landed organization is one that owns the real estate for its facilities. Non-landed (or travel) clubs meet at various locations, such as landed resorts and rented facilities.
• Prude is a derogatory term for someone who is too afraid, nervous, or scornful to be nude or partially nude socially or to tolerate others who are.
• A shaved or smoothie individual is one who shaves off much of his/her body hair. (See acomoclitism).
• Textile is a nickname for a person who does not practice social nudity. A clothist.
• Topfree means bare-chested (leaving chest and breasts uncovered), or a place that allows uncovered female and male chests. The term was coined by activists to use instead of the term "topless", which has a negative connotation to some, in part because it is used by strip clubs.

Disambiguation

The terms naturism, nudism and social nudity are generally defined as the practice of going nude, especially in a mixed social setting. The terms naturism and nudism generally also mean that the activities are done in non-sexualized, family-friendly contexts.

The different terms don't always have the same meaning, and the associations those words have vary historically, from region to region and from organization to organization. Those who practice naturism are called naturists, those who practice nudism are called nudists. The term nudist is more widely familiar in North America. However, within the naturist and nudist movements, many people prefer to adopt only one label or the other. Many others like no label at all.

A naturist, on the other hand, is sometimes defined as an individual who prefers a more natural setting for their nude or clothing-optional activities--such as a beach, a lake, the woods, or the mountains. They tend to be less "joiners" than are nudists.

In the traditional view, the nudist in the U.S. is a person who seeks out organized social settings for the practice of the nudist philosophy. That usually takes the form of membership in a landed or nonlanded nudist club, with a well-defined system of conduct and social structure. It is believed to be a predictable environment which offers the participants the safety that comes with facilities for secluded, lawful nudity (without the threat of legal action or observation by outsiders seeking to view them for prurient purposes).

Some political contention exists between the traditional nudist and the naturist within the national organizations that represent clothing optional recreation for lobbying purposes. The former seek to maintain the status quo while the later push for expansion of beaches and other outdoor facilities and their designation as clothing optional. Naturists in America tend to be more supportive of public nudity than do nudists, who generally focus more on landed and non-landed clubs.

Many people enjoy social nudity without adhering to any term and without associating with any organization. That is common, for example on clothing-optional beaches and clothing-optional activities on public lands.

Philosophy and practice

Many people believe that the naked human body is to be accepted, respected, cherished, and enjoyed. They believe it is not inherently shameful, corrupting, degrading, or dangerous. Many of them enjoy clothes free activities. They reject views that being naked with other people is morally wrong (indecent), sexual per se (erotic or pornographic). They argue that nakedness is a healthy, natural state, that being nude is to be in your purest form, since everyone was born nude. They generally find that they quickly become so accustomed to being nude among nudes that it no longer seems very remarkable. It is, rather, simply one part of their lifestyle.

Modern social nudity is mostly a revival of ancient customs and mores, when it was more pervasive throughout the world. Even the Innuit of the Arctic went nude in their igloos. The naked indigenes of Tierra del Fuego held up shields to block the bitingly cold wind. However, a few small, isolated examples today survive of societies which have retained from ancient times a customary life with little or no clothing ever. They are mostly in the Amazon basin, sub-Saharan Africa, and New Guinea. A few such peoples still manage to avoid ongoing efforts to exterminate them, assimilate them, or force them to cover themselves.

Social nudity in less extreme forms is practiced in many cultures, especially in the contexts of social bathing or swimming, sometimes with mixed sexes. Nude activities can be indoors and outdoors. Typical activities are relaxation, sunbathing and recreation (including many sports). Some prefer also work nude, etc., when the temperature and the social situation allows it (including when one is alone). A nude party (not to be confused with a sex party) may be public (e.g. Starkers Nightclub) or private. Some clothing-optional communities do exist for those who wish to live in a supportive environment.

Practitioners say that they are not pruriently interested in seeing others naked (which, if for sexual pleasure, is called voyeurism) or in being seen naked by others (likewise: exhibitionism). People participate in clothes free activities for various reasons. Many are convinced that increased exposure to the natural environment, made easier through nudity, can result in numerous health benefits. Sunlight has been shown to be beneficial in some skin conditions and enables the body to make vitamin D, a necessary nutrient.

However, with the increased awareness of skin cancer, wearing of sunblock is now part of the culture, and recently more education has been carried out to warn of the risk. Whereas nudist parents do not require their children to put on clothes before going outside at a clothes free area, most do require them to put on sunscreen lotion. Overall, those who enjoy clothes free activities often claim that they are more relaxed and in a better state of mind when they shed their clothes.

Many people say that being nude in groups makes them feel more accepted for their entire beings--physical, intellectual and emotional. They say that they tend to be more accepted, in spite of differences in age, body shape, fitness, and health. Without clothing, one's social rank is generally obscured. They report feeling more united with humanity, with less regard to a person's wealth, position, nationality, race, and sex.

Those inexperienced in social nudity often say that they fear that it contributes to an imbalance of power between men and women. They say that women and children are more vulnerable when nude, and can be exploited. While that might be true in a situation of commercial nudity, such as a strip club, women advocates of social nudity assert the opposite, especially in an established nude group. There, the men are nude, too, and no one is inducing someone to be nude with money who would not otherwise feel like being nude there.

Being around like-minded people can make interpersonal interactions, such as meeting new friends, easier. Many pro-nudity organizations promote frequent social activities. Some of the clubs have stricter entrance requirements than some traditional up-scale 'country clubs', including the requirement to supply references, a sponsoring member, a trial membership, committee approval and/or, due to fears of sex offenders, criminal background checks. At the other end of the spectrum are 'unorganized' clothes free events and activities on public lands where there is nothing to join, no one to pay, and only civil, common and criminal law to serve as rules of etiquette. Many people get their first exposure to the clothes free movement through that kind of informal approach (e.g. a clothing optional beach, a friend's place in the woods, a party on the shore or skinny dipping).

History of social nudity

Prehistory

Genetic studies of the human body louse Pediculus humanus, which feeds on the body but lives in and requires clothing, suggests that humans started wearing garments 72,000 years ago +/- 42,000 years. That estimate matches that of the first appearance of physical evidence of clothing-making tools. The species Homo sapiens itself has existed for 200,000 or more years, so there is a strong argument that the 'natural' condition of humans is nude.

Historical era

Informal nudism has always been practiced. Ancient cultures (the Greeks and the Romans for example) sometimes had quite different attitudes toward the unclothed human body than are common today. In fact, the word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek word "gymnos," meaning "nude," because athletics in Greece was routinely practiced naked by its participants.

Nudity taboos might have developed simply because people got accustomed to wearing clothes for practical reasons, as in temperate or desert climates. Perhaps it became a habit, was culturally ingrained, and was elevated to a requirement.

Feminist theory, however, generally links the historic and pre-historic development of body "modesty" to the subjugation of women. In partiarchal societies, it is often the men who most desire to cover the women, ostensibly to protect the women, but, according to the theory, it is more to keep a woman from developing relationships without the approval of her father or husband.

Objections to being nude are often religiously motivated, even when that idea started as a cultural taboo, as in the previous two paragraphs. Many peoples around the world started wearing clothes only after missionaries argued that it is more civilized. However, there are many religiously devout nudists who attend worship services regularly. They argue that they do not need to shed their morals with their clothes.

The Adamites, a Christian sect, practiced religious nudism.

Another Christian sect, the Doukhobors, migrated from Russia to western Canada. They practise or practised occasional nudity, such as while working in the farm fields. One of the three subdivisions of Doukhobors, the Freedomites, went so far in the 1900s as to publicly strip in mass public demonstrations to protest government policies which were meant to assimilate them (see documentary Spirit Wrestlers below in references or in reading).

One of the two main divisions of the Jain religion of India is "skyclad", or naked, though generally it is practised by the males.

Although there is no well-defined date in Western society when it became unacceptable to be seen nude in public, the era of Queen Victoria certainly ended whatever remained of it, with nothing emerging until after her death in 1901.

The spread of philosophy and the rise of formal communities

File:Praia Tambaba-Joao-Pessoa-Paraiba.jpg

Tambaba: nude beach beach in Brazil

In the early 1900s, a series of philosophical papers was published in Germany that examined the negative psychological effect of self-hate of the body based on both religious and severely negative community views. The basic position that the human body, in and of itself, was neither sinful nor obscene was combined with a new philosophy to create the modern Western nudist movement. The proposition was advanced that combining physical fitness, sunlight, and fresh air bathing, and then adding the nudist philosophy, contributed to mental and psychological fitness, good health, and an improved moral-life view. The wide publication of those papers contributed to an explosive worldwide growth of nudism, in which nudists participated in various social, recreational, and physical fitness activities in the nude.

The first known organized club for nudists, Freilichtpark (Free-Light Park), was opened near Hamburg in 1903 by Paul Zimmerman. About the same time, another German, Dr. Heinrich Pudor, wrote a book titled Nacktcultur, which discussed the benefits of nudity in co-education and advocated participating in sports while being free of cumbersome clothing.

The nudist movement gained prominence in Germany in the 1920s, but was suppressed during the early Nazi Gleichschaltung after Adolf Hitler came to power. However, it was later discovered that Luftwaffe (Air Force) head Hermann Göring had single-handedly written his own strict anti-nudity views into the Gleichschaltung. Göring was one of its main authors; thus he imposed his views on everyone. Many in the Nazi party thought he had gone too far, so the rules were eventually softened a bit. Nevertheless, all naturism clubs had to exclude Jews and Communists and keep all activities well out in the countryside.

After the war, East Germans enjoyed nudism as one the few freedoms they had under the communist government. It quickly rebounded in the West also, and today, united Germany has many clubs, parks and beaches for nudism. Vacationing in Mediterranean France at the large Cap d'Agde resort also became popular for Germans when it opened in the late 1960s.

In the United States, German immigrant Kurt Barthel organized the first nudist event in 1929 in the woods just outside of New York City (NYC) and founded the American League for Physical Culture (ALPC). Social nudism in the form of private clubs and campgrounds began appearing in the 1930s. In 1931, according to a history [1], a Baptist minister named Ilsley Boone was elected vice president of the ALPC and gained the nickname "The Dictator." He also began the American Sunbathing Association (ASA), which, according to a decision in Roberts v. Clement, posted on the Naturist Education Foundation site [2], was organized in 1939 as a successor to the ALPC. Boone created his idea of a family atmosphere by prohibiting alcohol at all member clubs. According to the Federation of Canadian Naturists history [3] and the Lupin Naturist Club history [4], Boone was toppled in 1951 by members dissatisfied with his autocratic style. This, together with Boone's desire to open a new club closer to NYC than others had wanted, led him to form the National Nudist Council.

Elsewhere in the USA, a 1935 advertisement claims Sea Island Sanctuary, South Carolina, was the "largest and oldest" resort where nudism could be practiced year-round. Rock Lodge Club, in Stockholm, New Jersey, about 40 miles (65 km) from New York City, started in 1932 and is still in operation today. Nudism first began appearing on the west coast of the U.S. and Canadian about 1939. In that year, the first club in Canada, the Van Tan Club, formed and continues today in North Vancouver, BC. Kaniksu Ranch, about 45 miles (70 km) north of Spokane, Washington, opened the same year and is still in operation.

In 1995, the ASA renamed itself, becoming the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR).

In Canada, individuals around the country became interested in nudism, skinny-dipping, and physical culture in the early part of the 20th century. After 1940 they had their own Canadian magazine, Sunbathing & Health, which occasionally carried local news. Canadians had scattered groups in several cities during the 1930s and 1940s, and some of these groups attracted enough interest to form clubs on private land. The most significant clubs were the Van Tan Club and, in Ontario, the Sun Air Club.

Canadians who served in the military during the Second World War met like-minded souls from across the country, and often visited clubs while in Europe. They were a ready pool of recruits for post-war organizers. A few years later the wave of post-war immigration brought many Europeans with their own extensive experience, and they not only swelled the ranks of membership, but often formed their own clubs, helping to expand nudism from coast to coast.

Most of those clubs united in the Canadian Sunbathing Association, which affiliated with the American Sunbathing Association in 1954. Several disagreements between eastern and western members of the CSA resulted in the breakup of CSA into the Western Canadian Sunbathing Association (WCSA) and the Eastern Canadian Sunbathing Association (ECSA) in 1960. The ECSA endured much in-fighting over the next decade and a half, leading to its official demise in 1978. The WCSA continues today as the Western Canadian Association for Nude Recreation (WCANR), a region of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) which itself was formerly known as the ASA.

In 1977 the Fédération québécoise de naturisme (FQN) was founded in Québec. In 1986 the Federation of Canadian Naturists (FCN) was formed with the support of the FQN. The FQN and FCN joined to be the official Canadian representatives in the International Naturist Federation (INF).

Issues

Sexuality

Many who have not practiced social nudity believe that nudity in a social setting is sexually stimulating and arousing, whether they think that's good or bad. Most naturists and nudists disagree, claiming that there is more sexual tension in the scantily clad environment of a pool or a beach than at a nude site. The latter also argue that so much nudity quickly causes it to become routine, so that simple nudity by itself is insufficient to have much sexual effect.

Many also say that social nudity also helps them and their children to mature in their sexual attitudes, to be able to see nudity and sexuality in a more realistic light, and thus to be able to relate to others with fewer sexual "hang-ups".

Naturist and nudist organizations widely maintain and enforce a policy prohibiting sex in view of others, and many naturist groups describe themselves as family-oriented.

The possibility of getting an erection is a concern often cited by males who are apprehensive of naturism, but naturists do not consider that fear to be realistic or a reason for avoiding participation. Erections are rare, it seems, because the naturist environment is generally non-sexualized. Some naturists suggest that the fear of getting an erection is itself a major factor preventing erections. Should an erection occur, one can simply cover up, jump into the pool, take a shower, etc. until it subsides. Flaunting an erection is not allowed in an organised nude group. Many consider it lewd. Others do not mind personally, but don't want to let such behaviour diminish their ranks. (See also Manners below.)

Involvement in naturism has not been shown to be harmful to childhood psychological development.[5] Parents always need to be vigilant to guard their children against sexual predators and other problems. That applies equally to naturists and to non-naturists.

Recently, to avoid legal problems, some resorts and clubs in the USA forbid bringing minor children from other families without written permission in advance. A few even exclude children of divorced parents without the written consent of the other ex-spouse (unless they can prove full custody). That does not apply to public beaches.

Manners

Participants in social nudity say that the attendees are generally very well-behaved, as well or better than in non-nudist or non-naturist settings. Because some problems are discussed in these articles does not mean that they occur frequently.

Nudists will wear clothes if the weather or indoor temperature demands it. Naturists generally consider themselves to be accepting people, the general idea being simply to do things nude that one would normally do clothed. However, nudist culture has its own rules of etiquette, though they vary among the groups and sites.

Some nudists consider it essential for health to sit on a towel whenever sitting on a chair, bench, or anything else where others might sit, and they consider it very poor etiquette to do otherwise. Likewise, sitting on someone else's towel is also a breach of etiquette.

For privacy reasons, photographing anyone without consent is banned at most nude venues by law or custom. In addition, parents must be consulted regarding their minor children. Other rules can include a prohibition on pets, weapons, loud music, etc. Such policies vary between nude sites, so attendees are advised to learn them prior to a visit.

Gawking is almost universally condemned, if not by rule, then by social pressure.

Some nudist organizations do not admit people with objects in body piercings, excepting earrings.

Generally, nude groups accept people of all races, ages, sizes, and shapes, including those with amputations, scars, tattoos or trimmed (or absence of) hair. Recently some nudist organizations have expressed a preference for members to completely shave or remove all pubic hair, as some believe that having pubic hair does not leave that body completety nude. For them, for some reason, facial and head hair are acceptable. Such an official suggestion is, however, rare.

Social nudity usually attracts more men than women. Many of those organizations which want more of a balance, therefore, do not allow unaccompanied men, [6], and might even encourage unaccompanied women. Other groups have quotas. Whether that is hypocritical of a subculture which promotes acceptance is a topic often debated. Some organizations say that they do not discriminate based on gender, but merely require a balance in the numbers of men and women.

Some nudist resorts, clubs, or beaches have the "undress code" of full nudity at all times (with exceptions, such as cold weather, a woman experiencing menstruation, or certain days or hours for new visitors). Most have that policy only for the swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi, hot tub bath, etc., with clothing optional elsewhere.

If a visitor encourages another visitor to be nude, that might give rise to suspicion that nudity is desired for visual satisfaction, which might not be tolerated.

Many nudists do not want men to openly present their erection (whether voluntary or spontaneous). However, some believe it should be included as a part of "body acceptance" — a key philosophy of nudists. That has been the subject of much debate in nudist/naturist Internet forums. See the discussion in the previous section, "Sexuality".

Rarely, for some activities (e.g. water skiing or dancing), hiding an erection might be difficult. The typical nudist etiquette suggests that it then be ignored by others. Public nude beaches tend to be less strict on this issue than private resorts. Also, nudists are generally more tolerant of spontaneous erection in pre-pubescent and pubescent boys than in older teens and men.

Sexual stimulation, whether direct or indirect, is not acceptable, masturbation in public or in the view of others usually being strictly forbidden. Touching or massaging of another's genitals could cause sexual stimulation, and so is similarly restricted. It is usually acceptable to apply suntan lotion to another's body, including a woman's breasts and buttocks, as long as the intent or effect is not noticeable sexual stimulation.

Organised sexual activity does occur at some renegade private nudist establishments, but the main organizations tend to distance themselves from them. Usually the established, registered clubs have strict codes against freer sexuality, which is not popular enough to hold sway in very many places.

Politics

• The Sex Party of British Columbia (Canada) would pass legislation requiring all public parks and beaches larger than one hectare to designate areas reserved for nudists.
• The Naturist Lifestyle Party in NSW, Australia "aims to bring naturism fully into the public eye, with view to getting an equitable allocation of public resources to those who support the naturist lifestyle".

References

• Story, Marilyn (Sept. 1984) "Comparisons of Body Self-Concept between Social Nudists & Nonnudists" Journal of Psychology 118
• Story, Marilyn (1979) "Factors Associated w/More Positive Body Self-Concepts in Preschool children" Jour. of Social Psychology 108 49-56 56
• Story, Marilyn (May 1987) "A Comparison of Social Nudists & Non-nudists on Experience w/Various Sexual Outlets" Journ. of Sex Research 23 No. 2 p197-211,
• Robin Lewis & Louis Janda (1988) "The Relationship Between Adult Sexual Adjustment & Childhood Experiences Regarding Exposure to Nudity, Sleeping in the Parental Bed, Parental Attitudes Toward Sexuality" Arch. of Sexual Behavior 17 No.4
• Mary S. Calderone, M.D. (1981) in "The Family Book About Sexuality" ISBN 0397013779

Further reading

• Storey, Mark Social Nudity, Sexual Attraction, and Respect Nude & Natural magazine, 24.3 Spring 2005.
• Storey, Mark Children, Social Nudity and Academic Research Nude & Natural magazine, 23.4 Summer 2004.
• Jim Hamm Productions Limited Spirit Wrestlers, a 2002 documentary video and DVD about the Russian Christian sect called Freedomite Doukhobors, which is mentioned above in Historical era.

External links

• 205 Arguments in Support of Naturism (link is a PDF file)
• Family Naturism
• The Naturist Campingguide - An extensive list of naturist campsites worldwide
• Naturist Place - General naturist information, links directory, naturist blog
• Naturismo.org an online naturist magazine
• NaturistHoliday.Info - A guide to naturist holidays around the world
• Nudist Travel Blog
• Sunclad.com - On how decent naturists should avoid problems with cyber cops carrying out sting operations.
• NudeCanadian.com - a Canadian Based, Supportive, Informative, Non-Sexual set of Resources Including Very Active Forums
• Nudist/Naturist Hall of Shame
• Reject Shame - on the harm of body shame from a Christian perspective
• UrbaNudismo Public nudity group in Barcelona and Buenos Aires