I don't know about "raving sex freaks." I did work with a guy who insisted that it was all sweetness and light in the day but at night nudists all scurried off to hump away. Nudists as swingers. Being naked in the day was just prep for it. Would not be dissuaded because that's what he wanted to be true.
Definitely a lot of people in my area consider it to be perversion. It would be enough to get you fired from a sensitive position dealing with children. Even if the employer had no issues, there are parents who would raise hell and put a prop under it. A young single white female who was public about being a nudist would probably be subjected to serious harassment from males and other females - in different ways.
There are the fundamentalists who are very Puritan in their POV and consider it as sin. (Got a lot of those where I live.) Seeing nudity contaminates you and children are the most vulnerable. There are self declared feminists who consider nudity to be inherently exploitative of women and an exposed penis to be a rape threat. Nothing they can do about it as long as we stay in our closets but they want to keep us restricted to our ghettos because of all the damage nudity would cause if it were let loose.
There are textiles who don't object to nudity but deny the possibility - or even desirability - of nonsexual nudity. Since nudity is a source of sexual pleasure to them, why would they ever change?
For some time now I’ve felt as though it’s only naturists and nudists that think and talk about the practice in derogatory terms and I find it quite disturbing.
It’s at least a ten year trend that hasn’t changed its tune. In my experience I don’t think it reflects reality in any shape or form.
In my experience everyday people have been totally indifferent to nudity.
That said, I’m going to regular beaches swimming nude. Hiking regular bush tracks nude.
I’m not out in some far flung location within a tight knit group of people convincing each other how badly everyone else views them.
This brings me to something I’ve been seriously turning over in my mind the last few weeks.
“Why does nudity need justification?”
This in part was prompted by an online community trying to think how naturism could be bolstered by new ideas and activities. How could other people be encouraged to take part.
I couldn’t help thinking why does nudity need a reason or justification to occur?
“It wasn’t the act of removing clothes that first made us ‘naked’, it was instead the act of wearing them.”
Victoria Bateman
For me this quote turns the idea of nudity on its head. We don’t undress to be naked. We get dressed to not be naked.
So don’t get dressed. It’s a very simple notion that’s easy to follow.
Get dressed if you’re uncomfortable. Stay naked otherwise.
Don’t justify nudity. Justify dressing up.
Far more importantly don’t assume what other people are thinking. Chances are we couldn’t be more wrong.
I don't share my fondness for nudity a lot. It just doesn't come up in conversation, and I'm a little shy. I draw from the nude twice a week, and share drawings that please me on Facebook. Nudity comes up in the comments, and I have yet to sense that people think there's something sexual about what I do. I've always found it hard to imagine that people think nudists are having orgies. My reservations about sharing have more to do with people's wondering why I make any kind of production about something so ordinary.
Thanks for the opportunity to engage on the matter. With regard to non-naturists perception of naturists, there are still people who think that our lifestyle is sexual. Although it is not common, there are times when discussing naturism, that I get asked if it is true that we all have sex and that naturist parks are just one big orgy.
While I seize the opportunity to clarify that while naturists are just people, and therefore sexual, the naturist philosophy is not. Sex is a natural but private part of people's lives, and so it is with naturists. It is often a slow process, one person at a time. Making the point via a sensationalist headline would not be my preferred approach, but I can understand why some might consider it worth pursuing.
I also think that adding to the confusion for much of the public is the number of people (often men) lurking in the dunes and secluded areas of naturist beaches, looking for sexual connections. These lurkers, sometimes called meerkats due to their propensity to pop up, look around and then hide again, often claim to be naturists but are using the term to hide their exhibitionism and opportunistic sexual activities.
I think this might be a case of two nations divided by a common language. To me it reads as though the people who think that there must be something sexual about naturism are clearly ridiculous.
“Raving sex cult” is hyperbole to highlight the silliness of that position.
Trinity Mirror and their myriad horrible local newspaper websites will try to turn anything into click bait, but is not engaging with them a better option, I don’t think so.
The negative words I hear most often from critics of naturism/nudism are perversion and exhibitionism. My experiences may be colored by living in the most politically and religiously conservative area in a very conservative state. I have had heated exchanges with people on social media who have vile misconceptions about naturism. These misconceptions usually include accusations of pedophilia, exhibitionism and abnormal sexual thoughts/behaviors. Nevermind the fact that it's more likely a textile in a trusted, reputable position in the community who commits sex crimes.
Many of us naturists have had to hide our lifestyle because of employment or family concerns. I held various security clearances throughout my career. Being publically outed could have meant the revocation of clearances and termination of employment. Being arrested for public indecency would have been catastrophic.
I do not judge those with closeted naturist/nudist lifestyles. I can understand why some post photos without revealing their faces. This is a combustible topic in the naturist community, I know. It can be difficult to discern the true naturists from the exhibitionists but I err on the side of acceptance.
Why is public nudity so reviled by many here in the United States? There are many reasons as detailed in many posts made over the years. I'm guessing body shame, religion and the bad acts of those who claim to be naturists are the main reasons. It only takes a few perverts to spoil the reputation of the innocent.
I'm in Canada. Most of thase I know think about naturism/nudism exacly as Graham said. Indeed it is regrettable he used those words. After seeing them most readers will have stopped reading the artical assuming he was confirming their bais because it's what they expect to see, that is something called 'confirmation bias'. They don't need the help.
Canadians have a reputation for politeness not shared by UK media - perhaps your newspapers follow that trend, Jillian. As regards the sexual accusations bit, didn’t Canada have a mild furore a little while back when a family-oriented naturist swim was targeted by self-proclaimed paedophile hunters, or am I confusing that with somewhere else - I know we had something similar in the UK.
In more general terms our media has suffered enormously in recent years. What had been a long-term downward slide as it failed to compete with so many other distractions for people’s attention, the onslaught from social media has quickened the slide towards oblivion. Anonymous claptrap in a Twitter feed now outweighs considered, responsible reporting from trained, careful journalists. The lowest common denominator rules, and gets lower every day.
I don't know about "raving sex freaks." I did work with a guy who insisted that it was all sweetness and light in the day but at night nudists all scurried off to hump away. Nudists as swingers. Being naked in the day was just prep for it. Would not be dissuaded because that's what he wanted to be true.
Definitely a lot of people in my area consider it to be perversion. It would be enough to get you fired from a sensitive position dealing with children. Even if the employer had no issues, there are parents who would raise hell and put a prop under it. A young single white female who was public about being a nudist would probably be subjected to serious harassment from males and other females - in different ways.
There are the fundamentalists who are very Puritan in their POV and consider it as sin. (Got a lot of those where I live.) Seeing nudity contaminates you and children are the most vulnerable. There are self declared feminists who consider nudity to be inherently exploitative of women and an exposed penis to be a rape threat. Nothing they can do about it as long as we stay in our closets but they want to keep us restricted to our ghettos because of all the damage nudity would cause if it were let loose.
There are textiles who don't object to nudity but deny the possibility - or even desirability - of nonsexual nudity. Since nudity is a source of sexual pleasure to them, why would they ever change?
The northeast is having the winter storm of the century. But wherever you are, you don't have it as bad as Mt. Washington.
https://www.wmur.com/article/meteorologist-describes-record-breaking-cold-atop-mount-washington/42763378
For some time now I’ve felt as though it’s only naturists and nudists that think and talk about the practice in derogatory terms and I find it quite disturbing.
It’s at least a ten year trend that hasn’t changed its tune. In my experience I don’t think it reflects reality in any shape or form.
In my experience everyday people have been totally indifferent to nudity.
That said, I’m going to regular beaches swimming nude. Hiking regular bush tracks nude.
I’m not out in some far flung location within a tight knit group of people convincing each other how badly everyone else views them.
This brings me to something I’ve been seriously turning over in my mind the last few weeks.
“Why does nudity need justification?”
This in part was prompted by an online community trying to think how naturism could be bolstered by new ideas and activities. How could other people be encouraged to take part.
I couldn’t help thinking why does nudity need a reason or justification to occur?
“It wasn’t the act of removing clothes that first made us ‘naked’, it was instead the act of wearing them.”
Victoria Bateman
For me this quote turns the idea of nudity on its head. We don’t undress to be naked. We get dressed to not be naked.
So don’t get dressed. It’s a very simple notion that’s easy to follow.
Get dressed if you’re uncomfortable. Stay naked otherwise.
Don’t justify nudity. Justify dressing up.
Far more importantly don’t assume what other people are thinking. Chances are we couldn’t be more wrong.
I don't share my fondness for nudity a lot. It just doesn't come up in conversation, and I'm a little shy. I draw from the nude twice a week, and share drawings that please me on Facebook. Nudity comes up in the comments, and I have yet to sense that people think there's something sexual about what I do. I've always found it hard to imagine that people think nudists are having orgies. My reservations about sharing have more to do with people's wondering why I make any kind of production about something so ordinary.
Thanks for the opportunity to engage on the matter. With regard to non-naturists perception of naturists, there are still people who think that our lifestyle is sexual. Although it is not common, there are times when discussing naturism, that I get asked if it is true that we all have sex and that naturist parks are just one big orgy.
While I seize the opportunity to clarify that while naturists are just people, and therefore sexual, the naturist philosophy is not. Sex is a natural but private part of people's lives, and so it is with naturists. It is often a slow process, one person at a time. Making the point via a sensationalist headline would not be my preferred approach, but I can understand why some might consider it worth pursuing.
I also think that adding to the confusion for much of the public is the number of people (often men) lurking in the dunes and secluded areas of naturist beaches, looking for sexual connections. These lurkers, sometimes called meerkats due to their propensity to pop up, look around and then hide again, often claim to be naturists but are using the term to hide their exhibitionism and opportunistic sexual activities.
I think this might be a case of two nations divided by a common language. To me it reads as though the people who think that there must be something sexual about naturism are clearly ridiculous.
“Raving sex cult” is hyperbole to highlight the silliness of that position.
Trinity Mirror and their myriad horrible local newspaper websites will try to turn anything into click bait, but is not engaging with them a better option, I don’t think so.
The negative words I hear most often from critics of naturism/nudism are perversion and exhibitionism. My experiences may be colored by living in the most politically and religiously conservative area in a very conservative state. I have had heated exchanges with people on social media who have vile misconceptions about naturism. These misconceptions usually include accusations of pedophilia, exhibitionism and abnormal sexual thoughts/behaviors. Nevermind the fact that it's more likely a textile in a trusted, reputable position in the community who commits sex crimes.
Many of us naturists have had to hide our lifestyle because of employment or family concerns. I held various security clearances throughout my career. Being publically outed could have meant the revocation of clearances and termination of employment. Being arrested for public indecency would have been catastrophic.
I do not judge those with closeted naturist/nudist lifestyles. I can understand why some post photos without revealing their faces. This is a combustible topic in the naturist community, I know. It can be difficult to discern the true naturists from the exhibitionists but I err on the side of acceptance.
Why is public nudity so reviled by many here in the United States? There are many reasons as detailed in many posts made over the years. I'm guessing body shame, religion and the bad acts of those who claim to be naturists are the main reasons. It only takes a few perverts to spoil the reputation of the innocent.
I'm in Canada. Most of thase I know think about naturism/nudism exacly as Graham said. Indeed it is regrettable he used those words. After seeing them most readers will have stopped reading the artical assuming he was confirming their bais because it's what they expect to see, that is something called 'confirmation bias'. They don't need the help.
Canadians have a reputation for politeness not shared by UK media - perhaps your newspapers follow that trend, Jillian. As regards the sexual accusations bit, didn’t Canada have a mild furore a little while back when a family-oriented naturist swim was targeted by self-proclaimed paedophile hunters, or am I confusing that with somewhere else - I know we had something similar in the UK.
In more general terms our media has suffered enormously in recent years. What had been a long-term downward slide as it failed to compete with so many other distractions for people’s attention, the onslaught from social media has quickened the slide towards oblivion. Anonymous claptrap in a Twitter feed now outweighs considered, responsible reporting from trained, careful journalists. The lowest common denominator rules, and gets lower every day.