Media review
San Diego's 'last nudist resort' going textile; festival cancelled amid allegations; and more
Hands up if you are among the naturists in the San Diego area mourning the loss of what is being called “the last nudist resort,” according to the Times of San Diego.
Clothing will soon be compulsory at the DeAnza Springs Resort “in the high desert community of Jacumba Hot Springs,” which has been a clothing-optional haven for naturists for almost three decades, the paper is reporting. The 523-acre property changed hands recently, and the new owners say a change of business model is needed.
It’s especially bad news for naturist residents who bought or leased sites there, and no doubt to many who visit there.
In truth, I can’t recall anyone recommending it, even when we did a post here on readers’ favourite naturism spots around the world. If you’ve ever been there, please feel free to share your impressions in the reader comments section.
There’s more to this story?
Organizers pulled the plug on the annual Sentient Festival in Cayuga County, New York this summer after an Instagram “influencer” alleged that the event’s “primary sponsor promotes child pornography,” according to Auburnpub.com in an Aug. 5 report.
The sponsor was a site called Nudism.TV, which offers to pay people to document their naturist life moments with the goal of “desexualizing nudity” while promoting the benefits of social nudity. It still appears to be early days for the site.
The newspaper says the “influencer,” one John Dorsey, “alleged that the website shares images of nude children and encourages users to provide them by offering video equipment and paying money, with the highest rate of $700 an hour reserved for families who share nude images.”
Saying Dorsey’s allegations led to death threats against Nudism.TV’s founder and citing security concerns, the Sentient Festival folks called off the event while vowing to stage it again next summer.
Dorsey’s video was posted on April 25, and the festival cancellation notice was posted on May 1.
So, why is this only being covered by the media in August — I’ve seen reports on three different news sites? And what about the allegations made by Dorsey? I didn’t see any response from Nudism.TV’s owners to the allegations in the report. Did anyone reach out to them for comment?
I have sent a message to Nude.TV seeking comment. Stay tuned . . .
While the news veterans are away . . .
Kudos to CTV News Regina for a nice piece on the Green Haven Sun Club, Saskatchewan’s only landed nudist club.
And kudos to whoever flagged the error in the original headline: 'We're nudists, not nuts': Sask. naturalist club celebrates 50 years. You’ll still see the blooper in the url, which most often uses the original headline — even though “naturalist” has been changed to “naturist” in the report. (OK, this may be of interest only to geeky copy editors like me. But it is the dog days of summer, and a lot of rookie mistakes are made on news sites while the veterans are on vacation.)
The club itself has about 70 members, with the average age around 50, according to the report.
The president of the club, one Doug Schick, says he is happy to answer questions about nudism from the general public, and he tells the interviewer about one of the first questions he asked when he was a newbie some 18 years ago:
“I said ‘What do you do when it's cold?’ because I didn't know anything about nudism. And he (the late founder of Green Haven) says ‘For God's sakes man. We're nudists, we’re not nuts. We put clothes on.’”
lol. It gets pretty darn cold in Canada’s prairie provinces . . .
A nudism survey
How do Americans in general feel about nudity? A survey of 3,000 people conducted for Bespoke Surgical, a sexual health and wellness practice, “found that an overwhelming 71% of respondents feel either pressured or seriously pressured to have a specific body type, with social media being identified as the primary culprit (82%),” according to a PR Newswire release with the headline Naked Neighbor: Bespoke Surgical Survey Reveals Which States Are Most Confident In The Nude.
The complete study can be read here: THE NUDITY CONFIDENCE SURVEY.
Olive Dell suddenly showed up on a listing service for $6.59 million dollars. The owners said it was just for the purpose of market evaluation and not actually an attempt to sell it. Personally I think they are exploring the idea to see if anyone bites.
https://www.crexi.com/properties/1198621/california-olive-dell-rv-park
Re: Naturalist
I know the word "nudist" seems to have fallen out of favour but I still maintain that a large percentage of the general population has no idea what a "naturist" is and thinks it's a synonym for naturalist. Even some people in "the community" say naturalist. And presumably you could be a naturist --- that is, someone who communes with nature --- while still wearing clothes. At least nudist is clear on that point. Anyway, I think I'm fighting a losing battle here.
I always enjoy your columns, Jillian, and look forward to their arrival! 😁