Soft talk about a hard subject
Erections aren't welcome in most social nudism settings
Erections are a part of being a guy. The younger you are, the more they just happen. When I was a hormone-addled teen, they'd come up randomly with no apparent cause. (And there was the first time I posed for an art class at the still hormonal age of 18... with no experience in nudism. Talk about embarrassing! But I didn’t lose the job, just told to not let it happen again. It didn’t.) They aren't welcome at a nudist resort — or an art class. At a club, the standard advice is to grab a towel, jump into the water or lay on your belly to not be so visible until it disappears.
Some people are less tolerant than others. It ranges from considering it a form of sexual aggression to humorous or a complete nonissue. Close-knit friends might be more accepting than a bunch of random acquaintances and strangers.
Not getting an erection when you don't want one is something a nudist learns. If you grow up in a nudist environment, it comes naturally. It also becomes easier when you get past puberty. (I could see it as a reason why adolescent boys might drop out of complete nudity for a few years.) Being naked socially stops being arousing for adult males very quickly — unless they want it to be so.
Sexual exhibitionism is a different critter, but such people don't do well in organized nudist activities. When I do the Bare to Breakers, there are always a few guys, sometimes very well-endowed, sometimes not, flaunting their erections. Usually involving much fluffing, often penis rings, and Viagra. Your typical exhibitionist wants to shock or frighten the people they expose themselves to, but these guys are just out for the attention. Keeping it up for hours has to be exhausting. There are always participants who want novelty photos taken with them. This ensures that there will always be such novelties. Not something I fuss about. It is just part of the weird show that is the B2B.
My personal feeling is that I couldn’t care less about whether a guy gets an erection. It does not offend me. It does not threaten me.
However, there are many nudists who are extremely offended and some who feel threatened. Nudists can't read minds, so the worst will be assumed. It doesn’t matter if your erection isn’t sexual to you. It will be to a viewer. If you're a woman, it could feel threatening. I get very protective if there are children around. If there's a child around, removal from the premise with prejudice would be expected. It is simply not acceptable for a guy to be obviously erect in a nudist setting, a hundredfold so in a family setting.
If I were a club owner, I’d have to be considerate of my customers. They will not appreciate a guy casually strolling about in the upright position and ready for take-off. Part of the contract is that this sort of thing won’t happen. If it is a choice between you or however many customers you may have offended, you’re gone.
And women get to be as aroused as they want. It’s the benefit of having internal genitals. Life is not fair. Accept it.
“Softies” occasionally show up on the nude beach but usually get ignored. Just don't be fluffing or preening or posing or getting into someone's personal space. And avoid minors like the plague.
I know there are guys who will assert erections are “natural” (true) and “not always sexual,” (Yeah… but how would an observer know the difference?), and they shouldn’t cause shame (also true). Fine. I’m not at all ashamed of my body, but if I meet someone unexpectedly on the trail, I will do a minimal cover-up, at least until I know they are cool with it. Just as I wouldn’t blast death metal music unless I knew my neighbor didn’t care.
Courtesy counts. Life is a constant compromise between what you want and what the world wants from you.
I’m not moralizing. When I went to Nude Art LA, there were a few guys by the bar sporting wood. Adult venue, not specifically nudist, no problem. Bay to Breakers — a few guys put it on display, and nobody complains. There is nothing “wrong” with an erection in any setting where it is accepted. Don’t go into an existing resort or activity and demand everyone should change their POV just for you.
OTOH if you are alone or with people who don’t care, nobody will care.
Just as I don’t get nude in a venue that has a formal anti-nudity policy or where I’d expect a lot of people to be tweaked about it, one should expect to keep an erection under wraps where there are established rules or where people are liable to object.
I'm not sure this is a big problem at social nudism events. I've never noticed it happening to anyone at any of the events I've attended, and besides, how many people are looking below the waist when they are socializing?
I'm guessing this is more of a fear -- as in, "ohmygawd, what if . . ." -- than anything else. That's why there are guidelines: simply cover up with a towel or something if it does happen.
I understand what you are saying but kicking a young guy out of a resort for the reason he has an erection to me goes against the point nudist and naturist have been trying to make. I was at a resort when a young man was asked to leave and he did so without any argument. My only thought was the nudist community probably just lost a young person that it needs as part of the community. And as most guys know when suddenly in high school the math teacher calls on you to go to the board to work a problem the only problem you are concerned with is the boner in your pants. I think there are solutions but like most things it requires education. As a world we do a horrible job of teaching our children about their bodies and the stages it goes through. First thing is we need better sex education about a host of topics. Parents shoud be the first line of education but often they are not. Next, if a nudist or naturist group wants young males to come to their group or facility they need to be prepared and tell the patron how to handle the issue before it happens, towels ready, places they can go for a short cool down, etc. But one of the worst things to do to new young people is to kick them out for a completely natural reaction. We want to say being nude doesn't mean we want to have sex but then that doesn't mesh with a spontaneous reaction. I can say that I was not thinking about sex in my senior math class when I was called to the board, lol. If an erection comes with aggresive talk or action then I understand removing someone from your facility but it mostly happens to young men who really would like to avoid the situation. When I invite young guys to a naturist event it is what they ask about the most and is a concern. I take the time to explain what they can do if it happens prior to it happening. We have to give them time to get use to being nude. The over reaction is much like what happens to women who breast feed in public. Should nudist women not breast feed babies at a nudist event or facility because it offends some people? The older I get the more appreciative I am for my parents and older siblings who taught me how not to freak out over natural human behavior. Thanks for sharing your opinion on the topic and bringing it up for discussion.