Traditional naturist values emphasize a decent, moral, family-friendly atmosphere. This is exactly the environment that should be presented in order to educate the general public about wholesome nude recreation. This, the core philosophy of naturism must remain strong. Recently I read articles about a well-known clothing optional resort in Florida that has begun an aggressive marketing plan that targets “non-traditional” nudists. This decision has led to a great deal of dissatisfaction among the permanent residents of the resort and has in fact resulted in the resort being suspended by AANR for their decision to cater to “swingers”. Many within the naturist community view swingers and others who use nudism as a guise for seeking sex as the biggest threat to nudism. When nudism is attacked, it is the linkage between nudity and sexual activity that is most often used to paint nudism in a negative light. Since the “nudity equals sex” misconception is the biggest issue nudists must overcome, this only adds fuel to the fire for those who already oppose nudism.
I have no quarrel with nudists who say adults deserve the right to have places for “adult” fun and activities. Also, I am not making any negative judgments about those who enjoy swinging activities even though it isn’t something that appeals to me personally. Yet I don’t apologize for my opinion that family oriented nudist resorts and venues are not the appropriate places for sexual activities. When sexual activity of any kind happens at a nude beach or a resort, those who oppose nudism use that to attack nudism and as an excuse to further infringe on the rights of nudists to responsibly enjoy nudist activities on public lands. Tolerance of open sexual activities in nude recreation fosters the misconception that nudity is an “adults only” thing, when in fact it should be a safe, wholesome atmosphere for the whole family that allows everyone to learn respect, positive body awareness and development of positive self-esteem. The only kind of nude recreation likely to catch on with the average family isn't the sexualized variety. Sure nudists enjoy sexuality as much as anyone but we cannot afford to cater to those who would sexualize nudism. It might be enjoyable by the minority and might make more money for some resorts but it can also destroy nudism starting at the very core of the nudist philosophy. In order for nudism to really grow and gain acceptance in the long run, it needs to be kept wholesome at all costs.
Our society seems obsessed with hiding what is termed the “indecent” body. Nudists must strive to present themselves as exemplary naturist citizens, fully abiding by wholesome standards of naturist behavior, etiquette and courtesy. They need to stand together to effectively discount that misconception by having and following a common standard of conduct. There are plenty of places for those who enjoy a sexualized nudist environment to indulge their interests and find acceptance so there is no need for the family friendly resorts and venues to cave into the pressure to accommodate the non-traditionalists.
Amen to that! Thank you for standing up for real nudist values.
ReplyDeleteI would add that we need to promote and protect these values, not just because opponents of nudism can attack us if we don't, but because nudism will not exist if it's not protected from sexualization. Nudism risks becoming just another kink for the swingers if we don't stand up for our values. Yes, people are free to do those sexual things, but they don't have the right to call it nudism. There is NO SUCH THING as so-called "non-traditional nudists." That's an invented name that swingers use to try to latch on to the success of nudism. Let them do their thing in their own places. Likewise, nudists should stay away from sex resorts. Otherwise they need to ask themselves if they're into nudism for the right reasons.
Nudists have worked for many decades for acceptance, and we won't have that corrupted and taken over by those whose values are directly in conflict with those of social nudism.
Mark