Whereas I get frustrated with discrimination in nudism (including my self-awareness of the bubble I've lived in as a cis-gendered white middle aged man), I have hope that nudists can be a positive agent of change. Why? Because nudists by definition see people without society's main label of clothes and are thereby iconoclastic. The low hanging fruit in making nudism more diverse is to bridge the age gap between generations. I personally think that millennials have many of these issues related to discrimination figured out (at least much better than baby boomers) and that we have a lot to learn from them if we can only get out the way enough for them to feel more welcomed.
Repeatedly, studies have shown diverse contacts foster diverse... umm... looking for a word... I don't know, thinking, I guess. The more people you come into contact with that are not you normalizes that diversity. I grew up - as Gen-X - in Green Bay, Wisconsin, next to the Cleavers with 2.5 children and a dog. Dual-income household where Mom made 85% of my Dad and my Sister is almost exactly 3 years younger. Just like everyone else. Pale, one new car, one beater, cut lawn, and bills to pay. Took 6 years of schooling before I encountered a Black classmate, so no shock when one of my 1st questions to her asked which part of Chicago she's from... an absurd stereotyping for which I am still ashamed. That said, the Upper Midwest has an abundance of First Peoples & AAPI - specifically Hmong. Only after I had a Black classmate did I notice I also had Native classmates & Hmong classmates. Aside from some skin tone and facial features, I took no notice of these classmates as much different than myself, they just happened to live in neighborhoods not very close to mine. To this day I'll easily mistake someone of Native decent as Latino or a Latino as Tamil. Millennials may have an advantage over Boomers because A) they haven't known a life of assured prosperity secure in their unchanging neighborhoods and B) their heroes, celebrities, and increasingly their classmates aren't the same as themselves... and also increasingly mixed race individuals are MUCH more common nearly to the point there are no people just like themselves. Remember, Buddy Holly was assumed Black until he performed in a concert just because of the music he played and somehow Elvis is considered white. After this long ramble, same holds true for breaking age barriers. The more contact us olds have with the young'ins the more we'll understand their concerns with the nudist community and we'll also learn nudity is somewhat less a concern - unlike those who swam nude at the YMCA then lost the torcher of high school gang showers to individual stalls. Jimmy Smits butt would never shock a Millennial yet millions of pearls were lost in Boomer homes and us Gen-Xers thought it about time they finally put a man's butt in prime time rather than a reflection from a mirror of a woman's. I've not been able to get enough anecdotes to be definitive, but my guess is social nudity for the (now) 30-somethings just isn't a planned event but rather far more relaxed and situational, unlike the secret fantasies of the neighbors of the Cleavers.
One big step is by having these discussions. It's very easy (being in the middle-aged white guy status) to just assume everyone thinks like me. I / we need to be jolted out of our complacency sometimes.
Being open to other perspectives and listening to the people from diverse groups is a key first step.
Thinking about diversity of s one thing, but in order to increase the number of Black people and other people of color in nude spaces, I want to bring up a key aspect of human interaction in this country: white people hang out and are most comfortable with other white people. Th same is true of other people. Black people feel most comfortable around other Black people, as I imagine
You make a really good point here. Which begs the question why? Until we deal with the underlying issue of Why as in the book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria" nothing will change. No amount of statements about how equal we all are will make a difference.
I have some thoughts but anytime I share there are folks hear who shut down the conversation because frankly IMO they dont want to hear the truth. Thats why you see books being banned laws being passed and curricula being changed to avoid folks having to face the truth. I have been writing about this for almost five year. My latest series of post in the subject History repeating is getting ready to drop on my site.
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