Hi. i read all the posts and suggestions and good intentions . The one thing i find missing if people want change and are willing to strive to get to that end in reality is any involvement of the young folks in this conversation.. That alone should be the biggest red flag of how serious the problem is. Also the lack of the "accepted m/f couples, single women, married solo women with or with out children are not joining the conversation because it would upset the Norm of their resorts and their spot at the table so to speak and what they perceive as their right and safety zones they have established ,,, Many of the old hippies are dead or at least what they started they kicked dirt on. They became the "establishment " the had rebelled agains! They became the bully on the beach kicking sand in all the weaklings faces.. Not a pretty picture mr and mrs boomer , is it ?
One huge aspect that has a direct correlation to this lifestyle is the degree of importance it has on society itself. My father once belonged to the "Moose" club, and even today I still dont know what it truly represented but my father was an avid member throughout the earlier years of his adulthood. As a child, my take on it was a social hangout for adults similar to the clubbing type of atmosphere we have today. Now that he is gone and I am much older, it has occurred to me that that clubbing venue took on a whole different meaning than what my limited perception as a child was like. You see, my father was not the type to drink a lot or do the young socialite type of action that most people associate it with. So why was my father interested in something that I never seen as part of the whole picture? Truth was, my father loved to play cards, poker mostly and when he was among other men, he drank some beer. That was the attraction for him.
The point to all this is, nudism is a similar type of perception to others among general society. To them, the perception is that a bunch of people get naked around each other and what do most people do when naked? SEX! Why else would we get nude? So when all is said and done, sex has always been a personal and private affair that society really has no bearing on. They dont want to know what other people are doing sexually so the idea of an organization legitimizing nudity seems far fetched and not rising to the level of importance needed to be taken more seriously. Due to negative perceptions surrounding nudity, others are more likely to see it as a fad or like a quick trip to an amusement park where you take in all the attractions and then call it a day, only opting to maybe check it out once in awhile.
Young people are as much a solution to nudist advocacy as older people are. We need to look outside the box and broaden the opportunities beyond simple membership drives. We need to show that nudism can rise to the same level of importance as the me too movement, or how the LGBTQ movement has risen to its current prominence. We need to make people want to appreciate what this lifestyle can offer to society, not just some personal status symbol. We know how much this life reduces stress, we know how the very nature of the nudist condition provides the most positive environment. A nude lifestyle is so much more than simply taking off our clothes. All of this needs to be conveyed to society. This message cannot just be shared amongst ourselves. All walks of life needs to be a part of this because its not just for certain people. As we all come together, it will all make perfect sense. That my friends is our first big step in reinventing this lifestyle - sharing the responsibility, not assigning it to others.
One huge aspect that has a direct correlation to this lifestyle is the degree of importance it has on society itself. My father once belonged to the "Moose" club, and even today I still dont know what it truly represented but my father was an avid member throughout the earlier years of his adulthood. As a child, my take on it was a social hangout for adults similar to the clubbing type of atmosphere we have today. Now that he is gone and I am much older, it has occurred to me that that clubbing venue took on a whole different meaning than what my limited perception as a child was like. You see, my father was not the type to drink a lot or do the young socialite type of action that most people associate it with. So why was my father interested in something that I never seen as part of the whole picture? Truth was, my father loved to play cards, poker mostly and when he was among other men, he drank some beer. That was the attraction for him.The point to all this is, nudism is a similar type of perception to others among general society. To them, the perception is that a bunch of people get naked around each other and what do most people do when naked? SEX! Why else would we get nude? So when all is said and done, sex has always been a personal and private affair that society really has no bearing on. They dont want to know what other people are doing sexually so the idea of an organization legitimizing nudity seems far fetched and not rising to the level of importance needed to be taken more seriously. Due to negative perceptions surrounding nudity, others are more likely to see it as a fad or like a quick trip to an amusement park where you take in all the attractions and then call it a day, only opting to maybe check it out once in awhile.Young people are as much a solution to nudist advocacy as older people are. We need to look outside the box and broaden the opportunities beyond simple membership drives. We need to show that nudism can rise to the same level of importance as the me too movement, or how the LGBTQ movement has risen to its current prominence. We need to make people want to appreciate what this lifestyle can offer to society, not just some personal status symbol. We know how much this life reduces stress, we know how the very nature of the nudist condition provides the most positive environment. A nude lifestyle is so much more than simply taking off our clothes. All of this needs to be conveyed to society. This message cannot just be shared amongst ourselves. All walks of life needs to be a part of this because its not just for certain people. As we all come together, it will all make perfect sense. That my friends is our first big step in reinventing this lifestyle - sharing the responsibility, not assigning it to others.
Moose is a fraternal, social and charitable organization, similar to the Elks, but smaller in number.
minimalist75 - thanks for that enlightenment, but the only reason I brought it up was to demonstrate the obscure relationship between that of the nude lifestyle and how my youthful perceptions of the Moose as an organization led to a less than complete understanding of what it was about. Society as a whole treats the nude lifestyle much in the same way as I did to the Moose as a kid.
A nude lifestyle is so much more than simply taking off our clothes. All of this needs to be conveyed to society. This message cannot just be shared amongst ourselves. All walks of life needs to be a part of this because its not just for certain people. As we all come together, it will all make perfect sense. That my friends is our first big step in reinventing this lifestyle - sharing the responsibility, not assigning it to others.
What's the difference between not wearing clothes and being a nudist? I see two things: intention and social interaction. Otherwise everyone's a nudist in the shower. In this part of the US, nudity is forbidden in public places and men are discriminated against from resorts, leaving private social groups and homes to be naked in. For me that's not enough to consider myself a nudist. I don't feel I have a voice as a single male to promote a lifestyle I'm discriminated from, so I'd rather leave it be. There may be laws keeping me from nudity on public property and policies to keep me away from private property where others gather naked, but I'm the same with or without pants and will maintain my freedom and independence. I'll focus on that even I don't know what to call it, and I'd rather talk about the privilege of being pantless with younger people who hold values similar to mine. To the AANR people who think I'm evil for having a penis, we have different values and no reason to associate.
Another issue with the younger crowd is lack of time. As an example I was at a friends lake place yesterday. There were 3 - 25 year olds that came up for the weekend, they spent much of their time focused on their phones rather than enjoying the lake. Talk of skinny dipping totally grossed them out :-(
Stoneandy - The ONLY difference between the nudist lifestyle and the textile lifestyle is that one negates the requirement for clothing. For all practical purposes we are all the same. Nudists essentially do the same things as textiles do in every day life. Socially speaking however, nudists are not simply free to be nude in public surroundings. I believe that were it permissible for Americans to go nude in public , nothing really different would happen. You would see the occasional nudist going about their business but with a conservative social structure firmly in place, it would take some time for others to go against the mainstream socially accepted standard. You would get some uproar from religions and prudes, but in general Americans would mind their own business and avoid looking at nude transgressions that seemed offensive to them. You are correct about the blatant sexual discrimination for single men and we should develop a rational response to combat this trend. They need to realize the harm that it causes our movement and come up with a more realistic approach in preventing voyeuristic conditions that plague our female members. Discriminatory policies benefit no one.
menasnem - I made the point of the relation of nudity to sex purposely so that people can understand that the true curse to our movement is a perception problem. Internally, this problem does not exist because all real nudists comprehend that nudity in and of itself has nothing to do with sex. Textiles cannot envision this because of their limited knowledge of what nudity provides for those desiring sexual fulfillment. The visual context of a nude is not what presents the sexual opportunity, it's the predisposed mental state of a person that feeds the desires which lead towards sexual motivation. Your situation listings are nothing more than judgements based on assumed desires. As long as we accept these ideas ourselves, textiles will continue to make the same erroneous assumptions. Educating the textile world in a manner that makes sense to them will go a long way towards winning greater acceptance of this lifestyle. This education doesnt have to be some overwhelming ad campaign that is costly. Were at the beginning of this internet age where there are huge platforms out there that can be used to effectively promote truth and understanding. In the beginning, we need to smartly determine which platforms will be more acceptable at distributing the legitimacy of the movement and as perceptions towards nudity improve, we can increase this information proportionally.
And you are very correct that events like the nude bike ride are exactly the type of PR content we need. More importantly, this context should be expanded and as more of this becomes known, so will the acceptance from others who are not nudist oriented. As people realize that it is a legitimate concept, the more it will become more comfortable for others to become more open to the experience. How long this will take will depend on how motivated we are in order to come together and help fight these negative associations towards nudity.
Stoneandy - The ONLY difference between the nudist lifestyle and the textile lifestyle is that one negates the requirement for clothing. For all practical purposes we are all the same. Nudists essentially do the same things as textiles do in every day life. Socially speaking however, nudists are not simply free to be nude in public surroundings. I believe that were it permissible for Americans to go nude in public , nothing really different would happen. You would see the occasional nudist going about their business but with a conservative social structure firmly in place, it would take some time for others to go against the mainstream socially accepted standard. You would get some uproar from religions and prudes, but in general Americans would mind their own business and avoid looking at nude transgressions that seemed offensive to them. You are correct about the blatant sexual discrimination for single men and we should develop a rational response to combat this trend. They need to realize the harm that it causes our movement and come up with a more realistic approach in preventing voyeuristic conditions that plague our female members. Discriminatory policies benefit no one.
You are probably right about nudity remaining rare. In New York it has been legal for women to be topless at parks, beaches and some other public places for years, but still very few are.
That's an excellent point. I lived in NY for the first 57 years of my life and I remember when the "Topfree 7" were arrested and it went to court where eventually the courts determined that allowing men to go topless but not women was discriminatory. Since that time, nothing has really changed. Sometimes a woman will test things and go topless in a park but it largely goes un-noticed. The textile standard is a lot to overcome, especially when we look to our neighbors to coexist in a neutral way. The perception that our pubic region needs to stay covered for some unsubstantiated beliefs is a prime example of how society's influence is able to establish standards of behavior without valid reasoning. But its still possible to change these perceptions as is evidenced in the LGBTQ movement. Back in the 80's, being Gay was considered very bad and it had a reputation of being the primary source of AIDS. While it took some time, it has been redefined and it is now a strong social platform that has been able to gain recognition as an equal counter part of Americas social structure. There is no reason that nudism cannot achieve the same type of results.
Actions
Back to TopicsReply to TopicShare this topic
Get paid just by sending us users/traffic.
Signup takes seconds, start now!
Signup as an affiliate!