Sexual Preference
Based on my informal observation on this and other nudity related sited, the proportion of gay and bi males seems to be higher than in the population as a whole.
Do you think this is because they are more likely to be nudists than straight men, more likely to share their involvement in nudity, or some combination of the two?
I think a good part of it is just that they're men. Men are much less subject to harassment and assault if they misjudge the context for nudity than women are; it's no great mystery why men in general are vastly more comfortable with social nudity than women are. Sexual preference aside, there's a great preponderance of nudist men.
For gays in particular then - since our partners are men, we are more likely to have partners who are also into social nudity and comfortable with our involvement. If we're unpartnered, we're much more likely than a straight man to find a partner within the nudist community or at nudist venues.
Gays have also, all of us, have had to deal at least once with the experience of breaking with a deeply held social convention in order to build our lives. Nudity breaks another such convention, and our life experience may give us a different perspective on it.
When you strip away at clothes, labels fall as well. Men have always been sexual, with behavior determined partly by the environment. However, the term "homosexual" was invited in the 1860's (as the Industrial Revolution got underway and lifestyles became more regimented along with workplaces). Back in the 1970's the hyphenated American age emerged (Kiss me I'm Irish!). Now it's perhaps the age of pronouned sexuality, and we'll likely move on at some point to something else to focus on. Nudity, however, remains a great equalizer, and I believe gay and bi men are more open to it than your average no-boners-outside-of-marriage Puritanical American heterosexual. How about other countries?
I would have to disagree with the comment that, " Men are much less subject to harassment and assault if they misjudge the context for nudity than women are." At least in the U.S., a nude woman in public would be treated way nicer by onlookers and police than a male. A male would instantly be labeled a pervert or predator and most likely be arrested. A woman would be given the chance to put her clothes on and be allowed to go free. There are multiple accounts of this on news articles from newspapers across the U.S.
Yes my feeling is also that in the nudist scene are more homosexuals than in the normal society. Do we have any objective data on this? When I am thinking about it you have gay nudist beaches which are not representing the nudism of the federations. I think this tension was there since the beginning. You have the naturists and you have the gay nudist people. So basically you have the naturists and you have the eroticists. And of course you have the gay naturists which follow the rules of the federations.
I would have to disagree with the comment that, " Men are much less subject to harassment and assault if they misjudge the context for nudity than women are." At least in the U.S., a nude woman in public would be treated way nicer by onlookers and police than a male. A male would instantly be labeled a pervert or predator and most likely be arrested. A woman would be given the chance to put her clothes on and be allowed to go free. There are multiple accounts of this on news articles from newspapers across the U.S.
Maybe men are more likely to experience harassment from law enforcement, but women are more likely to experience harassment in the form of unwanted sexual advances, even if the rejection is accepted by the offending party and no assault is involved.
I disagree completely that it has to do with being gay or bisexual, frankly I think it has zero to do with that. The male species in general are far more open when it comes to nudity and sexuality, just "displayed" differently based on his personality. Yes there are always exceptions, women are just far more private in their persona, which is why they tend not to be as open.
Stevein Kona wrote:Gays have also, all of us, have had to deal at least once with the experience of breaking with a deeply held social convention in order to build our lives. Nudity breaks another such convention, and our life experience may give us a different perspective on it.
That's certainly a component as to why gay men have higher visibility in nudist sites and maybe other nudist venues like beaches or resorts. They've already rolled the dice once. And once they've found a community that accepts them for being naked, they may be more likely to turn to that community for other forms of self-validation.
But I wouldn't say that there are a higher proportion of gays who are nudists as compared with the general population. The presence of gay bars in many urban areas testifies to the fact that "textile" gay men want to have their place in the sun as well.
I'm not even sure if it would be possible to conduct a proper survey on the subject. And I'm not even sure it makes any difference in the long run. Nudism, at its core, has nothing to do with sexual preference any more than it has to do with skin color or body weight or any other variation in the human condition. And acknowledging that fact allows us to escape the thorny area of definitions: how "gay" do you have to be before you're considered to be (or self-identify as) "gay"? If you've had even one homosexual experience, does that make you "gay" or "bisexual" or any other label?
Mostly speculation with no real data to back it up. In real life nudist community no one is tracking whether you are gay or straight, unless it is a discriminatory community that is an aspect of this site that I have long thought is unnecessary.
You have the naturists and you have the gay nudist people. So basically you have the naturists and you have the eroticists. And of course you have the gay naturists which follow the rules of the federations.
I don't agree that gay nudist people are eroticists unless they follow the rules of the federations. I'm not sure which federations you're referring to, but US groups like AANR implicitly discriminate against single men, defined as men without a female escort. That makes gay naturists unwelcome unless their mom or sister wants to tag along. How can men, gay or straight, follow rules that are written to exclude them?
Mostly speculation with no real data to back it up. In real life nudist community no one is tracking whether you are gay or straight, unless it is a discriminatory community that is an aspect of this site that I have long thought is unnecessary.
True, but many members here and elsewhere include their sexual preferences in their profile.
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