By nude4070

But here's my caveat; an exhibitionist also likes to wear clothing that stands out, they like to be (literally) seen/noticed out and about whether nude or not, they'll also do other behaviours to be out on show.

Okay, then I'm not an exhibitionist, as such! I'm happy to not stand out, generally, but my desire to wear as little as possible at the beach overrrides that.

• Flag
• Edit
• Delete
• Quote
• Reply

I think you can be both. As I've said elsewhere, I don't much care what goes on inside people's heads, as long as it doesn't bleed into their social interactions. If you like being seen naked but I can't tell from your deportment, it's fine. If you go out flashing people, that's not nudism.

"Exhibitionism" as a clinical term means that you can't experience erotic arousal without being seen. But that's usually not what we mean in a more general sense.

Consider a man who likes to hike naked, in places where he's likely to be seen. If he goes on that trail for the explicit purpose of being seen naked, and wouldn't consider taking that hike if people were absent, I wouldn't call him a nudist, but I would call him an exhibitionist. If he goes on that trail whether other people are there or not, simply because he likes being naked as he hikes, then I would call him a nudist.

I guess exhibitionism could be seen as a variant of what we call "social nudism" as opposed to "solitary nudism." For me, social nudism implies that I'm around people who think, as I do, that we're better off without clothes when there's no reason to wear them. Yes, I see some attractive people, but the sight of them doesn't carry any more weight with me than people with ordinary bodies.

• Flag
• Edit
• Delete
• Quote
• Reply