For me, one of the curious things about writing these blogs is that I never really know how they are going to be received. I hope that they will get a positive response, but I am never quite sure until I post the work and the comments come in. Thankfully, most comments have been positive to date, and I am grateful for that.
I strongly agree with others who highlight appropriate context. It's interesting how fluid that context can be.
Bare feet at the shops in Australia is widely prohibited. As I found out when ejected from a Westfield mall over there. In NZ it's pretty common place.
As Rok pointed out, standards of dress are ever evolving and shifting. If body freedom advocates want to have any part in shifting attitudes we need to collectively represent ourselves.
I'll leave everyone with this parting thought:
"People cite all sorts of reasons for keeping their naked activities a secret. Mostly out of fear for their reputation. What does this say about the acceptability of the practice?"
Reading the blog I had a similar journey as you did. I ultimately come to the conclusion of a slower approach to making the general public comfortable with the concept of social nudity. This may be influenced by the current environment of my home country (the US). In many cases, with many topics small, vocal groups quickly go after opinions or ideas that do not fit within their current world. Nudity in the US is tied to many feelings - religion, “family values” morality. I feel education of family friendly, non-sexual nude recreation is important. I hike nude with groups and solo and am always very concerned when solo that I may come across a single woman or a group with children. Yes - I am quite fearful, but that is the environment I live in, but, I do continue to hike on, so maybe I am doing what the NZ blogger is advocating in a small way.
Sorry for the long comment, thank you for your blog
"I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public."
When I started hiking naked on public trails and public lands I believed all the fear I had been taught as a child. Growing up in my family we were taught that some horrible fate worse than death would befall anyone who was ever seen naked by a person of the opposite sex. I had been taught that fear and body shame before I was old enough to realize I was being trained. When I first started hiking naked I would listen for approaching other hikers and then quickly hide until they passed by. It took me a few years and several nude encounters to realize that no horrible fate had happened. In fact, most people seemed to enjoy seeing a naked hiker.
Eventually I figured out that if I act "as if" nude is a "normal choice" when meeting clothed people, the people I meet accept my unclothed condition without question. I have gotten far more appreciative comments from other people than negative comments. "I wish I was brave enough to do that." Over half a century I've been seen by thousands of people, often at close range, without a single negative effect. Nobody of any age or sex has ever been harmed by seeing me, and I have never been harmed by being seen. The simple truth is that we are a very social species and we all hunger for the sight of other people. That is why nude art has been popular forever, and now nude image and "porn" sites are about half of all Internet use.
You are right, BOPBadger, the greatest enemies of nude acceptance is our own minds and our own fears. Hiding in hidden compounds, or in our homes behind covered windows has made us more and more separate. Basic behavioral psychology teaches us that which isn't seen rapidly become unseeable. And the reverse is also true, that which is seen even infrequently rapidly become normal. Our own fear and hiding continues to be the only real reason that nude in public is still unseeable. Thank you for this post. We have nothing to lose but our own fear.
I believe it's largely to do with what situations the dress code of nakedness is appropriate for. Society has, through long tradition, set a dress code that's appropriate to every situation. And woe betide anyone that crosses the currently accepted standards. But those standards can change with time.
For example, when I first left school and started work as a technical trainee at Television NZ I was expected to come to work in a shirt and tie - even while working out of the public eye. Announcers and front people had to wear a suit and tie. By contrast, have a look at what front people can wear today - even when presenting the news! And techos and camera crews can now wear tidy casual clothes.
Back in the day, your best attire was reserved for church on Sundays. And, for women especially, church was even regarded by some as a fashion contest - your status and social standing determined by how expensive and "designer-labelled" was your outfit. In fact, it was this competitive nature of fashion displays that the Apostle Paul was talking about when teaching about modesty. The word "modesty" was to do with humility - not the requirement to cover up the body, as churches through the ages have come to believe. These days many churches are far more relaxed about what is appropriate dress.
But there remains many occasions when more formal dress is required - weddings, funerals, business meetings, and the requirement to wear a uniform of office: police, military, courts, etc. Nakedness aside, it would be social suicide for me to attend a wedding dressed in my farm clothes and gumboots! Again, different occasions call for a certain dress code.
Naturists need to realise that being naked is just one of many dress codes that are to be worn for any given occasion or situation. To expect western society to adopt nakedness as an acceptable dress code practically everywhere is stupidly naive - in this day and age, at least. I am usually naked around home and the farm. My neighbours often see me without clothes on and don't care - we all get on just fine. If I'm going to the beach I won't bother getting dressed to drive there. I've even stopped at an unattended self-serve petrol station to refuel on the way. I go hiking naked. I don't wear clothes on many bike rides, even on sections of roadway. I walk the forest trails without clothes and skinny dip in the rivers. I have not yet been to the Superette for milk and bread while naked - it's not yet an acceptable dress code for that. But, who knows? It may well be so at some stage in the future.
Yes, we need to be honest and open to other people about our comfort with nakedness in appropriate situations. And we need to stop acting as though nudity should be practised only in designated areas and clubs, behind high walls and hedgerows. But, like religion, we must also not bash the Naturist Bible at people! Society is elastic; you can gently push it, but be careful not to snap it!
My name is Andrew Cook. I don't subscribe to labels, but I reserve the right to sovereignty over my own body, to decide what pieces of cloth get hung on it as, when, and if I see fit.
“I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public.”
I don't believe the above is the crux of our acceptance problem. If we expect to ever gain acceptance of our liefstyle by society we first need to stop acting like it is something of which we are ashamed or embarrassed. Most of us are too timid to admit to all but our closest friends that we sometimes prefer to be nude. Until we are willing to admit that we're nudists, very few of us would dare to think about being seen nude in public.
“Many naturists are hyper-aware of how their behaviour might be seen by the general public. Our intent is not to offend, but to enjoy being without clothes when it is appropriate.”
The obvious problem with this approach is that we let those who oppose our lifestyle decide when and where nudity is appropriate. That's not the way it's supposed to be in a free society.
“The more I thought about it, the less I was convinced about it as a solution. The risk is that in the short term increased public nudity might backfire, and the small group of outraged citizens, those who usually have the loudest voice, would demand that councils and governments crackdown and ban the practice in public spaces.”
If you assume that the opposition will always defeat you, then you have essentially surrendered. Even if your initial efforts are unsuccessful, the effort to have nudity normalized will have begun. Currently we remain hidden and spend our time discussing the difference between the words nudist and naturist, instead of promoting our lifestyle. There is no public discussion of nudity.
“No one can argue about the freedom to be naked in one's own home, and on one's own property, but walking naked to the shops to get a bottle of milk might be a step too far for many.”
I can't comprehend anyone who practices nudism to some degree who would find it inappropriate in a public setting. If it's OK on your property or on a beach, why would it not be OK on the street?
“From my experience of swimming naked at several beaches, lakes, and waterfalls in NZ, people really don’t care. That is perhaps in the context of people seeing something that is not totally unexpected. Seeing someone skinny dipping in a river or at the beach takes the nudity and puts it into a non-threatening context. A naked person walking to the shops removes that context and may be perceived by some as threatening.”
Acquiescing to those few who think that a nude person is more of a threat than a clothed person makes no sense, and how many people like that are there. The vast majority won't care.
“For many, we may not yet be ready to walk to the supermarket naked, but we can at least be more honest about our lifestyle. Declaring ourselves as naturists when the opportunity arises rather than being secretive about our choices is a first step to coming out of the shadows and towards acceptance.”
“Being secretive about our enjoyment of being naked only serves to fortify the preconceptions and misunderstandings of broader society towards naturism and social nudity. We should be proud of our lifestyle choices and own them.”
The last two paragraphs are spot on. Until we accept ourselves we can't expect society to accept us. Keep up the good work Steve.
Context is everything. A lot of people who might not object to nudity in principle would be offended or threatened if you spring it on them unexpectedly.
My public nudity is always in the context of an event where nudity might be expected. WNBR, Bay to Breakers, skinny dipping at hot springs.
I am a bit more cautious about hiking or driving naked. Even though it is legal in the national forest here and people don't always care, some still do and the law can still arrest you on "suspicion." They may release you or charge you with disorderly conduct. I limit it to remote locations and places where nudity is known to be a thing.
I don’t disagree with the idea that we have to be more ready to be seen naked, but of course it’s never that easy, or straightforward. First up is the instinct that being naked is “wrong” and should be hidden away. Now I realise this is nonsense, but it’s also one of the things I was brought up with and those are the sort of things that can be most difficult to overcome.
Second is “where to be seen naked”. Beaches are obviously fine, and group events like a WNBR, but as you say, popping down to the supermarket is probably a pop too far, certainly at the moment. One would have to be starting a crusade or a movement to embark on that course. (Also, at least under UK law, the supermarket is private property and the proprietor could enforce the “must wear clothes” rule)
My own public nakedness has been on country walks. Hardly well populated areas, indeed the solitude is part of the walk’s attraction, but where I walk one is still liable to meet others - hikers, cyclists, dog walkers, the usual sorts. On my early ventures I was wary and would cover up on the least suspicion of meeting someone; after a few unavoidable encounters which generated nothing more than a cheery hello from the textile “other”, I began to worry less about encounters, and now don’t worry at all.
I don’t belong to any clubs and my outings have all been solitary, but reading others’ accounts of naked hiking (mostly on the now sadly defunct Naturist Corner forum) my experiences have been fairly typical - increasing “bravery” about encountering others and 99 per cent tolerance from them.
So while few, if any, of us expect a naked shopping trip to be on the cards any time soon, I would say that many have indeed changed our minds, shifted our paradigm, and found that there is more toleration (acceptance would probably be too strong a word) than we feared.
Morning Steve. Good read as always. I must admit though on this occasion, part way though, I was unsure wether you were advocating more or less openness. By the end I was sure it was more but taking baby steps.
Interestingly only this morning I was wondering about our naturist behaviors. As you know I go to many beaches and will use them as nature intended. However if I go to say peka peka a known naturist beach why is it most people hide away by the dunes. It's as if as naturists we are doing something we feel is wrong. It seems to me it's reinforcing the meerkat mentality.
I am openly naturist, my neighbours and friends all know I am. On the beach I sit in the open, play with the grandkids, walk the beach, play ball or whatever. Because that's what you do on a beach. I see no reason to hide what I consider perfectly acceptable
Thanks for the shoutout to my blog Steve and continuing this worthwhile conversation.
I've relaunched my blog and rewritten my original post here: https://freebeaches.info/post/anewdattitude/
I strongly agree with others who highlight appropriate context. It's interesting how fluid that context can be.
Bare feet at the shops in Australia is widely prohibited. As I found out when ejected from a Westfield mall over there. In NZ it's pretty common place.
As Rok pointed out, standards of dress are ever evolving and shifting. If body freedom advocates want to have any part in shifting attitudes we need to collectively represent ourselves.
I'll leave everyone with this parting thought:
"People cite all sorts of reasons for keeping their naked activities a secret. Mostly out of fear for their reputation. What does this say about the acceptability of the practice?"
Reading the blog I had a similar journey as you did. I ultimately come to the conclusion of a slower approach to making the general public comfortable with the concept of social nudity. This may be influenced by the current environment of my home country (the US). In many cases, with many topics small, vocal groups quickly go after opinions or ideas that do not fit within their current world. Nudity in the US is tied to many feelings - religion, “family values” morality. I feel education of family friendly, non-sexual nude recreation is important. I hike nude with groups and solo and am always very concerned when solo that I may come across a single woman or a group with children. Yes - I am quite fearful, but that is the environment I live in, but, I do continue to hike on, so maybe I am doing what the NZ blogger is advocating in a small way.
Sorry for the long comment, thank you for your blog
"I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public."
When I started hiking naked on public trails and public lands I believed all the fear I had been taught as a child. Growing up in my family we were taught that some horrible fate worse than death would befall anyone who was ever seen naked by a person of the opposite sex. I had been taught that fear and body shame before I was old enough to realize I was being trained. When I first started hiking naked I would listen for approaching other hikers and then quickly hide until they passed by. It took me a few years and several nude encounters to realize that no horrible fate had happened. In fact, most people seemed to enjoy seeing a naked hiker.
Eventually I figured out that if I act "as if" nude is a "normal choice" when meeting clothed people, the people I meet accept my unclothed condition without question. I have gotten far more appreciative comments from other people than negative comments. "I wish I was brave enough to do that." Over half a century I've been seen by thousands of people, often at close range, without a single negative effect. Nobody of any age or sex has ever been harmed by seeing me, and I have never been harmed by being seen. The simple truth is that we are a very social species and we all hunger for the sight of other people. That is why nude art has been popular forever, and now nude image and "porn" sites are about half of all Internet use.
You are right, BOPBadger, the greatest enemies of nude acceptance is our own minds and our own fears. Hiding in hidden compounds, or in our homes behind covered windows has made us more and more separate. Basic behavioral psychology teaches us that which isn't seen rapidly become unseeable. And the reverse is also true, that which is seen even infrequently rapidly become normal. Our own fear and hiding continues to be the only real reason that nude in public is still unseeable. Thank you for this post. We have nothing to lose but our own fear.
I believe it's largely to do with what situations the dress code of nakedness is appropriate for. Society has, through long tradition, set a dress code that's appropriate to every situation. And woe betide anyone that crosses the currently accepted standards. But those standards can change with time.
For example, when I first left school and started work as a technical trainee at Television NZ I was expected to come to work in a shirt and tie - even while working out of the public eye. Announcers and front people had to wear a suit and tie. By contrast, have a look at what front people can wear today - even when presenting the news! And techos and camera crews can now wear tidy casual clothes.
Back in the day, your best attire was reserved for church on Sundays. And, for women especially, church was even regarded by some as a fashion contest - your status and social standing determined by how expensive and "designer-labelled" was your outfit. In fact, it was this competitive nature of fashion displays that the Apostle Paul was talking about when teaching about modesty. The word "modesty" was to do with humility - not the requirement to cover up the body, as churches through the ages have come to believe. These days many churches are far more relaxed about what is appropriate dress.
But there remains many occasions when more formal dress is required - weddings, funerals, business meetings, and the requirement to wear a uniform of office: police, military, courts, etc. Nakedness aside, it would be social suicide for me to attend a wedding dressed in my farm clothes and gumboots! Again, different occasions call for a certain dress code.
Naturists need to realise that being naked is just one of many dress codes that are to be worn for any given occasion or situation. To expect western society to adopt nakedness as an acceptable dress code practically everywhere is stupidly naive - in this day and age, at least. I am usually naked around home and the farm. My neighbours often see me without clothes on and don't care - we all get on just fine. If I'm going to the beach I won't bother getting dressed to drive there. I've even stopped at an unattended self-serve petrol station to refuel on the way. I go hiking naked. I don't wear clothes on many bike rides, even on sections of roadway. I walk the forest trails without clothes and skinny dip in the rivers. I have not yet been to the Superette for milk and bread while naked - it's not yet an acceptable dress code for that. But, who knows? It may well be so at some stage in the future.
Yes, we need to be honest and open to other people about our comfort with nakedness in appropriate situations. And we need to stop acting as though nudity should be practised only in designated areas and clubs, behind high walls and hedgerows. But, like religion, we must also not bash the Naturist Bible at people! Society is elastic; you can gently push it, but be careful not to snap it!
My name is Andrew Cook. I don't subscribe to labels, but I reserve the right to sovereignty over my own body, to decide what pieces of cloth get hung on it as, when, and if I see fit.
“I don’t think naturists need to change the mind of the public about nudity. They need to change their own mind about being seen naked in public.”
I don't believe the above is the crux of our acceptance problem. If we expect to ever gain acceptance of our liefstyle by society we first need to stop acting like it is something of which we are ashamed or embarrassed. Most of us are too timid to admit to all but our closest friends that we sometimes prefer to be nude. Until we are willing to admit that we're nudists, very few of us would dare to think about being seen nude in public.
“Many naturists are hyper-aware of how their behaviour might be seen by the general public. Our intent is not to offend, but to enjoy being without clothes when it is appropriate.”
The obvious problem with this approach is that we let those who oppose our lifestyle decide when and where nudity is appropriate. That's not the way it's supposed to be in a free society.
“The more I thought about it, the less I was convinced about it as a solution. The risk is that in the short term increased public nudity might backfire, and the small group of outraged citizens, those who usually have the loudest voice, would demand that councils and governments crackdown and ban the practice in public spaces.”
If you assume that the opposition will always defeat you, then you have essentially surrendered. Even if your initial efforts are unsuccessful, the effort to have nudity normalized will have begun. Currently we remain hidden and spend our time discussing the difference between the words nudist and naturist, instead of promoting our lifestyle. There is no public discussion of nudity.
“No one can argue about the freedom to be naked in one's own home, and on one's own property, but walking naked to the shops to get a bottle of milk might be a step too far for many.”
I can't comprehend anyone who practices nudism to some degree who would find it inappropriate in a public setting. If it's OK on your property or on a beach, why would it not be OK on the street?
“From my experience of swimming naked at several beaches, lakes, and waterfalls in NZ, people really don’t care. That is perhaps in the context of people seeing something that is not totally unexpected. Seeing someone skinny dipping in a river or at the beach takes the nudity and puts it into a non-threatening context. A naked person walking to the shops removes that context and may be perceived by some as threatening.”
Acquiescing to those few who think that a nude person is more of a threat than a clothed person makes no sense, and how many people like that are there. The vast majority won't care.
“For many, we may not yet be ready to walk to the supermarket naked, but we can at least be more honest about our lifestyle. Declaring ourselves as naturists when the opportunity arises rather than being secretive about our choices is a first step to coming out of the shadows and towards acceptance.”
“Being secretive about our enjoyment of being naked only serves to fortify the preconceptions and misunderstandings of broader society towards naturism and social nudity. We should be proud of our lifestyle choices and own them.”
The last two paragraphs are spot on. Until we accept ourselves we can't expect society to accept us. Keep up the good work Steve.
My name is Bill Bowser and I'm a nudist.
Context is everything. A lot of people who might not object to nudity in principle would be offended or threatened if you spring it on them unexpectedly.
My public nudity is always in the context of an event where nudity might be expected. WNBR, Bay to Breakers, skinny dipping at hot springs.
I am a bit more cautious about hiking or driving naked. Even though it is legal in the national forest here and people don't always care, some still do and the law can still arrest you on "suspicion." They may release you or charge you with disorderly conduct. I limit it to remote locations and places where nudity is known to be a thing.
I don’t disagree with the idea that we have to be more ready to be seen naked, but of course it’s never that easy, or straightforward. First up is the instinct that being naked is “wrong” and should be hidden away. Now I realise this is nonsense, but it’s also one of the things I was brought up with and those are the sort of things that can be most difficult to overcome.
Second is “where to be seen naked”. Beaches are obviously fine, and group events like a WNBR, but as you say, popping down to the supermarket is probably a pop too far, certainly at the moment. One would have to be starting a crusade or a movement to embark on that course. (Also, at least under UK law, the supermarket is private property and the proprietor could enforce the “must wear clothes” rule)
My own public nakedness has been on country walks. Hardly well populated areas, indeed the solitude is part of the walk’s attraction, but where I walk one is still liable to meet others - hikers, cyclists, dog walkers, the usual sorts. On my early ventures I was wary and would cover up on the least suspicion of meeting someone; after a few unavoidable encounters which generated nothing more than a cheery hello from the textile “other”, I began to worry less about encounters, and now don’t worry at all.
I don’t belong to any clubs and my outings have all been solitary, but reading others’ accounts of naked hiking (mostly on the now sadly defunct Naturist Corner forum) my experiences have been fairly typical - increasing “bravery” about encountering others and 99 per cent tolerance from them.
So while few, if any, of us expect a naked shopping trip to be on the cards any time soon, I would say that many have indeed changed our minds, shifted our paradigm, and found that there is more toleration (acceptance would probably be too strong a word) than we feared.
Morning Steve. Good read as always. I must admit though on this occasion, part way though, I was unsure wether you were advocating more or less openness. By the end I was sure it was more but taking baby steps.
Interestingly only this morning I was wondering about our naturist behaviors. As you know I go to many beaches and will use them as nature intended. However if I go to say peka peka a known naturist beach why is it most people hide away by the dunes. It's as if as naturists we are doing something we feel is wrong. It seems to me it's reinforcing the meerkat mentality.
I am openly naturist, my neighbours and friends all know I am. On the beach I sit in the open, play with the grandkids, walk the beach, play ball or whatever. Because that's what you do on a beach. I see no reason to hide what I consider perfectly acceptable