If, after my shower and in the privacy of my own home or room, I choose not to get dressed does that make me a nudist? Technically yes, but no more than you are a trainspotter if you watch more than one train go past. The reality is that everyone is born a nudist. We enter this world without a stitch on, and being naked is our natural state. We are all naked beings. Clothing is an artificial construct that allows us to live in parts of the planet that would be inhospitable to humans otherwise. Clothing has evolved into more than just protection from the harsh elements, and now carries with it huge social messaging about identity, even status.
Having lived most of my life in the suburbs of Southern California, I have come to believe that government, at all levels, is our biggest obstacle. As I have trouble tolerating low or cold temperatures when nude, I understand the need for protective clothing for those conditions. The problem is, when conditions would be tolerable to be nude, laws make it difficult or excessively risky to be observed by others. I wonder, however, if we could classify nudity as free speech and use the 1st Amendment right to push the issue with government? What do you think about that?
An interesting point. I have never been a member of a landed club but I would identify as a naturist. I was raised by naturist parents and grandparents. Clothing was always optional as I grew up. It was normal for meals to be eaten with nude people at the table. Gardening was always done naked as were most recreational activities. I dont feel that not being in a "landed club" has denied me over time.
Personally I believe that hiding behind high fences and hedges implies that there is something wrong with it. Not a state I wish to portray. However if truly 14% of the uk population identify as naturists. That should be sufficient for a critical mass so long as they are prepared to publicly identify as such
“people will choose a label to try and identify as a person with the same interests as others who identify and use the same label”
Oh, I so dislike labels! Naturist/nudist, so many variant labels of both, and some used - or at least interpreted - pejoratively. One person’s nudist is another’s pervert, my naturist is your exhibitionist.
We all use labels as shorthand descriptions, be it of ourselves or others, and they’re very useful ... up to a point. But what does that label mean to someone else? There’s probably not a naturist forum or blog that doesn’t have some sort of discussion or debate on the difference between a naturist or a nudist, and that’s among friends. But outside our circle our self-applied label can often carry very different meanings.
I prefer to avoid either naturist or nudist as my label (or to use the vernacular of the day, as my pronoun) and describe myself as someone who prefers to be naked over wearing clothes. Less room, I feel, for differences in interpretation and for misunderstandings if my naturist turns out to not be your naturist.
Having lived most of my life in the suburbs of Southern California, I have come to believe that government, at all levels, is our biggest obstacle. As I have trouble tolerating low or cold temperatures when nude, I understand the need for protective clothing for those conditions. The problem is, when conditions would be tolerable to be nude, laws make it difficult or excessively risky to be observed by others. I wonder, however, if we could classify nudity as free speech and use the 1st Amendment right to push the issue with government? What do you think about that?
An interesting point. I have never been a member of a landed club but I would identify as a naturist. I was raised by naturist parents and grandparents. Clothing was always optional as I grew up. It was normal for meals to be eaten with nude people at the table. Gardening was always done naked as were most recreational activities. I dont feel that not being in a "landed club" has denied me over time.
Personally I believe that hiding behind high fences and hedges implies that there is something wrong with it. Not a state I wish to portray. However if truly 14% of the uk population identify as naturists. That should be sufficient for a critical mass so long as they are prepared to publicly identify as such
“people will choose a label to try and identify as a person with the same interests as others who identify and use the same label”
Oh, I so dislike labels! Naturist/nudist, so many variant labels of both, and some used - or at least interpreted - pejoratively. One person’s nudist is another’s pervert, my naturist is your exhibitionist.
We all use labels as shorthand descriptions, be it of ourselves or others, and they’re very useful ... up to a point. But what does that label mean to someone else? There’s probably not a naturist forum or blog that doesn’t have some sort of discussion or debate on the difference between a naturist or a nudist, and that’s among friends. But outside our circle our self-applied label can often carry very different meanings.
I prefer to avoid either naturist or nudist as my label (or to use the vernacular of the day, as my pronoun) and describe myself as someone who prefers to be naked over wearing clothes. Less room, I feel, for differences in interpretation and for misunderstandings if my naturist turns out to not be your naturist.