If Straight Woman had not tried to get the right to vote for themselves and freedom and the right to vote for African and African American Men And Women And Straight Men and Women had done the same for the GBLTTIQ Why shouldn't the Naturist Nudist Communities try for the same?
One can keep on trying for the changes. Changes may happen in the society, depending on it's overall impact. However "walking naked in city's main street alongside textiles", will be an enormous change & hence when it will took place across the globe is a huge question with no relevant answer for it. Such changes may happen once in the centuries. The changes which took place & accepted somewhere, may not be welcomed elsewhere.
I think the first step to getting society to accept nudity is to change society's attitudes toward the human body and the idea that everyone has to have "the body beautiful" that is ingrained in our minds by porn, the media, and advertisements. How many times have we heard "the people who go to a nude beach are the ones who should not be nude"? I reply that if you go to the beach to see naked people you shouldn't be there. You go to a nude beach to be nude. It's going to be a long road.
Given the direction of the US in restricting freedom, I am doubtful we will make progress expanding nudist rights. I will, for the time being, be happy to prevent the erosion of what we already have.
I’m guessing we would need to start off small and dip our toes in the water. I would be happy to just be able to have a recognised nude beach. Yes we do have some here in NZ but nothing Official. Yes you can be naked on any beach in NZ, but how many nudists have you seen at Mission Bay in Auckland? Maybe If we campaigned to have designated nude zones at our most popular beaches that would be a start in my view. The LBGTQ have pride parades in most large cities. Why not start a naked parade to promote Nudism and body image or have more WNBR rides to promote climate change etc.
There are no recognised nude beaches in NZ as it is not illegal to simply be naked in public. Technically any beach or park in NZ is clothing optional, so long as you do not intend to cause offence. As Graham says, as soon as you make 1 beach a recognised nude beach, all others cease to be so. I do not own a swimming costume and will swim naked at any beach I am on. Of course, I probably wouldn't do so at a crowded city beach, but then I prefer more remote spots anyway.
Problem is if you create official one do the others by default become textile? Other than the naturist community how many people know there is no law in nz preventing public nudity. I frequently swim naked off petone Beach. I leave my clothespin the car and walk down to swim. I have never had a negative reaction. Mostly it ranges from ambivalence to mild curiosity. Sometimes its brilliant they stand and chat quite normally which is as it should be. Have you ever tried just swimming off the beach and seeing what reaction you actually get?
Separate but equal treatment has no place in a free society. The separation serves to make the minority group strange and alien. The larger group always gets the best and the smaller one the leftovers. It is NEVER equal and the separation always tends to widen the divide.
Unfortunately, nudists tend to want to keep it separate. In NZ there is a chance for it to be a part of the beach ecology. Don't throw it away.
There is a saying that one should not allow the best to be the enemy of the good. There is another saying that one should be very careful about picking the hill one is willing to die on.
OTOH, there's nothing ventured, nothing gained. And: People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
There is no shortage of aphorisms to choose from. There is truth in all of them or they wouldn't be aphorisms.
I'd love to say we should do what BN did in Britain. But America is not Britain. We have all the Puritans and other religious extremists who fled Europe for 300 years. That had a central role in making us who we are. Their sectrarian descendants are still strong. Additionally, there is no BN equivalent in America. AANR doesn't give a hoot about free range nudity. The Naturist Society is too busy tearing itself apart. Lost its way about the time Lee Baxandall died.
There is no broadly based national organization. I suspect it is because there just aren't enough nudists to support one. Both entities are very tight lipped about membership. If it were booming they would be bragging about the numbers.
Most nude friendly people do not consider themselves nudists. Maybe they soak in a hot tub or hang around the house naked. If you look at the participants in the WNBR, most are not nudists. It is a lark. A wild and crazy thing to do just to say you did it. Resort nudists tend to stay in their resorts, protected by anonymity against social disapproval. None of these people will be of any use in changing the law because the law doesn't impact them.
A parallel I might make is that of legalizing marijuana. I don't think there has ever been a poll in the state of California indicating that people wanted an absolute ban on marijuana use.. I think in 1972, the state decriminalized it and turned it into a ticket. Once that happened legalization lost the wind in their sails. Marijuana use became very widespread as the chances of getting caught were extremely slim and the penalty for possession of under an ounce turned into a slap on the wrist. Legalization made the ballot several times over the next 45 years. Despite the fact that most Californians didn't care about pot, legalization did not pass until 2016.
If a lot of people only care a little for something and a few people are intensely opposed, the motion fails. Every time. Intensity of emotion is what gets voters to vote. Pot smokers saw only a small gain from legalization while opponents saw a lot to lose.
"Free range" nudies are not distributed evenly around the country. Neither are people who are nude tolerant. If there is an effort to be made, it needs to be in areas where the laws are tolerant, the people are tolerant and there is enough local interest that activism is possible. More than likely it will be a local club organized for the purpose and not an existing resort. That's how Friends of Bates Beach managed to convince Carpenteria to allow nudity on the northern end of the beach.
Larger national and regional organizations can focus money, lawyers, and other resources on spot efforts. In the case of Bates Beach, FOBS is is backed by the Southern California Naturists Association.
Greater public acceptance of nudity can best be promoted thru public events containing nudity. One such event is the WNBR. Another could be Spencer Tunick style mass photo shoots. Or participating in the Bay to Breakers nude or in any of the many SF events allowing nudity. Or nude Shakespeare in the park. Very public, out of the closet, officially approved nudity. Don't imagine this will swell the ranks of self declared nudists though. At most it will make public nudity a less remarkable event and soften a few hearts.
Also, if you don't do nude stuff when it is allowed, you'll soon lose that right as well. Rights that are not exercised are soon lost.
You won't rapidly change greater society. That can only happen through evolution and evolution is a very slow and glitchy process. How long has it taken for gays to gain general acceptance? Even now there are local areas where they do not have it. There are a lot more of them than nudists and they aren't as visibly different. Change what you can where you can.
Here in San Francisco, it used to be legal to walk through the city nude. I was among those who regularly did so. Seldom was I completely relaxed about strolling naked along busy streets, but it was exhilarating and I believe it was important. When I did achieve total ease about being nude, it was nirvana. A law limiting public nudity was passed in 2012, but we still have special events where it's permitted. I miss those adventurous walks, but what I miss even more is the freedom simply to check my mail or put out the garbage bins without covering up.
For those interested in hearing more about those times, as well as some of my other nudist experiences, here is a link to an interview I did with Naked Age podcast. The introduction gives broder historical info on public nudity in San Francisco and the Bay Area:
If Straight Woman had not tried to get the right to vote for themselves and freedom and the right to vote for African and African American Men And Women And Straight Men and Women had done the same for the GBLTTIQ Why shouldn't the Naturist Nudist Communities try for the same?
One can keep on trying for the changes. Changes may happen in the society, depending on it's overall impact. However "walking naked in city's main street alongside textiles", will be an enormous change & hence when it will took place across the globe is a huge question with no relevant answer for it. Such changes may happen once in the centuries. The changes which took place & accepted somewhere, may not be welcomed elsewhere.
I think the first step to getting society to accept nudity is to change society's attitudes toward the human body and the idea that everyone has to have "the body beautiful" that is ingrained in our minds by porn, the media, and advertisements. How many times have we heard "the people who go to a nude beach are the ones who should not be nude"? I reply that if you go to the beach to see naked people you shouldn't be there. You go to a nude beach to be nude. It's going to be a long road.
In the words of George Bernard Shaw, the world was never changed by a reasonable man. Trouble is, most of us naked folk are tolerant and reasonable.
Given the direction of the US in restricting freedom, I am doubtful we will make progress expanding nudist rights. I will, for the time being, be happy to prevent the erosion of what we already have.
I’m guessing we would need to start off small and dip our toes in the water. I would be happy to just be able to have a recognised nude beach. Yes we do have some here in NZ but nothing Official. Yes you can be naked on any beach in NZ, but how many nudists have you seen at Mission Bay in Auckland? Maybe If we campaigned to have designated nude zones at our most popular beaches that would be a start in my view. The LBGTQ have pride parades in most large cities. Why not start a naked parade to promote Nudism and body image or have more WNBR rides to promote climate change etc.
There are no recognised nude beaches in NZ as it is not illegal to simply be naked in public. Technically any beach or park in NZ is clothing optional, so long as you do not intend to cause offence. As Graham says, as soon as you make 1 beach a recognised nude beach, all others cease to be so. I do not own a swimming costume and will swim naked at any beach I am on. Of course, I probably wouldn't do so at a crowded city beach, but then I prefer more remote spots anyway.
Problem is if you create official one do the others by default become textile? Other than the naturist community how many people know there is no law in nz preventing public nudity. I frequently swim naked off petone Beach. I leave my clothespin the car and walk down to swim. I have never had a negative reaction. Mostly it ranges from ambivalence to mild curiosity. Sometimes its brilliant they stand and chat quite normally which is as it should be. Have you ever tried just swimming off the beach and seeing what reaction you actually get?
Separate but equal treatment has no place in a free society. The separation serves to make the minority group strange and alien. The larger group always gets the best and the smaller one the leftovers. It is NEVER equal and the separation always tends to widen the divide.
Unfortunately, nudists tend to want to keep it separate. In NZ there is a chance for it to be a part of the beach ecology. Don't throw it away.
There is a saying that one should not allow the best to be the enemy of the good. There is another saying that one should be very careful about picking the hill one is willing to die on.
OTOH, there's nothing ventured, nothing gained. And: People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
There is no shortage of aphorisms to choose from. There is truth in all of them or they wouldn't be aphorisms.
I'd love to say we should do what BN did in Britain. But America is not Britain. We have all the Puritans and other religious extremists who fled Europe for 300 years. That had a central role in making us who we are. Their sectrarian descendants are still strong. Additionally, there is no BN equivalent in America. AANR doesn't give a hoot about free range nudity. The Naturist Society is too busy tearing itself apart. Lost its way about the time Lee Baxandall died.
There is no broadly based national organization. I suspect it is because there just aren't enough nudists to support one. Both entities are very tight lipped about membership. If it were booming they would be bragging about the numbers.
Most nude friendly people do not consider themselves nudists. Maybe they soak in a hot tub or hang around the house naked. If you look at the participants in the WNBR, most are not nudists. It is a lark. A wild and crazy thing to do just to say you did it. Resort nudists tend to stay in their resorts, protected by anonymity against social disapproval. None of these people will be of any use in changing the law because the law doesn't impact them.
A parallel I might make is that of legalizing marijuana. I don't think there has ever been a poll in the state of California indicating that people wanted an absolute ban on marijuana use.. I think in 1972, the state decriminalized it and turned it into a ticket. Once that happened legalization lost the wind in their sails. Marijuana use became very widespread as the chances of getting caught were extremely slim and the penalty for possession of under an ounce turned into a slap on the wrist. Legalization made the ballot several times over the next 45 years. Despite the fact that most Californians didn't care about pot, legalization did not pass until 2016.
If a lot of people only care a little for something and a few people are intensely opposed, the motion fails. Every time. Intensity of emotion is what gets voters to vote. Pot smokers saw only a small gain from legalization while opponents saw a lot to lose.
"Free range" nudies are not distributed evenly around the country. Neither are people who are nude tolerant. If there is an effort to be made, it needs to be in areas where the laws are tolerant, the people are tolerant and there is enough local interest that activism is possible. More than likely it will be a local club organized for the purpose and not an existing resort. That's how Friends of Bates Beach managed to convince Carpenteria to allow nudity on the northern end of the beach.
Larger national and regional organizations can focus money, lawyers, and other resources on spot efforts. In the case of Bates Beach, FOBS is is backed by the Southern California Naturists Association.
Greater public acceptance of nudity can best be promoted thru public events containing nudity. One such event is the WNBR. Another could be Spencer Tunick style mass photo shoots. Or participating in the Bay to Breakers nude or in any of the many SF events allowing nudity. Or nude Shakespeare in the park. Very public, out of the closet, officially approved nudity. Don't imagine this will swell the ranks of self declared nudists though. At most it will make public nudity a less remarkable event and soften a few hearts.
Also, if you don't do nude stuff when it is allowed, you'll soon lose that right as well. Rights that are not exercised are soon lost.
You won't rapidly change greater society. That can only happen through evolution and evolution is a very slow and glitchy process. How long has it taken for gays to gain general acceptance? Even now there are local areas where they do not have it. There are a lot more of them than nudists and they aren't as visibly different. Change what you can where you can.
Here in San Francisco, it used to be legal to walk through the city nude. I was among those who regularly did so. Seldom was I completely relaxed about strolling naked along busy streets, but it was exhilarating and I believe it was important. When I did achieve total ease about being nude, it was nirvana. A law limiting public nudity was passed in 2012, but we still have special events where it's permitted. I miss those adventurous walks, but what I miss even more is the freedom simply to check my mail or put out the garbage bins without covering up.
For those interested in hearing more about those times, as well as some of my other nudist experiences, here is a link to an interview I did with Naked Age podcast. The introduction gives broder historical info on public nudity in San Francisco and the Bay Area:
https://www.nakedage.co/episodes/episode/2c2455d6/san-francisco-naked-guy
Yeah. The good old days. (Heavy sigh!)
Obviously somebody got their feathers ruffled. I understand the voter on it was very close.