One of our very first blog posts, which we wrote almost 5 years ago, was called “The Misconceptions of Naturism“. It quickly became a cornerstone article and set the path for what Naked Wanderings would become. We would answer the questions that people often have about naturism. We would inspire others to give it a try and remove the taboo by tackling the misconceptions.
Today, we believe that we can say that we have much more experience than we had back in the day. We’ve been visiting so many naturist places in so many different countries. And we’ve met so many naturists, all with different stories, ideas, and visions. So, we wondered how many of the misconceptions that we defined back in the day are still standing in our more experienced view.
Naturism and sex, the everlasting conflict
During our recent appearance on the Elaine Show in Ireland, we were asked about the misconceptions around naturism and the first thing that came out of our mouths was the untrue relation to sex. From the moment we said it, we wished that we had said something different. Something less obvious. Something more true.
Maybe it’s because we’ve been spending a lot of time in Europe lately, but we get the feeling that the misunderstanding that naturism is something sexual is firmly decreasing. This TV interview (and many others we’ve done in the past) is probably the best proof. If the producers of the show had thought that naturism is some sort of sexual fetish, would they invite us to a show that will be broadcasted at 3 PM on national TV?
More and more, we’re starting to believe that the “naturism is sexual” idea is not something that concerns most non-naturists, but actually something that’s holding back the existing naturist to talk about their way of living. We fear that others will judge us for something we are not, while many others already know the truth. In some cases, we even get the feeling that it’s something we hide behind, to justify to ourselves that we don’t talk about naturism. “They won’t understand, so why bother…”.
Naturism and sex, the new dilemma
The fact that we believe that many people don’t automatically link naturism with sex is something from recent years and it’s definitely true that this stigma did really exist for many decades. It has been the battle cry of many naturist organizations: “Naturism is non-sexual!”
Every naturist resort, club, and organization did their very best to remove every possible link between social nudity and sex. To every extend. And to us, it sometimes starts to feel like we’re going past the tipping point and are heading in another wrong direction.
We get this idea from the many messages that we receive from first-time naturists, asking questions like “will I be allowed to kiss my partner?”, “to hold hands?”, or “to rub each other’s backs with sunscreen?”. It feels like they have a very conservative idea of what naturism really is, and we find it pretty inspiring that they still want to give it a try.
We’ll need to be careful in the future that we don’t create the misconception that naturism is asexual. That naturists don’t have sex at all or can’t get aroused from the sight of a beautiful person. We’ve always found it hard to describe the difference between non-sexual and asexual until a resort owner once said: “Other than being naked, don’t do anything here that you wouldn’t do in the Hilton or the Marriott”. That’s exactly it. People don’t question whether they’ll be allowed to rub each other’s backs at the Hilton. But they know that touching each other’s genitals in public areas is really not done. Same for the naturist resort.
Naturism is nothing for me
Another misconception in our early blog post was that “naturism is something for beautiful people”. Today, we doubt whether people really think that. It doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes of online research to figure out that naturists come in all different shapes and sizes. If you really think that all naturists are 24-year-old gym instructors, you’re probably looking on the wrong websites.
The problem isn’t that people think that everyone will be attractive, it’s that they find their own bodies unattractive. A combination of a negative body image and fear for vulnerability. And the question is, how do you tackle this? We are 100% certain that naturism improves your body image (and to an extent also your mental health), but that’s because we’ve already experienced naturism. How do you explain to someone who hates his body that he’ll feel better about it if he publicly exposes it? It’s like trying to convince people that they will lose weight by eating chocolate.
It happens quite often that people tell us that they feel inspired by what we do, that they find us brave and confident, but that they “could never do it themselves”. Then it’s easy to point out the physical aspect and say “What do you mean? The only thing you need to do is take off your clothes”. But that’s not going to help, it’s the mindset that needs to be changed.
Naturism is for old people
This misconception wasn’t in the early post, and we wonder why we didn’t think about that back in the day. In the end, we started our blog because we noticed a lack of younger people at the naturist places that we had visited and wanted to show our generation how fun it really is.
Maybe we didn’t mention it because we had no idea why there was an age imbalance. We still don’t completely get it, but we’re pretty sure that the imbalance is both a result as a cause. That the fact that there are more elder naturists discourages the younger generations to give it a try. Because it gives the idea that naturism is just something only old people do.
Could this cause the eventual downfall of naturism? We think not. But it might change how naturism is being experienced. As our friend from Australia once said: “Why would I pay tens of dollars to spend time in a resort with a bunch of old blokes when I can just get naked in nature for free?”.
Many naturist clubs and resorts have been founded in the sixties and seventies, and many of those founding members are still in charge. Managing things as they have always done, completely ignoring the wishes of the younger generations. This makes their organization, and in certain cases even naturism in general, unattractive.
I will feel uncomfortable
We were talking with a woman the other day at a naturist campsite who told us that she and her late husband had been visiting nude beaches all their lives but always thought that visiting a naturist resort was “one step too far”. Her husband has passed away last year and had told her to enjoy life to the fullest. So this year, she had decided to visit a naturist resort for the first time.
It a charming story, but the one thing that kept sticking to our minds was the “one step too far”. They both went naked on the nude beach, but camped at a textile campsite while there were also naturist campsites around.
We’ve heard similar stories before, from people who enjoy the nude beach and the naked spa but would never consider visiting a naturist resort. Their main concern is that they don’t want to be naked all the time and that they fear that they will be forced (by the rules or the social norms) to be naked when they actually prefer to wear clothes.
While naturism is all about freedom and very comfortable, it’s a pity that those people believe that naturist resorts will actually restrict their freedom and make them feel uncomfortable.
Everyone is against the naturists
This is not a misconception that the world has about naturism, but that naturists seem to have about the world. During our recent road trip through Italy, we met many Italian naturists and most of them told us about how the country (and its population) was so disapproving of social nudity.
We almost believed it, until we spent a sunny afternoon on the Santa Severa nude beach near Rome. The nude section is only separated from the textile beach by a sign and at the ends, naked and clothed people are just steps away from each other. Nobody on both sides seemed to care much about the others though. At a certain moment, a father with two young boys were playing soccer on the textile part, and the ball rolled over to the nude side. They just came over and continued playing, as if there were no naked people around.
Italy is quite a religious country and we’re certain that some norms are pretty hard to change. But it’s important not to overreact either. We believe that if you’d ask the population what they think about naturism, maybe 10% would be in favor, and let’s say that 20% is totally against it. This leaves us with another 70% that doesn’t care much about it. That’s a majority and those are the ones we should focus on when we promote naturism. Not to convince them to become naturists too, but to strengthen their opinion that naturism is not something bad or perverse.
To get the majority on our side, we need to get rid of the misconceptions. And in order to do that, we believe that open communication is key. The unknown is the best source for misapprehension and we have been hiding behind large walls for way too long. Only by talking about naturism as something normal, we have a chance to change the general opinion.
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Great article! I reblogged this for the info in it.
On the last point – “Ah yes, no one expects the Spa… err, I mean ‘moral minority'”. I get the sense in the US too that even most conservatives don’t “mind” nudity, and probably wouldn’t care at all if people went topless at the local lake, or even where totally naked. They would just have a laugh at it, and maybe call the people fools. However, there is the small number that, no matter what the subject, if there is a tiny inkling of “controversy”, what ever the F that word means this week, will immediately cry, “Think of the children!!!”, and start demanding someone, “Do something!”
Personally I think that thing that needs to be done far more often is to tell these jokers that a few thousand angry letters, when all other evidence suggest that 70%+ of the country just doesn’t give a flying fig about their latest obsession, isn’t scary, and no one is going to cater to their paranoia. In the US, unfortunately, you get madness like Tennessee’s recent talks about “banning all vaccines in the state”… They may not be thinking about “nudists/naturists” this week, but, get these nut jobs focused, somehow, on, “protecting the children”, from baths or showers, or locker rooms, or pool changing rooms, or… and it wouldn’t take long for them to start babbling, like some Mormon, about magic underwear, and trying to work out how to stop people from being naked inside their own houses (especially with kids there too! Oh my!!).
The crazy just seems to be growing here, and we already have states that banned camps, which no one ever intended to build in the first place, to prevent orgies being taught to kids, presumably as part of the arts and crafts day at the summer camp, or something? Its so much nicer in other parts of the world, where the crazy stays behind its own doors, only sometimes comes out to do stupid things in politics, or, better yet, wouldn’t dare put on a swim suit, to go to a beach, when waxing their “god’s” manuscripts is so much more important, or something, so are, -probably- not going to bother with where the beaches are, or where anyone is around/on them. lol
But here.. Here is just.. Sigh!
From what we hear and read, these people aren’t unfortunately just the crazies. Especially in the US. People just seem to be in constant fear and believe that conspiracies are everywhere. We don’t understand how one can live like this, constantly thinking that there are bad people everywhere who will take every opportunity to break down that safe cocoon that they’ve been working on all those years.
In the past, they were just written off as loonies, and they knew it, so they didn’t dare to open their mouths. But today, because of social media, they find platforms full of others that think the same (and worse). QAnon is one of the best examples. Imagine back in the eighties that you’d start telling stories about a child trafficking network run by the democrats. You’d be the joke of the town. But now, you can always surround yourself by others who believe such bulls** too. And it becomes pretty dangerous.
Very unfortunately, there is a certain group of people that seems to have control over what is “right” and what is “wrong” in their world, and they -force- their views on everyone around them. Don’t dare to disagree or to voice your own dissenting opinion or you’ll be shouted down, cancelled, and some people have even lost jobs/careers for daring to disagree! And believe it or not, it’s -not- the “religious right” that is doing it. I’ve literally lost life long friends because I dared to vote for the candidate that I thought would be best for me and my family. (Not necessarily a vote for “him” but his policies and how well that the local economy has been for the past 4 years for me and my family, if you get my hint!).
If they ever get around to saying “Pubic/Social nudity = Very Bad!” it’ll stick better than Super Glue. They’re already turning their noses up in disgust if a woman breast feeds in public (even discreetly), or if you dare to be a heterosexual & happily married male…
Yeah, it seems to be very human to think that we all know best what other people should or should not do. The social media algorithms are making this problem worse because no matter what you believe, you’ll always find a lot of proof in your favor.
A decade or two ago, if you thought that the earth was flat, this is something you probably would not dare to talk about. Today, you’ll find lots of (fake) articles proving that you are right and most importantly, that you are not alone.
This can work in our favor, thanks to the internet, the naturist world is much more connected than it used to be. But, unfortunately, those who believe that naturism is creepy and perverse will also get more connected…
Patrick Elliott wrote, “Personally I think that thing that needs to be done far more often is to tell these jokers that a few thousand angry letters, when all other evidence suggest that 70%+ of the country just doesn’t give a flying fig about their latest obsession.”
YES we and Organized nudism needs to be ACTIVE in demanding nude freedom as a basic human right.
We also need to “show the flag” so to speak by being seen naked, and being seen naked, and being seen naked until the large majority of people has personal experience seeing naked people without suffering any harm. Hiding nudism behind high fences hasn’t worked for over a century. Too many “nudist” organizations, especially in the USA, still promote the belief that seeing a naked person is “offensive” or “rude” for everyone else except nudists. It won’t change until nudists change. Public demonstrations, public exposure, and letter writing has to happen or it won’t ever change.
Hiding behind fences has proved to be a failure, that much is sure. And following up on your other comment, this is also something that Cap d’Agde realized way before everyone else did. Since the nineties, they have been inviting press while other naturist resorts kept their gates closed to everyone who wasn’t a member.
We also believe in throwing down the fences and letting the world see who we are and what we do. But only if the world wants to see this. There are numerous examples of people getting naked at places where it’s not acceptable. Some years ago, tourists were thrown in jail because they took naked pictures in front of a temple in Thailand. That’s just complete disrespect for local culture. Exhibitionism is never going to help naturism either…
for me i take it slow and i might get nervous about it
Evolution rid us of our hair so we could hunt in the day time. It’s about keeping cool. Why do we think we are smarter than our own Mother Nature?
Yes, we are originally an equatorial species. Hair/fur was a problem during the African days, and still is for most animals. Some tribes still hunt by chasing a furry animal in the noon day sun until it dies of heat stroke. Most animals still need hair at night because even most equatorial jungles and deserts get COLD at night.
Our ancestors didn’t need hair because they controlled fire, same reason we don’t need hair. Our ancestors could sit around the fire at night to keep warm, and be free of the overly warm hair/fur coat during the day. Control of fire is the archetype human invention.
This article is an example, for your great experience with people round the world. It is that what I want to read over the naturism.
The Problem, to feel uncomfortable is varied and frequently. The women in your article fear, that she can not free move in a resort. I´ve heard from women, that they fear that others she can see from an higher point. In the clubs are members, they not want new members, because the new peoples can be a risk. They want to hold a privat sphere in the own club.
The greatest problem I found, is the aversion, to speak over the various feelings. Proper naturists don´t have problems with sexuality or her feelings with her nakedness. To want to speak frankly over problems with shame, sexuality or other feeling, is indecent for some naturists.
You’re really talking about a club mentality, it’s “us against the world”. But because naturism is becoming more and more commercial, we feel that this is also going away and that people are becoming less scared. In a couple of weeks, we’ll start publishing our “Belgium videos” on our youtube channel and you’ll see us talk with quite some people that are more open-minded than the general naturist.
Another common misconception is that a lack of self-esteem is the main reason why people don’t want to start with naturism. While it may be the reason for some people, many people have other reasons. For example, the fear that some people will look at them as an object of beauty. This is especially the case for women who heard stories of or experienced themselves voyeurs or so-called compliments on their or other’s appearance. Clothes are for them a protection against such unpleasant encounters.
That is definitely true! The fear of getting naked among others is very often immediately linked to self esteem, while it can have other underlying reasons.
This is ironic, and, from our perspective at least, illogical (though, I would argue that its illogical to assume that nude would make things worse than it is already). Wearing clothing does not, has not, and never will, prevent anyone who would judge someone by dress of physical appearance, never mind seeing them as “objects of beauty”. Clothing, if anything, actually blurs lines, are designed to exaggerate or accentuate parts of the body, or draw attention from perceived “lesser” attributes, to better ones, even if the wearer never thought about them doing this, or specifically purchased them to do so. Part of the problem for women is that, in some contexts/places, they can’t walk down the street without garnering unwanted attention/compliments. To presume that this problem would become greater, or amplify, by taking their clothes off around other people that are used to not wearing clothing makes about as much sense, if they thought about it imho, as assuming that wearing a uniform would cause increased obsession/problems from anyone other than people with a uniform fetish.
Fears are seldom either logical, nor rationally examined by those that hold them.
Indeed, ‘from our perspective at least’. I referred to the point of view of people who are not in the naturist ‘bubble’. The outside-in view (can be quite different than as seen from inside the naturist community. A better understanding of the concerns and fears of people who are not (yet) naturist is crucial to promote the acceptance of naturism.
What is the problem with kompliments? We know in germany an FKK-Knigge, a list of ethiquette in nudist-places. It is full of interdictions, to see or to show bodyparts, to see and show the nakedness. Why should we be naked, with the hope that nobody it see? The Shameness is coming from the thinking over the own bodyshape and from the thinking over what think the others. To break the ethiquette is difficult for all of us. The naturists should be the first to break the body-shaming in there own area too.
The problem with compliments on physical appearance is that they come from the textile world. If one person says to someone else “you look good”, it’s most often pointing to the choice of clothes or makeup, or the shape of the body (“have you lost weight?”). In the naturist world, we will also immediately relate this to our physical appearance and some naturists might think that you’ve been watching them. We still have a long way to go…
The issue is that unsollicited so-called compliments make some people feel that they are scrutinized and judged on their appearance (“a thing of beauty”), not respected as a person. That’s the same reason why voyeurs are not appreciated.
Complimenting people is much more than just saying some nice words. It all depends a lot on the emotional state of the receiver of the compliment as on the relationship between the two parties. If one person gives you a compliment, you may be flattered, while if another person gives you the exact same compliment, you may think that he/she is a creep or want something from you.
Nudity is a vulnerable state of body, but also of mind, and that the same rules as in a clothed situation don’t always apply. We believe that naturists may appreciate compliments even more from people they trust, but also even less from people they don’t know/trust.
Right you are. Nudists need to get over their fear of bodies.
To make compliments on persons is sure difficil and it is not easier, when the person is naked.
I have a problem with the postulation, not to remark the naked bodies.
That is a demand to be unsincerity for both sides.
We have danced creativ yesterday with a little group on the naturist beach of the baltic sea. One part of the exercises had the theme, to have awareness for the Bodymotion of the others.
Move and sense are a problem for some naturists with naked dance.
This evening we had not this problem. We can learn us to show and see, without injuring the shame and the prvate feeling.
Alike thing is to paint or draw a naked person. We must thereby look exactly.
I hope more naturists obtain such impulses and experiences. It can be first steps in a new direction. We should solve the large security zone around our naked self. Yes, we can look one another and can move free naked without the fear of a unknown risk. Let´s dance and draw with beautiful paints.
That all is not voyeurism. That may be, amongst others, an illness, when the clandestine watching persons suffer under this. It can be also that they are only nosy and want to learn what is naturism. Similar may be it for persons, who see this pages with the pictures. Who search contact with compliments or other saws, observe not clandestine. It is possible to speak with her or him.
The Internet has taught me that most women, and most men want MORE sex, not less. Internet sites such as Tumbler banned sexual images when Yahoo bought it for more than $10 Billion, and quickly went broke. It was sold for about $3 Million. That was a $10 Billion mistake. Organized Nudism has made the SAME MISTAKE for the past century.
Every day on Internet sites millions of women pose for and/or post millions of sexual images and videos. Sexuality, a.k.a. “porn,” has been about 1/2 of all Internet traffic since Internet began, and might be called the backbone of Internet profits. Internet friends and sites have taught me that huge numbers of women want more, not less sex and sexuality in their lives, and so do men. It’s been educational for me. It’s opposite of what my prudish mother always told me about women.
For most of the last century organized nudism has promoted itself as asexual. “Nude is not sexual.” “Nudism is not sexual.” Huge mistake. Over the same time organized nudism can’t figure out why it attracts so few women? Hello? Read the Internet? Many, probably most women want MORE sex in their lives. Many aren’t attracted by “Nudism is not sexual.” They went to Tumbler (when it was porn). They go to /Reddit. They go to “just fans.” They go to a hundred other “porn” sites on Internet. And men follow them.
Its time for Organized Nudism to get real about real people. Organized Nudism has to STOP its promotion as ASEXUAL, and become real for real (inherently sexual) people. That doesn’t mean becoming swinger clubs, but it does mean that it has to open its doors and stop driving most people away.
Hint: Cap d’Agde has been the most popular nudist destination in southern France for decades. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.
It is definitely true that sex is the backbone of the internet. A good example is the recent decision of Onlyfans to ban sex accounts and reverse that decision only a couple of days later.
We also agree that naturist organizations have been promoting non-sexual nudism to an extent that it started to seem like nudists are asexual. But we strongly disagree with your example of Cap d’Agde. It is definitely not the most popular nudist destination. It’s an extremely popular destination, that is for sure, but we’ve been there and we can tell you that the large majority of the visitors are not what we call nudists or naturists. It has become a sex village and it’s not true that this is what the genuine naturist or nudist is looking for. There are plenty of other huge resorts in Europe like Euronat, CHM, Koversada,… that still cater to those who enjoy non-sexual nudity and that are very popular.
I’m afraid that the whole concept of naturism being non-sexual is not entirely true. I’m sure there are some naturists who do it with absolutely no sexual motivation, but equally there are people who very sexually driven in different ways, some exhibitionists and others voyeurs. Then there’s a broad and fuzzy grey area between those extremes.
I understand why naturists and naturist organisations want to promote naturism as non-sexual, that’s obvious, but I think it’s slightly delusional. Unless it’s blatently obvious through a person’s actions, no one can possibly know what another person is thinking or what their motivation is.
It’s like a girlfriend I had who became a naturist/nudist through her relationship with me. Even before that she was an exhibitionist in the way she dressed provocatively to attract attention. Short skirts, high heels, etc. She loved the looks she got from men. She admitted she got a sexual thrill out of it.
Now, when through me she discovered nudism/naturism, she genenuinely enjoyed simply being nude in a non-sexual way and would be nude as often as possible, at home at the beach or anywhere else possible. She also was not a great advert for the concept naturist promote that you don’t get beautiful model types at naturist beaches, because, she was incredibly attractive, 28 – 34 years old while we were together, long dark hair, slim, long legs, small but pert breasts and had a very neat vulva (no sticking out labia) which was always completely shaved. Sorry for the detail, but it’s important to the point, because she looked like most of the models men drool over in porn magazines and websites, which most naturists and naturist organisations suggest that you don’t see at naturist beaches.
When men looked at her nude on the beach she loved it and got a sexual thrill out of it. If a man on the beach got an erection from looking at her she loved it even more. She often took my hand and placed it between her legs to show me how wet she was.
This was only a small part of her enjoyment of being nude at the beach though. So it would be unfair to classify her as not being a genuine naturist.
We are sexual animals, you can’t entirely surpress attraction and arousal just because you choose to spend leisure time in the nude.
You make a lot of sense TimA. Humans are a VERY sexual species. We are one of the few specie that does sex for pleasure and play in addition to doing sex for procreation. All that powerful sexual desire is an evolutionary success story and adaptation. We don’t lose our built in sexuality by taking off our clothes. But, neither do we become more sexual by taking off our clothes. We are always a very sexual species.
The Nudist organizations need to come to terms with human sexuality. Pretending that nudists aren’t sexual is silly, and serves to drive away the younger generation, and especially younger women.
It’s true that naturist organizations have been focusing on the non-sexual aspect for decades, so much that they often make the naturists seem asexual beings. But it’s important to see the difference. Naturism is non-sexual, but that doesn’t mean that naturists don’t enjoy sex. We can equally say that basketball is non-sexual, which doesn’t mean that basketball players or supporters don’t enjoy sex. The big difference between basketball and naturism is that nobody ever considered basketball as sexual, while there’s still quite some misunderstanding about naturism.
It all trickles down to your intentions. If you go to a naturist place to satisfy any sexual urges, you’re doing it wrong. But if you are sexually triggered by seeing a beautiful person, that’s human nature. And then morality comes into play. We’ve learned not to give in to any urges at the spot. It’s not because we see someone we like, that we suddenly can’t control ourselves anymore. Instead, we will walk up to that person, strike up a conversation, maybe invite him or her for dinner and a movie. Just as things go anywhere else in the world.
Thank you!
I think one of the reasons naturist organisations press the “non-sexual” theme (particularly here in the UK) is that it is specifically mentioned in the law and crown prosecution guidence on public nudity. It says something along the lines of, “in the absence of any sexual context, a naturist going about his or her business in the nude is not committing an offence”.
So, naturist organisations and many individual naturist push that point in order to inform the wider public that naturism and public nudity is legal.
I have the web pages with all that information saved on my phone and I carry a couple of printed copies of them with me just in case, because I go nude on any beach, not only designated ones. I’ve never actually had a problem and at one non-designated beach I go to, when I’m walking around I mostly get smiles and waves and the occasional greeting.
But I don’t believe naturism can be definitively described as non-sexual. For some it is sexual, by varying degrees. In my 50 or more years of practicing nude recreation I’ve experienced all aspects of it.
In my younger days the thrill of stripping off outside and feeling the sun and air on my naked body caused feelings, sensations that gave me a thrill. I suppose you could say that is sensual rather than sexual, but it did often cause sexual arousal – an erection. That was even if there was no one else around and I was entirely alone. There was no exhibitionism involved, no being turned on because I was exposing myself to others, or being turned on by looking at a naked girl.
There have been occasions when I’ve seen people having sex on a beach, and there have been occasions (rare though) when I’ve done it. However it wasn’t blatently out in the open for all to see, we were discreet. It was usually in the early evening when the beach was quiet, after a full day at the beach with my girlfriend, who was extremley stunning (difficult not to be aroused by looking at her) and usually the one who instigated it.
That happens on textile beaches as well, more so than on naturist beaches. So doesn’t in itself make naturism sexual.
It’s as you say. The sexual behaviour is normal human behaviour. Some naturists attempt to avoid sexual arousal and others can’t. It doesn’t mean they’re not genuine “naturists”.
I’d say that “If you go to a naturist place to satisfy any sexual urges, you’re doing it wrong” is going a bit too far. Obviously if you’re expecting to have sex in the middle of a crowded nudist beach, you’re indeed doing it wrong and that’s not how it works in practice (Cap d’Agde could be an exception though, based on what I read on your blog, although I’ve never been there myself to confirm and have no plan to). But just as people might go to a textile beach with sexual motives, they can do so on a nudist beach too. And I believe that is fine, as long as they are not a nuisance for the other people enjoying the beach. Well, same as any other place really.
Somewhat related, here in Spain there are places that are known for what is called “cruising”, usually close to some nudist beaches (I know a few nudist beaches with such an area close by, although not on the beach itself). That means, people walking around some specific place looking for sex partners (usually gay men). When they found their partner they do their stuff hidden behind some rock or tree. There is one such area that is really pretty and where I enjoy walking in the evenings, and so I meet those people when I walk there (although they don’t say it explicitly you can usually recognize them easily). I have never seen the sexual part, because they are hidden and I’m not looking for that, so really, that is no problem for me. If people have fun this way, with consent from all the people involved, this is great and fine by me.
It’s a bit the story of “if a tree falls in a forest and nobody’s around to hear it, did it make a sound?”. We agree that people can do whatever they want if they don’t disturb others.
To put it more clearly I’d say that sex is not the only point of naturist. That doesn’t mean it cannot be part of it, obviously. But it’s not the only reason to go naked, and I guess for most people not the main reason.
That would be the misconception we need to counter: naturist is only for sex. That’s obviously false but let’s not go as far as saying that there cannot be sex involved in naturism because that too is false.
Let’s say it’s the same as going to a bar. Some will go to a bar just to have fun, with absolutely no sexual intent. Others will go there in the hope that they will meet potential sexual partners. We can’t say that the bar is sexual or asexual because it’s a different thing for different people at different times. And yes, for some people it can be both or vary depending on mood of the day. And to be fair there is no clear-cut separation between sexual and non-sexual situations. I’d say the very important point is to avoid being an annoyance for other people, but with that condition, everything is fine. Same with naturism.
We very much disagree. Sex is just not a point of naturism. Of course, there are people who go to naturist places with some sexual intent, but they can’t be considered naturists.
To use the bar example: You can go to a bar without sexual intent but get sexually attracted to some of the other people in the bar. The same can happen at a naturist resort. But if you go with the intention to find sexual partners, you’re doing it for the whole wrong reason and you’ll probably run into trouble and/or return very disappointed.
“there are people who go to naturist places with some sexual intent, but they can’t be considered naturists.”
I sorry but I disagree. Why can’t they? Some, many in fact, people like to have sex outside in the open air, and at the same time they enjoy the basic natural pleasures of being nude. If they have sex it might last, what, 15 minutes, half an hour? But they will probably be at the beach for 8 – 10 hours just enjoying the non-sexual side of naturism.
You can’t say that people who like to have sex at a naturist beach can’t be considered naturists.
From your own information, you’ve only been into this lifestyle for 4 years, 1/15th of the time I’ve been doing it. You have a lot to learn and you can’t state what the rules are based on your own opinions.
You’re not going to come into this lifestyle activity and change it to suit your own views as if you have some authority. You don’t.
By all means do your own thing and practice naturism in your own way. But don’t try to dictate the rules to those of us who have been here longer.
Let’s put a couple of things straight… We’ve only been running this blog for about 5 years, but we’ve been naturists for about 15 years.
We understand that there are people who want to have sex in the open air, but why at a nude beach? Why not at any of the other millions of beaches? Public sex is illegal pretty much everywhere around the world and there’s no difference between nude beaches or textile beaches. So we don’t see why this needs to be related to nude beaches.
Also, one of the most important pillars of naturism is that it is about non-sexual nudity. That’s the definition of naturism. If you think that it’s something sexual, it’s not naturism that you’re looking for.
We agree that different people practice naturism in different ways. But there are some ground rules that you can’t ommit.
I was sure I read in one of your blog posts that you were new to naturism and had only been doing it for 4 or 5 years. I must have misread it.
People who want to have sex in the open air don’t restrict their activities to naturist beaches. There was a story in the news recently (with a photo as well) about a girl giving her boyfriend oral sex on a crowded textile beach.
However, you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. I’m not talking about people who go to the (naturist) beach looking for or with the intention of having sex. I’m talking about genine naturists who occasionally feel the urge while already at the beach and do it, not in an exhibitionistic way, and not in front of everyone, but discreetly. You can’t say they are not genuine naturists.
That is indeed another story. And you’re right, this can/does happen and as long as they don’t disturb anyone with it, we don’t think it’s wrong.
Well, I see no problem going to a naturist place with the intention to find sexual partners. You just need to be aware that not everyone there has the same intention, and don’t expect it to be easier than any other place. Really, it’s the same as any other place. Obviously if you don’t harass people, don’t do things that would make people uncomfortable, then things will be fine. This is perfectly compatible with looking for sexual partners if you do it in a respectful way.
But I see what you’re saying. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think you’re saying that a normal naturist place is not Cap d’Agde. No open sex, etc … And if that’s what you’re saying then I agree. I’ve never been to Cap d’Agde but what I understand is that the main point of going there is sex: the beach is not particularly beautiful, neither is the town, and the atmosphere is all about sex. That is very different from other naturist places where there is not so much emphasis on sex and a variety of other aspects to enjoy.
And to be honest I find much eroticism on a regular nudist beach with happy people enjoying the sun together, with some kind of sexual attraction, than on a Cap d’Agde-like beach with explicit sex.
Let’s put it this way: I can imagine enjoying relaxing sexual thoughts on a regular nudist beach: sun is setting, temperature is still warm, and you are enjoying the moment on this beautiful beach with other nice people and feeling some sexual energy. That’s what make me say that sex can very much be part of the nudist experience. On the other hand I personally can’t imagine that on a Cap d’Agde beach, I’d probably just feel disgusted and uncomfortable. But I understand people can have different feelings about that.
We can compare this with movies. A porno movie is all about sex, nothing else. On the other side there are the regular movies: sex is not the main point, but that’s not a reason to exclude any kind of sex.
It’s a lot about the intention. You CAN go to a naturist venue to find a sexual partner, but you’re likely to return dissatisfied because it’s just not the kind of place where many others will be looking for the same thing. It’s like going to the supermarket to find a sexual partner. It may happen, but don’t count on it.
Other than that, we agree that nobody has/should have control of what’s going on in your head and as long as you can behave, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with whatever thoughts you may have.
As I’ve said elsewhere in this thread, it’s impossible to have a definitive concept that naturism is non-sexual. For some it is or a least can be.
I’ve seen all sorts at various beaches. On my way home from from a business meeting one evening. I decided to stop at a beach that was just off my route. Now this particular beach is only 40 minutes from home and is one I use often, but it’s not a designated naturist beach, it’s one that has been used by naturists for decades. It’s right next to a seaside town. It is never very busy even in the height of summer and it’s possible to spend hours there and see no more than four people some days. And that might be four clothed people, but most are aware and tolerant of naturist use. On this paricular evening, about 6:30pm, a warm summer evening, as soon as I was away from the car park and walking along a sandy path along the dunes, overlooking the beach, I stripped off to walk in the nude. I had only walked about 250m when I came across a couple just next to the path on a sandy area between the marren grass, having sex. They were both completely nude but I don’t know whether they were actually naturists. They were a little bit shocked to be caught, but I told then not to worry, it didn’t bother me. The girl was on top, astride her partner and when I caught them she climbed off. Neither of them tried to cover up. I continued on my walk.
At one of the official naturist beaches I visit, which is quite large, in the height of summer the southern end of the beach is the most populated, with families, couple and singles of all ages. As you go further north along the kilometer long designated naturist area (I largely ignore the boundaries, as public nudity is legal anyway), about halfway along it and in the dunes there are usually a group of gay men. They’re easily spotted as some stand on the dunes like meercats, but they’re not voyeurs, they’re lookouts. I have (sometimes with my girlfriend) walked through the area occasionally, not because I want to see the gay guys and what they’re up to, but simply that otherwise it’s a nice large area to walk around and different terrain to the beach. On occasions I(we) have seen things we didn’t really want to see, like two guys masturbating each other for example. And they don’t stop or attempt to hide it, they blatantly stand there doing it. You can imagine what else they do. Hence the meercat lookouts, as the police often visit to try and catch them.
That’s the extreme end of the scale and they shouldn’t be doing that, but who’s to say they’re not still genuine naturists?