Nov 27, 2023·edited Nov 27, 2023Liked by Evan Nicks
I may sound like a broken record on this topic. But the reality is that the basic problem affecting ALL these examples is economics. And I don't mean the rising real estate prices. The problem is the economic law of supply and demand. In this case, that boils down to insufficient demand for naturist properties - because there aren't enough naturists to sustain enough demand.
There's ultimately only one effective solution: persuade more people - many more people - to participate in social nudity. It doesn't matter whether that's called naturism, nudism, or something else. More people must want to participate in social nudity, or else there won't be enough demand for places that welcome it to exist.
Here's another way to think of it. People must have a sufficient supply of food to stay alive. To continue living in good health, human bodies require enough food to fuel bodily functions, and also various essential vitamins and minerals in their food. If there is insufficient essential nutrition, body health declines faster than it should, and the body dies long before natural age limits are reached. In this case, the "food" consists of people who participate in social nudity. And the "body" that suffers is organizations and physical infrastructure where social nudity is possible.
So the ONLY real solution to the loss of places for social nudity is a concerted effort to persuade more people - many more - to learn about and participate in social nudity. Unfortunately, both formal and informal organizations that currently exist for this haven't been able to do what's needed. But the problem is circular, since there need to be enough people seriously interested in SOCIAL nudity in order to join and work through the organizations.
By the way, this loss of social nudity places isn't only in California. Landed and nonlanded naturist/nudist clubs and resorts have been closing or going textile all over the country in recent decades.
Notice the emphasis here on "social". People who enjoy being clothesfree only in their own homes or with a small circle of tolerant friends may not be very helpful in the effort to keep the practice of social nudity from further decline. The number of people who like to be naked only in their own homes is probably much larger than the number of people active in traditional social nudity. So this much larger cohort is a natural and obvious target for inducement to participate in organized social nudity.
As usual I think you're right on the money (pun intended). I think anyone who writes about these things will feel a little like broken records on this topic—I know I do. It's hard not to feel a little defeatist, but I think there is value in putting these things out there for people to read and know about, if for no other reason than to hopefully move a few more to act. To that end, I would love to feature a guest post from you on this subject (or any) if you'd be interested in writing one...
I have a couple of ideas for a possible guest post, but I need to think more about them. I can contact you either by Twitter, or Facebook. Let me know which you prefer.
Sure, I have a planet nude account on both sites that should be easy enough to find, but email might be the most direct. Evan@planetnude.co (note, that’s co not com)
Nov 27, 2023·edited Nov 27, 2023Liked by Evan Nicks
The current loss of nude recreational opportunities is just the acceleration of a long running process. Anyone else here remember Elysium? How about Mystic Oaks? Silver Valley Sun Club? There are others, shut down or sold off for clothed recreation, that I can't remember at the moment.
In Los Angeles, we have the Nude Comedy LA stage show. It is for sale. Who will buy it? Why can't we support even niche venues?
The problem is not so much the disappearance of older clubs but the lack of anything coming online to replace them. The price of real estate makes anything other than a nonlanded club prohibitively expensive. The nonlanded groups that have sprung up do not have nearly the activity level those resorts used to offer.
Thank you Evan for this nuanced and comprehensive synthesis of the current state of affairs in California. Many lessons to be learned! I feel like the national and regional organizations could do a lot more when it comes to best practices, so thanks for stepping up on that front.
It is good that in addition to analyzing the situation with naturism, an example of a positive solution to this problem is given, which can be spread more widely.
Great synopsis. I agree with many of your conclusions.
We don't need a paradigm shift, we *are* the paradigm shift. I think that it's not just building one model, it's developing a library of models that can be drawn from based on individual circumstances.
The thing is that everyone needs to be on board. I've been part of various communities for <3 years and it didn't take me long to see how tenuous the endurance is. There's a local skinny-dipping club and I've been volunteering there to learn the ropes. It's the organizer and me, that's all. Lots of people happy to participate but not to do the work.
The world literally runs on volunteers and this is no different. I had to bow out of an event tonight because of varying obligations, but really, where is everyone else? I am raising 2 kids, working full-time, doing all my own home maintenance, work, etc, and if I can find the time, I don't believe for a second that others can't. Everyone coming out for when there are photos and fun but not for the real work? They ought to be ashamed.
Evan… Thank you for this well written article. While it clearly identifies an alarming trend that we are working to understand, I believe it important not to jump to conclusions. Once recognized as an existential issue, I believe it important to dive deeper into the causes, and Potential actions that can be taken to guide future development.
For example, much has been written about the economic arguments of supply and demand around, keeping a nudist resort viable. Simply, if the demand is not there, the supply dwindles.
At the Glen Eden Sun Club, where I am president, we remain economically viable and stable in our membership. I remain eager to both study, and understand the reasons why. While the freedom to be nude, whenever, and wherever you want within the confines of our club, there is much more to our community. I believe the promotion and protection of our community brings to play many other factors, other than the social nudity that we value. Being a member-owned club certainly does have a positive impact on these variables.
So, while the focus seems to be on economics, supply, and demand, I do believe it is important to dig deeper within the clubs that remain successful to understand the what and why these clubs are successful.
Again, thank you for your article. It does set the stage for further inquiry.
I may sound like a broken record on this topic. But the reality is that the basic problem affecting ALL these examples is economics. And I don't mean the rising real estate prices. The problem is the economic law of supply and demand. In this case, that boils down to insufficient demand for naturist properties - because there aren't enough naturists to sustain enough demand.
There's ultimately only one effective solution: persuade more people - many more people - to participate in social nudity. It doesn't matter whether that's called naturism, nudism, or something else. More people must want to participate in social nudity, or else there won't be enough demand for places that welcome it to exist.
Here's another way to think of it. People must have a sufficient supply of food to stay alive. To continue living in good health, human bodies require enough food to fuel bodily functions, and also various essential vitamins and minerals in their food. If there is insufficient essential nutrition, body health declines faster than it should, and the body dies long before natural age limits are reached. In this case, the "food" consists of people who participate in social nudity. And the "body" that suffers is organizations and physical infrastructure where social nudity is possible.
So the ONLY real solution to the loss of places for social nudity is a concerted effort to persuade more people - many more - to learn about and participate in social nudity. Unfortunately, both formal and informal organizations that currently exist for this haven't been able to do what's needed. But the problem is circular, since there need to be enough people seriously interested in SOCIAL nudity in order to join and work through the organizations.
By the way, this loss of social nudity places isn't only in California. Landed and nonlanded naturist/nudist clubs and resorts have been closing or going textile all over the country in recent decades.
Notice the emphasis here on "social". People who enjoy being clothesfree only in their own homes or with a small circle of tolerant friends may not be very helpful in the effort to keep the practice of social nudity from further decline. The number of people who like to be naked only in their own homes is probably much larger than the number of people active in traditional social nudity. So this much larger cohort is a natural and obvious target for inducement to participate in organized social nudity.
As usual I think you're right on the money (pun intended). I think anyone who writes about these things will feel a little like broken records on this topic—I know I do. It's hard not to feel a little defeatist, but I think there is value in putting these things out there for people to read and know about, if for no other reason than to hopefully move a few more to act. To that end, I would love to feature a guest post from you on this subject (or any) if you'd be interested in writing one...
I have a couple of ideas for a possible guest post, but I need to think more about them. I can contact you either by Twitter, or Facebook. Let me know which you prefer.
Sure, I have a planet nude account on both sites that should be easy enough to find, but email might be the most direct. Evan@planetnude.co (note, that’s co not com)
OK, I'll let you know when I have something.
The current loss of nude recreational opportunities is just the acceleration of a long running process. Anyone else here remember Elysium? How about Mystic Oaks? Silver Valley Sun Club? There are others, shut down or sold off for clothed recreation, that I can't remember at the moment.
In Los Angeles, we have the Nude Comedy LA stage show. It is for sale. Who will buy it? Why can't we support even niche venues?
The problem is not so much the disappearance of older clubs but the lack of anything coming online to replace them. The price of real estate makes anything other than a nonlanded club prohibitively expensive. The nonlanded groups that have sprung up do not have nearly the activity level those resorts used to offer.
We need a paradigm shift.
A paradigm shift we need.
Thank you Evan for this nuanced and comprehensive synthesis of the current state of affairs in California. Many lessons to be learned! I feel like the national and regional organizations could do a lot more when it comes to best practices, so thanks for stepping up on that front.
Side note: fun art! Is it AI?
Generated with Dall-E
It is good that in addition to analyzing the situation with naturism, an example of a positive solution to this problem is given, which can be spread more widely.
Great synopsis. I agree with many of your conclusions.
We don't need a paradigm shift, we *are* the paradigm shift. I think that it's not just building one model, it's developing a library of models that can be drawn from based on individual circumstances.
The thing is that everyone needs to be on board. I've been part of various communities for <3 years and it didn't take me long to see how tenuous the endurance is. There's a local skinny-dipping club and I've been volunteering there to learn the ropes. It's the organizer and me, that's all. Lots of people happy to participate but not to do the work.
The world literally runs on volunteers and this is no different. I had to bow out of an event tonight because of varying obligations, but really, where is everyone else? I am raising 2 kids, working full-time, doing all my own home maintenance, work, etc, and if I can find the time, I don't believe for a second that others can't. Everyone coming out for when there are photos and fun but not for the real work? They ought to be ashamed.
Thanks for another thoughtful comment.
Someone I consider a mentor often says, “if you need something done, find a busy person”
I also share your laments about the death of volunteerism. It’s destroying much of our social fabric. I wrote about this with regards to the nudism movement back in June: https://www.planetnude.co/p/theres-no-naturism-without-volunteerism
Evan… Thank you for this well written article. While it clearly identifies an alarming trend that we are working to understand, I believe it important not to jump to conclusions. Once recognized as an existential issue, I believe it important to dive deeper into the causes, and Potential actions that can be taken to guide future development.
For example, much has been written about the economic arguments of supply and demand around, keeping a nudist resort viable. Simply, if the demand is not there, the supply dwindles.
At the Glen Eden Sun Club, where I am president, we remain economically viable and stable in our membership. I remain eager to both study, and understand the reasons why. While the freedom to be nude, whenever, and wherever you want within the confines of our club, there is much more to our community. I believe the promotion and protection of our community brings to play many other factors, other than the social nudity that we value. Being a member-owned club certainly does have a positive impact on these variables.
So, while the focus seems to be on economics, supply, and demand, I do believe it is important to dig deeper within the clubs that remain successful to understand the what and why these clubs are successful.
Again, thank you for your article. It does set the stage for further inquiry.
Steve Spencer.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, Steve! I think you put it very well