I only ask that if you include photos, please make them good photos - and try to tell a story. Not just record shots of the fact you were naked at some point in time. Mirror selfie of someone sitting naked on the bed does nothing to make me want to read the accompanying article. Aesthetics matter for illustrations.
If you don't post nudes you're not a real nudist but if you do, you're an exhibitionist. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. I sometimes write for The Naturist Community and nothing ls left to the imagination.
I agree if you look at the naturist mags produced by orgs (BN and N&N (TNS)) very few photos, which don't have a lot of detail,but lots of informational articles. Compare that to say one not produce by a naturist organization, I am thinking of a cretin German produced one that was popular in the 80s and 90s, that pretty much only had photos of kids. One knows the attended audience of that magazine - and it wasn't naturist.
The heckling is a signature of social media abuse that is the norm. The same medium of the internet that has made naturism/nudism so much more and more widely understood (so many of us have discovered “we are not alone”!) has opened it and us to attack. The assault rarely comes from the true opposition - as in Wisconsin at the moment the true opponents fight in the open. The social media assault comes from keyboard warriors and trolls who simply want to bully and tear down anything they consider to be “other” from behind their web-supported anonymity.
In this case, the heckling came from “inside the house” so to speak. From supposed fellow naturists. There is a strain of “we’re the true/authentic [fill in blank]” in any movement. Unfortunately I didn’t feel it was worth committing time and my own money when being continually questioned in the background.
I fully appreciate your position and understand why you would stand back under the circumstances. There is always that strain who claim to be “the true” representatives, equally I suspect there will be many “true” nudists who never take their clothes off while using the web to get past their inferiority complex! They’re very sad people who deserve our sympathy - but they’re not getting it!!!
I had a Naturist themed blog for a while. I had to deal with a few people seeking porn, potential hook ups and such. I knew they would be part of the deal. So, I expected to have to deal with that. But what surprised me was the criticism, as you say, from inside the house. The REAL naturist who felt empowered to criticize what I said, what I thought, any picture I posted, any story I told, etc... Disagreement and an alternative view, offered constructively, I can deal with. But what amounted to an attack, designed to let me know I wasn’t a REAL naturist, and therefore not part of the club, was over the line.
I eventually closed down the blog. Life is just too short to deal with people who feel empowered to spew hate, all because it makes them feel stronger and righteous.
I had a couple of blogs with occaisional full frontal nudity. Topics were anime, philosophy, world events, personal events, My blogs had an almost entirely textile readership. I did not get any blowback from anyone. Ended up not writing anything for a long time and then got tired of paying money not to post anything.
My remaining nudie blog is here on Substack and I haven't written there for a while. I feel bad about it.
The opposition to support from LGBTQ+ community is one of the most common problems to finding allies. Basically, many nudists are social conservatives who like to get their kit off. They will say that nudism has nothing to do with sex and LGBTQ+ is about nothing but sex. They don't want to be associated with them. I'd counter that both are about the greater cause of freedom, but nobody listens to me.
On the west coast where its a bit more tolerant, gays and the other "letters" are some of our biggest supporters. It is socially conservative straights who want to pass laws and shut everything down.
The WNBR-LA is an example of an alliance that I don't think quite worked out. This year there were nudist pavilions at the starting area but no bicycling groups. If they don't show up for the event, it may mean the nudies have taken over and the bicyclists have lost interest. At least the event hasn't disappeared. Ciclavia is where the cyclists do their thing now.
The biggest gatekeepers in (American) nudism are the nudists themselves. When their clubs have high prices, no single-men rules, or men/gender caps, references, "must join" after a certain number of visits etc you are just discouraging others from joining naturists and non-naturist getting the wrong idea about who and what we are. We need to expose ourselves (pun intended) to the textile world. That is the only way we will be accepted, and change will be made.
I say this over and over again, naturist organizations need to control the message of who we are, and part of doing that is good PR. Not just for the movement but at a resort level. Resorts/campgrounds need to operate and market themselves like textile resorts. That is what they do in Europe, and because of that, Europeans, naturists, and textiles alike, have a different view on naturism. And I keep hearing "America isn't Europe", yes. But that's why WE need to change the message.
I was in Vienna this summer, at one of the cities' 3 FKK beaches/parks, and there were non-naturist riding their bikes, walking through the nude section, many with children, and the adults and kids did not care. But I believe it starts at the resort level, as many resorts are NOT clubs but for-profit tourist locations which advertise and does not discriminate like another tourist destination.
This is a great article. Kinda also the point of the normalising naturism campaign. Even if it's not for you, accept that it might be for other people, it's not wrong, it's not weird...
Your site sounded like it was doing great service. Anyone that says you have to show yourself full frontal to prove your a nudist is missing the point. Whether you show yourself on the internet is your choice. It doesn't make you any less or more a naturist (although some would argue it might make you more of an exhibitionist... not sure I necessarily agree if you're doing it for advocacy though)
Yeah. That's like a personal preference thing.
I only ask that if you include photos, please make them good photos - and try to tell a story. Not just record shots of the fact you were naked at some point in time. Mirror selfie of someone sitting naked on the bed does nothing to make me want to read the accompanying article. Aesthetics matter for illustrations.
If you don't post nudes you're not a real nudist but if you do, you're an exhibitionist. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. I sometimes write for The Naturist Community and nothing ls left to the imagination.
I agree if you look at the naturist mags produced by orgs (BN and N&N (TNS)) very few photos, which don't have a lot of detail,but lots of informational articles. Compare that to say one not produce by a naturist organization, I am thinking of a cretin German produced one that was popular in the 80s and 90s, that pretty much only had photos of kids. One knows the attended audience of that magazine - and it wasn't naturist.
Strong point! I agree, and I’m sorry to learn of the heckling that led you to close your information site.
The heckling is a signature of social media abuse that is the norm. The same medium of the internet that has made naturism/nudism so much more and more widely understood (so many of us have discovered “we are not alone”!) has opened it and us to attack. The assault rarely comes from the true opposition - as in Wisconsin at the moment the true opponents fight in the open. The social media assault comes from keyboard warriors and trolls who simply want to bully and tear down anything they consider to be “other” from behind their web-supported anonymity.
In this case, the heckling came from “inside the house” so to speak. From supposed fellow naturists. There is a strain of “we’re the true/authentic [fill in blank]” in any movement. Unfortunately I didn’t feel it was worth committing time and my own money when being continually questioned in the background.
I fully appreciate your position and understand why you would stand back under the circumstances. There is always that strain who claim to be “the true” representatives, equally I suspect there will be many “true” nudists who never take their clothes off while using the web to get past their inferiority complex! They’re very sad people who deserve our sympathy - but they’re not getting it!!!
I had a Naturist themed blog for a while. I had to deal with a few people seeking porn, potential hook ups and such. I knew they would be part of the deal. So, I expected to have to deal with that. But what surprised me was the criticism, as you say, from inside the house. The REAL naturist who felt empowered to criticize what I said, what I thought, any picture I posted, any story I told, etc... Disagreement and an alternative view, offered constructively, I can deal with. But what amounted to an attack, designed to let me know I wasn’t a REAL naturist, and therefore not part of the club, was over the line.
I eventually closed down the blog. Life is just too short to deal with people who feel empowered to spew hate, all because it makes them feel stronger and righteous.
I had a couple of blogs with occaisional full frontal nudity. Topics were anime, philosophy, world events, personal events, My blogs had an almost entirely textile readership. I did not get any blowback from anyone. Ended up not writing anything for a long time and then got tired of paying money not to post anything.
My remaining nudie blog is here on Substack and I haven't written there for a while. I feel bad about it.
Great article.
A well-considered article, and something worth reflecting on.
The opposition to support from LGBTQ+ community is one of the most common problems to finding allies. Basically, many nudists are social conservatives who like to get their kit off. They will say that nudism has nothing to do with sex and LGBTQ+ is about nothing but sex. They don't want to be associated with them. I'd counter that both are about the greater cause of freedom, but nobody listens to me.
On the west coast where its a bit more tolerant, gays and the other "letters" are some of our biggest supporters. It is socially conservative straights who want to pass laws and shut everything down.
The WNBR-LA is an example of an alliance that I don't think quite worked out. This year there were nudist pavilions at the starting area but no bicycling groups. If they don't show up for the event, it may mean the nudies have taken over and the bicyclists have lost interest. At least the event hasn't disappeared. Ciclavia is where the cyclists do their thing now.
The biggest gatekeepers in (American) nudism are the nudists themselves. When their clubs have high prices, no single-men rules, or men/gender caps, references, "must join" after a certain number of visits etc you are just discouraging others from joining naturists and non-naturist getting the wrong idea about who and what we are. We need to expose ourselves (pun intended) to the textile world. That is the only way we will be accepted, and change will be made.
I say this over and over again, naturist organizations need to control the message of who we are, and part of doing that is good PR. Not just for the movement but at a resort level. Resorts/campgrounds need to operate and market themselves like textile resorts. That is what they do in Europe, and because of that, Europeans, naturists, and textiles alike, have a different view on naturism. And I keep hearing "America isn't Europe", yes. But that's why WE need to change the message.
I was in Vienna this summer, at one of the cities' 3 FKK beaches/parks, and there were non-naturist riding their bikes, walking through the nude section, many with children, and the adults and kids did not care. But I believe it starts at the resort level, as many resorts are NOT clubs but for-profit tourist locations which advertise and does not discriminate like another tourist destination.
This is a great article. Kinda also the point of the normalising naturism campaign. Even if it's not for you, accept that it might be for other people, it's not wrong, it's not weird...
Your site sounded like it was doing great service. Anyone that says you have to show yourself full frontal to prove your a nudist is missing the point. Whether you show yourself on the internet is your choice. It doesn't make you any less or more a naturist (although some would argue it might make you more of an exhibitionist... not sure I necessarily agree if you're doing it for advocacy though)