Contemporary Nudism-The Blatant Lie of Nudists
Posted: Monday, March 17, 2008
by Sulagna Dasgupta
Love in India
According to a popular story about Picasso, in a painting competition, it was specified in the guidelines that no "sexually explicit" painting was to be sent for consideration. Picasso sent a painting of a nude woman. They sent it back to him with someone telling him that it violated their rules. Picasso told him, "But they've said that only sexually explicit pictures are barred from competing, and this is not so." Then the maestro drew a watch on the woman's wrist and said, "Now it is so."
Have you ever been to a nudist website or witnessed a nudist event? I recently did the former, and guess what-they offered me a tour of their free picture gallery', and also promised a tour of their entire "high quality" picture gallery if I became a member. Coincidentally all these pictures were of nude women and not men. I have had exactly the same experience with every nudist website I've ever visited.
So pictures of nude women are being used to attract visitors to websites! But never ever commit the sin of assuming that there's anything sexual about this-this is the point every nudist stresses-or you're going to land up in some kind of a nudist hell!
My dear readers, I'm not an anti-nudism prude. Neither do I have anything against public nud ity as such, if it is practiced in a place where it's legal. But I do have a problem with nud ism as it is being interpreted and practiced today. As the story shows, there's really nothing wrong or sexual about complete, natural nudity. There are many tribes across the world, which consider it natural for women to be topless. I've seen pictures of tribal women wearing nothing but some sort of a loincloth and there's nothing sexual or sleazy about it. That's natural. That's body-freedom. What the nudists will tell you is that, they prefer being nude in public because that makes them feel more "free", more "natural". Now you tell me, have you really ever seen a nudist who's not wearing shoes? Believe me, there's nothing natural about first removing all the hair on your body (including your bikini area hair), cutting your hair in a fashionable way, doing your eyebrows and then getting naked in public, while still having your shoes, wristwatch and sunglasses on. I'd once seen a nude picture of an old couple, probably in their seventies (they were nudists). Both were wearing shoes, the man was wearing a wristwatch and the woman had hair cropped. It was disgusting.
I said I don't have anything against nudity. It is so, because the issue here is not so much about nudity, as about hypocrisy. I find pornography far more honest than modern day "nudism" (I'll tell you why, but I'm not saying anything about whether watching pornography is a good thing-it's a separate issue). It is because of the element of hypocrisy involved in it, that I can't stand this form of nudism, which, I think, is actually either exhibitionism, or an attempt to attract the opposite sex. But both of these tendencies are natural.
This brings us to the question of public nudity in other forms and pornography. The non-nudist people who get naked in, say, nude beaches, are saying, "We want to attract the opposite sex and we're doing all that we can for it." This is natural, and- I'm sure you too find it so-downright honest. Porn stars are saying, "We are displaying our wares (and doing other things which are irrelevant here) to earn money." That too, is perfectly honest, if immoral for some people. I'm sure by this time you too have started to realize why these forms of nudity are ok for me while so-called "nudism" isn't. I'm really surprised that no one has as yet raised this very fundamental and obvious question to nudists.
So, my request to you-don't be conned by nudists. Be a nudist if you want to, but don't be a hypocrite. And one more thing-please don't try to force nudism on your children, even if you are a nudist. This might be a really shocking and disturbing experience for them. Tell them about nudism only when you think they are mature enough.
In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and keep visiting SearchWarp.com!
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More commentsI majorly disagree with pretty much every word of what you said. First you were talking about fake nudist websites that are nothing more than sexy pics of naked women; those are not real nudist websites they are porn sites pretending to be nudist but really being all about voyeurism. Real nudists don't go to those sites. Real nudist websites may have photo galleries but they have pictures of men and women of all shapes and sizes.What's your problem with nudists wearing shoes or shaving our body hair? I'm a nudist and I feel more comfortable naked, so what? I often feel more comfortable wearing shoes in many environments because my feet are too sensitive to be barefoot on rocks or hot asphalt. Why is that hypocritical? I'm more comfortable naked in the pool or laying out but wearing shoes when walking? As for shaving body hair, why is that wrong? Why do people shave their legs & faces, or cut our hair? Because be think it looks better. Just because we think that being naked feels natural doesn't mean that we want to look like cavemen/women from before the razor and comb were invented. Where do you draw the line here? Is a nudist women with shaved legs but a 70s bush hypocritical or not in your view, because shaving your legs (or your face) isn't natural either.As for "don't force it on your kids;" what exactly constitutes forcing nudism on your kids? When your kids are little you pretty much "force" all kinds of stuff on them because of what your lifestyle is. If you do lots of church activities you force your religion on them because you bring them to church with them. If you go to museums you force that activity onto them because you bring them. If you go to political rallies and protest you force that on them if you take them with you. I believe that nudism is a healthy lifestyle and I've known many families who brought their kids up that way. If I believe that nudism is healthy, wholesome, comfortable & fun why wouldn't I want to involve my kids in it? "Don't force it on them until they are mature enough to make a decision" implies that that it's dirty or adult, which it is not.
You seem to wonder a lot about why nudists do or wear certain things , and think they are "conning" you because of it.Nudists wear shoes because unlike the primitive tribes you compare them to, they can't be nude 24/7 from birth. Most nudists can only be nude outdoors on rare occaisions or vacations. The rest of the time they are dressed to obey laws. Their feet become tender from wearing shoes and so even while wanting to be nude they still need to protect their feet from hot sand , pavement , and sharp objects.Many Nudists wear watches simply because, in the modern world, we have to keep track of time. We have the same obligations, commitments, and appointments as anyone, and can't just ignore time.As for "forcing " kids to be nude. Kids are born nude. Parents Force them to wear clothes.Don't condemn all nudists because of what you see on "most" nudist web sites. Like with anything else , usually the things you see on the internet are not a fair representation of the people they are exploiting. And that's what those sites do. they exploit nudism for their own profit.Many nudist venues have become over run by other groups, like swingers, voyers, exhibitionists, and others that are just out looking for sexual thrills. We nudists would love to keep them away from our few places of refuge. But you can't tell someones motives just by looking at them. They are giving nudists a bad name, as proven by your own opinion and article.Please try to keep an open mind about true nudism. The real ones don't behave like the fakes.
This article is total hogwash. The author obviously went into this with her own bias firmly in place and never did any serious investigation. The sites she visited were nothing more than soft core porn sites interested in marketing sex for profit, that is the exact opposite of what nudism is about. Although most in our society can not seperate the nude human form from sex we nudists do. We believe that the body is inheirently good and decent and need not be adorned in any way. We accept people as they are in all shapes and sizes and racial and social backgrounds. If you profess to be any kind of journalist you should do more than superficial research before you go spreading misinformation and outright lies. A reputation once lost is very difficult to regain. I feel one of the greatest things I have found through my own experiences in nudism is a sense of accepatence of my own body. I am far from the perfect body type but I am not ashamed of nor do I hate my own body. I think there might be a lesson there for a society that project unrealistic body images onto our youth. In fact it may be a way they can over come diseases such as bulimia and anorexia.
I'm with the other nudists here. Nudism is about dressing (or not dressing) in a way that is comfortable to you, not about how much punishment your feet can take on rocks or hot sand, or how much cold you can stand. Most of the time, I would skip the watch, but if you have to meet a timetable, the watch becomes a necessity. Anyone who sees these articles as hypocrisy obviously doesn't understand the point. Just because I go to a nudist camp, that doesn't mean I have to play tennis without foot protection.
The author needs to visit a real nudist website, not a thinly disguised soft core porn site. Seems she is using a fake nudist site as verification for a faulty premise.
Sulagna, I am not sure what "nudist"sites you visited, but there are those that use the term nudism and nude pics of women to get people to pay to see more and then there are legitimate nudist websites. Here are a few:www aanr comwww naturistsociety comwww netnude comwww clothesfree comwww nudist-resorts orgwww nudistexplorer comThe above websites will give you a much truer version of nudism without the necessity of pictures being used as bait to get one to join a pay site. In fact, no real nudist website ever does. The problem Sulagna is that you are looking in the wrong areas to determine what nudism is. Do more research using the websites I provided to get a better sense of what nudism is--and isn't.Bob
The author DOES have more invalid points than valid. She does not realize that nudity attracts a lot of BS fakers. Even naturism has been invaded by the porn people. Most REAL nudist sites really dont have photo galleries. Also, they have have real people not slim, trim white people. They have a cross section of sizes and even races.Maybe someone will challenge her to a visit with them and show her what this is really all about.
Sulagna, as a naturist and a journalist, I find it curious that you missed the International Naturist Federation (inf-fni) which is the obvious umbrella group for and would have linked you through to all the hundreds of genuine national and local affiliates representing real nudists/naturists. If you google "naturist", or for that matter just "women", you are going to get a gzillion weird sites.We naturists frankly agree with you that the term "nudism" is being widely misused by non-nudists for "hypocritical" and/or "sexual or sleazy" purposes. Where we may disagree is that "pornography far more honest" (it is objectification which we reject), that sunglasses are not naturist (we use protective gear like everyone else), that children should be denyed some clothes-free time (they love it in exactly the innocent way you recommend!), or that any personal grooming disqualifies someone as a naturist (we simply need to groom more than just our head and hands). But we too would likely find suspect anybody claiming to be "nudist" who is wearing highheels in a beach photo,Your journalistic tag line might better have been: "don't be conned by hypocritical non-nudists masquerading as nudists." Frankly, naturists are just normal folks who wear clothes when they make sense, don't when clothes are superfluous, and meantime treat others with respect whether they are draped in fabric or not.
I wear shoes because rocks hurt my feet. I have a wife of over 17 years and I'm not trying to attract anyone else. I would definitely have to cover myself to do that anyway. I don't know which site your talking about but INF has a very well proportioned number of men/women picture as does netnude. The pictures are of ordinary people not sex gods. As far as harming children, If you have any then you should know from experience that children are natural nudists and always trying to get out of their clothes until they realize this is displeasing to their parents. What's more harmful is forcing them to wear clothes and teaching them to be ashamed of their bodies. Just look at the number of girls suffering from eating dissorders because of that. Look at the Numbers of people addicted to porn because their normal couriosity about the human body wasn't answered in a responsible way.I'll admit that some join nudist groups thinking they are going to have a swinging time. The same is true of those who join a church to meet women. But to look at these few and condemn the whole group as hypocrites is offensive, hateful and just plain ignorant. If you truly have nothing against nudity then put your money where your mouth is and visit a n AANR affiliated club for yourself in person.
Hi, my name is Brian Taylor and I am the public relations officer for British Naturism.Many of your respondents have pointed out the short-comings in your research which, being confined to the frankly dishonest soft porn sites, was far from thorough. I hope this doesn't ruin your credibility as a writer in other areas.I would like to take up the issue of children. Young children feel no shame about their bodies. It is adults who teach them shame, by telling them that it is 'rude' to be naked. This body-shame is a dangerously negative message to give a child and most of us carry it into adult life and perpetuate it with our own children. I say dangerous because it is at the root of eating disorders such as Anorexia.It also gets in the way of free and open discussion between children and their parents about sex when the time comes. Children are naturally curious about sex as puberty begins, but by then the damage has been done and they are too embarrassed to talk to their parents (& vica-versa). The result? Some will experiment with friends and this is how teenage pregnancies happen.It has been shown that nations with high participation in naturism have much lower rates of teenage pregnancy, abortions and STI's.You are welcome to explore our website at just Google British Naturism. I can particularly recommend our 'briefing notes' in the 'campaigning' section.
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