Feelings on nudists

[Liberty Belle]

I say if it makes you happy, go for it. Just please don't do it where I can see you....there are some people who just need to wear something.

When I was first married, we rented a townhouse who had apparently been rented by nudists. We got all kinds of brochures for this nudist colony in Florida, and some gated community that showed the neighbors outside buck naked washing their cars and watering their flowers.

It didn't look at all like it should. They really should have used body doubles or models if they actually wanted people to live there.

And yes we looked! If something is delivered to your house in a plain wrapper to Mr. and Mrs. Blah Blah or current resident, you bet I'm checking it out. I just wish I hadn't.

It's not about people going to see people who look good naked. I bet that brochure would encourage people with normal bodies to try it out.

I've never been to a nudist colony/resort. It seems kind of strange to me to go to one, but to each his/her own. We are a pretty naked family at home.

 

[glitterkittyy]

I think most Americans are way too uncomfortable with nudity. I'm not into the whole nudist colony thing, but in my house, we just don't make a big deal out of nudity.

 

[PrincessV]

No ethical or moral problem with the idea... but, I often need a sweater in the middle of summer OVER clothing - I could never be a nudist without freezing all the time!

 

[DizBelle]

Feelings on nudists? I imagine it would be kind of soft and squishy.

 

[disney4us2002]

Ewwwww! That's my initial thought. I get grossed out by the "casual Fridays" commercials and all the people in just their undies.

 

[sunnyday123]

I just don't understand how it works, especially for girls. Let's say you are playing volleyball in the sand nude..and you fall on your butt and you have sand up in your girly parts. Ouch.

Or..this may be TMI for guys so skip to the next post if you are a guy..girls, you can relate and KWIM. What about when it's that time of the month? I doubt anyone wants to see that tampon string hanging out. Or what about when it's not that time..but your body IS getting ready for that time..you know us gals, we can have some interesting discharges especially around ovulation and stuff. How do you deal with that stuff at a nudist colony?

the bloating! someone might be mistaken for a beach ball!!! And don't ever eat really spicy chili and laugh!!!

 

[hereyago]

It is just DD11, Dm76 and myself here at the house, I don't care if I am naked.

I think for the nudist colony, the nudists aren't thinking if they have a banging body, but it is just they are really comfortable with themselves.

 

[freckles and boo]

Nudism isn't my cup of tea but I don't care what other people do. I am sort of surprised at how unkind some of the posts have been.

 

[pigletgirl]

As long as I don't have to see you, then its your thing and whatever.

 

[Ember]

I think people are far too caught up in exposure of the human body in general. We will sit in a theater, or in front of the television and cheerfully watch people do the most horrific things to each other. But catch a glimpse of a private part and everyone is grossed out. Talk about mixed up priorities.

Also, the number of comments about other peoples bodies is very telling. A body is not gross. It is not disgusting. Our bodies are beautiful. I have a fine arts degree and one of the most valuable lessons I learned is that all bodies are beautiful. I painted short people, skinny people, fat people, pregnant people (well, women!), people of different colors... I used to be nervous looking at first, but when you paint or draw someone you have to look at them. Having see all kinds of naked bodies, and I can say that I found none of them horrible or offensive, they were each beautiful in their own way. It made me so much more comfortable in my own skin.

No wonder our children are growing up insecure and they start dieting in grade one. Our expectations are unrealistic, and anything below those expectations is "disgusting."

 

[Judy from Boise]

In defense of all posters, this thread asked people to express their feelings.....I don't believe feelings can be right or wrong.

 

[luvmy3]

It is just DD11, Dm76 and myself here at the house, I don't care if I am naked.

I think for the nudist colony, the nudists aren't thinking if they have a banging body, but it is just they are really comfortable with themselves.

I'm pretty comfortable with my body and I know a ton of other people who are, we just need to go around naked it proove it to others. I have a feeling that being naked for them stems from something else, what, I have no idea but it can't just all be about being comfortable.

 

[PlainJane]

I think the horseshoes would be more worrisome!

Oh...I just had a really funny thought!

Pretty sure I just imagined the same thing

I just don't understand how it works, especially for girls. Let's say you are playing volleyball in the sand nude..and you fall on your butt and you have sand up in your girly parts. Ouch.

Or..this may be TMI for guys so skip to the next post if you are a guy..girls, you can relate and KWIM. What about when it's that time of the month? I doubt anyone wants to see that tampon string hanging out. Or what about when it's not that time..but your body IS getting ready for that time..you know us gals, we can have some interesting discharges especially around ovulation and stuff. How do you deal with that stuff at a nudist colony?

The more I think about it, the more impractical nudity becomes to me.

I'm pretty comfortable with my body and I know a ton of other people who are, we just need to go around naked it proove it to others. I have a feeling that being naked for them stems from something else, what, I have no idea but it can't just all be about being comfortable.

I am also comfortable with my body. I think I have a nice body. I have no desire to show it to the world. Overall, I think a fully matured naked body is a sexual thing. I don't think that is a bad thing either. Because this is how I feel on the issue I would only want to be naked with someone else that I have decided to enter a sexual relationship with.

This is of course omitting having to be naked in front of medical professionals, sometimes family, and places like locker rooms. I know many are going to find this hypocritical. To me they are isolated incidents where I would hope everyone could control themselves. In contrast if you go around in your everyday life naked, it desexualizes the naked adult human body.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Don't have a problem with it but I do know for a fact that I look better with lots of clothes on.

My sentiments exactly! I look like a zebra with all my stretchmarks

 

[WOW! SERIOUSLY??]

Whatever floats your boat I say! If people are comfortable with it and they're away from the general public, I see nothing wrong with it. It's fairly common in other parts of the world.

this.

 

[pigletgirl]

I think people are far too caught up in exposure of the human body in general. We will sit in a theater, or in front of the television and cheerfully watch people do the most horrific things to each other. But catch a glimpse of a private part and everyone is grossed out. Talk about mixed up priorities.

Also, the number of comments about other peoples bodies is very telling. A body is not gross. It is not disgusting. Our bodies are beautiful. I have a fine arts degree and one of the most valuable lessons I learned is that all bodies are beautiful. I painted short people, skinny people, fat people, pregnant people (well, women!), people of different colors... I used to be nervous looking at first, but when you paint or draw someone you have to look at them. Having see all kinds of naked bodies, and I can say that I found none of them horrible or offensive, they were each beautiful in their own way. It made me so much more comfortable in my own skin.

No wonder our children are growing up insecure and they start dieting in grade one. Our expectations are unrealistic, and anything below those expectations is "disgusting."

Well the way you look at the human body vs the way I do is different. I look at it as a scientific point of view, and quite frankly is amazing and gross all at the same time.

But yeah, I don't want to have to look at others personal areas. The only one being my future spouse. That is IT.

 

[ZPT1022]

Nudist resorts or the like are not somewhere I could see myself going but I could care less what other people do. I don't love my body but I accept it for what it is and I'm not too worried about things that other people are- I have no issue putting my clothes in the hamper in my closet and walking to the shower naked, and I know people that would be horrified by that, and I plan on giving birth with a roomful of friends and relatives and honestly could not be less bothered by that either. I figure you wind up with half the medical staff in there anyhow, I may as well invite some people I know and like to the party

 

[pogo791]

We are almost up to post # 60, and no one here has yet admitted to having been at a nudist resort. Shall I go first and let it all hang out?

DW and I were in Yugoslavia years ago (and just calling it "Yugoslavia" shows you how many years ago), at a large hotel near Dubrovnik, on a beach. Part of the beach was set aside as a nudist beach, for hotel guests only. We ignored it for the first few days, but one morning, when we were walking by the entrance, we looked at one another, nodded our heads, and walked right in, somewhat self-consciously.

The beach was a large one, with a sandy expanse dotted here and there with a few sunning individuals (male and female more or less equally) and couples, mostly in their 20s and 30s, but a few considerably older. And all of them naked. Off to one side there was an area with quite a few boulders, where people who wanted to be more by themselves could have more privacy.

We picked a spot on the sandy expanse, dropped our swimsuits, spread on the suntan lotion and tried to blend in.

It actually was for me pretty much an anti-climax. For the first half-hour or so, we were all too aware that, gosh, no one has their clothes on! But after that, when we sensed that everyone on the beach was simply there to get an all-over tan and didn't really care that much what other people looked like, we were able to relax. And for the rest of our two-week stay, we became regulars at the beach, nodding at passing acquaintances.

The only ogling that happened was, every now and then, when someone passing by on a speedboat noticed the nudist beach and swerved suddenly to get a closer look. (Happily, the swimming area had been roped off quite a ways out to sea, and so the boaters couldn't get all too close.)

Thinking about that experience afterwards, we got pretty blasé about all the naked flesh. Women in teeny-tiny bikinies seemed to be calling a lot more attention to their bodies, and also seemed to be attracting a lot more attention from passing males on the non-nudist beaches in the same area.

It's probably true that people in Europe are more relaxed about this. Nudist beaches are fairly common especially in the Adriatic, and up in Germany. And it could be that the ogling factor would be much greater on a nudist beach that is open to anyone. But that's the good point about nudist resorts; there's some control on who enters, and - presumably - pretty strict control on how they behave.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Part of what seems to be going on here is that many posters to this thread equate nudity with sexual activity, and with sexual appeal.

That's not the case at all, at least in my limited understanding. It is about acceptance of oneself, and the ability to be free and unfettered. There are clearly practical considerations, and yes, I can only imagine that those are taken into account and not simply ignored.

The US society as a whole would do well to take the focus off the "personal appearance" of bodies and place it squarely on the personality of the person. Hiding behind clothes is fine, but what you put on your back shouldn't be defining you as a person. All to often, that is the case. Label conscious consumers and all that.

If someone is secure within her or himself enough to belong to a naturalist group, then fine. I don't expect to run into a naked person while shopping for groceries in Publix any time soon. It's a philosophical approach quite like some religions. Some people head to a building every week and throw themselves around caterwauling to the high heavens. Others head to a protected area, discard their clothing and enjoy their freedom. No real difference in some respects. Each group is doing what they find most appropriate for themselves. No one is better or worse than the other.

 

[NHdisneylover]

What a very interesting thread
Personally, I have never been to a nudist colony; it is not something I am looking for but also not something I am trying to avoid in a vacation. If whatever it was I wanted to do was being offered at a nudist colony as a better product for the price than it would be offered somewhere more traditional I would probably go. If I had to say, I probably think it is healthier to not worry about clothes when they do not have a pratical use than the other way around--so nudists are probably one up on most of us in that respect.
We have never made a big deal about nudity in our home. Often clothes are pratical (it is cold out right now!--and of course they can keep the sun off, provide something comfortable to sit against, etc) and they are also often fun. However, they can be totally impratical at times, and if we are not around people who will freak out about it then we don't bother to be impratical. The two examples I can think of is that when we owned a hot tub we did not wear suits in it unless we had company. The soap residue in washed suits just messes with the chemical balance in the water--necessitating more frequent changes and washing/drying etc the suits all the time is a hassle. I have also painted a swelteringly hot attic in the nude. Kept me cool and I did not have to worry about paint drips on clothing.
DD and I also tend to go topless at beaches where the majoirty of women are doing so, etc.

I know quite a few people who go to clothing optional resorts with their children and all of them are much more comfortable with themselves, especially the tween and teen-aged girls, then seems standard in our society. They get their self image from themselves, which is where it should come from, and not from what television or magazines say you should be. Allowing someone else to form your self image is just something I never understood.

That is really interesting. DD13's teacher actaully asked me last week if I do not allow her to wear make-up because it is so rare to see a girl that age who is not constantly grooming herself. DD is neat and clean and does wear make-up, etc once in a while (she is allowed and owns plenty) but generally prefers to sleep an extra half hour rahter than bother with getting up to primp. I am sure there is no direct correlation but perhaps there is some effect there.

The only thing that annoys me about nudity is some of the comments on this post. " There are certain people who I think shouldn't be allowed to wear shorts around others nonetheless be full nudists." " They really should have used body doubles or models if they actually wanted people to live there.".

I think people are far too caught up in exposure of the human body in general. We will sit in a theater, or in front of the television and cheerfully watch people do the most horrific things to each other. But catch a glimpse of a private part and everyone is grossed out. Talk about mixed up priorities.

These two posters said it a lot better than I could myself

I'm pretty comfortable with my body and I know a ton of other people who are, we just need to go around naked it proove it to others. I have a feeling that being naked for them stems from something else, what, I have no idea but it can't just all be about being comfortable.

It usually is for me when I am (but I am not a nudist just not always a "clothist?") Honestly, I think your feeling that others cannot choose to be naked simply for the sake of being comfortable (I beleive more natural is also sometimes the given reason) speaks volumes about why you are uncomfortable with it. You want to ascribe negative reasons for this which probably really aren't there for most people. I really don't think it is fair to project your feelings about lack of clothing onto others who do not share those views.

I am also comfortable with my body. I think I have a nice body. I have no desire to show it to the world. Overall, I think a fully matured naked body is a sexual thing. I don't think that is a bad thing either. Because this is how I feel on the issue I would only want to be naked with someone else that I have decided to enter a sexual relationship with.

This is of course omitting having to be naked in front of medical professionals, sometimes family, and places like locker rooms. I know many are going to find this hypocritical. To me they are isolated incidents where I would hope everyone could control themselves. In contrast if you go around in your everyday life naked, it desexualizes the naked adult human body.

I remember reading once that bare ankles are just as provocative as bare breasts--it is all in how they are presented. I guess I feel that way about it. The human body just doing normal things (including changing or being at the doctor, etc) is not sexual in and of it itself to me. It is a flirty smile or provactive movement, etc which does that whether dressed or not. It have never had a need to "control myeslf" while changing in a locker room or undressing for a doctor and I never thought about others needing to either I think someone who truly has a need to control themselves in such a situation has bigger problems than simply keeping clothed will fix.
I actually think (based on no evidence at all merely my own observations) that the insitence some cultures (including present day USA) has with seeing naked bodies as sexual-and especially in doing so with kids (how often is their a DIS thread about "crazy" parents letting a toddler or preschooler run naked in a fountain, etc?) probably creates a culture which enourages teh development of pedophiles rather than discouraging it as people hope it will. I know I am not explaining this well. I'll try to think of how to better do so and post again later.