Proud to Be Naturists - Doug and Amanda

Please tell us a little about how you became a nudist / naturist, and what advice you would have for others considering the lifestyle.

Doug: I had always thought that nudity was no big deal, but hardly ever went naked myself. After meeting Amanda, and living together, we both became true closet nudists. At that point I knew of Mazo Beach, but never attempted to go there.

It wasn't until a semester abroad as part of my Master's degree that I tried being nude outdoors. Australia has many nude beaches, and the perfect weather for them. One of my goals was to visit as many as I could. I was shy at first, and a bit frustrated, but eventually found the perfect opportunity to give it a try. (Read the full story starting here.) All-in-all, I loved it! After flying back to Wisconsin in December 2006, a trip to Mazo Beach was the highest priority! (I'll let Amanda tell that story.) Mazo proved to be just as good as the Australian beaches, and the water was much safer! That same year, Nudiarist inspired me to start my Academic Naturist blog. We also checked out Sun Ray Hills resort and VVRC's Nude Car Show. We were hooked!

As for advice: If you have the faintest idea about trying naturism, just do it! You'll absolutely love it (just like 99% of others who have tried it, including skeptical reporters) and it will change you're life for the better. The longer you hold out, the more you'll regret what you've been missing.

Amanda: I was just never comfortable wearing clothes. It's hard to find clothes that fit my body shape, and most are too constricting. Bras have never been comfortable, and I never wear them unless I'm required. Panties always ride up where they don't belong. That's why the idea of naturism was so appealing to me. Freedom from those horrible clothes!

Growing up, I would sometimes go naked after my parents went to bed. I'd dance around, or watch TV, or get a late night snack in the nude. One night at about 2 in the morning, flashing lights caught my attention. The building across the street is the fire department, and they had a call. The huge sliding glass door and bright living room lights meant there weren't any hiding spots. If anyone looked, they probably saw my frightened naked butt heading for my room!

Continuing the story that Doug started, Mazo Beach sounded scary because I thought everyone was going to ogle me. Nude beaches are full of dirty old men, right? Doug wanted to go, and it is clothing-optional so I wouldn't have to undress. I was hesitant to go, nervous for the 1.5 hour drive, and nervous down the 1.2 mile trail. When we arrived at the beach, I saw a bunch of naked men and a few women. It looked safe. My top was off as soon as I stepped onto the sand, and I was naked before Doug had the backpack off! In the race to undress, I always win!

For recommendations, make sure to go with a friend. They offer some protection from being approached by strange guys, and prevent the loneliness from going alone. If you don't have any friends to take with, join a group. You'll quickly make friends in the group. It's easy to make friends as a naturist.

Have you told family, co-workers and/or friends about the fact that you enjoy nudism / naturism, and what have been their reactions? Have you convinced anyone else to join you at a naturist event or venue?

Doug: I told my best friends from college a few years after we all graduated, and they didn't care. They all knew that I had no problem with nudity. I told my mom, who was born and raised in Germany until her teenage years. Once it was clear that we weren't swingers, she didn't care. She eventually told my dad, and he didn't care. One of my more prudish Aunts visited last summer, and I told her. She couldn't believe it! But before too long, she didn't care and just laughed about it. My parents even helped me out by saying it's no big deal and that it's helped my body confidence. I haven't yet told my grandparents, but I expect that they wouldn't care. I have a different Aunt who has been openly gay as far back as I can remember, so I think that makes it easier for my family to accept that I'm a naturist.

Coworkers don't know yet either and I've been entertaining myself with that. I have generic answers for most of their questions, and they never seem to care about digging in further. For example, I went to Eastover for the Eastern Naturist Gathering. My first day back to work, I was wearing my Eastover sweatshirt. "Where did you go for you're vacation?" "Oh, out East." "Sounds like fun!" And that's it. A similar thing happens for weekend trips. I'm curious about how many clues I can lay before someone finally figures it out or persistently asks the right questions.

I haven't convinced anyone to go with us to the beach, but Amanda has a few potentials.

Amanda: Yes, yes, and yes! My mom said not to tell my dad. (He's probably the only close family member that doesn't know.) My cousin kicked me out of her place when I told her. She's a Christian and didn't want to "deal with that sort of thing in her house". Never mind that she was living with a gay woman at the time. I've told all of my friends and coworkers. One thought it was a swinger thing, until I corrected her. One has the naturist mindset, but hasn't tried social nudity yet. Most get the wide eyes and open mouths look initially. Is it really that hard to believe I'm a naturist?

I haven't brought a friend to Mazo yet, but all have an open invitation. An older lady I work with is German, and loves the idea of going skinny-dipping again. We bought her a TNS membership and she loves it. When schedules cooperate she's more than willing to ride with to the beach.

One of the greatest challenges to nudism / naturism today is the aging population at parks and camps. Have you any ideas or advice on how venues and clubs can attract younger people?

Doug: First, read everything Morley Schloss has written on that subject. He really "gets it" and has experience in successfully recruiting the younger generations into naturism. Second is to make it cheap and/or fun. College-age people frequent Mazo Beach because it's free, and many frequent the VVRC Nude Car Show and the Badger Naturist Halloween Party because they're fun.

Amanda: I agree with Doug. Offer discounts for younger people, and make sure there are fun events going on that target the younger crowd.

Do you belong to a nudist / naturist organization? What advice would you give your organization in order to improve and expand membership?

Doug: We are both Area Reps for NAC and members of TNS, Badger Naturists, and Friends of Mazo Beach. We are active in all of these -- helping out NAC by watching public notices, writing articles for TNS, helping BN with their parties, and helping FOMB with the Nude Olympics and road cleanups. The advice that I'd give TNS is to get their name out. Most news stories have AANR in them, and thus most new members are probably contacting them first. TNS needs to get their name in the news (which is nearly free), get involved with non-naturist events involving nudity (cheap), and advertise in non-naturist mediums (expensive). They need to have fund-raising activities, and they should look beyond the naturist community for money. Before all that, they need to look professional when an interested party attempts to contact them. Revise the website, prioritize email correspondence, and outsource newbie questions (and any other tasks) to volunteers.

I can't just pick on the organizations though. A lot of naturists expect the organizations to do everything for them and to do it to their liking, which is an attitude that eventually ends up with them dropping membership for some small reason. The thing I like most about TNS is that they are very member-driven. Once you jump the hurdle into their "naturist family", it's easy to bounce ideas off the ones in charge, or pioneer the way for something new. Instead of merely complaining about an organization, why not become active and push for change?

A similar thing can be said about the local organizations. Most are a core group of friends. They need to be less introverted, and in return naturists need to join them and get involved.

What are your favorite sources for nudist / naturist news and information?

Doug: The best summary of news comes from Nudiarist's blog and shared feed. I'm also subscribed to a lot of other bloggers' RSS feeds. What's my favorite source for information? I can only answer: The Internet!

Amanda: Doug, and N magazine.

Nudists / naturists have always struggled with misconceptions by the general public that the lifestyle is sexual in nature. How would you deal with the increasing involvement with "swingers" into the lifestyle, coupled with the decrease of families and children? Do you think it's possible for nudism / naturism to survive as a family-friendly recreation in a society so consumed in pornography and sex?

Doug: The problem is that anyone with bad behavior ("swingers") tends to chase away the kids. If parents go to a resort and see/hear anything they don't want their children exposed to, they won't bring them. The odds are in favor of the swingers. How would I deal with it, if I had a resort? Make a game of it to even the odds. Like DEF CON's "Spot The Fed" game, I'd give a discount to the family of any child which successfully spots a swinger, and make the swinger wear a "swinger" t-shirt for the rest of the day. That should even things up a bit -- swingers will control their behavior better to fit in with other naturists, and parents will bring kids for the possibility of a discount. For family-friendly naturism to thrive, we need to do more to encourage it.

Amanda: Swingers need to be reminded of the rules when they get dangerously close to breaking them. Family-friendly naturism can survive if society gets their heads out of their asses. Americans always assume the worst. This can be seen in any news broadcast, and in any reaction to something they don't understand. People need to stop assuming the worst and living in fear, and start looking for the good things in life.

Are you involved in any body-freedom activism, such as nude protests, the World Naked Bike Ride, etc.? Are you ever nude when other people are clothed, such as working as an artist's model?

Doug: Amanda and I went to the GoTopless protest in Chicago last year, and may go back for more. We haven't been to a WNBR event yet, but probably will. There aren't any other big events in the area. As for being naked around mostly clothed people -- we've done that too. They were at least similar-minded and didn't care about our nudity. We're open to being models as well, but haven't yet except for at the Eastern Naturist Gathering where everyone was also naked.

Technology has given teens and adults the means to upload and share nude photos of themselves. Do you think that this phenomenon will have positive or negative ramifications for nudism / naturism in the long run?

Doug: It's an interesting fight, but I think it'll work to our advantage. Think of who is currently a naturist. We've met a lot of naturists who's careers include medical stuff, photography, art, etc. All have had some exposure to naked bodies prior to becoming a naturist. Also in a geographic sense, there are a lot of naturists in areas of free beaches, especially out west. There is a lot of exposure to nudity in those areas.

Also consider what happens as people gain exposure to nudity. The best summary I've seen is a Burning Man participant's epiphany. I believe that as kids trade and view nude pictures, nudity will be less shocking and will become no big deal. (As a side-effect, they'll have better judgment on who is truly a pervert and should be avoided or reported.)

On the flip-side are those who think even a topless girl will wreck kids' lives, and thus wreck kids' lives by making them criminals. Eventually society will need to move on. We all know the kids (and adults) aren't going to stop, and technology will only make it more ubiquitous!

Amanda: I don't really know how to answer this one. I'm hoping it turns out good!

Has being a nudist / naturist made you more respectful of your body and environment? Do you try and live a more healthy lifestyle as a result of being nude?

Doug: I wasn't an outdoor type of person until I was a naturist. I enjoy camping now because of my overnight camping trip to a nude beach in Australia. Naturism brought forth a whole new connection with nature. I suppose it helps promote a healthy lifestyle too, since I like freehiking quiet trails and have a brisk hike to the beach. Amanda gets this exercise too, and also enjoys the outdoors more when naked.

Naturism has helped with body issues as well. My chest is different than most, and I never liked taking my t-shirt off because I was embarrassed by it. After going naked socially, I have no problem removing my shirt. My parents have noticed this change and are happy about it.

Amanda: I'm not as embarrassed about my body. I used to think my body was horrible, and that I'd have to be a supermodel just to live my life. Now, I just think that I should lose a few pounds. Naturism has certainly made me feel more comfortable about my body.

I'm also more comfortable around our naked friends. Textile friends from high school I still feel a little uncomfortable around because it's harder to trust them. Naked people have nothing to hide and I find them more trustworthy and honest.

Please take this opportunity to add anything else you would like to say about yourself or the nudist / naturist lifestyle.

Doug: Perhaps a little more about both of us. I do engineering work at a great little company in Southwest Wisconsin. Amanda works various jobs in the medical industry. We've been together for almost 7 years, but haven't gotten married yet. She's a little religious, and I'm not at all. We rent a nice apartment in town but are hoping to expand to a few rural acres of our own this year. We spend our spring freehiking, visit a few naturist campgrounds during the summer, fill some weekends with Mazo Beach, hit all the hotel parties we can during the winter, make a few trips to sauna with friends, and invite friends over for classic naturist movies on the big screen.

Amanda and I go well together in naturism. I'm an encyclopedia of random knowledge and can hold a decent conversation with just about anyone, but tend not to approach new people. Amanda loves approaching new people, and kick-starting conversations and fun activities. She's also much better at remembering everyone we meet.

Naturism offers a whole new connection with nature, and with other people. Naturists respect the environment more, and they have a more realistic view of humanity. We both believe that naturism is a positive influence for society and that the idea should spread. We're doing what we can to make that happen.

Follow Doug on his blog The Academic Naturist
Amanda is on Twitter here, and Doug here.


(This is the second of what I hope will be a series of profiles on real nudists and naturists. If you are interested in being profiled here, please drop me a message to nudiarist@gmail.com and we'll talk about it.)

Proud to be a Naturist - Andre

Andre, please tell us a little about how you became a nudist / naturist, and what advice you would have for others considering the lifestyle.

My love affair with naturism all started, back in 2004, when I was watching a documentary on UK television one evening called “Diary of a Teenage Nudist” about a teenage girl called Bianca who was born and raised in a naturist club with her mother, step-father and sister but for personal reasons, she stopped being a naturist. The purpose of this documentary was to find out what interested young people to become naturists and to see if she becomes a naturist again herself. After watching it, it got me thinking - how everyone who was taking part within the documentary was having fun and getting just fine with each other regardless of body shape. The documentary even showed me that there is a clear distinction between sex and just plain nudity. I thought maybe just maybe naturism could be for me.

A few days after watching the documentary, I started to do some research about naturism on the Internet. I came across naturist blogs and forums with text and links that provided a very healthy and positive outlook on the naturist lifestyle. It was a big surprise to see pictures and to read reports of naturism being practiced all over the world. For some reason, I believed that naturism was only practiced by old people, and for free-spirited people of European decent, this turned my head upside down and made me understand that naturism is for everybody! I saw pictures online of people and even entire families enjoying nude recreation. It was clear to me that these picture are not pornographic. The people in the photos were not perfect-looking people, nor was anyone posing in a sexual manner. After a bit of thinking I joined British Naturism and a naturist club near the city of Birmingham (UK) called Spectrum. Since then I have never looked back.

My advise for anyone who wants to become a naturist is to first establish that there is nothing necessarily sexual about nudity. Once that is overcome start doing more things at home nude like sleeping naked, not putting on clothes straight after a shower or bath, do as much housework or your one personal social time at home nude and if you a private garden try being nude outside. After all that, if one still enjoy the feeling of being nude I suggest starting to search online for your nearest naturist club or beach, join and get in contact with your national body for naturism for more information about local naturists clubs, ask if one can join one and just enjoy it! Naturists are always welcoming and friendly so new people to naturism should have nothing to worry about.

One last piece of advise is from a website I came across a while back and I forgot the URL, but it goes something like this:

“Don't be hampered if you feel your body is inadequate. Once you attend for the first time, you will find that most people there have something wrong with their bodies, be it being overweight, a small penis, a large penis, sagging breasts, small breasts, a pot-belly and much more. Everybody is different and nobody cares anyway.”

So just try it if you haven’t already, you might enjoy it.

Have you told family, co-workers and/or friends about the fact that you enjoy nudism / naturism, and what have been their reactions? Have you convinced anyone else to join you at a naturist event or venue?

One of my aunts and most of my friends do know I am a naturist and the reaction I get from them is quite positive. The initial impressions I got when I told them was shock (many of the people I have told find that I’m a naturist being out of charter for me), followed with the odd giggle (the kind of giggling you can get with immature people who find nudity funny or sexual) and then praise (they would be often impressed that I am able to get nude in front of other people and I am so comfortable with my own body). I haven’t told my immediate family (my mother/father, grandparents) as yet because regardless of what I say to them, I don’t believe they would ever understand why I am and why I enjoy naturism.

One of the greatest challenges to nudism / naturism today is the aging population at parks and camps. Have you any ideas or advice on how venues and clubs can attract younger people?

I do have many ideas which I think venues and clubs could adopt to attract younger people, but I do worry that some older naturists may not welcome some of my suggestions:

Make membership for young people as cheap as possible. A lot of young people are on low incomes nowadays (especially students) so any financial help offered by naturist venues and clubs can show that they are keen to have younger people come to them - a signal of intent as it were from the clubs towards the youth.

Include more images of young people in naturist venues and clubs’ marketing strategies. In my opinion, the clubs need to show pictures relevant to young people - pictures of other young people. For example, the first every issue of the British Naturism magazine that I received when I became a naturist feature a picture on the front page of a group of young naturists on holiday in Greece. After seeing that picture I was in no doubt that naturism values young people and it was for young people like me.

Venues and clubs need to provide facilities that young people highly value, this could include: high speed WiFi across the club grounds or just the club house, a choice of game consoles such as the Wii or Xbox and possibly satellite TV.

There should be more special events that are aimed at young people at naturist venues and clubs, these could be: nude debates and talks by a guest speaker, open mic nights (this is an event which allows any talented young naturists can preform a song or other talent to the rest of the club), nude yoga and body painting.

Naturist venues and clubs should try to have more young people on their management team or boards, this is to ensure the interests of the youth and are better represented within the clubs.

Clubs should scrap any rules regarding tattoos or body piercings. I know that this is a very touchy subject for some naturists, especially if it's genital piercings. But a lot of young people have them (I have a number of facial piercings), so to refuse membership or entrance to any naturists or would be naturists just because they have tattoos or any form of body piercings will be counter productive and I believe will harm naturism in the long run. I know of one young female naturist who has a number of tattoos all over her body, refused membership to many of her local clubs, and is forced to travel almost across the UK to clubs who are more accepting.

I believe that venues and clubs should provide free or heavily discounted transport to and from nearby major train or bus stations. Some venues and clubs can be quite remote for some young people to be willing to travel to by themselves, especially if never been to a naturist club. So by having some sort of welcoming party and transport to meet the young people at the stations, this might make them feel more welcome, valued and wanted by the club.

Do you belong to a nudist / naturist organization? What advice would you give your organization in order to improve and expand membership?

Yes I do belong to a naturist organization which is British Naturism (aka BN) and through them I am a member of YBN (aka Young British Naturists). I have been a member of both British Naturism and YBN for about two years or so. I love been a member of British Naturism because of all the work they do to promote naturism, protect naturists beaches and our rights here in the UK. I also enjoy being a member of YBN because it gives me the opportunity to meet other young naturists from across the UK and even around the world.

I very much would like BN to have more of an online presence with videos promoting naturism and clothes freedom. Secondly, I would like to see BN promote themselves and membership to BN in a more mainstream fashion. For example, I would love to see BN being advertised in cinemas, national newspapers and maybe even TV adverts. Furthermore, I would love to see BN representatives get more involved in talk-shows and televised debates to argue the case for naturism.

What are your favorite sources for nudist / naturist news and information?

Well your blog first and foremost, but others include British Naturism magazine, Going Natural magazine from The Federation of Canadian Naturists (FCN), The Academic Naturist, The International Nudist, ClothesFree.com and The Thoughtful Naturist.

Nudists / naturists have always struggled with misconceptions by the general public that the lifestyle is sexual in nature. How would you deal with the increasing involvement with "swingers" into the lifestyle, coupled with the decrease of families and children? Do you think it's possible for nudism / naturism to survive as a family-friendly recreation in a society so consumed in pornography and sex?

Let me start my saying that I really hate swinging. The problem with swinging is that it’s a national (if not international) phenomenon which seems to have overshadowed what naturism is all about. Thus, making it harder for actual naturists to make it clear to the world that naturism has nothing to with sex. We are born naked, our natural state is naked and, though people have sex naked and most pornography is naked, erotic clothing is much more sexual and it is unfortunate that these things have brought nudity and therefore naturism a bad name. As K. Bacher’s essay (called “205 Arguments and Observations In Support of Naturism”) explains:

Nudity is often confused with pornography in our society because the pornography industry has so successfully exploited it. In other words, nudity is often damned as exploitative precisely because its repression causes many to exploit it.

Pornography has been defined as an attempt to exert power over nature. In most cases in our culture, it manifests itself as an expression of sexual power by men over women. Naturism, by contrast, seeks to coexist with nature and with each other, and to accept each other and the natural world in our most natural states.

Non-acceptance and repression of nudity fuels pornography by teaching that any form and degree of nudity is inherently sexual and pornographic. In the words of activist Melissa Farley, “pornography is the antithesis of freedom for women... to treat the human body as anything less than normal and beautiful is to promote puritanism and pornography. If the human body is accepted by society as normal, the pornographers won't be able to market it.

Naturism is innocent, casual, non-exploitative, and non-commercial (and yet is often suppressed); as opposed to pornography, which is commercialized and sensationalized (and generally tolerated).

Now going back to the questions - the world has changed a great deal since the early days of naturism and the idea of how a family may look has changed greatly as well. For example, couples are still getting together and having children but not getting married in such great numbers, people who have been married are getting or are divorced, and there are now legally recognised gay and lesbian couples which may be in a civil partnership or in a committed long term relationship with their own children. But the question that naturists should be asking themselves is “should we or can we incorporate them all into naturism?” I believe for naturism to stay alive, the answer should be yes.

According to the international definition adopted by the XIV Congress of the International Naturist Federation (Agde, 1974), naturism is “a lifestyle in harmony with nature, expressed through social nudity, and characterised by self-respect of people with different opinions and of the environment”. No where in that definition does it talk about families and children, as far as I’m concerned anyone can be a naturist, as British Naturism states on their website:

Anyone can be a naturist. Your background, age, shape, race, creed and colour are irrelevant when it comes to enjoying the freedom of naturism, which is why it attracts people from all walks of life. Naturists practise social nudity, aimed at encouraging self respect, respect for others and the environment. We only enjoy clothes-free activities in the right environment, among like-minded naturists...

I believe naturism is for families of all shapes, types and sizes as well as for people without families. I believe that naturism is the antithesis of pornography because it shows nudity is not sexual at all unless you make it so. I believe there is no room for swinging within naturism and as naturists we need to keep proactive in screening new members to naturist clubs and venues and to publicly criticize any swingers who socialize naturism with swinging, because in my opinion they are two complete different things and swinging is giving naturism a bad name. Also any national naturist bodies such as British Naturism should refuse to promote or even blacklist any naturist club or venue who knowingly allow swinging to take place on their property. I love naturism and I want to see as many people to be involve in it, however I don’t what naturism and its positive attributes to be blemished by the reckless few who hijack naturism for their sexual deviances.

Are you involved in any body-freedom activism, such as nude protests, the World Naked Bike Ride, etc.? Are you ever nude when other people are clothed, such as working as an artist's model?

No I’m not involved in any body-freedom activism but I do plan to take part the World Naked Bike Ride, Brighton UK this year. Regarding if I’m ever nude when other people are clothed - I am usually clothed when others are clothed, as I feel very uncomfortable being nude around clothed people (I wrote in detail about this on my blog). I believe Marc-Alain Descamps, the French social psychologist best summarizes my feelings about this:

...the reciprocal visual bestowal of complete nudity defuses the exhibitionist/voyeur relationship.” If one person is dressed while others are nude, it is difficult, even for a naturist, to get away completely from voyeurism.

I’m a strong believe that if you are going to make your way to a naturist club or venue, unless you are cold or ill, you should be nude. What is the point of naturism, if the key part of naturism (the nudity and the social nudity with your fellow naturist) is hidden away under your clothing?

Technology has given teens and adults the means to upload and share nude photos of themselves. Do you think that this phenomenon will have positive or negative ramifications for nudism / naturism in the long run?

I believe it depends on the reasons why these individuals are uploading these pictures. If they are over 18 years old and they are naturists sharing nude pictures with other naturists, then I don’t see a problem. If the individuals are under 18 years old I don’t believe that is wise for them to share pictures online at all, as I believe there will be people online seeking those pictures in particular for the wrong reasons. I believe that this phenomenon could have positive ramifications for nudism / naturism in the as long as the pictures themselves are not pornographic or overtly sexual. My main worry is people who seek these pictures for the wrong reasons and people who simply hate naturism who are looking for a reason to bring it down.

Has being a nudist / naturist made you more respectful of your body and environment?Do you try and live a more healthy lifestyle as a result of being nude?

Becoming a naturist has made me love myself more despite it faults. I love being nude outside with nature, with the wind and sometimes the rain against my body it’s a great feeling. I believe me becoming a naturist has given me a great respect for the environment as I now try to recycle, I buy less clothes and use public transport when I can. When is hotter I do plan to go on more walks in the nude at naturists clubs which have their own woods and nature walks and maybe even go on a nude hike with other naturists.

Please take this opportunity to add anything else you would like to say about yourself or the nudist / naturist lifestyle.

I just want to close by saying: I am a naturist and nudity is my uniform. I love naturism with all my heart and I would love others to enjoy naturism as much as I do. And to be free from their body shame, society's mixed-up views on the nude human body and to be free from wearing crappy clothes for a while.

Follow Andre on his blog I-Naked / I-Nudist

(This is the first of what I hope will be a series of profiles on real nudists and naturists. If you are interested in being profiled here, please drop me a message to nudiarist@gmail.com and we'll talk about it.)