Must Reading

If you haven't already read "Guerrilla Naturism" by The Academic Naturist, do so right now. TAN explains what needs to be done in changing the culture, to increase public awareness of the naturist movement, and make nude recreation more palatable for the masses.

As TAN notes, an article in NUDE AND NATURAL way back in 1992 effectively outlined what challenges needed to be met, and accurately predicted how nudism and naturism transformed over the past two decades. Problem is, while body freedom activities increased, national nudist and naturist organizations remained static.

Just go read "Guerrilla Naturism", then read it again, and then pass it along to some friends. It's a blueprint for success, well researched and outlined, and should be picked up by AANR and TNS as recommended reading for all members.

TNS Eastern Gathering

The Naturist Society's Eastern Gathering is beginning this week in Lenox, Massachusetts. Follow AcadNaturist and NaturistGirl as they tweet from the event.

N Magazine Summer 2009 Issue

The current issue of N Magazine has been published by The Naturist Society and is available for purchase here. The editors were kind enough to put the table of contents and an article on Haulover Beach online for all to read. Also, kudos to The Academic Naturist for his article "Freehiking Wisconsin", but you will need to purchase a copy to read that one, as well as "Naked in Santa Barbara", "Lake Como Love Story", "Getting Back to the Naturist Future", and much more.

The Nudist Blogosphere

On a public forum, Debbie Jungwirth, the Network Coordinator for The Naturist Society, had this to say about me: "I find the lack of naturist credentials and/or background information about the administrator of this blog a little disturbing."

Now "disturbing" is a word freely thrown around by the talking heads of the 24 hour news cycle in order to catch people's attention, and I want to assume that Debbie didn't mean that I'm causing her stress, worry or anxiety. Perhaps what she meant is that by remaining anonymous, my words here carry little or no credibility as far as she's concerned.

Either way, this is problematic. To so offhandedly dismiss the words of someone who has been blogging since 2005 in support of The Naturist Society and naturist principles shows a certain lack of understanding of the power of the blogosphere, and the sincerity of my efforts.

What are "naturist credentials"? In order to be taken seriously by the naturist elite, what sort of background does one need? I am a member of TNS, a donor to the NAC, I also belong to AANR, was a member of a local naturist club, and attend naturist resorts with my wife, all of which have been written about here over the past few years.

Remaining publicly anonymous is a personal choice by me on this blog, but I have published several nude photos of myself, another one appears at the top of this article. I can tell you that a couple of NAC board members know my identity, as do several other bloggers, and naturally the people I encounter at social events.

In her dismissal of me, Debbie Jungwirth also dismisses all other anonymous nudist and naturist bloggers. This is tragic, because it's the nudist bloggers who are writing the most erudite, timely, interesting and important articles on naturism today. Take for example The Academic Naturist, whose "Future Resort" series is unsurpassed for research and content. It should be must reading for all naturists.

The Emerging Nudist is the new kid on the block, but so far has put out some of the most impressive content I've read. His "Shock and Awe" series is ongoing and encourages activism as the means to achieve more successes in the naturist movement, specifically recommending following NAC alerts and actions.

I also like to think that this blog is an important link in the Internet chain of naturist and nudists.

The Naturist Society and the NAC do great work, and N Magazine is a first-class publication, but the organizations are behind the times when it comes to getting the word out on the Internet. The NAC blog is updated only when an alert is issued, and often too late. When I made a donation to the NAC, I never received an acknowledgement, or a promised newsletter subscription. TNS does not maintain any email newsletter or mailing list for members to keep them informed about upcoming events. The TNS MySpace blog was last updated on November 28, 2008, when Lee Baxandall passed away. Their Facebook page is better, but with only 319 members as of today, it's ineffective as a means to attract new people.

So, for what it's worth, I encourage The Naturist Society and the Naturist Action Committee to embrace, not dismiss, the blogosphere. We are your best friends, we work for free, and we are at it every day. Our only reward is from the thousands of people who read our posts and appreciate what we write. My blog has over 1700 pages, more content than the web sites for NAC, TNS and AANR combined.

Just yesterday I received the following email from a reader:

Seeing your personal nude photos over the years is amazing. We are close to the same age and like you, I often wonder where that boyish body I once had went! I remember as a teenager, all 150 pounds of me, going out into my backyard at night and removing my clothes just so I could feel free. I have had a naturist's heart ever since, and I can now be nude 24/7 at my home and in my yard, jacuzzi, and pool. I love it. Thanks for having such a wonderful blog! You are a very courageous man!

To say the least, this made my day, and gave me enough fuel for several weeks of blogging. To call bloggers disturbing, irrelevant or worse is not only myopic, it's unwise.

Be Careful What You Write

Thankfully, The Academic Naturist was pulling an April Fools' joke when he announced yesterday that career considerations were putting an end to his naturist blogging and other activities.

I took the bait and ran with it, and about an hour later I realized that what he had written was probably just a prank. A careful review of his post yesterday revealed some clues that it was all in jest.

Let me just say one thing, and it's got nothing to do with the fact that I fell for it. Be careful what you write, because in the blogosphere, people tend to speed read, oftentimes only partially reading posts, or reading with only a fraction of the needed comprehension.

Announcing that you are pulling the plug on a blog is the virtual equivalent of telling friends that you're dying of cancer in the real world. Nobody laughs when that pronouncement is revealed to be nothing more than a device intended for humorous effect.

When it dawned on me that TAN was likely not serious about packing it in, I didn't laugh, but I did feel some relief.

I'm not criticizing Mr. Academic per se, he writes way too many valuable posts about naturism so he's more than earned a pass this time, but when a joke turns out to be unfunny when the punch line is revealed, it ceases to be a joke and becomes something else, something kinda dumb.

An Onion-like fake news story about the President and First Lady meeting the Queen at a nudist resort, that would have been funny. I should have thought of that.

Wait a Minute

It's April Fools Day. Did the Academic Naturist just punk me? I hope it's just a joke!

Another One Bites the Dust

There must be something going around, because there's some sort of plague attacking nudist bloggers and taking them down. Gymnophiliac, Being and Nakedness, thenudelife.com, Earth Friend Gen, Nothing to Dread, Pasco Naturally, Nudist Day and others have either disappeared altogether or have simply stopped updating. Now comes the sad news that The Academic Naturist is packing it in.

Say it ain't so! TAN is the best and brightest young voice in the nudist blogosphere. He just completed a highly detailed 7 part series on building the perfect naturist venue, and now he says he's walking away?

Yes, life does get in the way sometimes. I nearly walked away from this blog a year ago, but I came back. Over the last month I've been very busy, but I hung in there and kept the faith alive.

I hope this retreat wasn't triggered by his skeevy experience at the VVRC Winter Party, which he wrote about here. Apparently some swingers exhibited some "questionable" behavior which certainly left a bad impression, not only on Mr. Academic, but his date as well. If the girlfriend is turned off, it's all downhill from there.

Anyway, it's a sad day, and I hope that the promised part two of Doug's "suicide note" holds some hope for the future. This is a guy that I thought would go all the way, who would have been active on the Naturist Action Committee, fighting on the front lines for body freedom.

This is a time when nudism and naturism should be taking great strides forward. With the economy in shambles and governments looking for innovative ways to raise revenue, AANR and TNS should be fighting hard for more public lands to be set aside for nude recreation. Westmore Vermont just voted down a measure to spend $25,000 to ban nude bathing at Lake Willoughby, so it's logical to assume that there are many towns out there who would vote for nude bathing if it's proven that $25,000 could be raised by admission and parking fees.

But if people are walking away, if the Naturist Action Committee can only muster up one blog post so far this year, and if AANR just keeps publishing a bulletin which is merely an advertising vehicle for affiliated clubs, then the status quo will quickly turn to rapid decline. If you think the economy sank like a rock, just watch how quickly nudism is swallowed up by the adult industry. There are far more swingers in America than there are nudists, and I fear that soon the majority of nudists will also be swingers.

Best of the Naturist World

In the first post of this series, I paid tribute to Lee Baxandall, who is representative of naturism's past and present. In this post, I tip my hat to The Academic Naturist, who represents the future of the nude lifestyle.

Nudist and naturist blogs come and go, but I think TAN is in for the long haul. Aside from being a strong supporter of The Naturist Society and the core principles of naturism, TAN writes about nudist issues with both his heart and his mind. In his post Naked on the Net! he writes:

My girlfriend and I now have naked pictures of ourselves on the Internet. She doesn't care in the slightest, with exception that the pictures aren't very flattering. (The good ones are in our brag book!) I'm a bit more uneasy about the concept, but it's something I need to get over if I hope to join the elite.

TAN understands, as do I, that nudism and naturism cannot survive unless the people who life the life, and profess to be unashamed, begin "coming out" to family and friends. Only them will the stigma begin to fade. Although I have not revealed myself to the readers of this blog, my lifestyle is known to my wife, my daughter and a few friends, and obviously to fellow naturists. I still have a way to go before I can call myself an absolute naturist.

I have no doubt that TAN will eventually realize his ambition end up among the "elite". In one of his posts Recaps and Winter Plans, he described his trip to Lee Baxandall's memorial service:

After the service, I got to hang out with the TNS crew at their office for a while. I was finally able to meet Bob Morton and Mark Storey, both of which have bright minds and write some great articles. Mark brought up that they are always looking for new articles, and hinted that I could be a part of that. So far, I don't think I've written anything that matches their quality of work... Have I?

I suggest that the folks at TNS take the time to read The Academic Naturist and take note of the work he has done in creating The World-Wide Nudist Collaboration Wiki, and in writing posts like Review & Guide: Mazo Beach, and What About the Children?!

Most importantly, TAN understands the link between naturism and the current crisis of global warming, and can help to lead the lifestyle into the 21st century. As he noted in his introduction nearly two years ago:

I like to research and contribute to everything that I see as a good idea. This list includes things like technology (an obvious favorite), environmentalism and the whole "green" movement, and nudity. Although the last doesn't appear to fit in very well, I assure you that it's important and deserving of more research and support. I wouldn't have started this blog if it wasn't.

Without new voices from younger naturists, the movement is doomed. The Academic Naturist is a breath of fresh air on the Internet. Where most "nudist" and "naturist" web sites are out to make a buck, or to peddle porn, his mission is clear and true to naturist philosophies. As far as I'm concerned, he's already joined the elite.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked