Nudist Men

It's cloudy and chilly this July morning in Ohio. We were hoping to make it up to Green Valley this weekend, but being at a nudist resort and having to wear clothes to keep warm doesn't make much sense. So here I am looking for something to write about, so let's see where this goes.

I'm not sure why I started the blog Nudist Men. I'm heterosexual, so it's not about physical attraction. If forced to come up with a reason, I suppose I just felt that nude photos of men are underrepresented in the nudist world. Then I stumbled upon the website of photographer Laurie Toby Edison, and her Familiar Men project, which contains the following description:

Opportunities to see nude portraits of anyone who is not conventionally attractive are disturbingly rare. By revealing men as they are — old and young, fat and thin, varied in race, class and ethnicity — Edison provides a new kind of permission for all men to accept themselves as attractive, sensual beings. By providing beautiful and powerful images of diverse men, Edison expands the definition of beauty. The models for the book include college professors, performance artists, radio personalities, warehouse workers, publishers, carpenters and more.

Edison's nudes are stark and ordinary, but you can tell that she is appreciative of her subjects, not only for their bodies as works of art, but for their willingness to allow the camera to capture them without shame, as they truly are.

One does not often think of men as being so willing to strip off for the camera. Since I began turning the camera on my own nude body in the 1970s, I thought that doing so was unusual, something that people typically did not do. Perhaps that was true in the film age, but now that cameras have gone digital and no lab processing is necessary, both woman and men are turning their cameras on themselves in staggering numbers. Having grown up in a world where privacy, modesty and shame were the cardinal rules governing the body, it's still a bit shocking for me to see how many people are willing to show themselves on the Internet, fully nude, fully recognizable, and often engaging in explicit sexual acts.

So why so many nude self-portraits? I'm sure for some it's exhibitionism, but many are so ordinary, so average, so unexceptional, that there has to be something else at work here. I know when I look at my own nude self-portraits, I see myself as I really, truly am. These nudism men photos are not taken for any magazine covers, or for titillation, they are taken as a sort of catharsis, to strip away all the phoniness and societal baggage, and to get back to some sort of sense of reality in a world filled with fantasies.

I found this article online at Vanguard, about the human eyes and how we are "trained from birth to judge, to disparage, to select, appreciate of condemn" that which we see.

For some reason a misconception has become the way of life, ever since Adam and Eve’s misadventure with the apple we all tend to wear a garment of shame, some more so than others. Being self conscious is one of the greatest vices of man, because our eyes have judged particular traits in ourselves and others to be beautiful or ugly, we all live in denial of what truly is.

I like the phrase "misconception has become the way of life" because it so accurately sums up today's society, which Photoshops images of the human body, packaging and marketing an unattainable perfection that has poisoned our minds so that when we look in the mirror, we despise the very differences that should really be unique, and beautiful.

Nudists and naturists learn quickly that real people don't look like magazine covers. At first the sight of ordinary bodies can be a bit disconcerting, but the mind's eye eventually adjusts to this reality.

Online photos of nudists were instrumental to me in coming to terms with my own nudism, and gave me the courage to actually "come out" to my wife, my daughter and some friends, and eventually attend nudist events. After nearly four years, nudism plays an inportant role in our lives, to the point where planning vacations and day trips always includes visits to nudist resorts.

So that is why I post photos on Nudist Men, on Adam and Eve, and on Nudist Photo of the Day, hoping to show people that it's OK to be ordinary, it's OK to be nude, it's OK to be proud of your body, and it's OK to be a nudist.

My latest self-portrait is here.

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/10/09

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.

The Daily Newds 5/7/09

• 10 French women staged a topfree protest at a Paris swimming pool because women's bodies are considered more sexual than men's and that they are under greater pressure to live up to standards of beauty.
• Nudity is now legal on the beaches of the Kapiti District of New Zealand, as long as it causes no offense.
• An Everglades park ranger is being reassigned to Cape Cod for the summer and intends to enforce the law against nude sunbathing as part of his duties.
• A Dayton Ohio woman posted a nude photo of herself on Craiglist and was arrested for soliciting. In South Carolina, state Attorney General Henry McMaster has given Craiglist 10 days to "remove illegal content" or face prosecution. Personal ads have been around as long as I can remember, but these new government attacks on Craiglist are something new, showing an increased level of intervention into the private lives of citizens.
• This news video about the Running Bare 5k race manages to touch upon just about every cliche and misconception about nudism.
• Actor Shia LaBeouf says his mother and her friends "would be naked around the house" when he was a kid for "goddess-group time, where it’s literally a bunch of naked women tracing auras around one another’s bodies with incense and then sitting together and humming for prolonged periods of time".
• Georgia PTA leaders will ask state lawmakers and school boards to add a class about crime and punishment to the curriculum of middle and high schools because many "things that a kid may have been dealt with harshly by his coach or principal for engaging in, now [school officials] are just picking up the phone and calling the police and the kid is getting arrested." More and more parents and teachers are abdicating their responsibilities to the government. "1984" and Big Brotherism is just coming a little later than predicted by Orwell.
• Steven's Point Brewery's Nude Beach Summer Wheat ale will not be sold in Michigan because the implied nudity on the label has been deemed "detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public" by the Liquor Control Commission. Who are these people?
• At the age of 70, artist Brian Dunlop has painted his first nude. His muse is classical pianist Janine Carstein.

  "It's a secret wish. I've always wanted to paint the naked female form. I told her I'd really like to see her body." Her reply? "She didn't flinch."

• Burlesque dancer Tanya Cheex picked up her penchant for undressing from classic Hollywood films and 50s pin-up magazines.

  Cheex pinpoints the resurgence of burlesque in the '90s as a kind of backlash against the overload of explicit pornography available online. "As the World Wide Web phenomena really took off and the Internet was more accessible to everybody, porn was more accessible," Cheex says. "Everywhere you looked, anything you wanted to see, or you didn't want to see, was available. The burlesque revival was almost like a return to innocence."

• An Alaska man was celebrating turning 21 by taking a hike in his birthday suit. Police say the man was unable to give a good reason for being nude. I was unaware that "having a good reason" was a requirement for being nude.
• When Japanese megastar Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was arrested for running nude in a Tokyo park, the initial backlash was severe, but the tide of public opinion seems to be turning.

  His misfortunes have generated brisk sales of a T shirt with his most famous recent words emblazoned on them, "What's wrong with being naked?" In further good news, the police have decided not to press charges against him.

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/5/09

Home Nudist Photo of the Day 5/3/09

Back in the Saddle

Nudist Photo of the Day 5/1/09

Nudist in a Corner

If I look a little old and tired, it's because I am.

Two weeks of heavy moving have taken a toll, and closing in on age 55 doesn't help, either.

Going up and down stairs hundreds of times with 50 pound boxes made me a little delirious at times. Lots of random thoughts kept running through my head, mostly about my own life and family, but also about the state of nudism.

One month ago I issued a call for readers to send me their home nudist photos. Only one brave soul responded. Just one person out of the thousands who stop by here every day, just one nudist willing to step forward to say "here I am".

Americans just love idealized nudity and sex. They can't get enough of nipple slips, nude scenes in movies, hardcore pornography, and nudity in magazines and advertising, but the sight of an average nude body, something everybody has under their clothes, is still something most people are unwilling to accept. Nudity as a marketing commodity is fine, but normal, natural, and imperfect bodies are still taboo.

A local nudist group here in central Ohio doesn't have a formal club name, doesn't maintain a web presence outside of an email list, and never refers to nudism or naturism, only once in a while making reference to the "n" word. While I personally have no problem with anyone trying to maintain privacy, it saddens me that nudists and naturists feel the need to practice the lifestyle in the shadows.

In a sense, we are only backing ourselves further into a corner by denying to others our desires and rights to be nude.

I'm in a corner, too. It's been a long, grey winter here in Ohio, the move has worn me out, it's been a tough year health wise for people I love, friends have let me down, the economy sucks, business is slow, and swine flu is threatening to become a pandemic.

So I have every right to be depressed, but I'm actually quite optimistic.

There's something about being in a corner which increases clarity. There's only one direction in which to go, and that's forward.

All of you nudists and naturists out there need to step out of the corner with me and do something, anything. to help legitimize and de-stigmatize the lifestyle. Joining AANR, TNS, Skinbook or True Nudists is fine but it's not nearly enough, you actually have to do something.

Invite a friend or a family member to a nudist event or venue. Tell someone who has no idea that you're a nudist. Go skinny-dipping with some friends. Support the Naturist Action Committee by making a donation and actually doing what they request in their periodic action alerts. Support your local nudist clubs by paying dues and attending events, and volunteer to help. If there is no group or club in your area, start one. Just get involved.

Every year I've tried to take another step forward in the nudist lifestyle. I started this blog joined clubs, attended events and venues, told some family and friends, and finally overcame the fear of posting nude photos of myself online. I still feel that I have a long way to go. I'm not sure what 2009 will bring, but I intend to keep moving forward and out of this damned corner I've found myself in.

What are you going to do?

Wandering the Halls...

...of our new house. Been moving for the past two weeks, should be settled by the weekend so I can get back to regular blogging. Stay naked!

Portrait of the Nudist as a Young Man, Part Three

Another nude self-portrait from 1977...

Portrait of the Nudist as a Young Man, Part Two

Another self-portrait from 1977. At the time I only had the guts to show them to one person, and she called me a few days later and asked me to take similar photos of her. Sorry, you won't be seeing those pix.

Clothed vs. Unclothed

Here's another nude study from my 1977 self-portraits.

Portrait of the Nudist as a Young Man

I was rummaging around through some old photos and discovered a collection of self-portrait nudes that I did back in 1977. I'll post one every once in a while as I scan and touch-up these older images. At the very least, they prove that I've been a nudist at heart for a long, long time.

Send Me Your Home Nudist Photos

I know that there are so many of you out there who are home nudists, she here's a photo of me just hanging around nude.

I really admire all the people who freely let themselves be photographed nude, such as the hard-working people at The Naturist Action Committee, Clothes-Free International, and Tom Mulhall and his wife Mary Clare at the Terra Cotta Inn.

But all you home nudists out there don't really get a chance to share your skin in all its glory with the rest of the world.

So here's your opportunity. Send me a photo of yourself nude at home and I'll post it here.

There are some rules, so PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. You must submit TWO photos which are the same, except ONE must contain you holding up a piece of paper with the words DIARY OF A NUDIST clearly visible. I will use the photo without the words. All subjects in the photos must be 18 years of age or older and must state this through email. You must also state that you own all rights to the photo and are granting me permission for one-time use on this blog. No Photoshopping. No blurring of faces or body parts. Photos must be sharp and clear. Full frontal is preferred but we will accept side and rear shots. No erections or spread leg photos. No sexual activity of any kind. Couples with their arms around each other is fine, as is a simple kiss. Images should be at least 1024 pixels in size. And I ultimately reserve the right to reject any photo that I judge to be inappropriate or sketchy in any way.

I vow that the photos will only be used by me on this blog and nowhere else. Naturally, people are prone to stealing images and I have no control over that, but it won't be me spreading them around.

Your name is not required, but you can submit your name if you want, as well as some brief comments, such as where you are from, if you are a member of TNS or AANR, what clubs you frequent, etc.

This is not a contest, but consider yourself a winner if you have the guts to be nude on camera.

Photos should be sent to nudiarist@gmail.com.

Now get out your cameras and stop hiding your home nudism!

Send Me Your Home Nudist Photos

I know that there are so many of you out there who are home nudists, she here's a photo of me just hanging around nude.

I really admire all the people who freely let themselves be photographed nude, such as the hard-working people at The Naturist Action Committee, Clothes-Free International, and Tom Mulhall and his wife Mary Clare at the Terra Cotta Inn.

But all you home nudists out there don't really get a chance to share your skin in all its glory with the rest of the world.

So here's your opportunity. Send me a photo of yourself nude at home and I'll post it here.

There are some rules, so PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. You must submit TWO photos which are the same, except ONE must contain you holding up a piece of paper with the words DIARY OF A NUDIST clearly visible. I will use the photo without the words. All subjects in the photos must be 18 years of age or older and must state this through email. You must also state that you own all rights to the photo and are granting me permission for one-time use on this blog. No Photoshopping. No blurring of faces or body parts. Photos must be sharp and clear. Full frontal is preferred but we will accept side and rear shots. No erections or spread leg photos. No sexual activity of any kind. Couples with their arms around each other is fine, as is a simple kiss. Images should be at least 1024 pixels in size. And I ultimately reserve the right to reject any photo that I judge to be inappropriate or sketchy in any way.

I vow that the photos will only be used by me on this blog and nowhere else. Naturally, people are prone to stealing images and I have no control over that, but it won't be me spreading them around.

Your name is not required, but you can submit your name if you want, as well as some brief comments, such as where you are from, if you are a member of TNS or AANR, what clubs you frequent, etc.

This is not a contest, but consider yourself a winner if you have the guts to be nude on camera.

Photos should be sent to nudiarist@gmail.com.

Now get out your cameras and stop hiding your home nudism!