Do you look upon nudism / naturism (not 100% identical, btw) as wholesome, legitimate lifestyles?

I'm NOT including 'swinging', even though some people make that association as 1:1.


Has anyone else here visited a nudist or clothing optional venue?
Did you enjoy that visit?

I've been to clothing optional venues and parties in the past and always enjoyed my experience.

Legitimate lifestyle? Why wouldn't it be? As long as the creeps and pervs are kept out, it's fantastic. Wouldn't do it without a stockpile of towels and sunblock, though.

No I don't. For these reasons: A very liberal therapist who had many many years of experience and had done a great deal of research explained that people who live those lifestyles are missing normal inhibitions.

There are gradations of inhibitions just as there are gradations of the ability to feel the suffering of others. The two go hand-in-hand.

Stay safe by knowing. 6 min film clip by a psychiatrist on the 3 general categories of brains: http://www.fisheadmovie.com/watch1

But this is seen by a psychologist of your particular cultural background. A northern European might see it completely differently. Germans, Dutch, etc., have different feelings about nudity, and still respect norms having to do with inhibitions. What you don't want to do is what the wife of our Dutch bishop did:

My son and I and a bunch of American kids did this stupid "mud walk" from Holwerd, Holland, to Ameland island at low tide. (It's a thing: http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/article/mud-flat-walks.htm) Since you can get killed doing it, we did it in one of several large groups led by a guide. When we finally completed it and reached the island, we and our clothing were in bad shape, because often you're walking in muck up to your waist. We brought changes along with us, but unless we could actually bathe and towel off, it was hardly worth trying. The Dutch people ahead of us, however, took off their clothes, bathed in the sea, toweled off, and dressed in clean clothes. The bishop's wife scolded them and said, "Please stop! We have American kids here who aren't used to seeing this!" Of course, they all laughed at us and it all made an embarrassing problem worse.

People in some countries just don't see nudity as an issue. When the sun really comes out in Berlin, people go to the park and shed their clothes and play frisbee.

I've seen elite (Olympic level) Dutch athletes strip down to their skivvies after a race. It's such a treat for the female fans, but you never see it on TV. lol! O_O

"There are gradations of inhibitions just as there are gradations of the ability to feel the suffering of others. The two go hand-in-hand."

Hand in hand? Are you really saying that a person's degree of "inhibition" is directly proportional to the degree of empathy that person is capable of feeling?

In that case, Mormons, fundie Xtians, Wahhabi Muslims, and ISIS must be the most empathetic people around.

GNPE Wrote:
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> Do you look upon nudism / naturism (not 100%
> identical, btw) as wholesome, legitimate
> lifestyles?

Yes.


> Has anyone else here visited a nudist or clothing
> optional venue?

Yes. Elysium (whose land is now covered with McMansions)...Pirate's Cove (clothing optional beach on the Pacific Ocean, north of Malibu, now still existing, of course, but no longer clothing optional)...Sandstone (in its later, and last I believe, incarnation)...Le Petit Chateau in Palm Springs...and some other places too, most of which I can't remember now.

> Did you enjoy that visit?

The "clothing optional" part didn't have anything to do with my opinion of the venue. Elysium (in Topanga Canyon) will always be a magical place in my memories...Sandstone (in its rented-residence venue near Sunland in the very EASTERN-most San Fernando Valley) was okay...Pirate's Cove was an okay beach, no different than any other beach in the greater Malibu area (but I was there on a weekday afternoon, so this probably isn't a fair overall review)...Le Petit Chateau was just another, regular, Palm Springs hostelry except that it was clothing optional for guests.

My opinions of each venue had to do with the people who were there and how interesting they were, and this varied quite a bit from place to place. Elysium had a full spectrum of highly-intelligent and creative people...Sandstone (whose glory days were when it was in its FIRST life) was, overall, pretty pedestrian...Le Petit Chauteau's guests (when I was there) were not dissimilar to the guests of most any upscale-surrounding-area Holiday Inn.

The really fun times were the annual conventions of Family Synergy, who did a hotel take-over each year in the middle of summer in Palm Springs (because summer is an overall low tourist time in Palm Springs due to the extreme heat). Lots of great conversations among eclectic, highly-intelligent people, especially those from the creative and scientific worlds, and the fact that no one was wearing much more than a towel (if that) was irrelevant to the incredibly interesting and disparate subjects being discussed. Good memories!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2017 05:44PM by Tevai.

I went to a "clothing optional" beach a couple of times in my youth. I was fine with it except for the voyeurs. And they were terribly obvious. That's what caused me to stop going.

I don't have a problem with the lifestyle, but it's not for me. There is a summer nudist camp not too far from where I live.

I visited such a place once...totally by accident on my part.

1992-Kauai, Hawaii. 2nd honeymoon trip with my DH, just the two of us. He told me about this hidden beach that wasn't on any map. I asked him how he knew about it. Someone had told him about it, he said. Ok. We finally find it and it IS secluded. First thing I notice is that I.Am.The.Only.Female. AND, all the males are Nude. Oh My. I spent the whole time staring out to sea, mortified.

Most of you know how this unfolded months later.

Yes

Yes- a nude beach in California, one in Florida, hot springs all over the west, yes, I've seen naked people and nudists & naturists/ nature (has) have seen me. I'm free! I'm me.

M@t

I forgot sweat lodges. Once, in Colorado, one summer, we went into a lodge with our clothes piled high outside. Tangent alert: a few of us had recently eaten a fine meal with lots of garlic and some complained about the fog of garlic smell. I was thinking it was (just) me but who knows. Exiting, we found a blanket of snow on the ground and our clothes kindly located under a shed. The fire was nice afterward.

Has anyone mentioned the World Naked Bike Ride? Seattleites - in The Center Of The Universe - Freemont, Solstice Parade, powered by humans, there are usually enough painted, wild-naked/ near naked people to make it the official costume.

I went into a bar once - visiting Canada - in Vancouver, British Columbia, looking for somewhere to quench my thirst. Unlike the U.S.A., Canada's signs aren't that blatant and it is not so easy to tell, before you get into a place, what kind of place it might be. I don't remember seeing a sign but an entrance to a place that looked like it must have something to eat or drink. It wasn't into I got inside that I realized I'd entered a boobie bar (my quotes). Fine I thought, the beer was still three dollars.

Has anyone here done the "Bare Buns Fun Run" at Snoqualmie, just outside Seattle? Never did.

I have no problem with people who want to live that "lifestyle."

Personally, though, while I despise the cultural shame and guilt we heap on human bodies in general (not just nude ones, but ones that don't match some contrived idea of "perfection"), I look at it this way:

We humans came up with clothes for good reasons -- and not just "modesty." Going nude means sunburn, skin cancer, cuts and scratches and infections, compromise hygiene, etc. etc. etc.

So it seems to me there's something inherently misguided about wanting to go around nude *all the time.* Sure, it can be "freeing" to toss the cultural shame and do it once in a while. But as an entirely practical (not moral) matter -- it's rather silly.