There is an interesting divide in online nudist sites: whether the site includes photos of nude people or not. As nudists, we know that there is nothing wrong, or prurient, or scandalous about nude images. But we live in a world of (mostly) non-nudists, so including nude photos is an important consideration.
Here are the approaches that people tend to take, and a bit of discussion on the impact of each approach.
Some nudists with blogs and websites simply don’t care: they are nudists, the photos are their own, and photos of nude bodies are topical. These sites tend to be personal sites, and the photos of the site owner(s) establish who they are and what they’re about.
This seems to me to be an extremely effective approach. If you’re on a site full of nudist content, catching sight of a nude photo is hardly going to shock or appall you. The photos are typically home photos or selfies, too, so they are not terribly sexualized. This approach seems very much in keeping with nudist values, and effectively communicates the site’s theme and position.
There are many personal sites and blogs that include photos of nude people, often common nudist photos that are easily found with a google search. These photos do effectively communicate the nudist theme, and again, if you are looking at a nudist site, you probably won’t mind seeing nude people.
There are two problems with this, though. One is the fact that the photos are essentially stolen. Some nudist photos are found easily and, because they are used so much, show up in the first page of any google image search. And because they are so divorced from their origin, it is almost impossible to know who the owner is, and whether the people in the photo consented to its release. As a nudist, I think consent is an essential part of creating a positive, equal environment - using these photos seems very non-nudist to me.
The other problem is that these photos are usually from porn sites. They feature uncommonly thin and attractive bodies, posed to display nudity in an enticing way. The photos are being used to sell sex, almost always connecting nudity with sexuality.
Although I don’t denounce other sites for using nudist photos like this, I think that nudists especially should think carefully about what values they are espousing when they use them.
Instagram is well-known for its limits on nudity. Genitalia and female breasts (not male chests, of course!) are forbidden, and while bare buttocks are okay, they need to be displayed in a non-sexual way. Even with these restrictions, there are a number of very popular nudist accounts on instagram.
These limits also inform how some site owners display themselves. A good example is Naked Wanderings. This couple has been travelling the world for years, visiting nudist resorts and venues and blogging about their experiences. They post photos of themselves often, but they always strategically cover themselves in instagram-friendly ways. This way, they can prove that they are authentically interested nudists, but avoid having their photos stolen and misused.
As nudists, we are not ashamed of our bodies or scared that others will see them. However, once an image is on the internet, it is out of your control forever. If there is no “real” nudity in view, the photo is far less valuable to those who would misuse it. I can absolutely understand why people take this approach on their sites.
Some nudist sites avoid using photos of nude people at all. Sometimes they use images of classic art, or images that match the subject matter but don’t include people. This keeps the site very “safe for work”, and also makes clear that the site is about reading nudist ideas, rather than looking at nude people.
I like and respect this choice, but ultimately it might be to the detriment of the site. Images are key to capturing people’s attention. Encountering a wall of text can be a turn-off for first time visitors. And some nudists might wonder why a nudist would be so ashamed of displaying nude content. (There is just no way to please everyone, in the end!)
I do understand the reason nudist communities often encourage members to post photos: authenticity. If you post a real, unique photo of yourself nude, you’re making a statement: I am comfortable being nude, and I am comfortable being seen by other nudists. With the internet awash with photos of naked people, it seems like a small thing to ask, especially of a legitimate nudist.
Unfortunately, even in legitimate online communities, photos attract a lot of attention - the wrong kind of attention. Users flock to the site, and try every possible way to download users’ photos. (Sites usually try to block this kind of activity, but I suspect they are rarely completely successful.)
On WriteNude, I gave a lot of thought to what I would include on the site. Here were the principles I landed on.
Self-contradictory, maybe. Ill-considered, I hope not. But this is where I’ve landed, at least until I figure out a change is needed.
What do you think? How do you react to photos on nudism-themed sites? What do you use on your own site, or what approach would you take if you were creating a nudist site? Tell me in the comments!
Wow, you look amazing nude.
Your boyfriend better look out!
You’re a really beautiful young woman.
You’re just the kind of young person we love to see become a nudist!
All of these are compliments. They’re all positive, all saying something nice about the person they’re directed at.
And they’re the wrong thing to say.
Time and again, nudists express frustration with trying to convince others that social nudity is something they should try. The demographics that are the most coveted, too, are women and young people. More women are needed to help balance the gender ratio, which tips very far to the male side. And young people - wherever you set the bar, but it’s usually somewhere under middle age - are the future of the naturist movement, and essential to the health of any movement or club.
Compliments like these are absolutely guaranteed to drive women and young people away, or at least make their experience more negative than it should be.
But they’re nice things to say, right? Why would they cause problems?
The first issue with these compliments is that they are a message to the recipient about where others’ attention is directed. The intended message may be positive, welcoming, and encouraging. The more subtle message, though, is exactly the opposite.
Because the underlying message is “I’m judging your body in a sexual way.”
First, let’s get the objections out of the way. You’re a good person, you aren’t judging anyone, there’s nothing sexual in saying any of that.
All of these protests focus on the person making the remark, and their intent. That’s irrelevant to the person receiving it.
What you’re doing to the person you’re talking to is making them immediately aware that everything people say about nudists - nothing sexual, no body shaming, no judgement - is false. Because someone is definitely judging their body.
Not saying anything bad? Doesn’t matter. You’ve made a judgement. That tells the object of your judgement that they’re being measured. Maybe everyone is measuring them. Maybe others will make a different judgement.
There’s another layer to it as well. When you judge someone on their appearance - even subtly - you’re sending a message that is exactly in line with how non-nudist society views bodies, especially those of certain ages, and body types. The message is, “We’re evaluating sexual partners,” and the entire pretense of nudity being safe and open and equal comes crashing down.
And again, I understand that this is not the intent of the person making the compliment - certainly not consciously. It could be that there is an unconscious bias at play, and by definition we are usually not aware of unconscious biases! It’s definitely important for all of us to consider whether what we say and do are driven by prejudices that we possess (because of our upbringing, the people and society around us, and so on).
But whatever the motivation of the compliment, it still plays into the dynamics of clothed society in exactly the ways that nudism seeks to be different from it. The subtext of the things you say aren’t entirely within our control, and for any nudist - especially someone new to the venue, or new to nudism in general - the subtext may be speaking much more loudly than you realize.
There’s more to this, though. This is about power, and balance.
One of the most appealing aspects of naturism is how it puts us on the same plane. The societal trappings are gone. We are forced to put our flaws and deficiencies on display. We assert that what others see, and what we see of others, doesn’t matter. And most of all, we have established a shared trust by all of us adopting that vulnerability together.
Those compliments destroy all of that.
It’s not just the fact that you’ve taken away that shared trust by overtly evaluating someone else. You’ve also tipped the balance of power away from the person you’re complimenting, and towards yourself. You’ve put yourself in the position of a judge, and them in the position of the judged. You have given yourself - or at least stated your belief that you have - authority over that other person.
The relative positions of you and the other person can also be exacerbated if you have some perceived real-world authority as well. For better or worse, society gives a more prominent voice to men than to women, and to older people than to younger people.
So if you, as a middle-aged-or-older, tell a woman in her early twenties that she’s good-looking, it’s making your assumption of power over her apparent and overt.
If you were her, nude in a non-sexual environment for the first time, hearing this compliment - what would you think?
I’m pretty sure I’d think that everything I’d heard about nudism was nonsense. And I wouldn’t be back.
But that’s not -
I was only trying to -
But men aren’t always -
No.
Stop with it.
If the only thing you can think of to say to someone else is to compliment their appearance, learn not to speak at all.
The first thing you can do when encountering a stranger who you’d like to compliment in a nudist venue is ask whether you need to speak with them at all. What is your reason for talking to them, and why are you the person who needs to talk? If you can’t think of any good reason to talk to a stranger, a simple smile, “Hello,” and maybe “Nice day today, isn’t it?” is enough. After that, unless the stranger says something more substantial in return, you can move on without another word.
If a stranger is clearly needing directions - for example, walking around with garbage in his hand, in search of a receptacle - be helpful and guide them towards what they’re more likely looking for. After that, unless the stranger says something more substantial in return, you can move on without another word.
If a stranger is nearby and hesitating - for example, if they seem a little nervous about approaching a group of nudists and selecting a deck chair near them - it’s perfectly fine to say, “These chairs over here aren’t occupied. Feel free to take any of them.” After that, unless the stranger says something more substantial in return, you can move on without another word.
See the pattern? The interaction is limited to the benefit of the other person. And unless they choose to engage with you further, the next step - where you would tell them how good-looking they are, or how well-defined their muscles are, or anything like that - is one you need not take.
I know that I’m going to alienate some readers with this piece. Some will feel a little bit insulted, because they don’t feel like they need a primer in basic human interaction. Others will feel like I’m being prejudiced against them, just because they’re men, or because they want to be nice to other people, or because because because.
Well, sorry about that.
But I really want to help stop this dynamic of people being (supposedly) complimentary, and other people (actually) being made uncomfortable, and pushed away from nudism.
I’d prefer that we concentrate on what, for me, is a key value that naturists share: that social nudity brings us closer together. And in that context, we should avoid doing anything that pushes us - any of us - apart.
What do you think? What can you do to make nudism more comfortable for new nudists? When you first began as a nudist, was there anything that others did that made it more comfortable and approachable? Tell me in the comments!
Most people who are new to nudism are keenly aware that they haven’t yet had many of the nudist experiences that others talk about and enjoy. They wonder, what makes someone a nudist? What do I have to do before I can call myself that?
It would be easier, maybe, if there was a checklist - if you’ve done six of the following ten things, you might already be a nudist! But that’s not the way it works.
As a new nudist, you might never have been nude in public, in front of others. Or you might have been to a nude beach, completely anonymously, or you might have been to a resort, but just once or twice, and on your own.
Even more commonly for new and curious nudists, you might never have been out of your house nude. Maybe you just hang out in your own bedroom nude, with the door locked and a robe close to hand if someone knocks. Or perhaps you lurk around nude late at night, when no one else is around.
You might have been outside nude. Perhaps you know a secret, secluded bit of nature where you can be confident no one will find you naked. Or maybe you quietly slip out the back door at night, stash your clothes near the step, and go for a little nude walk.
But maybe you have been out there. You’ve skinny-dipped with some friends (and want to do it some more). You’ve visited a local nude beach once or twice. You might have even gone to a local nudist club or event (though you aren’t a member yet).
So what do you have to do to become a real, live nudist? How do you unlock that one, all-important achievement?
It’s easy.
It isn’t whether you like being nude all the time. It isn’t whether you like being nude with others. There are no barriers get over, no nudity high score you have to beat, no qualifications, no checklist to complete.
If you like being nude, you’re a nudist.
Are you really a nudist?
Yes. You are if you want to be.
Now go be nude!
Do you consider yourself a “real” nudist? What made you get to this point? If you don’t consider yourself to be a nudist, but want to be, what’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments!
I like making new year’s resolutions.
I think it’s really important for everyone to take time, every once in a while, to take stock of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go. The new year might be an arbitrary time to do this, but it’s as good a time as any.
One of the most important things for me to take stock of is my writing. It’s easy to lose focus on any artistic endeavour, because the world doesn’t much care to make room for your creativity. You have to carve out time and space for it yourself, and you’re probably the only one who will.
So at the new year, I usually take stock of what I’ve completed in the last year, and look forward to the next. This year, I made headway on a few fronts:
However, my top objective was to finish, or at least make significant headway on, my next nudist book. And unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
What about my nudist resolutions - my nude year resolutions list? I didn’t have any specific resolutions last year, but I know I wasn’t able to take advantage of many opportunities to be nude outside the house. Between my schedule and some family medical issues, the nice months didn’t give me many opportunities for social nudism.
That’s enough looking back. Let’s look forward instead!
This year, I have two key goals related to my nudism writing:
Regarding nudism in general, my primary aim is to be nude as much as possible. I’m going to be dealing with some medical issues myself, so I don’t know when or where I’ll be able to partake in social nudity. But I’m going to try (and I won’t let my surgery scars stand in my way, once they’ve healed).
And in support of nudism, I’m going to continue to work to be a good resource for naturists, whether they are looking into nudism or are already committed nudists. Helping collect resources, amplify other nudists’ voices, dispel myths, and normalise nudism are my tasks, every day of this year.
Whatever happens, I’m going to make this a positive and productive new year, and nude year. I hope you will too!
What are your goals and plans for this coming year, personally and creatively? What are you planning to do, experience, and create? Let me know in the comments!
A recent article in Australia’s Central News covered a very private nudist location. Reporter Chloe Arentz was taken to the secret location and spent a day interacting with the few nudists in attendance there. It’s a great example of how not to cover nudism, as a reporter. Even though it’s a serious, intelligent and well-written piece, it has some significant failures as a piece of journalism.
The article’s title, “The Naked Truth About Nudism”, starts things off poorly, with an incredibly tired play on words. (Does any writer use the phrase “naked truth” in any other context any more?) The author starts by describing her amazement upon meeting… a nude man. The sequence of being greeted by a man wearing “a hat, a smile - and nothing else” is treated at surprising length. It does not seem to be Arentz’s first time witnessing male nudity, but it might as well be, with the shock she expresses at the sight.
Arentz does proceed to discuss nudism, and its history in Europe and Australia. She includes the perspective of a couple who are members of the nudist club that she - for reasons never stated - has decided to visit. She does provide a very balanced and positive view of naturism, and gives full attention to why people might find nudism appealing. But her own hangups about nudity remain firmly in place, and they soon become, apparently unintentionally, the dominant theme of the article.
Nudists being nude in a nudist club are “othered” throughout. The two people who led her to the club (the location is not published - though the reason for this secrecy is not discussed or even considered, apparently) remove their clothes when they arrive at the club; this is considered remarkable (“this time they’re both naked”). They encounter a woman who, like the author, is clothed, and Arentz describes the interaction:
Stephen introduces us but she merely gives me a cool once-over and a wry smile before wandering off. She doesn’t change, so one can assume she’s unsettled by my presence – there is a stranger in her territory and one that is significantly over-dressed.
The nude people she encounters are treated like freaks in a sideshow (she “cannot unsee” them, she comments); the people who do not undress seem to her unreasonably unfriendly.
Well - what does Arentz expect? She is the outsider, and she is refusing to make any concessions to the people who are at the club. Why would the members go out of their way to be friendly? (And how much of this is Arentz misreading their reactions because of her own fears and misgivings?)
What's more, she never states why she took the assignment, and it's not clear that she introduced herself as a reporter. The point of the article is at best unclear. It comes off as an attempt at sensationalism - "Look at these people, nude together! Shocking!"
Her greatest fear, apparently, is that she will be asked to join the nudists at the nudist club in being nude. It’s not clear why she chose to cover this particular story, if this was such a problem for her. It isn’t unreasonable to expect her to experience it a bit of social nudity in this safe, consensual, established environment, with people who have already met her clothed. Arentz admits as much herself:
As a journalist, you want to blend in and immerse yourself in whatever is happening. But today, I choose to remain a “textile” (non-nudist) and neither Stephen or Kathy request I change into uniform, for which I am grateful. While nudism holds no expectations about the shape and size of the human body, the unease of being an outsider is still more appealing than going au-naturel.
This post is not about shaming Arentz, though; I think the article deserves fair criticism, but I’m not calling her out for it. She does present nudism in an objectively positive light, too; it’s only on the subjective level that her own fears and hangups overpower her journalistic standards.
So what’s wrong with covering nudists in your clothes?
Well, would journalists cover a tennis player without ever having watched a match, or hefted a racket themselves? Would they write about a chef without ever tasting her cooking? Would they review a book written in a language they were not themselves fluent in? Of course not. It would serve their audience poorly, and they would be writing without the level of understanding that their readership rightly expects.
If the author is not able - for some legitimate reason - to participate in social nudity, other, more creative approaches could be used. A nudist could be brought on as a co-author, to ensure that a nude perspective is included. The author could also try being nude in a safer environment, such as a spa (where mixed genders are not present).
It’s not as though nudism is inaccessible; we can all be nude when we choose to be, with a little privacy. (Most people are nude a couple of times a day, when changing clothes or bathing.) If a writer wanted to cover nudism, he or she could easily spend a day or even just a couple of hours nude in their home, just to see what it was like. It would provide valuable perspective in reporting the difference between “regular” nudity and nudism, too.
Let me add this: I do not like the idea of demanding that other people take their clothes off, especially women. The power imbalance between the genders makes this very uncomfortable to me; the consent of the person who is getting nude is paramount. But it’s also important that reporters voluntarily cover nudism (just as they should voluntarily cover stories dealing with sexuality, violence, or other topics our society deems sensitive). If nudity is too big a hangup for you, that’s okay. No one is forcing you to cover it, are they?
But it’s not just the quality of the journalism that I take issue with. More important - and disappointing - is the way this kind of journalism exploits nudists.
We know that nudity, especially in public, attracts public attention. It’s compelling; violations of society’s taboos always attracts attention. There’s a certain appeal to prurient interests, of course, but also a sort of “can you imagine!” dynamic that seems to gain an audience’s focus like nothing else.
I don’t object to someone using that dynamic to find a way to tell a compelling story. But there are people involved here, and they’re just living the lives they want to live. It may be unconventional or uncommon to take this attitude towards clothing and nudity, but they’re not doing it for the amusement of journalists, or anyone else.
That’s why it’s exploitative to cover nudists this way. You’re taking for granted the attitudes our society has towards nudity - that it’s wrong, it’s strange, and perhaps most importantly, that it’s a commodity to be consumed by the viewer. To pretend you’re taking the objective stance of a journalist while also putting nudists on display, as it were, is a dishonest way to use them.
This idea of staying clothed at a nudist resort inevitably makes the piece about the journalist, not the subject. The writer’s hangups and fears become the story, with nudists and their “very bare behinds” just window dressing. That’s markedly unfair to the subject matter, and unworthy of serious reporting.
Any nudist club would probably appreciate the attention of a news article or two, especially if it encourages some new visitors and even members. They are, after all, just businesses in the end. But I would recommend that nudists and nudist venues to set some ground rules before agreeing to be a reporter’s subject:
If media outlets would consent to these rules, they would not only serve their subjects and readers better. They would improve the quality of their journalism greatly.
And of course, I’m open to interview requests.
What do you think of these rules and standards? Is there anything else you’d require from a journalist, or am I going too far with these expectations? Let me know what you think in the comments - and whether you think I was fair in assessing the article, too!
Many people are interested in nudism but never give it a try. There are a number of reasons for this - and a number of excuses.
What’s the difference? If it’s a reason, it’s something that is actually preventing you from trying it. Maybe you live too far from a nudist venue. Or the people around you are not accepting of the idea. Or you’re worried about the professional implications if someone found out that you’re a nudist.
These are all potentially legitimate reasons you can’t participate in nudism, or at least some aspect of it. (You can always try it at home when everyone else is gone, or you can go somewhere secluded…) But in this post I’m talking about excuses, not legitimate reasons. Excuses are just as likely to keep someone from trying out nudism, especially social nudism - in fact, they might be even more likely to stop someone than legitimate reasons are.
There are many fears associated with nudism that fall into this category. Heck, that’s the reason I wrote my first book on nudism! I recognized that if a wannabe nudist were armed with a little more knowledge, they could probably get past many of their misgivings.
People’s fears about nudity and nudism aren’t really surprising. Our society’s attitudes turn into negative messages that we hear every single day.
Nudity is sexualized. Bodies are commodified. Seeing nude people is morally wrong. Nude people is disgusting. No one wants to see that!
The modern world is a pretty unfriendly place for nudists, in many ways. It’s not surprising that we internalize those messages, and turn them into reasons not to be who we want to be.
I hope it’s clear that I don’t blame people for the excuses they make for not being nudists. But I think that addressing the most common fears directly, and examining these most common excuses, is a step towards people embracing the nudist self they want to be. We’ve all been there, but there’s a light at the end of the nudist beach for those who embrace the freedom in experiencing a more clothes-free life.
There’s one very common reason I hear from people who want to try nudism but don’t. It’s this:
I don’t look good enough to be nude in front of other people.
You’ll hear this from people of every size and shape. Young people with bodies that are objectively beautiful in every way pick out invisible flaws in their bodies. Women are terrified about revealing the stretch marks on their breasts, and buttocks. Men are worried about their proportions and body hair. Everyone worried that they’re overweight.
Weight is the most common flaw people see in themselves. It’s not just people who are obese. Some people see a tiny amount of fat on their belly, and they can’t imagine letting it out from behind its protective covering of clothing. Others will talk about the supposedly awful shape their body fat gives them: they talk about their paunch or hip dips or bingo wings or big butt. They have saggy parts and scars and blemishes of every kind.
The fear often manifests as a kind of promise. “I’d love to try a nude beach - I’d just have to lose twenty pounds before I can try it.”
What these people are really saying is that they have completely know what bodies are supposed to look like. They know because society tells them constantly: the only people who should be seen without clothes (or minimal clothes) are slim, muscular, unblemished young people.
If this is how you feel about yourself, I have good news for you.
Nudism is the answer to your problem.
First, let’s get one major misconception out of the way. If you’ve never been in a nudist venue before, you probably imagine it like this:
You take your clothes off, every head turning towards your nude body, every eye on you. You fold up your clothes, and everyone murmurs quietly as they discuss the many flaws they see in your body. You straighten up and walk through the gathered crowd, and the murmuring grows louder. There’s some tittering and people are exchanging looks.
That never, ever happens.
Here’s what really goes down: you take your clothes off. No one notices. You fold your clothes and straighten up. No one notices. You walk through the crowd of people and find a chair to sit on. The people around you smile and say hello.
That’s it.
Our society has given us every reason to be critical of our bodies, and the treatment of nudity in our media suggests that those criticisms are going to come from all sides. It’s not surprising that many new nudists expect that other nudists will watch them closely and judge them harshly for all the flaws that are so obviously on display.
Nudism really is the answer. In seconds, I promise, you’ll realize that all your fears and misgivings and self-criticisms were misplaced. It’s safe to be with nudists with an imperfect body.
Really, one of the things that makes social nudity so enjoyable is that we’re all mutually trusting each other with our vulnerability. Because we’re all naked, all our flaws are on display. And because we’re trusting each other that much, we automatically seem to be able to look past the physical bodies - flaws or beauty or any other way you might judge a body - and we look only at the person as they really are.
The best way to stop worrying about what you perceive to be your physical flaws is to get nude with a bunch of other people who are just as perfectly imperfect as you are.
You don’t need to lose any weight at all before you participate in nudism. The only thing you need to lose are your preconceptions about your body and others’ bodies.
It doesn’t matter how you look - nudism is for you!
What fears and misconceptions are keeping you from trying nudism? If you’re already a nudist, can you remember what held you back when you first thought about trying it? How did you get past those fears?
"Don’t cook bacon naked!”
It’s among the most tired (and tiresome) cliches about nudism. Non-nudists apparently think it’s hilarious - it's often the first thing they say in response to learning someone enjoys being nude. Actual nudists mostly think it’s obvious. But it does raise an interesting question: if you’re a nudist, do you cook nude?
I do. I was a cook long before I was a nudist. I worked as a line cook in my father’s restaurant for four years in university. After it closed, I continued working in kitchens until I found my first job.
Now, cooking at home is very different from cooking in a professional kitchen. You’re cooking less food and the intensity is much lower; there are far fewer dangers to cooking nude at home. (I would never cook naked in a professional kitchen like the ones I used to work in - I received enough cuts and burns as it was!)
At home, though, why not cook nude?
Well, there are some of the reasons you may want to cover up in the kitchen.
First, grease spatter is a real danger. Your belly and thighs are more sensitive to heat than your arms and hands. Even the tops of your bare feet might feel more pain than you expect if a flying gob of heat happens to land on them.
Boiling pots and hot ovens can also give off more heat than you expect. It's most likely you'll feel that heat on your face more than your body, and no one worries about covering their face when cooking. But you do want to take care that an errant blast of steam doesn't burn your exposed skin.
Cooking often requires extreme temperatures, whirling blades. The more experienced you are in the kitchen, the more gadgets and tools - many with sharp parts - you'll accumulate.
But think about how often you catch your shirt or pants on something sharp when you're cooking with clothes on. It's pretty rare, isn't it? Just because your skin is exposed, you're not in a great deal of additional danger.
Cooking nude does have a major advantage: you can't stain your body. A splash of olive oil or a mishandled blackberry might ruin a light-colored top, but if you're naked it wipes up without any problem at all.
If you really are worried about something going awry, though, an apron is always a valid choice. As in any other situation, if a covering is warranted, then by all means wear it. This isn’t a contest to be as nude as possible. It’s more important that you’re comfortable - and safe.
One of my favourite things to cook is hand-made pasta. I love spending an hour or two making an army of orecchiette at my kitchen table. Other time-consuming kitchen tasks, like chopping vegetables and portioning raw meat, put me into an almost zen-like state as I do them.
This is the bulk of the work you'll do in the kitchen, and there is no risk and no danger in doing them naked. In fact, I find that the extra freedom - my body's freedom to move, and my unbound mental state as well - makes the cooking experience that much more enjoyable.
When Jamie Oliver started his naked chef cooking show some years ago, he used to stress that it was the food that was naked. Plain, simple, honest cooking was what he was all about, and audiences definitely responded to his approach.
But my feeling is, if the food benefits from this stripped-down approach, won't the cook benefit from the same bare approach? I know that my feeling of satisfaction and peace from cooking and eating good food nude is always greater than it is when clothed.
As our world continues to modernize, digitize, and mechanize, nude food has more benefits than ever.
Many are concerned with the modern food system, especially in North America. Highly processed foods make up more and more of the general public’s diet. As consumers - both in the economic sense and as eaters - we are moving further and further away from the reality of food. Where and how it’s grown, harvested,
and delivered to us has become completely divorced from our cooking and eating.
For me, cooking nude is a way to re-establish that very human connection with the food I eat. Just as I feel more connected and present in nature when I’m nude, I feel like cooking nude helps me connect to what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
(...Oh, and one more thing. Cook your bacon in the oven. Lay the strips of bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet, preferably on a piece of baking parchment, and cook it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes - a few minutes more or less depending how crispy you like it. Perfectly nude-safe!)
Do you cook? What kinds of foods do you like to cook the most? Have you ever tried cooking nude? Let me know in the comments!
Winter is, as they say, coming.
For many nudists, that means earlier nightfall and a break from the stultifying heat of summer sunshine. Residents of the many nudist resorts and communities in Florida, California, Texas, Spain, and other warm areas might be looking forward to a bit of temperate weather.
As a Canadian nudist, though, the rapidly advancing autumn chill brings with it dread for the coming ice and snow. (It's also a time for lamenting the missed opportunities to be nude in the past summer.)
So what are we snowbound Canucks, iced-in Minnesotans, and frozen New York nudists to do? Is the only strategy to light a fire, turn up the heat, and hibernate until the last frost melts?
Luckily, no. Here are some tips to being a winter nudist.
The thing nudists tend to miss most when they're clothed is the feeling of freedom that being nude can bring us. But clothes aren't the only covering you can take advantage of.
You'll tend to be coldest when you're sitting still - working on your laptop or lounging in front of the TV, for example. If your house is cold or drafty, this is when you'll feel it the most. And when this happens, a blanket is your first line of defence. Being nude under a blanket is nude and comfy, and you don't have the restrictions that clothing usually makes you feel.
If you're moving around so much that a blanket is impractical, invest in a quality terrycloth or chenille robe. You can wrap it close around you when you feel chilly and wear it loose and open when you're warming up.
Robe or not, keeping yourself moving is the best way to keep yourself warm. While you're cooking [link to cooking blog post], doing laundry, and other household chores are active enough that even if you're wearing a robe, you'll probably want to shuck it off before too long. (Moving around is good for you, too - check out Amanda Sterczyk's books [link] for more about why you should stay in motion anyway.)
While you're sitting still, you can also keep the cold at bay with a nice warm drink. A herbal tea is a perfect sipper any time of day, but a delicious hot toddy can also be a lovely treat for a chilly night.
One school of thought for some naturists is that being bottomless is the best approach for nudists in cold weather. The thinking behind this is that the need to cover one's genitals is the primary difference between larger society and we nudists. If we are going to cover up, staying bare below the waist asserts that we are still nudists.
I understand the philosophy behind this but I'm not sure it matters. I also find that wearing only, say, a sweatshirt is more effective for keeping me warm than wearing only sweat pants. And it definitely feels more nude, which is when I feel best, too.
In the end, the question is what is best for you. No one should be uncomfortable for the sake of being a nudist, so if you need to dress for the weather, then do so. (As many naturists point out, We're nudists, not idiots.
It would be nice if we lived somewhere the temperature never dipped below the freezing mark. For many of us, there's no other option: winter is a fact of life. It's expensive (and environmentally irresponsible) to crank the heat in the house. Being a nudist in winter just isn't an easy prospect.
But if nudism is an important part of your life, you're going to want to practice it even when the mercury falls out of sight. I hope some of the tips here give you some new strategies for staying nude whatever the weather.
What have you done in the past to stay nude and warm in the winter? Tell me in the comments!
