"Sure, some people might believe they are offended by nude bathers,
but, if you never encounter anything that offends you in your
community, you are not living in a free society."
- Corky Stanton
Isn't Nudism Bad? Are
Nudists All About Sex?
The lack of understanding and ignorance
affects naturists in a negative way. We are confined to very few
private (and expensive clubs) and our back yards. We don't have the
rite to use any parks or beaches because of the strong opinions
against nudism of MPP's and because we are such a small minority. If
half of all Canadians were naturists then we would have sanctioned
areas. Perhaps there are ways around restrictive legislature, but
finding that route is the difficult part. The bible describes Adam and
Eve, nude in the garden of Eden. There was no shame or immorality,
just beauty and happiness. This makes me wonder why so many religious
icons declare nudity immoral. Perhaps they chose to ignore the
meanings that Genesis demonstrates.
The anti naturist point of view is
that not wearing clothing is shameless. However, naturists can not
quite understand the fixation with shame. We can not quite understand
why one should be ashamed of their nude body. Perhaps shame comes from
being scared to acknowledge one's imperfections as normal. Naturists
agree that they are not shameful of the human body, perhaps it is this
that binds the community.
Mentally, there is an association for
many people between nudity and sex. Since there is an association that
is already present, it is sometimes assumed that there is overt sexual
conduct in the nudist/naturist environment. This is very much untrue,
since the nudism community has strict rules about ual behavior.
It is more taboo in the naturism environment than it is in other
places because the naturism community is a family environment. The
nudity equals sex misconception is embedded deep within many people in
the world today. The only way in which naturists can counterbalance
this misconception is by educating the non-naturist people.
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