Opinion

Why Am I A Nudist?

The reason I'm a nudist is pretty simple, actually. Here it is: wearing clothes all the time sucks. That's it. But that's sort of like saying that I am a nudist because I'm a nudist, so I'll go into more detail and say why I think wearing clothes, in general, really sucks.

This article is kind of short. It used to be longer, but actually I've come to realize that I don't need super-wordy reasons for being a nudist. My reasons are simple and straightforward. So I'll try to present them that way.

The Reasons Why

• Nude is more comfortable

  Clothes restrict my movement and rub against my skin. When I put clothes on after being nude for a long time, it is a truly miserable feeling. Obviously, being clothed is more comfortable if it's cold outside, but if it's not, then clothes are just an unnecessary burden.

• Nude is more honest

  This point is best summed up with a single saying: what you are naked is what you really are. It is an indisputable fact. Clothes are used to project an (often false) image to other people, and clothes are often used to pretend that people are not animals. I find nothing particularly defensible about either of those uses.

• Nude lets you feel the world

  I'm kind of cheating making this into another point. This one really goes hand-in-hand with the comfort one. When you're clothed, the only thing your body feels is your clothes. When you're not clothed, then your body feels the environment that surrounds it. The difference is significant, and the unclothed experience is far more enjoyable (except when the environment is excessively harsh, like in the middle of a blizzard).

• Nudism encourages a healthier self-perception

  Personally, I get a little tired of receiving spam about weight loss and breast/penis enlargement. I get even more tired of hearing the staggering number of young women who are getting breast implants, simply because they don't feel like their real breasts are good enough. I get even more tired of hearing advertisements for that kind of stuff on the radio, preying on those feelings of unworthiness. And I'd bet the only reason more men don't go for penis enlargement is that the crap probably doesn't work.

  The obsession with having a perfect body is incredibly destructive, not just physically (let's face it, breast implants don't look good) but psychologically and emotionally, as well. You may have heard someone say, "Most nudists are people who have no business being naked." What that really means is that most nudists are normal people with less-than-perfect bodies. The notion that being nude is a privelege of the beautiful is nonsense, and it's exactly the kind of reasoning that leads to widespread use of implants in girls who really and truly have no need of them*.

  * Mind you, I'm only granting the possibility that someone might need them. I'm not specifically aware of any time that this is actually the case.

• Nudism removes a double-standard

  In a textile (non-nudist) environment, a man is allowed to walk around without a shirt on. Sure, if he wants to get a burger and fries he might have to put on a shirt and shoes, but otherwise he's good to go. A woman walking around without a shirt on would likely be arrested and earn a criminal record.

  There's some kind of rationalization for this that basically says that the sight of a woman's chest drives men into a sexual frenzy where they can't control themselves and treat women as sex objects. That rationalization (like all rationalizations) is also a load of crap. If anything, men have a strong reaction to women's breasts because they're covered up, not the other way around. Furthermore, the whole notion that women must cover up to avoid objectification amounts to telling a woman, "You are a sex object, and the only way you can keep from being one is to cover up your sex-objectness."

  In a nudist environment, both men and women are allowed to walk around without shirts on (and without pants on, too), and there are no sexist double-standards surrounding it.

Things Which Are Not Reasons Why

• Sex

  Nudism is simply not about sex. It's not about orgies or hooking up or anything like that. Consider this: I have been to a nudist park many times, and I have yet to see any public sex. For that matter, public sex is absolutely, 100% forbidden and might even get you thrown out permanently. Personally, I've never gotten an erection at a nudist park, not even when seeing an attractive woman, and I've never seen anyone else get one, either.

  Nudism does involve some degree of acknowledgement that we are sexual beings, since in a nudist environment one's sex organs are not hidden from view. But acknowledging what we are and accepting the fact that we are animals which reproduce sexually is a very different thing from encouraging or engaging in rampant promiscuity.

• Voyeurism

  Nudism is not about seeing naked. It's about being naked. Enough said.

• Exhibitionism

  Given what I said about voyeurism, it follows that everyone else at a nudist gathering is there to be naked, as well. With so many naked people, it's highly unlikely that a single naked person is going to attract too much attention by being naked. If you go to a nudist gathering hoping to feed exhibitionist tendencies, you will be disappointed. You will find your nakedness exceedingly commonplace.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into why I believe in the nudist lifestyle. I wasn't trying to convince you to try nudism, though it's cool with me if you did decide to try it because of reading this. I merely sought to let it be known why I believe what I believe. If you've come away from this with a better understanding of my beliefs, that's all I wanted you to do.