One of the four Ps (Protect, Promote, Provide and Preserve) that comprise AANR’s mission statement is “Promoting nude recreation by educating government leaders, employers and the public.” Every AANR member can and should further this part of AANR’s mission in their daily lives. We do this by normalizing nudism. Everyone of us is a nudist. But if we don’t let the world know that we are nudists, how do our friends and neighbors come to understand just how normal and nonthreatening nudism is? We don’t need to try to convince our friends to take off their clothes, even if we know that they would be happier if they did. We just want them to understand that our choice to practice social nudism is valid and should not be restricted. Probably the most threatening thing about nudists is that we are more candid as a group and less likely to hide who we really are.
If you have not shared openly that you are a nudist, you might want to question why that is. If you are worried about how people will react, you might be pleasantly surprised at the reality. I am very open about it. I tell everyone. I even go out of my way to tell people. In my whole nudist life, I have only had one bad reaction, at an outreach booth. Perhaps it is because I don’t expect a bad reaction. Sometimes people are interested, and they ask questions. Sometimes they are just amused. I don’t care if they think it’s funny. At least they have an example of nudists in the real world, and I don’t think I project as a pervert. They can ask questions if they like. You may be surprised. For example, once I recently mentioned it to a friend’s mother and the mother shared about her own skinny-dipping experiences.
Perhaps you don’t want to share because you think it is a bit naughty. If so, you might want to figure out why you think it’s naughty. (It really isn’t.)
However, you might be in a job where being a nudist might jeopardize your position. That’s where we, as AANR, have some work to do as your organization. There is a paper that was written by Ronna Krozy and Mike Horner that is available in the member’s only section in my.aanr.com that explores “Social Nudism and Protecting Teacher’s Rights”. We need to distribute this work to educators. We need to continue to support those whose jobs have been put in jeopardy. We also need to find interested experts to write similar studies for other professions where nudism puts jobs in jeopardy.
I hope I have convinced you to share that you are a nudist. Now how do you do it? The document “How to Share that you are a Nudist” will help. This can be found at tinyurl.com/e2sn935y which was uploaded by AANR. When you are going away for the weekend, you can be specific about where you are going, rather than trying to hide that it is a nudist venue. You can wear a nudist T-shirt or put a nudist bumper sticker on your car. You can leave a Bulletin or nudist book lying on your coffee table. These actions will encourage questions. When you are asked, you should be prepared to answer the question “Why are you a nudist?”. You may also be asked about children at nudist resorts. You can know that children are natural nudists. They love to take their clothes off. Especially if no one has told them that it is wrong. Children that come to our parks are not in more danger than they would be in any other social situation. Actually, they are probably in less danger since we are so careful about background checks and more importantly, we act in community and watch out for each other and for each other’s children.
We all need to work to make nudism acceptable to all. If we hide it, we act as though it is something shameful. We need to be proud to be nudists. As someone dear to me always says, I’m a nudist, so what?
Karen Lahey
AANR-Northwest Trustee