The Threads of Nudism

One path we've gone down in exploring privacy is the practice of nudism, and the abdication of the physical privacy provided by clothes. In talking to various nudists in New York, we're discovering divisions within the group.

There are the naturalists vs. the nudists. This is a matter of semantics. While some use the terms interchangeably, others feel very strongly about one term or the other. One of our interviewees insists on being called a nudist, because he "hates nature."

There are the nudists vs. the swingers. Much of the media attention received by nudist resorts tends toward the salacious, such as this recent BlackBook Magazine piece by Greg Boose: Hedonism II: The Cave is for Blowjobs. Boose writes:

Nudist resorts, in hopes of lifting up sagging tourism numbers, want to bring back the orgies. But when Claire told me that Hedonism II was one of the resorts we’d be touring in Jamaica while she researched the greening efforts of hotels on the island for an airline’s glossy, I wasn’t really expecting orgies.

But he does find orgies at this particular nudist resort, because in fact, it is a swingers' resort. "Pure" nudists become extremely distressed by the conflation of the two. Nudists celebrate and embrace nudity as non-sexual. The code word for a nudist resort, as opposed to a swinger's nudist resort, is "family friendly."

There are the at-home nudists vs. community nudists. Some nudists want to be naked all the time, and would prefer to conduct daily activities in the buff. These are the type that shed their clothes wherever and whenever they can, and as soon as they get home. However, others only like being nude in groups, and sharing the experience with others. I've interviewed one couple that bridge this divide. The wife enjoys nudist resorts and activities but prefers being clothed at home. Her husbands prefers to be nude as often as possible, including during the course of our interview.

For the community nudist wife, nudism is linked to feminism. She enjoys not being judged on her clothes, or her body parts. "I've never had so many people maintain eye contact with me, as opposed to checking out my body, as at nudist resorts," she said. This, of course, would not be the case at a swinger's resort.

There are other "threads" I am still exploring: the exhibitionists, the narcissists, the individualists, the religious nudists, the thrill-seekers... Who would expect to find that nudists have so many threads?

Hedonism II: The Cave is for Blowjobs [BlackBook Magazine]

Reporting on the Private Parts

This blog will track our musings on privacy over the next year as part of a series of articles on The Not-So Private Parts. This project is part of a master's program in journalism at New York University, and will be conducted under the tutelage/editorship of Ted Conover and Rob Boynton as part of NYU's Portfolio program.

A physical entry point into musings on privacy is the topic of nudism. Clothes provide the barrier between the world and those parts of our bodies that are so fundamentally private that they have earned the name "private parts." There are some people who seek to abdicate that privacy and embrace nudism or naturalism. While some feel most comfortable in the buff, it makes others terribly uncomfortable.

A nudist colony has made its way into the news recently, due to the upcoming "Lingerie Bowl," an offshoot of the Super Bowl. The Lingerie Bowl, in its sixth year, had struggled to find a home for a bunch of underwear-clad models to play football. We find this a bit shocking-- we'd think a fraternity somewhere would gladly lend their university's football field, but that's another story...

The league originally planned to play in a vacant lot in Tampa, but local residents complained about skantily-clad women cavorting in their neighborhood. Florida's Caliente Nudist Resort then offered to host the bowl, and all was set for kick-off this Saturday. But now the St. Petersburg Times reports that the game is off. The reason is not entirely clear, but it sounds like the league objected to too many nudists being around and possibly in the audience during broadcasting.

Said the league spokesperson, "we feel ultimately it is in the best interest of the league not to place ourselves in what some would consider a potentially negative environment."

So, in the end, the nudists out-scandalized the partially-nude.

Lingerie Bowl canceled over dispute with Caliente nudist resort [St. Petersburg Times]