The Australian Nudist Federation has only about 2000 members, a quarter of its stocks in the 1960s. President Lindsay Parkyns says Australians are becoming increasingly prudish about nudity. "Back in the '60s and early '70s, it was the done thing to go nude as part of the hippie cult of freedom," he says. "Now we have grown out of kilter with the majority of the rest of the world. In the US, there are two major nudist organisations, each with 40,000 to 50,000 members. France has got nude cities where everyone is nude all year round. But in Australia we seem to be going in the other direction." [theage.com.au]It's a complex issue, ranging from public perceptions that nudists are perverts, fears over "indecency", and the fact that people have not challenged regulations against nudity. Basically society has gradually adopted a policy of body control, treating a nude person as someone to deal with in a criminal manner.
The good news is that one local mayor in Australia sees a change in attitudes coming, that people are being raised with more progressive attitudes, and that nudity should not be an issue in a decade. Also, the mayor admits that the real problem with "perverts" is not the nudists themselves, but with the gawkers.
Body issues are another concern, since spikes in obesity are causing more people to cover up, and the majority of people simply don't like the way they look.
Werner Jacobs, 72, says doctors have described his body as "an especially good specimen". "I can still see my toes quite easily," he says. But he says once everyone takes off their clothes we will all be equal — fat or thin, short or tall.Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked
He is more worried by the sight of Australia's brutal sun, which snaps at his naked skin much more than that of the relatively mild summers he experienced growing up in East Germany. "You've got a horrible sun, it really burns the cinders out of you," he says. "It is tough being a nudist in Australia, you've got to be really dedicated."
1 comment:
Hmmm. I don't wish to be 'the European Correspondent' for the 'Diary' pages necessarily, and would prefer to see many others add their own contributions to these excellent pages, but in the absence of other comments and in the spirit of trying to create debate, I'm going to make a further comment, and hope I don't bore readers too much.
I'd guess one of the reasons why younger people are less visible in naturism, and numbers declining, is because the 'war' fought by an older generation to ensure clothing optional beaches exist means there's no longer any need to fight for access to naturist facilities. Any of us can pick almost any European country with accepted naturist beaches nearby and plot a holiday around them. In the UK, the numbers may equally be declining, I don't know for sure, because cheap air fares would mean it is possible to spend a week in the Med as cheaply as taking a caravan at a naturist club in chilly, wet England. Why sign up to a club which may have foul weather, even in summer, when you can get a flight and room at a French or Spanish resort cheaper than an annual membership fee?
I could go on, at length, about the reasons why younger people don't get involved, but there's a major one for, at least, UK naturists (I hope I qualify, at 31, as a younger naturist who started at 18, but who has still never ever been a member of a club). I holiday at Agde, La Jenny, Vera, Arna, Costa Natura and other resorts every year and have a secluded back garden for PROPER sunbathing if I wish. Membership of an established club with relatively spartan facilities and poorer weather, on the other hand, holds no appeal.
Eleanor, UK
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