Opinion

Nudity, Nudism and our Society – Part 4

 

 

by Mel Kanner

Number 4 in a series of articles examining the changes that I have observed to the practice of nudism over the years and our society’s view of nudity.
 
Archive: #1, #2, #3
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More about beaches:
 
Ten years ago my wife and I worked as volunteer counselors, essentially chaperones, for one of the AANR nude youth summer camps, held at DeAnza Resort near San Diego.  The youth camps program was started in the 90’s in Florida, and was designed for children of nudists from age 11 to 19. Like other summer camps, it is an opportunity for fun events, leadership training, and to gain knowledge about nudism. It is a very successful program. I will give more details about the program in a later article.
 
One of the scheduled events for the kids was an outing, a trip to Blacks Beach. The event was hosted by the Blacks Beach Bares.  The BBB’s do a lot of volunteer work on the beach: keeping it clean, enhancing and maintaining the difficult trail down the cliff, and general policing.
 
It was a nice day, but being the middle of the week, there were not many people on the beach. A few adults, but no other kids.  But, from time to time, we saw middle aged single men, not nude, planting themselves in positions where they could watch others. And some had cameras, with fancy lenses. This was a time prior to the sophisticated cameras we all carry in our cell phones now. Serious photography required some heavy equipment.
 
Most of these people are commonly referred to as “looky-loos”s, but some are serious pedophiles looking for opportunities to add to their collections of photographs of children. The kids were aware of these people. Part of the training at the summer camps is to learn how to recognize, from behaviors, the looky-loos (s), and how to respond — bring it to the attention of an adult in authority. They referred to them as COG’s (creepy old guys).
 
The BBB’s were also aware of interlopers like these and had developed very interesting techniques to counteract them without confrontation. One technique was to plant open beach umbrellas between the LL and their targets, essentially cutting off their view. Another is to form a line of people (men) with their backs to the LL, again cutting off their view. The LL’s eventually get the hint and leave.
 
Everyone enjoyed the hospitality of the BBB’s. Other than having to deal with the couple of LL’s that intruded, it was a successful outing.
 
There have always been LL’s at Blacks since I started going there in the 70’s. More than at other nude beaches I have visited. Oregon has two major nude beaches in the Portland area — Rooster Rock and Sauvie Island. Both are considered official nude beaches and the Oregon Park rangers have worked with AANR-NW to maintain, clean and make the beaches a safe environment for nudists. Appropriate signage is maintained, and “nudist behavior etiquette” instructions are given to visitors to the beach. LL’s do not seem to be a significant problem.
 
I am not much of a beach goer, but aside from Blacks and the Oregon beaches, I have been to two other major nude beaches, one in France (Cap d’Agde), and one in the Caribbean (Orient Beach on St. Martin). Cap d’Agde beach, on the Mediterranean, was about two miles long, and was always packed with people. Lots of families, lots of kids. No LL’s that I could see.
 
Orient Beach was also a beautiful beach, about a mile long, and when we first started going there, it was possible to  walk the whole beach nude even though the nude section was limited with signage to a short strip in front of the Club Orient resort. Later with more development of other resorts on the beach, the police started to enforce restricting the nudists to the nudist section.
 
There were very few kids. Many Europeans, and a large number of Americans, many who never participated in nudist activities in the U.S. There were few resident LL’s, but there were a significant number of “lookers” from the cruise ships. There were day excursions for the cruise ship visitors to Orient Beach specifically so they could see the nudes. We, the nudes on the beach, had a great time observing them as they paraded past us. I wouldn’t call them LL’s, as they were primarily there out of curiosity.
 
One of our nudist group would interact with the “lookers” by asking them for the time. And they had great difficulty responding because they were dealing with a normal person, rather than the characterization that they had of nudists.
 
In a subsequent piece I will discuss the problem with LLs on beaches and some other problems we have with nude beaches.
 
If you have any comments about any of these opinion pieces that I have written please email me rights-chair@aanr-nw.org
 

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Nudity, Nudism and our Society – Part 3

 
by Mel Kanner


Number 3 in a series of articles examining the changes that I have observed to the practice of nudism over the years and our society’s view of nudity.
 
 
Some comments about the evolution of swim suits and nude beaches:
 
Through the 20th century swimming attire became less restrictive, more comfortable.  And in some respects, more sexually provocative. In the early part of the century,  women wore attire that covered them from head to toe, including stockings and a hat.  Gradually the swimming suits got smaller covering less and less.  Men went from a one piece suit that exented from the neck to mid-calf, to two piece suits consisting of shorts and a sleeveless top.    By the 50’s women wore a one piece skin tight suit , made popular by Esther Williams in Hollywood productions designed to show women in swim suits.  Men were no longer required to cover their chests.
 
Then came the “Itsy-Bitsy, Teenie-Weenie,Yellow, Polka-Dot Bikini”.  The swim suit and the popular song appeared in 1960.
 
Beachwear has evolved even more since then.  For a brief period there was the single-piece topless monokini, introduced by the fashion designer Rudi Gernreich (1964).  It was too avant garde for Americans.  The bikini stayed the standard for a long time.  And recently became even smaller with the thong swim suit, which covers little more than the pubic area and the nipples.  For men, there have been two separate evolutions: one is the speedo, and the other is a form of baggy shorts that extends below the knee.  The baggy shorts version seems to be the most common today.  I will examine that phenomenon later.
 
And that is where the evolution has stopped in the U.S, and I think it has reached a plateau. Even though it seemed to me, as a nudist, that eventually the swimsuit would disappear and that all public beaches would permit nudity.  That seemed inevitable since this is what seemed to be happening in Europe and Australia/New Zealand and the Caribbean.  There, topless was becoming the norm; nudist/naturist beaches were common; more nudist resorts were being developed, some with encouragement and financing by governments (e.g. Cap d’Agde in France).
 
Nudist/naturist beaches have increased in number significantly in the U.S.  In 1955 I knew of no public beaches where one could swim nude.  There were probably some out of the way places where it was traditional to swim nude, but none that were sanctioned by any government agencies. But, I was so sure that it was inevitable that I made a bet with a friend that by 1965 there would be a publicly sanctioned nude beach. I think I lost the bet (neither of us tried to collect), off by about 10 years.
 
In 1976, a portion of Blacks Beach, a 900 ft. section, owned by the city of San Diego, was officially designated by the city as a clothing optional public beach. Blacks Beach is two miles long, and with the exception of the 900 ft. section, is owned by the state of Calif, and is treated as a state park.  It can be reached with difficulty — either a long walk in from either end, or a climb down (and up) a precarious cliff.  It had been traditionally a nude beach, but had never been (and still isn’t) officially designated as one. Park rangers patrol it periodically and do not enforce any anti-nudity laws.  (The story is a little more complicated than this.  There have been varying degrees of agreement during the years between our nudist organizations and the state Parks Dept. on nude use in state parks.)
 
On opening day, 10,000 nude beach goers packed the 900 ft. section.  Unfortunately, succumbing to pressure from residents in the vicinity, the city council reversed their decision.  Since the 900 ft. section was no longer officially designated as a “public beach”, the city was no longer obligated to spend public monies on access, toilet facilities, maintenance, etc. The section reverted back to being treated as it it was just another piece of the state park.
 
I single out Blacks because it was the first nude beach that I was aware of, and when it was officially sanctioned by the city it felt as if what I had predicted was finally becoming true. I had been residing again in San Diego at that time, and I experienced great disappointment in the setback. However, upon reflection now, it was probably financial rather than anti-nudity that was the motivator for the San Diego city council to reverse their decision.  
 
But the right economic model has helped other nude beaches in the country gain a foothold.  The one that seems to work the best is Haulover Beach in Miami, FL.  The beach draws a lot of tourists, particularly from Europe, who spend money on parking and motels and in the local stores.
 
There has been a lot of growth in the number of nude beaches and in nude use of public lands.  There have been many setbacks, too, but overall there has been a net positive change.
 
In the next installments I will share some of my observations about the problems in the U.S. with nude beaches, some ways that we have dealt with them, and why I think we have reached a plateau in the evolution of the swimsuit.
                                                         (to be continued)

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Nudity, Nudism and our Society – Part 2

 

 by Mel Kanner

Number 2 in a series of articles examining the changes that I have observed to the practice of nudism over the years and our society’s view of nudity.

Archive: #1

The first nudist camp I joined in the sixties was Swallows near San Diego (it is no longer a nudist camp).  It was fairly luxurious for its time, as nudist camps go, with a swimming pool, a tennis court, a volleyball court and a snack bar, and lots of space for semi-permanent camping.  Median age was about 35, I guess.  Not a lot of attendance during the week, but a couple of hundred people on the weekend with lots of kids.  There was always some sort of festival going on, with volleyball competition, swimming races, and a king and queen contest.  Most of the members were married, with children.  Almost no single women.  And very few single men.   Most clubs had a quota on single men.  Some still do.  And a few even now still allow only legally married couples.

 The following year I moved to Seattle and joined Fraternity Snoqualmie.  It was much smaller with a pond for swimming.  There were even fewer singles.  I had to be vetted before I was welcome.  Membership was predominately married couples with children  — people who had been born in the 1920’s and 30’s.  Their children were the boomers, and ranged in age from infants to teens.

In those days, the norm in our society was marriage, with children.  Women were expected to be married by their early 20’s.  Men were expected to be married by their mid to late 20’s.  The model was “Father Knows Best”. (Men worked outside the home, earning enough to support a family; women took care of the home.)  Divorce was not common and was difficult to obtain.  The pill was just being introduced, and other forms of birth control were difficult to get.  Abortion was illegal, and almost unthinkable.  The sexual revolution hadn’t yet arrived. It was not considered appropriate for an unmarried couple to share living quarters. People who were single past a certain age, or not producing children once they were married, were treated as if there was something wrong with them. 

And there was no question that if you were a nudist married couple you would bring your children with you to camp.

The proponents of nudism also considered that nudism was good for children.  The articles in the magazines talked about how children who grew up in nudist environments were more comfortable about body changes, were less curious about sexual differences; that there were fewer cases of teen pregnancy and fewer early marriages.

Even among the non-nudist population, some nudity was common practice:  Norman Rockwell depicted young boys swimming nude at the “ole swimmin’ hole”.  Showers in school, and in the military, were open and communal.  Men swam nude at the “Y”.  One of my high school PE classes was swimming.  We swam nude.  The girls, of course, had their own PE class.

And there was some acceptance of limited nudity of children in a mixed sex environment.  For example, at public swimming beaches, children younger than age five often went nude.  The swimsuits for pre-puberty girls usually didn’t include tops.  A photograph of a two year old lying on a rug or sitting in a bathtub was not considered alarming.

How times have changed – in both the nudist and non-nudist environments.  Women usually work outside the home.  Divorce is common (50% of marriages end in divorce).  Many couples choose to not have children.  Marriage between gays is now the law in many states, and in most western countries. Couples living together without being married is common.  Unmarried women are choosing to have children without the umbrella of marriage.

Our nudist camps have changed also to reflect these societal changes.  Fraternity Snoqualmie no longer has a singles quota.  Some clubs allow any two persons to join as a couple (same sex, brother/sister, mother/daughter, etc.).  Having different surnames is not a problem.  Being gay is usually not a barrier.  

But there have been many attitude changes, in both the nudist and non-nudist environments, that seem to contradict the loosening of societal restrictions that have taken place.  I will discuss these contradictions in next week’s installment.

(to be continued)

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Nudity, Nudism and our Society – Part 1

 

by Mel Kanner

This is the first in a series of articles examining the changes that I have observed to the practice of nudism over the years and our society’s view of nudity.

My first introduction to nudism was in the mid 50′s as a teenager, when I saw a nudist magazine on a newsstand, which I bought and hid from my parents. There were lots of pictures, all with the genitals air brushed away. There were many articles showing nude people doing mundane things, like playing volleyball, sitting around a picnic table, swimming. There were also many articles on the “philosophy” of nudism.

After a while I got tired of looking at the pictures. So now I knew 
what women looked like without their clothes on (sort of, there were still those air brushed parts.) I turned to the articles. They portrayed nudism as a better way to live: healthier, fewer social problems, fewer esteem problems, etc. Very convincing and I vowed to try it as soon as I could. When I reached the magic age of 21 I wrote to the nudist camps in my area. I have now been a nudist for over 50 years.

Over the years there have been many changes:

  1. More nudist venues — not just “camps”, with 40 or 50 members, located in out of the way, out of view, plots of land, but, major resorts with pools, hot tubs, stores, restaurants, bars, rental units, tennis courts, etc. — country clubs where one can be nude.
  2. More acceptance by the general public. AANR has done an exceptional job with its PR campaign to educate the public about nudism. It is now almost old news for the media, the tee-hee factor is almost gone.

Those are positive changes, but there are also some disturbing, regressive changes that concern me.

The first is a change in attitude by the public (primarily in the US) about nudity and children.

(to be continued)

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