Practicing Nudism

Practicing Nudism - Nudism or Naturism is also practiced around the world to various degrees. Doctors in France and Slovenia advocate for nudism as part of their treatments and Germany boasts a particularly strong naturist culture called the FKK – “free body culture.”

Many overseas tourist attractions capitalize on the nudist movement by offering nude beaches and nudist resorts. Some of what we would see as “nudist communities” are actually cultures where nakedness is a simply a way of life. There, being naked has never been an issue.
Religions such as Wicca advocate going “sky clad” to be closer with nature. Some tribes in South Africa forgo clothes as a matter of tradition and limited resources.

It’s safe to say that nudity is complex issue and the world won’t be agreeing on it anytime soon. History has shown us that attitudes are ever-shifting when it comes to nudity (especially social nudity) and that still holds true for modern culture.

Regardless of the reasons, nudists and naturists everywhere are gaining exposure and more widespread mainstream acceptance. There may come a day when our children will look back on our obsession with modesty and wonder, “What was the big deal with clothes?”

Many naturists join a nudist / naturist community to enjoy nudist activities with other like-minded individuals. Naturist communities also free their people from the judgment of society. Detractors claim that nudists are objectifying themselves by exhibiting their bodies in public. On the other hand, nudists argue that practicing nudism takes confidence and self-respect to bare their naked body in public, despite society’s disapproval.

In most nudist communities, no one is judged on superficial qualities such as age, weight, or body type. The naturist movement also objects to the argument that nudity is an inherently sexual state. For this reason many nudist communities and clothes-free beaches accept and even welcome young couples with children.

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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Nudist Websites

Information about nudism and naturism is certainly accessible online. That said, it seems like the nudist industry has been quite slow to adapt to an increasingly digital world. Most of the nudist resorts and naturist clubs have websites. The problem is that they look like they were designed back in 1995. This is one of the main reasons nudism has such a bad image problem.

These nudist websites may also be hard to find in a basic online search. It sounds hard to believe, but some nudist clubs are just now setting up a Facebook page or don’t even have one yet, let alone pages on other social networks like twitter!

How are young people going to find these nudie friendly places? Furthermore, what will they think and how will they react once they see these poorly constructed and designed nudist websites? If you’ve stumbled across one and thought you fell into a time warp to the past, don’t worry; rest assured you’re not alone.

Through our own website, we are trying to give nudist resorts and nudie friendly businesses more exposure. Through our YNA nudist clubs affiliates program, we publish real reviews, and information. On a bigger scale, we organize young naturist gatherings at clubs that are open to hosting us.

Businesses can also purchase a site-wide ad for even greater exposure and consistent increase in traffic. Last but not least, we offer services in social media, web design, SEO and more. We hope to help nudism further adapt to the online world and to make the nudie lifestyle more accessible, attractive and accepted to / by young adults of the digital age!

What we have come to realize is that the nudist movement today has an image problem. The reality is that when most people think of nudists, they think of people who are in the twilight of their lives, for the most part overweight and not too much fun to be around.

YNA aims to change that perception and so far we have feel that we have been doing a pretty good job. But we need your support if we are to succeed. Putting together all this information takes time and money so feel free to sign up and become a member of Young Naturists and Nudists America YNA. We could use all the help we can get! So if you have some time, and are a responsible, dedicated person then why not volunteer and lend a hand? We could always use interesting articles, personal stories and a helping hand with managing our online presence.

We hope that some day soon, most nudist business owners will begin to think like business owners. Once this will happen, we hope to see nudism expand and grow :)

In the meantime, check out our website. Here you can find a wealth of information about nude beaches, nudist websites, nudist and clothing optional resort reviews, nudist blogs, naturist articles and so much more nudie-related information and events.

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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If You See Something Say Something

Violence and Social Issues In America Today 

Each year brings change. People evolve, society evolves, and crime rates are affected. At times the crimes decrease, but sometimes the opposite occurs. The following article is a look at some of the most worrisome crimes in the United States and reveals the statistical changes that have occurred within each crime.

Sexual assault

Sexual assaults are sexually verbal and physical attacks that do not include rape. Similar to rape, sexual assaults have seen a decline of 64% from 1995 to 2005. There was a significant increase in 2003. At that time, the rate of sexual assaults was 56%, when in 1995, the numbers were 29%. In 2010 the percentage of sexual assaults reported dropped to 35%.

The current average of sexual assault victims is over 200,000. The numbers relate to 1 victim every 2 minutes.

Teenage Rape

Studies show that teenage rape incidents have significantly dropped by nearly half since 1993, but it continues to be a very pervasive and grave issue. According to Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), a rape or an attempted rape occurs every six minutes in the United States, and the targets of these rapes or attempts are mostly teenagers.

To put these numbers into perspective, let’s look at the statistics of 2002. During that year 247,730 cases of rape were reported, and nearly half, 44%, of the victims are under 18 years of age. Close to half of all victims are teenagers!

In 2005, reports demonstrate that teenagers are 3 times more likely than any other age group to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. Teenagers are believed to be more susceptible to falling victim to rape because of the rise in technology. Ninety percent of teens go online and use a social networking site. Nearly 80% of these teens post photos online and almost half of them have sent “sexual” type messages. The message is then shared with people other than the intended recipient. This inadvertently increases the possibility of rape.

Teenage girls continue to be four times more likely to be raped than any other demographic. 54% of the 1 in 6 rape victims in the United States are teenagers. Of the 22 million reported rape incidents, over 11 million are teenagers. The cases of rape as a whole decline, but the number of teenage victims are increasing.

Date rape

Date rape was only recognized as an actual crime in the 80′s. This category of rape occurs during a date or outing with someone who is, at least, relatively familiar. At times drugs and alcohol may be present before the crime, but this is not always the case. In the mid 1990s, it was reported that date rape occurs with 57% of current rapes. 38% percent of victims say that the rapist was a friend, relative, or acquaintance. Rape cases may be declining as a whole, but date rape accounts for more than half of those incidents.

The use of the term “date rape” became prominent in the 90’s and has been a focus since. So although rape as a whole is declining, of those rapes, more than half happen with someone the victim just met, slightly knows, or has known for some time. The numbers of date rape victims continue to rise. Since 2005, more than 70% of rapes, that were reported, were considered date rape.

Rape (over the age of 18)

Rape is a violent and demeaning crime that has existed all over the world for centuries. Over the years, rape has been recognized as a crime derived for the perpetrator’s need for power and control over the victim more than it is about the sex act itself. Regardless of the perpetrator’s reason for committing the crime, rape deprives the victim of any say over what occurs to her or his body. Usually the victims are women, but males also fall victim to this demoralizing crime.

Rape occurs once every 2 minutes in the United States. Of the nearly 208,000 victims, over 80 percent are over 30 years of age. Similar to rape among teens, the cases of rape are declining steadily over the years. In 2009 rape decreased nearly 3 percent from 2008.
The statistics were more than 6.5 percent lower than in 2005 and more than 2 percent lower than 2000. So while any amount of rape cases is upsetting, it is a good sign to see the numbers of incidents declining.

Law officials do offer some uncertainty on the accuracy of these figures and voice some concern on how difficult it is to truly understand the scope of the problem. Lack of reporting a rape coupled with false reporting cause a distortion in the numbers. A positive note is that false reporting has decreased to 2% since the assigning of female police officers to rape cases. But if we want to see the numbers truly decline, then we need every victim to report the crime!

Teenage suicide

Suicide among teens is continuously on an alarmingly steady climb. It has been determined that about 1 in 6 teenagers have thought about committing suicide at some point in their life. Of those teens, 1 in 12 actually attempts the suicide. More females than males attempt suicide, but more men than women actually commit suicide. Many girls may attempt suicide in an effort to ask for help. Boys attempt suicide with the intent to end their lives.

Suicide among teens in America increased by 8% in 2004; this is the largest increase in decades. A decline was witnessed before 2003 when the rate of suicide was 6.78 suicides per 100,000 adolescents in comparison to 1990 figures of 9.48 per 100,000.

Suddenly there was a shift and the numbers began climbing again. In 2003 there were 4,232 suicides, and in 2004 the number jumped to 4,599. Teen suicide increased from 6.3% in 2009 to 7.8% in 2011. Current statistics show that nearly 10 in 100,000 teenagers attempt suicide, and each day there are 11 teenage suicide victims. 11 dead teenagers every single day!

Teenage Eating Disorders

It was recorded in 1991 that 40% of those diagnosed with eating disorders of bulimia nervosa and / or anorexia nervosa were teenagers. More than 5 million teenage girls and 500,000 teenage boys suffered with at least one of the eating disorders. Those numbers have been climbing ever since.

In 2004, the numbers were a staggering! There were 12 million teenagers suffering from eating disorders!!! The numbers more than doubled in a little over a decade. Current studies show that 25,000 per every million teenagers suffer from at least one eating disorder.

Bullying (in school)

Bullying among children in school appears to be on the rise, probably due to the various ways children can communicate in today’s tech savvy world. With cell phones, computers, and other means of reaching an outlet to say cruel and hurtful remarks, students are able to say things that they may not say in a face-to-face situation. 

Even while in class, students are taking pictures, posting comments on social media and sending texts with their cell phones. Bullying occurs within the school or on school grounds 79% of the time. Bullying does not need to be done through actual physical interaction, regardless of location.

Current studies indicate that 20.8 percent of students admit to participating in some form of bullying while at school. This translates into 1 in 7 students either being the bully or being the victim of bullying. Perhaps shocking to many is the fact that bullying has decreased to 41 % in 2008 from 52 % in 2001. Statistics show that bullying is steadily decreasing, but the increasing severity of the bullying is still an issue.

School Shootings

It seems like school shootings are all too familiar news stories in today’s world, yet reports show that school shootings are not on the rise. This fact may seem surprising since the media may tend to indicate otherwise. The first shooting in a school was recorded in 1966. Since then there have been 90 school shootings with a total of 231 deaths.

There was a sudden increase in school shootings during the 1990′s and early 2000′s and then they quickly dropped again. These incidents are always shocking, devastating, and difficult to process, but they are considered atypical and rare. 33 deaths were reported as a result of school shootings in the 2009 – 2010 school year. This is a dramatic change from the 63 deaths recorded in 2006 – 2007. Taking into consideration that there are over 50 million children in school in the United States, these statistics relate to a 1 in 2 million probability.

1995 experienced a significant drop from the year before, and it was also the lowest incidents of school shootings since 1985. While the incidents may spike up suddenly, studies demonstrate that the numbers do drop significantly (and quite quickly). As we have seen with the dramatic change between 2003 and the current number of report incidents.

School Violence

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 53 violent crimes in 1993. Forty-two of these crimes ended in death.

In 2000, more than 80% of schools reported school violence in their school. The crimes were recorded as 40 crimes per every 1,000 students. Many of these crimes were so violent that they were criminal and needed police involvement. Approximately 15 crimes per 1,000 students were involved in a violent act requiring the police to be contacted. In 2010 those numbers were very different. The number of violent crimes dropped to 2 per 1,000 students.

Guns at School

In the 1990s it was reported that 25% of students carried a gun to school at some point during the school year. The numbers have been on a decline since then. In 1995, the numbers dropped to 20% of students, and since then the numbers have remained quite steady. In 2001, findings show it was discovered that 17% of students brought guns to school.

Since the all time low in 2001, the statistics have remained steady, with little fluctuation. In 2011, there was a reporting that 15% of students had carried a gun to school.

* While these students do not always use the guns, the weapons are a danger and should not be in the hands of young children while in a school setting.

Teenage Drug Use (not marijuana)

Teenagers were recently surveyed on personal drug use, and many easily and willingly admitted to using some form of a drug. More than seventy percent used alcohol, 10 percent used some form of stimulants or uppers, more than 9 percent used opiates, more than 7 percent used tranquilizers, 6.5 used sedatives, more than 6 percent used hallucinogens, cocaine use was more than 5 percent, inhalants use was more than 5 percent, steroid use was at 2.5 percent, and heroin use was nearly 1 percent.

The drug use among teens was on a steady decline between the mid 90′s until mid year in 2000, but now is steadily increasing. In the 90s, drug use among teens was over 75%. The number of teenagers using drugs began declining by about 3% per year.

In 1995, “only” 65% teenagers reported using any drugs. The numbers were still high, but significantly declining. The numbers remained similar over the next few years until they reached a low in 2000 of 60%. While there was still room for improvement, it appears that the statistics were going on the rise again. With current studies showing that 70% of students admit to using some form of drugs at some point in their lives the fact is simple… teenagers are in fact using more drugs these days.

Drunk Driving

In 1982 there were a total of 26,173 alcohol related fatalities. In 1991, the numbers of underage drunk driving fatalities were 3.8 per 100,000 people. This was the highest number of fatalities resulted from underage drunk driving in the past two decades.

The number of fatalities has decreased, and this shows that teenagers are not getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking alcohol. Between 1995 and 2007, the number remained under 3 fatalities per 100,000 people. In 2010, we witnessed the lowest number of fatalities with a recorded 1.3 per 100.00.

The numbers have significantly reduced to 9,878 in 2011 and lets hope the number of fatalities continues to decline.

Gang Related Violence

Over 40 percent of United States cities with a population of more than 20,000 people have been witness to an increase in gang violence over the past few years. Although there was an approximate 8 percent drop in gang related violence between 1999 and 2000, the numbers are continuing to grow.

In 1999, there were 27,000 gangs in the United States. The number of gangs and gang-related violence was decreasing every year until it reached its lowest in 2003, with “only” 20,000 gangs. The very next year there was a spike in the number of gangs and their violent actions.

Gang members were recorded as accounting for 6% of crimes from the end of the 1990s to the early 2000s. The numbers translate to over 350,000 of the over 6 million crimes reported. The number of gang related crimes has dropped over the last decade. 1994 demonstrated an all-time high of 5.2 per every 1,000 persons or 1.1 million. In 2003, the numbers were 1.4 victims per 1,000 persons or 341,000 victims.

*Although victims reported crime as being gang-related, over 50% of the time this was not the case after investigation.

If you see something, say something!

The most troubling of all these stats is the fact that people are filing less complaints. The police can only act when a crime is reported and charges are filed. If you are a victim of a crime (sexual or otherwise), you MUST speak up. You should not be ashamed – you are the victim. 

No one will think less of you! If on the off chance that someone says or acts in a non supportive way you should cut them out of your life. People like that — HATERS — are not worthy of your time! You are so worth more than that!

Here are phone numbers that you can call – You Are Not Alone! And you don’t have to give your name:

1-800-SUICIDE – National Suicide Hotline

1-800-656-HOPE (4673) - Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network

1-800-621-4000 – National Runaway Safeline

1-866-331-9474 - loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline

1-800-230-PLAN (7526) - Planned Parenthood

1-800-799-SAFE (7233) - National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-422-4453 – National Child Abuse Hotline

1-800-931-2237 - National Association For Eating Disorders

1-800-662-HELP - National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism

1-866-SPEAK-UP (773-2587) – School Violence - SPEAK UP

1-800-843-5678 - Cyber Bullying Tipline

1-800-273-TALK (8255) - National Mental Health Association Hotline

1-800-246-PRIDE (7743) - GLBT National Youth Talkline

Young Naturists America YNA

References:

Www.cdc.gov
Www.crimeinamerica.net
Www.fbi.gov
Www.nationalgangcenter.gov
Www.Rainn.org
Www.rapecrisisonline.com

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Fat Shaming Celebrities

Fat Shaming Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian Pregnant

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera Fat Shaming

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy Fat Shaming

 Celebrity Shaming

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Guest blog by: Kevin W.

Baby in tree hole

Social Acceptance - Sitting atop a hill on a crisp cool morning watching the sun wake and rise, thoughts on life steadily flow.

A slight gentile breeze strolls through followed by an increasing wind as the sun starts to shine ever so brightly.

Looking all around, I see a tree I’ve watched grow old over the years. Back in the day, it was quite lively, full of leaves, full of song birds proudly singing their songs for me, chipmunks and squirrels chasing each other up and down and through the branches.

Today I sit reminiscing Mother Nature’s shows I’ve watched none of repeats, all new and different. Here I sit pondering what Mother Nature’s life lesson is for me. There are no birds, no chipmunks, nor squirrels to be seen at this once lively tree. This tree now stands broken, missing all but a portion of its trunk. The tree’s trunk tells a story of many woodpecker attacks, wood boring insects, and evidence of being once lived in by squirrels. There lies its branch turning into soil.

Once upon a time, this tree was a seed in the soil laying in wait for the day it got the strength and courage to sprout out on its own adventure. Through its life, it had obstacles to overcome and accept.

Let’s bring this tree’s life into ours.

One day you were brought onto earth with nothing but your innocent naked body. You had no worries and no care in the world except to be loved and fed. Nothing mattered to you, not even what your body looked like or anyone else’s body. The media doesn’t speak baby so you weren’t told what bodies are attractive or what bodies you should see as disgusting, gross, fat, ugly, sickly skinny, and so on. All you knew was that you were you and that other person was just another person that wanted only to be loved and fed just like you.

Life Acceptance

As time went on you got older, you noticed others around you who are much older and have views that were modified by society saying that the Natural Life is to be regarded as bad and shall be frowned upon. A little older now and you’re beginning your school career, not doing much yet but learning how to play and share toys with your peers. Elders in your life direct what and how you will conduct yourself. Elders say you will be dressed at all times except when bathing. You don’t understand as you spent your first few years of life running around outside in nothing but your skin.

You are dazed in confusion but do as told; you wear clothing in fear of getting in trouble. You’re uncomfortable as the summer heat is making you sweat and your clothes are sticking to you. Your told to put this on as your going to the beach, your thinking, wait, how come? When we went to the beach before, we never wore anything. You put on the swimsuit, go to the beach, play in the sand, sand is trapped between your skin and suit, scratching you, making you sore and bloody. You get in the water and wash out the sand, ah comfort, coolness, now lying on your towel sunbathing. Sunbathing was a fond memory, now your fighting the swimsuit that all wet, sticking to you, bunching up, giving you wedgies, the elastic is hurting your crotch, you try to fix it but you get yelled at by an elder for “touching yourself”. Ouch the pain and now humiliation. What are you supposed to do, endure the pain and hope nothing goes wrong medically with your “parts” because the elder scolded you for trying to fix your swimsuit? Think not, done with going to the beach ever again.

Time passes, memories are fleeting, you don’t think about anything but what to wear. Years later, someone says, remember when… Oh the days of camp, how wonderful to be free. You listen carefully and ask what changed. You’re told, school. “What, school?” Yes, the school’s staff said we could no longer take you to camp in fear you’d be different than your peers. “My peers?” Yes, your peers, your classmates. “My peers like other kids at camp?” No, school. We will never go to camp again due to the school.

You are much older now and thinking about what’s missing in life. You remember camp and how you loved the freedom and worry free atmosphere. You didn’t care then about your body’s appearance nor anyone else’s. Will it be the same now as then?

Remembering the “school” fear, you realize you must be secretive. Let’s research camps, resorts, and beaches and see if any appeal to you or you can figure out what one you went to as a kid. Searching and searching, ah, yes, here’s some near by. Contact…Yes, come on down for a visit. Ok.

Arrive at one camp, hmm, not familiar but quite welcoming and family style. You’re invited to join in a game of volleyball and a snack with a bit of sunbathing, quite lovely and relaxing.

Life Acceptance

Arrival at second camp, hmm, a feeling, a remembrance, it’s ever so slowly coming back, yes, yes it is, this is where I spent my first few years of life. Ah, home. I’m home. But look around, hardly anyone around, cabins are gone, club house looks so very small to me now, there are trailers now not tents, and now I’m all alone going to camp, when I can.

Just like the old tree, we started out full of life, had a fun filled youthful life, and now we are dwindling down. Many moved on and left us with only memories. As the tree hopes to not be forgotten, we hope that life as Mother Nature intended it to be will never be denied and others will come checkout a life of freedom. There’s nothing better than the feeling of freedom, feeling of relaxation, basking in the realization that your body’s appearance means nothing as you are you and that’s all anyone shall love you for. Don’t deny yourself, don’t deny nor disrespect Mother Nature for creating you as you are. Mother Nature sees you as exquisitely beautiful. Leave your worries behind you and visit a camp, resort, or beach as you’ll see that no one cares what you look like and you may make a lot of friends that you’ve been missing out on your whole life.

Social Acceptance

Young Nudists And Naturists America YNA

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Guest Post By: Chet Kresiak

Nudist Children - America has been stunned recently by the horrific allegations about child abuse at Penn State University. Scandals involving sexual molestation of children have rocked many of our most revered institutions, such as the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and in our schools. It’s clear that child abuse is a societal problem, not restricted to any particular organization or institution. Even the naturist population has been victimized by those who would exploit children for sexual purposes, although it is very rare.

Nudist Kids

Any person or group planning naturist activities must be aware of the current cultural climate, which is becoming increasingly intolerant of any activities involving children who could be misconstrued as being inappropriate or harmful. Naturists believe that people of all ages should be able to participate in nude recreation, that rejecting shame when it comes to the human body is beneficial to physical, mental and sexual health. The presence of children is a necessary component of the philosophy, and to remove them from naturist activities would significantly redefine the modern movement which began in Germany in 1903.

Morley Schloss, board member of the Naturist Action Committee, operates a nudist youth camp at Sunsport Gardens in Florida, and debunks the notion that children are somehow at risk in naturist settings. “From what I read, children are safer at naturist resorts than in scout camps, church groups or malls. Most nudist resorts are gated communities. Members and guests are screened for criminal activity. Children have many people looking out for them, adults and other children. Since naturist children are generally comfortable with their bodies, they would not be hesitant to report any approaches to them with which they are uncomfortable. For these reasons, children are quite safe from abuse in naturist venues.”

In January of 2010, acting on an anonymous complaint, The Florida State Department of Children and Families paid a visit to Sunsport Gardens. Mr. Schloss welcomed them in, showed them photos of children having fun at the youth camp, and the officials left satisfied that Sunsport offered a safe, caring environment.

Still, overzealous politicians or prosecutors are always looking for “hot button” issues with which to stir public sentiment in their favor, such as in 2003 when U. S. Representative Mark Foley (R) Florida read an article in the New York Times about an AANR nudist youth camp at Lake Como Resort in Land O‘Lakes. Foley was running for Senator at the time and felt he needed a “family values“ issue to take attention away from rumors swirling around that he was gay, so he seized the opportunity to began a crusade against the youth camps, accusing them of “exploiting nudity among minor children to make money.”

The story about the youth camps went nationwide, with Foley appearing on Fox News, and Time Magazine running an article asking the question “are they any place for kids?” The firestorm had begun.

In Florida, naturists took action, meeting directly with Congressman Foley, and gradually the issue faded away, certainly due in part to the political strength of the naturist population in Pasco County. Governor Jeb Bush’s office released a statement saying that “The rights of parents to impart their values in their children and raise their children as they see fit are sacred.”

Nudist Children

At about the same time, since the Times article mentioned that a young naturist camp was also being held in Arizona and future camps were being planned in both Texas and Virginia, anti-camp bills were quickly introduced in those state.

There were also ultimately no political consequences in Arizona, but in February of 2004 the Virginia House of Delegates voted 98-1 to require parental supervision at camps for young nudists, later approved by the Senate 40-0. The single vote was against the act because the bill did not go far enough. In 2005 a bill was introduced to modify the language in the nudist camp legislation, which would have effectively banned children from all nudist and naturist venues, but that legislation was tabled for future consideration.

In Texas, a county prosecutor succeeded in banning children from the Hippie Hollow clothing optional park, and State Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) authored a bill which would have outlawed nudist youth camps, even though there were none operating in the entire state. Hughes called the camps “magnets for pedophiles”, perhaps seizing upon a portion of the original New York Times article which referred to “COGs – creepy outside guys” trying to get inside the camps, or peek through fences. Efforts by the NAC killed the legislation, but the Department of State Health Services amended the Texas Administrative Code rules on General Sanitation to read “a youth camp many not allow campers or staff to be nude, except when bathing, showering, changing clothes or receiving medical care”. This code effectively banned naturist youth camps in Texas.

All of this hysteria grew out of nothing more than ignorance, outright prejudice and unwarranted suspicions about nudism and naturism, and was a waste of time and public resources. There was absolutely no evidence that any harm was being done to any child. If anything, teens attending textile camps were found to be having sexual encounters, with others incurring physical harm from sports and other activities. Children attending nudist camps were happy, healthy and safe.

Bob Morton of the Naturist Action Committee wrote in the March 2004 Nude and Natural Newsletter that in “the case of the Virginia legislation, losing means a significant abridgement of the parental rights of naturists and the unmistakable message that social nudity is somehow unhealthy or unsafe for children.”

Bill Williamson wrote in the AANR Bulletin of May 2004 that “this Virginia initiative just further proves that we have a lot more work to do before we can enjoy the peace and tranquility of our serene environments without the constant overshadowing threat of unnecessary government intervention.”

In the May 2005 AANR Bulletin, Williamson wrote, “Obviously these are no longer isolated political attacks on nude recreation, but a concerted strategically planned effort to separate the family from social family nudism. These social conservatives believe that if they can prevent our children from sharing our wholesome participation in social family nudism, they can then designate nude recreation as simply another part of the adult entertainment industry instead of the most rapidly growing sector of the travel and resort industry.”

Nudist and naturist organizations continue to work with policymakers to advocate for nude recreation for all ages.

In 2006, Mark Foley left Congress in disgrace over his “sex-laced” emails and instant messages to teenagers serving as pages. The hypocrisy of his campaign against youth camps angered nudists and naturists everywhere, still struggling to restore reputations, mend family differences, and recover from loss of business. There was little vindication in Foley’s fall, just bitter memories.

Still, Morley Schloss is optimistic about the future of naturist youth camps. “I don’t see a crisis”, he said, “Naturist camps that have had problems have taught the children that they must be careful and distrustful, that naturist resorts are unsafe. Let’s be proactive. In words and photos, we must portray children and their families having fun at naturist resorts and naturist youth camps.”

Stephane Deschenes of Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park agrees. “We certainly must not give up on this point. Some naturists/nudists believe that we should keep quiet so that there won’t be any scrutiny. In fact, many people criticized AANR for running the (2003 New York Times) story about children’s camps in the first place. I disagree. When you keep something quiet and people find out, they are more likely to be shocked because it is a surprise. If we keep talking about it, then it normalizes the situation. That’s why I make sure that there are always lots of pictures of happy children on all our marketing materials.”

Although Rep. Mark Foley’s attacks failed in Florida, Texas was successful in banning the youth camps, and in Virginia, the requirement that parents or guardians always be present effectively killed them in that state, too. In addition, according to Paul LeValley of the Professors and Researchers Special Interest Group of The Naturist Society, the numbers of children overall at the youth camps has “plummeted“. The only exception is at the Sunsport Gardens Youth Camp, where attendance grows every year. Only two other camps took place last year (2011) in the United States, one was at Juniper Woods in New York, and the other was at Shangri La Ranch in Arizona.

This controversy over the youth camps is a clear illustration why nudists and naturists need strong representation from national organizations. While Foley failed in Florida, his demagoguery was damaging, and lasting. It’s perhaps just a matter of time before another “Mark Foley” comes forward to attack naturists, and all of us need to be prepared to push back and fight for our parental rights. When the attacks come, they will be at the children, not just on the youth camps issue, but on their participation in general.

Nudist Children

Young Naturists & Nudists America YNA

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I Have A Dream By Mariely Garcia

“Love Who You Are, Know You’re Not Alone”

Yesterday, Felicity and I went to show our support for Perfectly Made. Perfectly Made is the brainchild of young 17 year old  Mariely Garcia from New York City.

About a year ago, she founded http://perfectrevolution.org/ and there is no doubt that she has struck a cord with her teenage peers. It was a heartwarming sight to see so many teenagers chant messages of acceptance and love. She had put together performers who wrote and sang songs about everything from body image, bullying and teenage suicide to simple messages of acceptance and love.

A long banner where people could write positive messages at the rally

The video above is of Mariely Garcia – What can we say, other than the fact that she embodies everything that Young Naturists America stands for.

Please show here as much love and support as you can! With the world being what it is, and people being who they are, she is going to need it!

It’s all about the love and We Love Mariely Garcia!

YNA Twitter hashtag – #ItsAllAboutTheLove

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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moobies

Facebook Loves Moobies

Facebook has crazy censorship policies. As most of you probably know, women’s breasts are outlawed from Facebook’s entire social media platform. That said, male breasts — “Moobies” — are totally acceptable and uncensored. Not only is this hypocritical, but the entire guidelines for censorship are outrageous.

Furthermore, Facebook is creating a higher level of restriction for art. Did you know that Facebook does not consider photography as a valid art form? This is what gives them the right to take down any images. Artistic or pornographic, for Facebook they are no different. We learned this shortly after the New Yorker’s “Nipplegate” incident when they were forced to explain their censorship policy. 

The nudity ban is generating a lot of critique among users too. Now that Facebook has explained that naked cartoons are completely okay you can feel free to post them. But can you really? Who knows since Facebook removes pretty much anything that gets reported. Thus their censorship policies are not in line with their own guidelines.

If this is not a backwards and insane rule, then I have no idea what is. I can’t help but wonder, what is next? Will Facebook ban all art with nudity?

For now at least, moobies (male breasts) are fair game. I put the Moobies to the test when I created and posted the above moobie picture as my profile picture. So far I am still good with Facebook. Oddly enough, when I posted on Google Plus, my profile got deleted. So perhaps Google is a bit more consistent. I guess there is a silver lining here – Google finds all nipples evil so at least they don’t discriminate! 

Where do we go from here? What will be the next type of censor? Perhaps women’s feet and arms will be banned from the walls and news feeds of Facebook? Maybe Facebook will only allow pictures of women in burkas? Or maybe no women with burkas?

It remains to be seen whether the censorship rules will get overturned or remain the same. Only time will tell how Facebook will positively or negatively grow their site. Maybe it is just me, but I just can’t wrap my head around this issue. What is so scary about nudity that it must be torn down from someone’s wall ASAP? What could possibly happen? 

Really people! I need your help here!

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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(Guest Nudist Blog By Anon)

Naked Run

For years I struggled with my own body image. I spent nearly half my life dealing with issues concerning my appearance and self worth. Needless to say, I had eating disorders that stemmed from those issues as well.

The idea of being naked in public never really appealed to me. If I couldn’t accept myself for what I looked like and who I was (under my clothes), how could I expect anyone else to?

But the conceptual idea of nudism had always intrigued me on some level. It seemed like it would be a very freeing (and very brave) experience. Anyone who could shed all of the fabric and textile materials that masked their body from others had to be incredibly comfortable in their own skin. So I promised myself that someday, when I would be stronger and more accepting of myself, I would give naturism a try.

It took a long time, and several false starts. But then the day actually came and I was ready to be brave! A couple of years earlier I had heard about the Annual Sunny Buns Fun Naked Run that would take place in a town near me. It was only a mile run, through one of the more heavily wooded parks and didn’t gain a large audience of non-participants. It seemed like a reasonable place to take my clothes off and be naked in public for my first time. To me, the thought of doing a naked run sounded far more fun and enticing than just hanging out at a nude BBQ or pool party.

So I signed up for the Fun Naked Run and payed my entrance fee. I figured that even if I got scared and bailed at the last moment, the money really wouldn’t be going to waste (since it was a charity event). The day of the Naked Run dawned cloudy and gray but not terribly cold. I jumped in my vehicle and headed out to the park. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to be brave enough to do the event, but I at least was brave enough to show up.

To make a long story short, I have to admit that I wasn’t able to strip all the way down that day at the Sunny Buns Fun Naked Run. I arrived at the park and saw all of the other participants roaming around in various states of undress, talking and laughing and having a grand time. I must have looked freaked out because several ladies came over and started talking to me. They explained the event, told me a little about their first experiences with social nudity, and in the end calmed me down quite a bit. And I was able to take off most, but not quite all, of my clothing. I just couldn’t manage to let go of my underpants and bra at the last minute.

The Fun Naked Run was a huge step. Especially for someone like me, who has lived for so long afraid of her own skin. I haven’t been back to try an event again, but I’m sure I will at some point. I met some amazing people and had a one-of-a-kind experience, and I look forward to doing it again. And this time I’m going to try for fully nude.

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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Gay Rights

The Issue Of Gay Marriage / Gay Rights

Last night, prompted by a Fox News segment, we posted the following post about gay rights on our official Young Naturists America Facebook Page Wall:

“Attn: Fox News !!!

We at YNA want to abolish the term marriage from the legislators’ vocabulary! Civil unions only! 

Marriage is a religious term only!

Gregory Angelo told Mike Huckabee that there are too many laws and legislation that have the word “marriage” in them and that disentangling them would be almost impossible… Young Naturists America is willing to step up and help explain to the government how to use the “find and replace” function in online text! 

Grow up and move on! Separation of Church and state for crying out loud!”

This post prompted two comments that I would like to address in more detail.

Gay Rights Post Comment / Question #1:

• “Although I totally understand where this is coming from, the bit about “civil unions only” gives me the idea that this page is anti-equality. Can you elaborate?”

Great question! For years, I personally have been advocating for this new approach to gay rights and marriage. Based on my world view, which is also part of the YNA philosophy, there needs to be a clear cut differentiation between church and state. The job of the government is to take care of its citizens – all of them! “We are all created equal” are not just words, they are a value system which needs to be upheld.

Today, when people want to be recognized as an “official” couple, they get “married.”  Individuals can go down to City Hall and apply for a marriage license. What I am suggesting is simple – states should issue only civil union certificates.

If people want a piece of paper that uses the term “Marriage,” they should only be able to get it from a religious institution. 

Words mean a lot and their meanings can stir up much emotion. By eliminating the term from the government’s record, we could finally take a step towards recognizing the fact that government is there to take of its citizens’ needs.  

Religious institutions are like private organizations. They can and do discriminate based on their beliefs and religious doctrine. But a government should be a place where all law-abiding citizens are treated equally regardless of race, religion, sexuality and so forth.

By eliminating the term marriage we eliminate religion from the process. Religious institutions will no longer be able to to argue that gay rights are, in some way, infringing on their religious beliefs or morals. It changes the piece of paper from being a religious one to a completely secular one.

Gay Rights Post Comment / Questions #2:

• “You do not have to have a civil union and gay to be nudist so why talk about it on here? Maybe safer to say about nude unions and nude freedom and top freedom.” 

 Young Naturists America is not just about nudism or “nude recreation.” There are other organizations that are solely focused on the nudity. YNA is focused on the individual as well as the core social issues that we believe need to be addressed. Gay rights are one issue that we have a problem with. Governments should not be looking at what an individual’s sexual preferences are. All government should look at is a person’s track record as a citizen.

For us, the social nudity is more of a means to an end. A way to break down social barriers and promote acceptance.

Gay Rights by:

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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Nudity and Censorship

Nudity and Online Censorship

Nudity and Censorship Online - Is the world of political correctness spinning out of control? Special interest and conservative groups are constantly applying pressure on lawmakers and companies to diminish the things we can do or say on the web or in public. If we look at how censorship is being implemented, we will eventually discover what the driving force is that will decide if something is decent or indecent. While all these companies have set guidelines it is the implementation and interpretation of these guidelines that may raise a few eyebrows. This article will take a brief look at what constitutes an unacceptable image or video on the web and why.

Is the human body truly pornographic? Why is violence okay while  nudity is evil? Why are nudism and sex lumped together?

Well, to answer this question we need to first take a long hard look at how pornography is marketed on the internet. We all know the technique of using specific content and keywords to bring visitors to websites. As a result, words like nude, nudism and nudists have been used by webmasters to sell and promote hard-core pornography. If you do a web search using these words, you will quickly come across a slew of XXX rated sites. Many pornographic websites, while not about nudism, will still most likely be on the first or second page of search results. Webmasters have been using the terms to attract potential interested parties and as such, have played a major role in tarnishing the reputation and meaning of what nudism is.

The internet is still like the wild west when it comes to quality control. Much of the censorship that occurs is strange and arbitrary in nature. This inconsistency in implementing the censorship guidelines can drive many people and organizations crazy!

Let’s take a look at Facebook. The way that Facebook censors nudity for its 700 million users is odd to say the least. Images of mothers breastfeeding their infants are not allowed if nipples are showing (even partially).  Male nipples are considered to be acceptable, but a female nipple are cause for alarm. The dividing line between what is considered acceptable and what is pornographic is not clear. Oddly enough, gore and violence are perceived as acceptable and harmless.

Youtube is another great example. While Youtube claims to allow artistic nudity, they often will censor or de-list videos of nude body painting and performance art that depicts nudity. While art and beauty might be debatable, there is no doubt that body painting and dance are acceptable and recognized art forms.

The internet is very similar to the early days of television in the USA. TV companies were very much aware of the dangers of using anything risqué. They were scared of upsetting the sponsors. Why are some innocent things baneful while other, graphic and disturbing content is acceptable? In one word – Money! When it boils down to it, money plays a huge part in why the internet bans images and videos that most will think are okay. The internet, which is mainly American controlled, has not really moved on from this limited profit driven mentality. Internet companies make money from advertisers. For too long, this perpetual fear of losing money has hammered into people’s brains that nudity is just as bad as pornography, and yet it’s one more reason why people can’t seem to differentiate between simple nudity and pornography. Had this not been the case, we would be seeing far more depictions of the naked body on mainstream websites and in the media in general.

The Google Empire is fast becoming the most powerful financial entity on the planet. Because they are so massive, they refuse to take the time to assess specific instances. Just because they are doing something that many might consider immoral, as long as the advertisers are happy, chances are that nothing will change.

At the end of the day, it is common sense which tells us what is artistic or non-sexual nudity. While most will agree that an image of a breastfeeding mother is not sexual, Facebook will not change its policy as long as people are using their products and advertisers are spending money. If Google and other online moguls feel that an image or a video might slightly, maybe, somehow offend a sponsor, that is reason enough for them to ban it.

Those are some of the issues why nudism is facing so many censorship problems. As things look today, the issue of nudity and censorship will unfortunatly be here for awhile.

Here is An Additional Article You Might Find Interesting:

http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2012/10/19/censorship-and-social-networks-violence-is-in-nipples-are-out/

Nudity and Censorship Online By:

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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This article was originally posted by Mashable And Wrtitten By: Todd Wasserman 2013-03-24 19:17:06 UTC

Are people so busy fiddling with their electronic devices that they can no longer resolve disputes face to face?

It certainly seems that way lately. The insane tale of Adria Richards’ dismissal from SendGrid is just the latest example of the social media-based public shaming trend. Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way endorsing Richards’ firing and especially not the horrifying comments and threats she received through social media. Nor am I in any way saying that she got what she deserved.

However, there is a case to be made that this whole incident could have been avoided with one real-life conversation.

A quick recap:

As Richards detailed in her blog, her run-in with two developers at last weekend’s PyCon event began that way.

The guy behind me to the far left was saying he didn’t find much value from the logging session that day. I agreed with him so I turned around and said so. He then went onto say that an earlier session he’d been to where the speaker was talking about images and visualization with Python was really good, even if it seemed to him the speaker wasn’t really an expert on images. He said he would be interested in forking the repo and continuing development.
That would have been fine until the guy next to him…
began making sexual forking jokes
I was going to let it go. It had been a long week. A long month. I’d been on the road since mid February attending and speaking at conferences. PyCon was my 5th and final conference before heading home.

It’s unclear whether the guys began joking after she turned around or as she was still facing them. Richards doesn’t say and could not be reached for comment. Based on her description, it appears that Richards eventually turned around and began simmering as she heard them crack more sexually charged jokes. As she recalled, “I was telling myself if they made one more sexual joke, I’d say something.” According to her account, Richards never said anything. Instead, she got riled up when she saw a photo of a young girl on stage who had been to a young coders’ workshop.

I realized I had to do something or she would never have the chance to learn and love programming because the ass clowns behind me would make it impossible for her to do so.

In the days before social media, Richards might have confronted the two guys. Ethically, that appears to be the correct thing to do. Instead, she chose a new option: Publicly shaming them.

As we all now know, Richards tweeted a photo of the two guys. The rest is history.

Such a blow-up now appears inevitable. Constant access to social media has done some weird things to humanity. Our narcissism is off the charts, and with that comes a penchant for portraying ourselves as public crusaders.

Civility, meanwhile, has gone by the wayside. For instance, a month or so ago, photographer Brandon Stanton learned that DKNY was using his photos without his permission. So he did what everyone does nowadays — he complained about it on Facebook. However, Stanton told me he made no effort to contact DKNY beforehand, shutting the option to resolve the dispute privately. Though Stanton was right, he seemed to be putting needless public pressure on DKNY for what may have been an honest mistake.

(While Stanton’s story had a happy ending, two photographers named Erica & Shaun Kusche went public with a similar complaint about Delta Airlines. However, this time they were mistaken. It’s not clear if they tried to contact Delta first, though. The Kusches could not be reached for comment.)

Other forms of public shaming are equally prevalent.

Other forms of public shaming are equally prevalent. This Tumblr, for instance, collected some awful tweets related to the Steubenville rape case. Cataloging racist and ignorant tweets for public consumption has also become a blogging pastime. Yet the end result seems to be titillation rather than actual shaming. You read these tweets and you feel better about yourself because you’re not one of those people.

I’m not above any of this. I’ve tweeted pictures of people who annoyed me, like the guy who insisted on keeping his backpack on in a crowded train, and the woman who used an empty seat for her bag while people were standing on the train. Many more times I’ve mulled tweeting about the smelly guy next to me, or snapping and sharing a pic of someone with a horribly bad toupee — just for fun.

But I realize now this is not a good impulse. It’s based in cowardice and judgmentallism and we should do our best to ignore it. The rule of thumb should be: If you would feel horrified if the person you’re tweeting about read your tweet, then you shouldn’t do it. And if you feel like you’re shaming someone for the public good, then you’re probably just being a wee bit self-righteous.

Here’s a better idea: The next time you feel outraged about something someone near you is doing, put your phone down and go talk to that person. Either that or shut up and mind your own business.

~End.

For those of you who may not know, Young Naturists America has been the target of many cyber bullying incidents, mostly by other “nudist” and / or “naturist” groups. The issue of communicating our differences online has been an ongoing problem. Many nudist groups seem to be all about the drama which is one thing YNA can do without!

Let’s hope that this online bullying and shaming trend ends soon!!!

Young Naturists America YNA

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The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

On Clothes

And the weaver said, “Speak to us of Clothes.”

And he answered:

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.

And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain.

Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment,

For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.

Some of you say, “It is the north wind who has woven the clothes to wear.”

But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.

And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.

Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.

And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Young Naturists America YNA

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(guest nudist blog by anon)

Topless At The Beach

Topless In St. Martin

When I was 15, my parents took me to St. Martin for a week’s vacation. I was excited because we were going to the French side of the island, and, at the time, I was studying French in school. On the way to the hotel, my mom told me to stay by the hotel’s roped-off area, because there was a nudist beach not too far away.

She didn’t have to warn me. Back then, I would never take my clothes off anyway. I was a total nerd and had big hips and no breasts. I wasn’t going to show off my ugly body to anyone when I could hardly stand to look at it myself.

I couldn’t wait to go down to the beach and read in the sun. Once I walked out of the hotel doors onto the sand, I noticed almost all the sunbathing women were topless! Mom had forgotten to tell me about this being a topless resort. Maybe she didn’t know herself!

Then I noticed a bunch of teenagers my age who were playing a game of “half nude volleyball” on the sand. I was shocked how comfortable the topless girls were, wearing nothing but bathing suit bottoms or shorts. I wrapped my sarong around me tighter and tried not to look anywhere but straight ahead. I was nervous, embarrassed and in culture shock.

After a while I heard the teens speaking French. One of them said, “Let’s ask her if she wants to join us in a game of volleyball.” I was terrified, but a smiling, friendly girl, who said she was from Canada, started to pull me over to where they were playing. “Come join us,” she said in French. “My name is Colette.”

Colette and I became instant friends. Before long, I felt foolish all wrapped up like a mummy in my sarong. So I took it off. We had a great game and lots of laughs. I stopped noticing the topless girls and just noticed how nice they were. It took me a whole day, but I eventually took off my top, too. After all, even my mother wasn’t wearing her swimsuit top!

By the time our vacation was almost over, I was very comfortable being topless. On my last day of vacation, Colette and I went down to the nude beach and skinny dipped! Coming out of the water completely naked, I felt free and I felt BEAUTIFUL.

I could not wait to go back! I loved my first experience with nudism and will cherish that experience forever!

Topless Girl

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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EU Votes On Porn Ban

Porn Ban

ACTA fell apart after an overall negative vote by the Parliament which indicated a dismissal of the transatlantic deal.

Porn Ban

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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San Francisco Nudity Ban

San Francisco Nudity Ban

The post San Francisco Nudity Ban Update appeared first on Young Naturists America.

My First Naked Party

(Guest Nudist Blog By Anon)

Naked Party

Naked Party

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(Guest Blog By Anon)

Social Nudity And Body Shame

Body Image Issues

I never really thought too much about the little bit of extra weight I have always carried, especially on my hips, thighs and of course, my derriere (my Butt!). I was always able to dress in just the right way so that I could always look at least ten pounds lighter than I actually was. I never thought I would be the “type” of person who has body image issues… That is, until I went away to college.

My first trip to the community bathroom at my dorm kind of shook me up. As soon as I walked in I saw all of these lithe girls walking around. I immediately pulled my towel up and tied it as tight as possible around my waist. In fact, I felt so self conscious that I would get up hours before anyone else just so I could shower in privacy and not have to expose my naked body to others. This went on all throughout college. I never could shake that feeling of being less in shape compared to everyone else.

Over time, I started to get a little more comfortable in my own skin. But that quickly changed once again once I met the man of my dreams. As soon as we started to head down the path of getting intimate, I always had to be the one to jump up and turn off the lights. I never gave my body image issues much until my boyfriend started talking to me about my issues. I was a little shocked at first. It took some time and while it was somewhat of a process, I slowly began to enjoy leaving lights on.

I think, now that I look back, it took more naked time for me to be able to finally accept my body. I started to notice that the more time I spent with my boyfriend without having to worry about being covered up (or having it dark), the more I started to open up. As time went on I was even able to actually appreciate my body. It has taken years, but I finally understand how nudists must feel. The ability to accept or even celebrate the naked body is special a special thing. Today I can finally stand in front of a mirror naked and not hate the person I see. We all have issues and thing we would like to change but we are also all unique and beautiful in our own way.

I guess I could say that being naked in public (or semi public) gave me the tools I needed to accept my body and, in many ways, myself!

Body Image Issues And College

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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(Guest Blog By Anon)

Girl Sunbathing Naked

A Naked Girl Story

Being a girl and growing up in a house of four other girls, nudity was never a big deal to me. If it was not myself I was checking out in the mirror it was my sister’s naked butt I had to watch bounce from the room we shared to the next door bathroom. However, this was all within the safety of our home and the security of our walls and the privacy of a family. I never imagined that nudity outside of these safe spots would feel any different.

My first social nude experience, I was fifteen years old. All of my friends and I were invited by one of our other friends to a cabin up north. It was in the beginning of July and the days were hotter than ever. We spent hours upon hours out on the lake and if not there then enjoying iced drinks on the dock. Staying cool was the top priority.

The first night some of the boys brought up going skinny dipping. However, the idea got shut down since most of the girls were not interested. The second night, however, was a different story. The majority of the girls were burnt to crisp and suffering from hot flashed. So even before the sun was fully set, all of us tippy-toed out to the beach.

I really was not expecting the experience to be anything other than what I had witnessed at my house. Nor did I think it would feel any different. Till that point in my life, I had never seen the opposite sex undressed and only a couple of the very close girlfriends.

The boys went first. I could not stop staring. Of course, I knew what it all looked like, I had seen it in movies, pictures, and general media. However, it all seemed so much more “real” when it was “flopping” right there in front of me. My initial feeling was that of shyness and discomfort. As though I was eavesdropping or looking through the window into someone’s home.

Then the girls went. I was a little less shocked, however, I was surprised by the variation. Every naked girl I saw, had her own unique body. Some of the naked girls had fat in different spots, others seemed to have none at all. Even the girls with generally the same breast size as me, had different shaped breasts.

By the end of the day, I was impressed with the naked girls’ bodies while I was still quite uncomfortable with the boys’. I suppose the reason why I did not notice the nuances of the boys’ nakedness was because after the first few seconds I chose to look away as much as I could.

For months after, I felt as though I had done something really wrong. I felt as though I was supposed to look away even more.  I guess, I was not ready for nudism yet, not at that stage of my life at least.

Naked Girl

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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(Guest Nudist Blog By Anon)

A fellow Streaking Guru At Work

Streaking

I have never been very much of a daredevil. But there has always been something so seductively enticing about the experience of streaking down the street. I had heard stories of others doing it as a dare, or even when they were intoxicated. Naturally I wanted to try my hand at it. The only things that have been standing in my way were the lack of appropriate opportunities (cop-out I know), and the confidence to actually do it. That all changed one night during high school.

I was at a party with my girlfriends when someone mentioned that no one had gotten naked yet. Most of us simply brushed off the comment and continued to hold our conversations. However, as the night progressed, and people became more relaxed, the idea suddenly didn’t seem so bad. A few people joked about the idea of heading to the store and disrobing in the middle of the aisle, but that idea was way too risky. Instead, a handful of us decided that we were going to streak down the middle of the street.

After about the first five minutes, the initial excitement that was in my mind was replaced with anxiety. I had never been really all that comfortable with my body image, so the idea of actually showing all of it to anyone and everyone was mind-boggling. I began to think of ways in which I could back out without looking like a coward. But I could find none! The only option I felt I had, if I did not want to look like a chicken, was to go through with it and suffer the inevitable consequences later.

One by one, people began getting naked. They Were dropping their clothes on the porch and took their turns running up and down the block. As my turn got closer and closer, I began to feel more and more anxious. But as I stood there, in my t-shirt and panties, I began to realize just how fast the experience really was. In addition, it seemed as though most people were feeling the same sense of nervousness as I was.

And then it was my turn. Once I was at the head of the line, I decided to pump myself up so much that I could actually go through with it. However, instead of taking my clothes off in front of everyone, I walked far enough away from them to where I could take them off alone. And just like that, I was naked in public! But once I was naked and began running down that street, I was amazed - it felt so exhilarating!

At the time, I was only really proud of myself for actually going through with it. But looking back, I see how significant that experience was because it was the first time I just felt free.

I totally understand the appeal of nudism and why so many people chose to embrace a nudist lifestyle – it was of the most freeing experiences of my life! 

Streaking

Young Naturists And Nudists America YNA

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