As
a nudist of over 20 years its has always been a question that has
plagued my mind. Why are there so few young nudists? As I have grown
to love this lifestyle I have at times become a little disheartened
with the lack of people in my age range enjoying such an amazing way
of life. Lately I have been pondering this question and have come to
the assumption that its not that there are so few young nudist but
rather there are so few that have the ability to join in.
Traditionally the most common place for us nudies to hang out is the beach, camping
and nudist retreats. This led me to think, what if it didn't like the
beach so much? Or what if I cant afford to visit a nudist retreat? It
was not till I had a discussion with a young nudist couple I am
fortunate to be in contact with that I realised its simply just that.
It may be that young people don't have time, they have uni or a busy
social life which leaves them so little time to frequent nude beaches
and retreats.
Another
hurdle may be finance. Its simply not cost effective or affordable
for young people to spend what little money they have on visiting a
nudist retreat. I know when I was younger and had limited cash flow I
could never afford to go to a nudist retreat. Even now I am reluctant
pay all that money just to visit for a day and sit around doing
nothing but gas bag next to the pool. This leads me to another point.
There is nothing to do...
Most
establishments don't have much and usually don't cater for the younger
crowd or young family. There is simply not that much that interests
young people to venture out and visit such establishments.
There
are however on the rise, more nude events such as nude ten pin
bowling or nude pub nights and even roller skating. These are great
tho can also be a little on the pricey side. With the rise of nude
events we may well see a change in the age balance but I believe it
may take some time.
One
reason may also be that some people simply prefer to enjoy nudism at
home or in private. They have no desire to engage in social nudism
and usually do not search for anything else outside of the comfort of
their home.
A
major factor I believe is lack of progressiveness. In Europe we see
many more younger people enjoying nudism/naturism and we also see
accompanying this a more progressive society. In almost all occasions
my conversations with European people about nudity and nudism they
have shown a much more progressive view on this aspect of life. They
have less hangups about the concept of somebody enjoying an active
nudist lifestyle while here in the western world the sentiment is
different. In my case I have not been met with negative response but
positive support however, many people I know have experienced
otherwise.
With
a society as closed minded and prudish as ours its not hard to
imagine that many would be hesitant to reveal to others that they are
a nudist. This would make it difficult to meet and find other nudists
to socialise with. I have experienced this personally and have
noticed that until almost 2 yeas ago I was having great difficulty
meeting other nudists. It was only when I decided to reveal my
lifestyle to all of my friends and family did the change come about.
I
no longer had to hide facebook posts about what I was doing, I could
speak freely and educate those who did not understand and most of all
I could meet friends and have them in mixed company without fear of
someone slipping up and busting us all for being nudists.
Young
people have a lot on their plates with uni, part time work, busy
social lives just to name a few. If we are to draw their interest we
need to come up with more interesting ways to do so. I don't consider
myself young or old but I have a few ideas up my sleeves which I hope
will bring some young guns out of the woodwork.
A
new outlook is needed and some fresh ideas and more exciting
activities. It would be ideal to have a group similar to YNA (Young Naturists America) to do some progressive events and lead the charge in
healthy body acceptance. The YNA is a prime example of this kind of
positive promotion for nudism and body acceptance. They have done
nude body painting with expert body painting artists right in the
heard of New York City!! they have a nude Sunday session at a local
gym and have planned and executed plenty more events since their
inception.
A
good friend and very active nudist in our community and a member of a very active group called QSN (Queensland Social Nudists) has done an
amazing job of organising nude 10 pin bowling for three years running
and as a result others have now begun planning events of their own.
Nude snorkeling (which I regrettably missed out on), and soon to come
roller skating.
Let's
just hope we can attract more young people to these events, shift
the tide and debunk the stereotype that nudism is mainly old lumpy
and bumpy folks standing ankle deep on a beach looking out at the ocean. It will be a long journey, but I'm sure we will get there eventually.
