![Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-0710-419,_Berlin,_M%C3%BCggelsee,_Sonnenbad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-0710-419%2C_Berlin%2C_M%C3%BCggelsee%2C_Sonnenbad.jpg)
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social
nudity
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...
in private and in public; the word also refers to the
cultural movement
A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines approach their work. This embodies all art forms, the sciences, and philosophies. Historically, different nations or regions of the world have gone through their own i ...
which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms are broadly interchangeable, ''nudism'' emphasizes the practice of nudity, whereas ''naturism'' highlights an attitude favoring harmony with nature and respect for the environment, into which that practice is integrated. That said, naturists come from a range of philosophical and cultural backgrounds; there is no single naturist ideology.
Ethical or philosophical nudism has a long history, with many advocates of the benefits of enjoying nature without clothing. At the turn of the 20th century, organizations emerged to promote social nudity and to establish private campgrounds and
resorts
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort' ...
for that purpose. Since the 1960s, with the acceptance of public places for clothing-optional recreation, individuals who do not identify themselves as naturists or nudists have been able to casually participate in nude activities.
Nude recreation
Nude recreation refers to recreational activities which some people engage in while nude. Historically, the ancient Olympics were nude events. There remain some societies in Africa, Oceania, and South America that continue to engage in everyday ...
opportunities vary widely around the world, from isolated places known mainly to locals through officially designated nude beaches and parks and on to public spaces and buildings in some jurisdictions.
Definition and lexicology
The XIV Congress of the
International Naturist Federation
The International Naturist Federation (INF) or Fédération naturiste internationale (FNI) or Internationalen Naturisten Föderation (INF) is the global umbrella organisation representing official national naturist societies.
Membership
The INF ...
(INF) held at
Agde
Agde (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in Southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.
Location
Agde is located on the Hérault river, from the Mediterranean Sea, and from Paris. The Canal du Midi conne ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, in 1974 defined naturism as:
Many contemporary naturists and naturist organisations advocate that the practice of social nudity should not be linked with sexual activity. Some recent studies show that naturism can help grow self-esteem, and thus have a positive impact on having a well-balanced sexuality, too. For various social, cultural, and historical reasons, the lay public, the media, and many contemporary naturists and their organisations have or present a simplified view of the relationship between naturism and sexuality. Current research has begun to explore this complex relationship.
The International Naturist Federation explains:
The usage and definition of these terms varies geographically and historically. Naturism and nudism have the same meaning in the United States, but there is a clear distinction between the two terms in Great Britain.
In naturist parlance, the terms "
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
" or "textilist" refer to non-naturist persons, behaviours or facilities (e.g. "the textile beach starts at the flag", "they are a mixed couple – he is naturist, she is textile"). "Textile" is the predominant term used in the
UK ("textilist" is unknown in British naturist magazines, including ''
H&E naturist
''H&E naturist'' (originally ''Health and Efficiency'') is a 92-page monthly commercial magazine focusing on the naturist lifestyle, through articles on travel, health and culture, as well as various features on arts and books with a naked theme ...
''), although some naturists avoid using this term due to perceived negative or derogatory connotations. "Textilist" is said to be used interchangeably with "textile", but no dictionary definition to this effect exists, nor are there any equivalent examples of use in mainstream literature such as those for ''textile''.
Naturist places and events
Some naturists only practice naturism at special events, some only at private clubs or designated beaches, and some only at home. Most, however, will practice their chosen lifestyle wherever and whenever it is convenient and appropriate.
Naturist facilities
At naturist-organised events or venues, clothing is usually optional. At naturist swimming pools or sunbathing places, however, complete nudity is expected (weather permitting). This rule is sometimes a source of controversy among naturists. Staff at a naturist facility are usually required to be clothed due to health and safety regulations.
Facilities for naturists are classified in various ways. A landed or members'
naturist club
A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual soci ...
is one that owns its own facilities. Non-landed (or travel) clubs meet at various locations, such as private residences, swimming pools, hot springs, landed clubs and resorts, or rented facilities. Landed clubs can be run by members on democratic lines or by one or more owners who make the rules. In either case, they can determine membership criteria and the obligations of members. This usually involves sharing work necessary to maintain or develop the site.
![Outdoor bathing at Jhiben Hot Spring 20121110](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Outdoor_bathing_at_Jhiben_Hot_Spring_20121110.jpg)
The international naturist organizations were mainly composed of representatives of landed clubs.
Nudist colony is no longer a favored term, and can be used by naturists to address landed clubs that have rigid non-inclusive membership criteria.
A holiday centre is a facility that specializes in providing apartments, chalets and camping pitches for visiting holidaymakers. A center is run commercially, and visitors are not members and have no say in the management. Most holiday centers expect visitors to hold an INF card (that is, to belong to an INF-affiliated organization), but some have relaxed this requirement, relying on the carrying of a trade card. Holiday centers vary in size. Larger holiday centres may have swimming pools, sports pitches, an entertainment program, kids' clubs, restaurants and supermarkets. Some holiday centres allow regular visitors to purchase their own chalets, and generations of the same families may visit each year. Holiday centres are more tolerant of clothing than members-only clubs; total nudity is usually compulsory in the swimming pools and may be expected on the beaches, while on the football pitches, or in the restaurants in the evening, it is rare.
A naturist resort is, to a European, a private property with accommodation and facilities where naturism is the norm. Centre Helio-Marin in
Vendays Montalivet,
Aquitaine
Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
, France (the first naturist resort, established in 1950); the naturist village of
Charco del Palo
Charco del Palo is a naturist holiday village on the north-eastern coast of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. The village was established around 1970 by the German entrepreneur Gregor Kaiser. In due course, it has developed into a popular naturis ...
on
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...
,
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
;
Vera Playa in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
; and Vritomartis Resort in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
are examples.
In US usage, a
naturist resort
A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...
can mean a holiday centre.
Freikörperkultur
The Freikörperkultur (FKK) is a social and health culture that originated in the German Empire; its beginnings were historically part of the '' Lebensreform'' social movement in the late 19th century. The ''Freikörperkultur'', which translates ...
(FKK)—literally translated as 'free body culture'—is the name for the general movement in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The abbreviation is also recognised outside of Germany and can be found on informal signs indicating the direction to a remote naturist beach.
Nude beaches
![At the nudist beach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/At_the_nudist_beach.jpg)
In some European countries, such as Denmark, all beaches are clothing optional, while in others like Germany (and experimentally in France) there are naturist sunbathing areas in public parks (e.g.,
in Munich and Berlin). Beaches in some holiday destinations, such as Crete, are also clothing optional, except some central urban beaches. There are two centrally located clothes-optional beaches in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Sweden allows nudity on all beaches.
In a survey by ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', Germans and Austrians were most likely to have visited a nude beach (28%), followed by Norwegians (18%), Spaniards (17%), Australians (17%), and New Zealanders (16%). Of the nationalities surveyed, the Japanese (2%) were the least likely to have visited a nude beach. This result may indicate the lack of nude beaches in Japan; however, the Japanese are open with regard to family bathing nude at home and at
onsens (hot springs).
Festival naturism
From
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, and
Nambassa
Nambassa was a series of hippie-conceived festivals held between 1976 and 1981 on large farms around Waihi and Waikino in New Zealand. They were music, arts and alternatives festivals that focused on peace, love, and an environmentally friendly ...
in the southern hemisphere, communal nudity can be seen at music and
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
festivals.
The Nambassa
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
festivals held in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in the late 1970s were examples of non-sexual naturism. Of the 75,000 patrons who attended the 1979 Nambassa three-day festival, an estimated 35% of attendees spontaneously chose to remove their clothing, preferring complete or partial nudity.
![People pix in the village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/People_pix_in_the_village.jpg)
Some nudist festivals are held to celebrate particular days of the year, and activities may include nude
bodypainting
Body painting is a form of body art where artwork is painted directly onto the human skin. Unlike tattoos and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, lasting several hours or sometimes up to a few weeks (in the case of mehndi or "h ...
. One example is the Neptune Day Festival held in
Koktebel
Koktebel ( uk, Коктебéль, russian: Коктебéль, crh, Köktöbel, formerly known as ''Planerskoye'', russian: Планерское) is an urban-type settlement and one of the most popular resort townlets in South-Eastern Crimea. K ...
,
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, to depict mythological events. Another is the Festival Nudista Zipolite organized by the Federación Nudista de México (Mexican Nudist Federation) held annually since 2016 on the first weekend of February.
A few camps organize activities in the nude, such as oil wrestling by camp Gymnasium.
Summer naturism
Naturism tends to be more common during the warmer summer months.
Some regions host first-time naturists and people who have recently started to practice the naturist lifestyle.
One study noted that some of these people are seasonal naturists who wear clothes during other times of the year.
History
Nudity in social contexts has been practised in various forms by many
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
s and in all time periods. In modern Western society, social nudity is most frequently encountered in the contexts of
bathing
Bathing is the act of washing the body, usually with water, or the immersion of the body in water. It may be practiced for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes. By analogy, especially as a recreational activity, the term is ...
, swimming and in
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
s, whether in single-sex groups, within the family, or with mixed-sex friends, but throughout history and in many contemporary tropical cultures, nudity is a norm at many sports events and competitions.
The first known use of the word ''naturisme'' occurred in 1778. A French-speaking Belgian, Jean Baptiste Luc Planchon (1734–1781), used the term to advocate nudism as a means of improving the ''hygiène de vie'' or healthy living.
The earliest known naturist club in the western sense of the word was established in British
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1891. The Fellowship of the Naked Trust was founded by Charles Edward Gordon Crawford, a widower who was a
District and Sessions Judge for the
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
. The commune was based in
Matheran
Matheran is an automobile-free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and one of the smallest hill ...
and had just three members at the beginning: Crawford and two sons of an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
missionary, Andrew and Kellogg Calderwood. The commune fell apart when Crawford was transferred to
Ratnagiri; he died soon after in 1894.
![Koch, Max (1859–1930) - 1897 - Freilicht - vmp 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Koch%2C_Max_%281859%E2%80%931930%29_-_1897_-_Freilicht_-_vmp_01.jpg)
In 1902, a series of philosophical papers was published in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
by Dr.
Heinrich Pudor
Heinrich Pudor (31 August 1865 in Loschwitz (near Dresden) – 22 December 1943 in Leipzig) was a German Völkisch-nationalist pundit and a pioneer of nudist culture in Germany. He took the pseudonyms Heinrich Scham and Ernst Deutsch.
Life
He wa ...
under the pseudonym Heinrich Scham, who coined the term ''Nacktkultur''. In 1906 he wrote a three-volume treatise with his new term as its title, which discussed the benefits of nudity in co-education and advocated participating in sports while being free of cumbersome clothing.
Richard Ungewitter
Richard Ungewitter (December 18, 1869 in Artern, Province of Saxony – December 17, 1958 in Stuttgart) was a German pioneer of the '' Freikörperkultur'' (free body culture) movement and one of its first organizers. There was a '' völkisch'' elem ...
(''Nacktheit'', 1906, ''Nackt'', 1908, etc.) proposed that combining physical fitness, sunlight, and fresh-air bathing, and then adding the nudist philosophy, contributed to mental and psychological fitness, good health, and an improved moral-life view. Major promoters of these ideas included
Adolf Koch
Adolf Karl Hubert Koch (9 April 1897 in BerlinBirth Register: Standesamt Berlin IVa, Registration No. 343/1897 – 2 July 1970) was a German educationalist and sports teacher. He was the founder of a gymnastics movement named after him and a pio ...
and Hans Suren. Germany published the first journal of nudism between 1902 and 1932.
The wide publication of those papers, and others, contributed to an explosive worldwide growth of nudism in which nudists participated in various social, recreational, and physical fitness activities in the nude. The first organized club for nudists on a large scale, ''Freilichtpark'' (Free-Light Park), was opened near
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1903 by Paul Zimmerman.
In 1919, German doctor
Kurt Huldschinsky Kurt Huldschinsky (1883 in Berlin – 31 October 1940, in Alexandria) was a German pediatrician of Prussian heritage. He completed his medical studies prior to serving in the Deutsches Heer as a field medic in World War I and later, after the Grea ...
discovered that exposure to sunlight helped to cure
rickets
Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications ma ...
in many children, causing sunlight to be associated with improved health.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1983-0815-302, FKK-Strände des Senftenberger Erholungsgebietes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1983-0815-302%2C_FKK-Str%C3%A4nde_des_Senftenberger_Erholungsgebietes.jpg)
In France in the early 20th century, the brothers
Gaston
Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to:
People
First name
*Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315)
*Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343)
*Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391)
*Gaston ...
and
André Durville
André Durville (1896-1979) was a French physician who, with his brother, Gaston Durville, was one of the initiators of naturism in France during the interwar period.
Biography
André Durville is the son of Hector Durville occultist. In 1924 he g ...
, both physicians, studied the effects of psychology, nutrition, and environment on health and healing. They became convinced of the importance of natural foods and the natural environment on human well-being and health. They named this concept in french: naturisme. The profound effect of clean air and sunlight on human bodies became evident to them and so nudity became a part of their naturism.
Naturism became a more widespread phenomenon in the 1920s in Germany, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and other European countries and spread to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
where it became established in the 1930s.
By 1951, the various national federations united to form the International Naturist Federation. Some naturists preferred not to join clubs, and after 1945, pressure arose to designate beaches for naturist use.
From the middle of the 20th century, with changing leisure patterns, commercial organisations began opening holiday resorts to attract naturists who expected the same – or better – standards of comfort and amenity offered to non-naturists. More recently, naturist holiday options have expanded to include cruises.
In the early 21st century many organised clubs saw a decline in attendance by young people, which worried many naturists about the future of the movement. The clubs' aging memberships may have put younger people off joining in a
vicious circle of decline. A rise in
social conservatism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...
, re-asserting a nudity
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
, may have also contributed to the decline. However, since tolerance for nudity in general is increasing over time, and is higher among younger generations, an alternative hypothesis is that younger naturists no longer feel they need to join a club or visit a resort in order to practise naturism. Active recruitment of younger members is being pursued by some organisations. The phenomenon varies by country, with, for example, naturism in France experiencing steady growth in a younger demographic during the 2010s.
Writers
Naturism was part of in the late 1800s (see the writings of
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...
) that also influenced the art movements of the time, specifically
Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
and other
Fauve painters. This movement was based on the French concept of ''
joie de vivre
( , ; "joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit.
It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ''joie de vivre'' may be ...
'', the idea of reveling freely in physical sensations and direct experiences and a spontaneous approach to life.
*
Heinrich Pudor
Heinrich Pudor (31 August 1865 in Loschwitz (near Dresden) – 22 December 1943 in Leipzig) was a German Völkisch-nationalist pundit and a pioneer of nudist culture in Germany. He took the pseudonyms Heinrich Scham and Ernst Deutsch.
Life
He wa ...
wrote on methods to improve social hygiene in his book ''Nackende Menschen und Jauchzen der Zukunft'' (Naked people and the future of Mankind) and then ''Nacktkultur'' (Nude Culture). It prescribes an austere lifestyle and nudity.
*
Paul Zimmermann opened the Freilicht Park in Lübeck which was open to those who subscribed to Nacktkultur principles.
*
Richard Ungewitter
Richard Ungewitter (December 18, 1869 in Artern, Province of Saxony – December 17, 1958 in Stuttgart) was a German pioneer of the '' Freikörperkultur'' (free body culture) movement and one of its first organizers. There was a '' völkisch'' elem ...
wrote ''Die Nacktheit'' (Nakedness) which sold 90,000 copies, prescribed a similar Utopian lifestyle, where everyone would be nude, eat only vegetables and abstain from alcohol and tobacco. In his Utopia, everyone was to be Germanic with blue eyes and blonde hair.
*
Adolf Koch
Adolf Karl Hubert Koch (9 April 1897 in BerlinBirth Register: Standesamt Berlin IVa, Registration No. 343/1897 – 2 July 1970) was a German educationalist and sports teacher. He was the founder of a gymnastics movement named after him and a pio ...
, a left-wing primary-school teacher, sought to use social nudity to free the people from "authority fixated conditioning which held proletarians in deference of their masters: parental authority, paternalism of the church, the mass media and organs of law and order." He used Organic-Rhythmic exercises in Berlin schools in the 1920s. In 1932 there were about 100,000 Germans involved with naturism, of which 70,000 were in Koch's ''Körperschülen'' schools.
*
Hans Surén taught nude gymnastics to soldiers for five years, and on being forced to leave the army, he wrote (in 1924) ''Mensch und die Sonne'' (Men and the Sun) which ran to 61 reprints.
* American writers
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
and
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
both wrote of nudity within the natural environment.
Health
Naturist activities can have positive psychological benefits including greater
life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is a measure of a person's well-being, assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards on ...
, more positive
body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
, and higher
self-esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
. Social nudity leads to acceptance in spite of differences in age, body shape, fitness, and health.
Religion
Christian naturism
Christian naturism is the practise of naturism or nudism by Christians.
Naturism is a lifestyle of non-sexual social nudity; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. It is not certain that Chris ...
includes various members associated with most
denominations. Although beliefs vary, a common theme is that much of Christianity has misinterpreted the events regarding the
Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
, and that God was displeased with
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
for covering their bodies with
fig leaves
''Fig Leaves'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, released by Fox Film Corporation, and starring George O'Brien and Olive Borden. The film had a sequence, a fashion show, that was filmed in 2-strip Technicolor.
...
.
Controversy
Naturism is usually promoted as not being sexual, but there are also resorts where social nudity is practised alongside
exhibitionism,
voyeurism
Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature.
The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". A ...
, and other alternative lifestyles like
swinging. Mainstream discourse around naturism sometimes conflates sexual and non-sexual variations, though family-oriented naturism organisations try to resist this stigma. Some naturist clubs have shifted to catering to swingers, and as a result may be expelled from mainstream naturist organizations, whilst some naturist villages, notably
Cap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde () is a seaside resort on France's Mediterranean coast. It is located in the commune of Agde, in the Hérault department within the region of Occitanie. Cap d'Agde was planned by architect Jean Le Couteur as part of one of the l ...
, have been successfully overtaken by swingers and "
libertines". Attempts have been made to legislate naturist activity, such as children's summer camps.
Many films and published materials in the middle decades of the 20th century were presented as documentaries of the naturist lifestyle. In fact this was largely a pretext to exploit a loophole in censorship laws restricting the exhibition of nudity. Additionally, child pornography has been distributed under the guise of naturist media.
Precisely defining the distinction has proved challenging for law enforcers, as it depends on the subjective question of whether the purpose of the production is sexual.
Court cases attempting to differentiate naturist publications from pornography reach back almost a century.
Africa
South Africa
![Signpost at Mpenjati Naturist Beach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Signpost_at_Mpenjati_Naturist_Beach.jpg)
Mpenjati beach in
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
province of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
is a nude beach where clothes are not allowed.
Europe
In most European countries, nudity is not explicitly forbidden. Whether it is tolerated on beaches which are not marked as official nudist beaches varies greatly. The only country with substantially different laws is Denmark, where beach nudity is explicitly allowed on all beaches, except for two in the far west of the country.
Belgium
Organized naturism in Belgium began in 1924 when engineer Joseph-Paul Swenne founded the Belgian League of Heliophilous Propaganda (usually abbreviated to ) in
Uccle
Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city a ...
near
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. This was followed four years later by , founded by Jozef Geertz and hosted on the country estate of entrepreneur Oswald Johan de Schampelaere. Belgian naturism was influenced in equal part by French naturism and German . Today Belgian naturists are represented by the (FBN).
Croatia
![Nudist_camp_Valalta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Nudist_camp_Valalta.JPG)
Croatia is world-famous for naturism, which accounts for about 15% of its tourism industry. It was also the first European country to develop commercial naturist resorts. During a 1936 Adriatic cruise,
King Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...
and
Wallis Simpson
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused ...
stopped at a beach on the island of
Rab
Rab âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.
The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...
where King Edward obtained a special permission from the local government to swim naked, thereby designating it the world's first official nude beach.
Finland
In
Finnish culture, nudism is considered to be a relatively normal way to live. It is not uncommon to see entire families spending time together naked. Families may be naked while bathing in a
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
, swimming in a pool, or playing on a beach, and it is not unusual to see children playing naked in a family yard for example. Nudity as a whole is considered less taboo than in many other countries.
France
![Nude hiking in Gard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Nude_hiking_in_Gard.jpg)
Marcel Kienné de Mongeot is credited with starting naturism in France in 1920. His family had suffered from tuberculosis, and he saw naturism as a cure and a continuation of the traditions of the ancient Greeks. In 1926 he started the magazine (later called ) and the first French naturist club, , at Garambouville, near
Évreux
Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy.
Geography
The city is on the Iton river.
Climate
History
In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...
. The court action that he initiated established that nudism was legal on private property that was fenced and screened.
Drs. André and Gaston Durville bought on the
Île du Levant
Île du Levant (), sometimes referred to as Le Levant, is a French island in the Mediterranean off the coast of the Riviera, near Toulon. It is one of the four that constitute the Îles d'Hyères. Part of the island is occupied by the naturi ...
where they established the village of Héliopolis, which was open to the public. In 1925 Dr François Fougerat de David de Lastours wrote a thesis on
heliotherapy, and in that year opened the . In 1936 the naturist movement was officially recognised.
Albert and Christine Lecocq were active members of many of these clubs, but they left after disagreements and in 1944 founded the with members in 84 cities. Four years later they founded the
Fédération Française de Naturisme (FFN); in 1949 they started the magazine, ; and in 1950 they opened the
CHM Montalivet
CHM Montalivet (CHM for "Centre Hélio-Marin", "center of sun and sea"), also known as CHM Monta, is the world's first naturist holiday resort located south of Montalivet, in Vendays-Montalivet, France. CHM Montalivet opened in 1950, and the In ...
, the world's first naturist holiday centre, where the INF was formed.
Germany
![FKK-Gelande Sudstrand (2200636875)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/FKK-Gelande_Sudstrand_%282200636875%29.jpg)
German naturism (''
Freikörperkultur
The Freikörperkultur (FKK) is a social and health culture that originated in the German Empire; its beginnings were historically part of the '' Lebensreform'' social movement in the late 19th century. The ''Freikörperkultur'', which translates ...
, FKK'') was part of the movement and the youth movement of 1896, from
Steglitz,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, which promoted ideas of fitness and vigour. At the same time, doctors of the
Natural Healing Movement were using heliotherapy, treating diseases such as tuberculosis, rheumatism, and scrofula with exposure to sunlight.
, a term coined in 1903 by Heinrich Pudor, connected nudity, vegetarianism and social reform, and was practised in a network of 200 members clubs. The movement gained prominence in the 1920s by offering a health-giving lifestyle with Utopian ideals. Germany published the first naturist journal between 1902 and 1932, but it became politicised by radical socialists who believed it would lead to classlessness and a breakdown of society. It eventually became associated with
pacificism
Pacificism is the general term for ethical opposition to violence or war unless force is deemed necessary. Together with pacifism, it is born from the Western tradition or attitude that calls for peace. The former involves the unconditional refu ...
.
In 1926,
Adolf Koch
Adolf Karl Hubert Koch (9 April 1897 in BerlinBirth Register: Standesamt Berlin IVa, Registration No. 343/1897 – 2 July 1970) was a German educationalist and sports teacher. He was the founder of a gymnastics movement named after him and a pio ...
established a school of naturism in Berlin, encouraging a mixing of the sexes, open air exercises, and a programme of "sexual hygiene". In 1929 the Berlin school hosted the first International Congress on Nudity.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
East Germans
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
were free to practice naturism, chiefly at beaches rather than clubs (private organizations were regarded as potentially subversive). Naturism became a large element in DDR politics. The subsection of the Workers Sports Organisation had 60,000 members. Since
reunification
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...
there are many clubs, parks and beaches open to naturists, though nudity has become less common in the former eastern zone. Germans are typically the most commonly seen visitors at nude beaches in France and around Europe.
Greece
Public nudity is legal in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
There are no official nude beaches, however, there are numerous unofficial nude beaches especially on the islands frequented by tourists, like
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
Mykonos
Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to the ...
or
Karpathos
Karpathos ( el, Κάρπαθος, ), also Carpathos, is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality of Karpathos, which is part o ...
, and also on smaller islands like
Skopelos
Skopelos ( el, Σκόπελος, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands which comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island ...
or
Skiathos
Skiathos ( el, Σκιάθος, , ; grc, Σκίαθος, ; and ) is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland ...
where nudity is tolerated, usually at the more remote ends or secluded areas of beaches.
Toplessness
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness.
Expose ...
also is widely practiced by locals and tourists alike as there are no cultural taboos against it.
In 2015, a court in Greece's second largest city,
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, acquitted nudist activists who were charged for wandering naked in the city as part of their activist actions for promoting the urban nudism. In its ruling, the court deemed these acts to be "not lewd or lascivious", and vindicated the activists, thus recognizing their right to be naked publicly.
Italy
Full nudity is admitted in Italy in the official naturist beaches and places of the country, and in many other places where there's an established tradition of naturist attendance, as confirmed by a recent absolution sentence.
In all other public places, full nudity is generally prohibited by civil law and could be punished with fines that have been recently reduced (min. 51 to max. 309 euros, see th
pronouncement of the Constitutional Court.
In the last decades, six Regions of Italy, regions have created laws to promote naturist tourism, and actually there are more than twenty official naturist beaches in all Italy, where naturism is recognised and guaranteed by administrative acts, and more than thirty beaches with a long tradition of naturist attendance where nudity is accepted. Naturist accommodations are located in most of the regions and it's estimated that the number of nudists and naturists in Italy is about half a million people. Since the 1960s there are naturist associations in many regions, and a naturist federation on a national level.
Female toplessness is allowed, in a nonsexual context, in all the beaches of the country: on March 20, 2000, the Supreme Court of Cassation (Italy), Supreme Court of Cassation through sentence No. 3557 has determined that the exposure of the nude female breast since some decades is considered a "commonly accepted behavior" and therefore has "entered into the social custom". Since then, local government regulations forbidding toplessness are extremely rare.
Netherlands
The oldest Dutch naturist association is ("Sun and Life"), founded in 1946 with the aim of promoting healthy physical and mental development and a natural way of life. The national association is (NFN), which in 2017 adopted the new brand name ("Simply Naked") in an effort to become more accessible to casual naturists and strengthen the acceptance of nude recreation.
In general, Dutch people are very tolerant of beach nudity, as long as it does not impact others, or involve inappropriate staring or sexual behaviour. Topless sunbathing is permitted on most beaches except where prohibited by signage.
Portugal
The ''Federação Portuguesa de Naturismo'' (Portuguese Naturist Federation) or FPN was founded on 1 March 1977 in Lisbon. In the 21st century, naturism is considered a tolerated practice, whereas there are many officially designated nudist beaches.
Poland
![Woodstock Poland 2014 -- FKK](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Woodstock_Poland_2014_--_FKK.jpg)
In today's Poland naturism is practiced in number of the seaside and inland beaches. Most Polish beaches of this type are actually Free beach, clothing-optional rather than naturist. One such beach is Międzyzdroje, Międzyzdroje-Lubiewo.
Spain
![Nude couple in Barcelona, Spain - 20070928](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Nude_couple_in_Barcelona%2C_Spain_-_20070928.jpg)
Public nudity in Spain is not illegal since there is no law banning its practice. Spanish legislation foresees felony for exhibitionism but restricts its scope to obscene exposure in front of children or mentally impaired individuals, i.e. with sexual connotation. There are, however, some municipalities (like San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain, San Pedro del Pinatar) where public nudity has been banned by means of by-laws. Other municipalities (like
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Salou, Platja de Palma and Sant Antoni de Portmany) have used similar provisions to regulate partial nudity, requiring people to cover their torsos on the streets. Some naturist associations have appealed these by-laws on the grounds that a fundamental right (freedom of expression, as they understand nudism to be self-expression) cannot be regulated with such a mechanism. Some courts have ruled in favour of nudist associations. Nudism in Spain is normally practised by the seaside, on beaches or small coves with a tradition of naturism. In Vera, Spain, Vera (Andalusia), there is a wide residential area formed by nudist urbanisations. Nudist organisations may organise some activities elsewhere in inner territory.
Legal provisions regarding partial nudity (or toplessness) are analogous to those regarding full nudity, but social tolerance towards toplessness is higher. The law does not require women to cover their breasts in public swimming, or on any beach in Spain. The governments of the municipalities of Galdakao and L'Ametlla del Vallès legalized female toplessness on their public pools in March 2016 and June 2018, respectively.
United Kingdom
![WNBR London 2016 (31088095095)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/WNBR_London_2016_%2831088095095%29.jpg)
In the United Kingdom, the first official nudist club was established in Wickford, Essex, in 1924. According to Michael Farrar, writing for British Naturism, the club adopted the name "Moonella Group" from the name of the owner of the ground and called its site The Camp. Moonella, who was still living in 1965 but whose identity remains to be discovered, had inherited a house with land in 1923 and made it available to certain members of the New Gymnosophy Society. This society was founded a few years before by H.C. Booth, M.H. Sorensen and Rex Wellbye under the name of the English Gymnosophical Society. It met for discussions at the Minerva Cafe at 144 High Holborn in London, the headquarters of the Women's Freedom League. Those who were permitted to join the Moonella Group were carefully selected, and the club was run by a leadership of the original members, all of whom had club names to preserve their anonymity. The club closed in 1926 because of construction on adjacent land.
By 1943, there were a number of "sun clubs", and together they formed the British Sun Bathers Association, or BSBA. In 1954, a group of clubs unhappy with the way the BSBA was being run, split to form the Federation of British Sun Clubs, or FBSC. In 1961, the BSBA Annual Conference agreed that the term nudist was inappropriate and should be discarded in favour of naturist. The two organisations rivalled each other before eventually coming together again in 1964 as the Central Council for British Naturism, or CCBN. This organisation structure has remained much the same but it is now called British Naturism, which is often abbreviated to BN.
The first official nude beach was opened at Fairlight Glen in Covehurst Bay near Hastings in 1978 (not to be confused with Fairlight Cove, which is to the east), followed later by the beaches at Brighton and Fraisthorpe. Bridlington opened in April 1980.
Oceania
Australia
![Skinny dipping hippy girls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Skinny_dipping_hippy_girls.jpg)
Australia's first naturist club was founded in Sydney in 1931 by the French-born anarchist and pacifist Kleber Claux. In 1975, the southern half of Maslin Beach, south of Adelaide, was declared Australia's first official nude beach. The beach is almost long, so the area reserved for nude bathing is away from other beach users.
New Zealand
Nudist clubs (called ''sun clubs'') were established in Dunedin and Auckland in early 1938; the Auckland Sun Group went into recess shortly afterwards due to the outbreak of World War II. In 1958 the allied nudist clubs of New Zealand established the New Zealand Sunbathing Association, later renamed the New Zealand Naturist Federation. The Federation includes 17 affiliated clubs with a total membership (in 2012) of 1,600 people. In 2016 the Federation, in conjunction with Tourism New Zealand, hosted the International Naturist Federation#World Congress, World Congress of the International Naturist Federation at the Wellington Naturist Club, marking the second time the Congress had ever been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Outside formal naturist organizations, social nudity is practised in a variety of contexts in New Zealand culture. It is a feature of many summer music festivals, including Convergence, Kiwiburn, Luminate, Rhythm & Vines, and Splore, in a tradition going back to
Nambassa
Nambassa was a series of hippie-conceived festivals held between 1976 and 1981 on large farms around Waihi and Waikino in New Zealand. They were music, arts and alternatives festivals that focused on peace, love, and an environmentally friendly ...
in the late 1970s. It is also associated with the culture of Rugby football, rugby, most prominently in the nude rugby match held in Dunedin each winter from 2002 to 2014 (and sporadically thereafter) as pre-match entertainment for the first professional rugby game of the season, and in the mock public holiday "National Nude Day", an event in which viewers of the TVNZ 2, TV2 talk show ''SportsCafe'' were invited – chiefly by former rugby player Marc Ellis (rugby), Marc Ellis, the show's most irrepressibly comic presenter – to send in photos and video of themselves performing daily activities in the nude.
While a large proportion of New Zealanders are tolerant of nudity, especially on beaches, there remains a contingent who consider it obscene. Naturists who engage in casual public nudity, even in places where this is lawful, risk being reported to police by disapproving people. Legally, nudity is permissible on any beach where it is "known to occur", in consequence of which New Zealand has no official nude beaches. The indecent exposure provision of the Summary Offences Act is, in practice, reserved for cases of public sexual gratification, but public nudity may still be prosecuted under the "offensive behaviour" provision.
North America
Canada
In Canada individuals around the country became interested in nudism, Nude swimming, skinny-dipping, and physical culture in the early part of the 20th century. ''Sunbathing & Health'', a magazine targeted toward Canadian naturists and which occasionally carried local news, began publication after 1940. There were scattered groups of naturists in several cities during the 1930s and 1940s, and some of these groups attracted enough interest to form clubs on private land. The most significant clubs were the Van Tan Club, formed in 1939, which is still operating in North Vancouver, BC, and the Sun Air Club, in Ontario.
Canadians who served in the military during the Second World War met like-minded souls from across the country, and often visited clubs while in Europe. They were a ready pool of recruits for post-war organizers. A few years later, the wave of post-war immigration brought many Europeans with their own extensive experience, and they not only swelled the ranks of membership, but often formed their own clubs, helping to expand nudism from coast to coast.
Most clubs eventually united in the Canadian Sunbathing Association, which affiliated with the American Sunbathing Association in 1954. Several disagreements between eastern and western members of the CSA resulted in its division into the Western Canadian Sunbathing Association (WCSA) and the Eastern Canadian Sunbathing Association (ECSA) in 1960. The ECSA endured much in-fighting over the next fifteen years, which led to its official demise in 1978. The WCSA changed its name to the American Association for Nude Recreation – Western Canadian Region, a region of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR), which itself was formerly known as the ASA.
In 1977 the (FQN) was founded in Quebec by Michel Vaïs, who had experienced European naturism at Montalivet. In 1985 the Federation of Canadian Naturists (FCN) was formed with the support of the FQN. In 1988 the FQN and FCN formed the FQN-FCN Union as the official Canadian representative in the International Naturist Federation.
Mexico
![WestEndZipoliteNudes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/WestEndZipoliteNudes.JPG)
Federación Nudista de México is a members organization with both individual and organization members. It promotes social nudity in Mexico, and it is recognized by the International Naturist Federation as the official national naturist organization in that country.
As of 2016, Playa Zipolite is Mexico's first and only legal public nude beach. A ''free beach'' and unofficially nudist for more than 50 years, this beach is reputed to be the best place for nudism in the country. The numerous nude sunbathers, and the long tradition, make it safe for nudism and naturism. Annually since 2016, on the first weekend of February, Zipolite has hosted Festival Nudista Zipolite that in 2019 attracted 7,000–8,000 visitors.
United States
![FYN 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/FYN_09.jpg)
Kurt Barthel founded the American League for Physical Culture in 1929 and organized the first nudist event. In about 1930 they organized the American Gymnosophical Association. Barthel founded America's first official nudist camp, Sky Farm in New Jersey, in May, 1932. Around 1932, the AGA established the Rock Lodge Club as a nudist facility in Stockholm, New Jersey and Ilsley Boone, a Dutch Reformed minister, formed the Christian naturism movement. Naturism began to expand nationwide. Nudism venues were alcohol-free until 1970.
The American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) is the national naturist organization. Arnd Krüger compared nudists in Germany and the United States and came to the conclusion that in Germany the racial aspects (''Zuchtwahl'') were important for the breakthrough (e.g. the Commanding General of the Army served as patron for nudists events), while in the U.S. nudism was far more commercial and had thus more difficulties.
In 2008, Florida Young Naturists held their first Naked Bash, which has been repeated multiple times per year and has grown into one of the largest young naturist gatherings in the world.
In 2009, a campaign to promote nudism in the United States occurred with an effort by the AANR to record the largest simultaneous skinny dip at several U.S. clubs and beaches, which occurred on July 11 of that year.
In 2010, a new organization formed called Young Naturists America, which was mostly focused on the younger generation, as well as social issues, such as
body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
. Young Naturists and Nudists America closed in 2017.
Asia
Indonesia
In the 1970s, nudity on Bali's remote and deserted beaches was common, but with the massive growth of tourism this practice has disappeared. In 2002, nudity was declared illegal on Petitenget Beach, the last beach in Seminyak that tolerated discreet nudity. Individuals began to practice nudity in private villas and resorts. Laki Uma Villa, the first naturist facility to open, was for gay men only. Bali au Naturel, the first adult-only nudist resort for both genders, opened its doors in 2004. It subsequently expanded from 3 to 15 rooms and added two more swimming pools.
Indonesia has an underground naturist community who defy the laws against public nudity.
Thailand
Nudism was successfully introduced in 2012 by The Thailand Naturist Association in Pattaya (Chan Resort), and five more nudist resorts have been created across Thailand: Barefeet Resort in Bangkok, Lemon Tree Resort in Phuket City, Phuket, Oriental Village in Chiangmai, Phuan Naturist Village in Pattaya, and Peace Blue Naturist Resort in Phuket.
Since 2020 during the worldwide pandemic, Lemon Tree Resort in Phuket, Oriental Village in Chiangmai, and Phuan Naturist Village in Pattaya had been permanently closed.
Dragonfly Naturist Village in Pattaya (a member of American Association for Nude Recreation) has opened and currently expanding its property as the largest naturist resort in Thailand.
South America
Argentina
Naturism is allowed in the official nude beaches of Puerto Escondido, located near Miramar, Buenos Aires Province, Miramar, and Playa Querandí, located in Villa Gesell. Furthermore, total nudity is also permitted in some private naturist resorts.
Brazil
In general, public nudity tends to be condemned by the Brazilian authorities, which commonly see it as indecent exposure. However, the country has the highest number of official nude beaches in Latin America, being 8 in total, and this is partially explained by the fact that the Brazilian territory has more than of ocean coast. Moreover, there are a few private naturist clubs throughout the country where full nudity is accepted as well. Naturism in Brazil is regulated by the Brazilian Naturism Federation (in Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Federação Brasileira de Naturismo'', abbreviated as ''FBrN'').
Chile
The first nude beach in the country, called Playa Luna, was officially legalized in 2000, and there are unofficial restricted areas that were created in Playa Luna Norte (Tarapacá), Playa Luna Sur (Coliumo), Playa Escondida (Antofagasta), Playa Blanca (Tongoy) and Pichilemu, where it is possible to completely undress with total normality.
Uruguay
There are two official nude beaches where the practice of naturism is allowed: Chihuahua, located in the resort Chihuahua, Uruguay, of the same name, and La Sirena Beach, La Sirena, located in the resort of Aguas Dulces.
Naturist media
Magazines
Magazines published by, for or purportedly about naturists can be grouped:
* Magazines published by an "official" national organisation, such as ''BN'' (British Naturism), ''Going Natural/Au naturel'' (FCN/FQN), ''Nude & Natural Magazine'' (The Naturist Society), ''gonatural'' (New Zealand Naturist Federation).
* Independent magazines published for naturists, such as ''Naturally'', ''
H&E naturist
''H&E naturist'' (originally ''Health and Efficiency'') is a 92-page monthly commercial magazine focusing on the naturist lifestyle, through articles on travel, health and culture, as well as various features on arts and books with a naked theme ...
'' and ''TAN'' (acronym of ''The Australian Naturist'').
* Magazines that print photographs only or primarily of young female professional models, which are disapproved of by many naturists and non-naturists alike.
Magazines in the second and, occasionally, third groups feature naturist editorial and advertising. While some naturists argue over which magazines belonged in which of these categories, these views may change as publishers and editors change. Many clubs and groups have benefited from magazines which, while not exclusively or even predominantly naturist in character, made naturist information available to many who would not otherwise have been aware of it. The information and advertising provided online, along with the wide availability of free online porn, has meant the disappearance of old-style "skin" magazines presenting significant glamour content masquerading as, or alongside, naturist content. Naturist magazines have to appeal strongly to naturists to succeed; they cannot sit on the fence between naturism and glamour. Some naturists feel that the worthwhile editorial content in some magazines is not a fair balance for the disapproved-of photographic content.
Photography, films and videos
![Nudist tea for two](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Nudist_tea_for_two.jpg)
Although photographing others when they are nude in a public place may not violate their rights to privacy, individuals retain the personality rights to their own image in many countries. If so, recognizable photographs of any person cannot be published without permission.
Some naturist clubs have been willing to allow filming by the media on their grounds, though content that proved not to be of genuine naturism can end up being parodied by the media.
Some commercial 'naturist' DVDs are dominated by imagery of naked children. Such material can be marketed in ways that appear to appeal directly to pedophile inclinations, and ownership of these DVDs (and their earlier video cassette incarnations) has resulted in successful British prosecutions for possession of indecent images of children. One case was appealed, unsuccessfully, to the European Court of Human Rights.
Photo shoots, including major high-profile works by Spencer Tunick, are done in public places including beaches.
See also
* Breastfeeding in public
* List of social nudity organizations
* List of places where social nudity is practised
* Naked party
* Timeline of non-sexual social nudity
* Streaking
* Topfreedom
Footnotes
Notes
References
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Further reading
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* Harp, Stephen L. ''Au naturel: Naturism, nudism, and tourism in twentieth-century France'' (LSU Press, 2014).
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External links
International Naturist FederationFederatie van het Belgisch Naturisme(FBN)
Federación Nudista de México(FNM)
Naturist Living Show*
UK Crown Prosecution Service - Nudity in PublicFederazione Naturista Italiana
{{Authority control
Naturism,
Lifestyles
Social theories
Subcultures
Underground culture