The Slow Death of Shame

Ten years ago, in 2014, I debated someone who insisted, based on his experience, that nudism was either dead or dying (listen to the podcast below). Admittedly, over the past several years, we have seen a worrying decline in organized nudism. Club memberships are down, and many resorts have had to shut their doors, turn into swinger hangouts, or rebrand themselves as “textile only.” Nude beaches around the world have also been dropping in attendance with an increasing scarcity of young people willing to bare it all.

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And yet, despite how it may at first appear, the nudist movement is not dying, and in fact, these numbers may actually be encouraging. Why? Because true nudism has never been about beaches or resorts. The notion that special places must be set aside for us to exist is antithetical to the movement. Clothes-free living should be allowed everywhere, at home, in our backyards, in public parks, etc.

Nudism is the absence of shame. That’s it. That’s the whole philosophy in a nutshell. It is a superfluous and unnecessary term. We don’t have words for people who don’t wear hats, so why have a word for people who don’t wear anything? Why say nude or naked when we can say, “Those people there are unclothed”?

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Nakedness is our default state. It’s how nature intended us to live, despite a multi-billion-dollar sex and fashion industry propagating the belief that we can never be attractive enough to exist as we came into this world. But so long as people reject body shame, the tenets of nudism will remain in one form or another.

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So, where have all the nudists gone? Home. Like me, they’re home with family and friends, enjoying their pools and backyards. Because, now that the risk of being “found out,” being photographed or blackmailed is no longer a concern, there is no point in hiding, no point in driving for hours just to pay exorbitant fees for the simple privilege of living in your skin.

Nudism isn’t dying; it’s the need for organized nudism that’s no longer necessary. It’s the death of shame.

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