Children in Naturism [podcast]

When it comes to naturism and naturist families, we need to discuss the elephant in the room; we need to talk about naturist children.

Who is really sexualizing children? Is it the textile community forcing toddlers into bikini tops, or cults demanding their women cover up for modesty’s sake—or natural parents who believe a child’s body is never sexual, no matter the context? Even if you take the hard-line approach, “I don’t want my kids seeing that,” you must admit you cannot censor what they see forever. The question isn’t whether your children will be exposed to nudity but when and in what form.

---

---

Perhaps I am reaching here. Most parents do not consciously consider the norms of the society they live in. Parents want nothing but to protect their children from harm. But when we teach our kids never to look, never to show, never to discuss the parts of themselves we deem sexual, we are giving predators the means to commit abuse. Pedophiles operate in secret, and shame is the tool they use to hide their actions. The textile society is complicit in this regard, in teaching the youngest victims in our society that the crimes committed against them should never be talked about because the subject surrounding the crime (their bodies) is, in all circumstances, taboo.

---

---

This isn’t merely fancy rhetoric. After suffering abuse at a tender young age, I came to realize how damaging shame can be, and it’s the very reason I embrace the nudist lifestyle today. We do not want to groom children; we want to create a world where grooming is far less likely, if not impossible. Nudism is a philosophy based on openness and honesty. It is a lifestyle focused on combating objectification and sexualization. Predators cannot thrive under the light of day. When we separate nudity from sex, we help separate children from abuse.

In the podcast below (my first!), I discuss my personal experience with sex abuse, growing up in a textile world, and the harmful power of shame.

---