Notice: I originally wrote this piece in 2017, when Felicity Jones was still active on social media, and my friend Steve from Allnudist.com still graced us with his insight (RIP). When my nudist content migrated over from my literary blog, I neglected to post this because I was never quite happy with it. Over the past five years, however, my life has changed considerably—I am nude 24/7 at home now—giving me a much-needed perspective that I would now like to share with you, with a new, never-before-seen intro below.
In his book, This is a Book, comedian Demetri Martin gives us a hilarious account called Better Than Sex, wherein his character shares all the things he considers “better than sex,” which includes just about everything. He later goes on to point out what he regards as “worse than sex.” The punchline? He really hadn’t liked his ex-girlfriend much and was clueless in the bedroom.
And this got me thinking: how much do I like sex? Well, if I am to be honest here, my feelings about the subject have changed drastically over the years, which is only natural for most people my age. Our libidos aren’t the same at 50 as they are at 15. So, keep in mind that age has a lot to do with what I am about to propose, which is this: I might sooner give up sex than nudism. Yeah, I know, crazy, right? But it all comes down to euphoria. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the euphoria scale, sex comes in at around 6 or 7 for me, but how long does that feeling actually last? Two minutes? Five? Then BAM! Your brain gets flooded with a few seconds of 9 or 10 and it’s all over. Nudism, mind you, isn’t about arousal or pleasure — but it can be pleasurable. I’d say it hovers between 0 and 2 on the euphoria scale. BUT . . . and this is a big BUTT . . . that feeling lasts ALL DAY LONG. Now, I am not including intimacy in this equation. That is an entirely different experience, and it ranks #1, IMO. But raw, unadulterated wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am (God I’m old!)??? . . . I just might prefer lounging around the pool on a nice summer day. Or maybe, like Demetri Martin, I just don’t know what the heck I’m doing!
Generally speaking, young children are more boisterous than their parents. Much of this has to do with physical limitations. My seven-year-old likes to handspring across the living room all day, while my seventy-year-old mother would break in half attempting the same maneuver. Doubtless, there is a mental and physical component to these differences. Older people don’t do cartwheels because they don’t feel like doing cartwheels, just like collecting dolls or watching cartoons loses its appeal after a certain age. When a girl in first grade asked me to be her boyfriend, I told her no, because eight-year-old me thought kissing was gross. I was also deathly afraid of showering in the buff in view of my classmates. Not surprisingly, puberty changed my mind about locking lips with girls and also led me down the path to nudism.
As we move through life’s stages, chemical changes in our brains determine our perceptions, feelings, and behavior. Neuroscientist Sam Harris asserts that every decision we make, however innocuous, stems from brain chemistry. For this reason, he argues, free will is merely an illusion. What you perceive as choice is something beyond your control. Now, while I do not fully prescribe to this claim, I believe a great deal of our lives is dictated by chemistry. Whether you’re waving a rainbow flag at a Gay Pride Festival or holding a Trump sign, the neurons firing impulses across your gray matter are making it happen. And it makes sense if you think about it. Our brains are products of our inherited DNA and can differ widely between race, sex, and gender. Consider what would happen if you could magically turn a KKK member into an African American or change a Bible-thumping anti-gay pastor into a homosexual. OK, the most vociferous anti-gay proponents are typically gay themselves; oftentimes, self-hate is the greatest hate of all. But I do not doubt the old wisdom about walking a mile in another man’s shoes. Our nation has not been this divided since the Civil War, and understanding why and how we differ matters more than ever.
I came to realize the effect brain chemistry had on my nudist proclivities in 2010 when I mysteriously lost interest in sex. My doctor prescribed Cialis because, as I suspect, he thought I was trying to boost my performance. What he had not understood was that my problem was in my brain. I long considered the unclad female form the apex of beauty in the universe, but on that day in his office, women were pretty in the way you might call a flower pretty, a rainbow, or a painting. A part of me had simply stopped working. When I looked at a girl who was, for lack of a better word, au natural, nothing was activating, and it scared me. Beyond just a lack of libido, I felt like I’d aged about thirty years, like I was closer to sixty-five than thirty-five. At about the same time, I gave up on nudism.
I still believed in the fundamental right to be nude in public and could find nothing offensive about the human body. But personally, I just didn’t feel like it. And the weird thing is, while I did not entirely miss being naked, I did miss wanting to be nude. Like sex, nudism brought me a great deal of joy, and now that part of me was missing. Months later, I had an MRI and was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. The tumor was blocking the production of testosterone, but thanks to a tiny round pill, the blockage shrank to almost nothing, and I felt myself returning to normal. My libido shot back up, as did my enjoyment of nakedness.
For a naturist, nudity is natural. Textiles, by contrast, see the unclothed body as crass, repulsive, or sexually stimulating. DNA determines 80% of our personalities, whether we’re early or late risers, enjoy Chinese or Mexican food, or voted for Kamala or Trump. The DNA of someone who loves being nude must differ from that of someone who dresses immediately after a shower. Genetic variations affecting behavior are manifested in the brain, but how and why and to what degree environmental stimuli alters what we do remains a mystery. For this reason, I would suggest naturists themselves do not fully understand what drives them to the lifestyle and that there is a lot more going on internally than mere longing for comfort.
Nudists insist there is no correlation between nudity and sex, and I have made this claim myself. But I am not so certain after taking a trip down Low-T Lane. What I do know is that the human brain is much more complex than we realize, and our sense of sexuality is equally complex. I am not suggesting nudists are in it for the sex. I have never seen an orgy breakout at a resort, and overt displays of lewd behavior will get you thrown out. This isn’t to say, however, that at the neuron level, there isn’t something being triggered by the sight of genitalia. According to KQED, The Science of Nudity:
One important thing science tells us is that humans are hyper-tuned to the sight of bare skin. We recognize nude images quicker than almost anything–faster than cars, clothed people, or faces–and we do it within 0.2 seconds. From 0.3 seconds onwards, studies show a range of emotional reactions, some of them perhaps counter-intuitive: men actually become less aggressive subsequent to seeing images of nude women. And then there are obvious results: nudity causes arousal.
Sexuality plays a role in almost everything we do, from using the bathroom to our choice of swimwear to the way we dance. Subtle changes in facial expression, body language, and even the pitch of our voices sends signals to the opposite sex without you even being aware of it. Sex is an integral part of being human and goes far beyond A + B. To suggest nudism has “nothing” to do with sex, I feel, is either disingenuous or a symptom of mere confusion.
Why is it that every nakation travel brochure features young, attractive models? Even the American Association for Nude Recreation’s magazine, The Bulletin, tends to display its more attractive members. The stars of pro-naturist films like Free the Nipple and Act Naturally are typically younger, and bloggers Felicity Jones and Lady God1va have many more followers than I will ever have. At a naturist resort I visited with my wife in Cancun, the athletic young couple who happened to be vacationing that weekend were treated like celebrities. That being said, I am not calling nudists out for hypocrisy. On the contrary, I continue to advocate a pro-body philosophy. I believe in fighting the harmful beauty standards so narrowly defined by Barbie dolls and Playboy. But even the most ardent nudist cannot deny the fundamental processes that go on in the brain and that we all, on some level, harbor our own biases.
This problem stems from our lack of understanding of how the brain works concerning sex. We need more research in this area, and while I do not have the means for it, I am calling for those in the community to scrutinize the lifestyle from a more scientific standpoint. If we are to be honest with ourselves, we must consider the possibility that when we slip off our clothes, the parts of our brains associated with arousal become active.
It would not surprise me if some nudists were to protest this idea, in that it may derail the movement, and textiles will say to us, “Aha! I knew it! You’re all a bunch of perverts!” But honesty and transparency have always been an integral part of nudism. In going naked, we choose to hide nothing. And when it comes to our inner thoughts and feelings, we should be equally forthcoming. For too long, we have pretended to see no difference between a clothed and a naked person. Even to argue that everyone is equally attractive is, I feel, disingenuous.
We should never be afraid to examine our beliefs because science does not dictate morality. The purpose of science is to help us make informed decisions. It may turn out that the associations we make between sex and nudity are more dependent on the individual. But even if it turns out that there is a greater connection between them than we like to let on, we should not be dissuaded from our core principles. Naturism is the belief that human beings, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, can treat one another with respect. And in showing the world that nudists are, in fact, human—that we have desires and prejudices and biases like everyone else— we may become more relatable and the movement more attractive to newcomers.
For this article, I wanted to reach out to two of my fellow naturists, people I have known for a long time, who have devoted much of their lives to the movement. Remember that the views of two people are statistically insignificant and do not make for scientific study.
Steve Willard has been a naturist for 40+ years and is the founder of All-Nudist, an online resource dedicated to separating real nudist sites from those peddling smut.
NICK: How old were you when you got into naturism, and what drove you into it?
STEVE: Growing up, my family was pretty casual about nudity but not serious about it. I’d always been attracted to it and got naked, inside and out, whenever I could. Real beach and club nudism began in my mid-forties with my former wife. Not long after that, I started All-Nudist as a counter to the smut usually found on the Web. We’ve tried to maintain a benchmark of social nudism that folks, especially newcomers, can use to compare with other versions they run across. Not everyone agrees with our viewpoint, but a conservative approach shared worldwide is a good start!
NICK: I agree there are a lot of so-called nudist sites that do not represent the movement at all. People seem to be stuck in this mindset, that it’s either all about sex or that we belong to some anti-sex cult. There is no happy medium. It should come as no surprise that people gravitate toward pictures of younger, attractive females (and males). Even your logo, I would argue, has an element of sexuality to it. What is your view on this?
STEVE: Mea culpa, our logo could be seen as somewhat of a sexual appearance. Or is it ‘art’? Our original one was a line drawing of Adam and Eve, but this one is more ‘attractive’ and implies more than just old-fashioned concepts. But you won’t find gratuitous pics posted just for the sake of viewing; they’re used to illustrate an article just like any other legitimate information source does. Porn is and will continue to be associated with nudity, but a greater danger comes from those who wish to be part of social nudism, but want to change it to suit THEIR desires. They dilute and weaken the bonds that have formed over a hundred years. Those folks never embraced what nudism/naturism is in the first place.
NICK: No need to apologize for the logo. I really like it. But my point is, I feel that despite our beliefs, we cannot separate ourselves from our basic natures. Let me ask you, were there ever times in your life when you doubted the whole thing? Or maybe you just didn’t feel like being nude anymore? Or are there days you’d rather just not be nude, even if it’s warm?
STEVE: Doubted? Never. I would be naked 24/7 if I could. Unfortunately, after a surgery gone bad, my metabolism has flip-flopped, and I find myself bundled up in layers while [my wife] Angie is nude on the couch! Not fair!
NICK: So, would you say you feel as interested in naturism as you were at 40? Or when you were in better health?
STEVE: Absolutely.
NICK: OK. Now, I want you to imagine this hypothetical situation: you’ve been hooked up to a brain scan, and it has been clearly determined that the part of your brain associated with sex is also associated with the enjoyment you get out of nudity. How would you feel that would affect your ideas regarding nudism? Would you be surprised? Or would you be indifferent?
STEVE: I guess the short answer would be ‘indifferent’. As we’ve repeatedly affirmed on our website, just because we’re nudists doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate an attractive person. ‘Attraction’ is inherently sexually motivated, as are nearly all things. That’s Nature at work! Attraction is essentially a desire to be closer to someone, for personality or sexual reasons. We wish to possess that person for ourselves. Nudists are just better at finding others attractive for reasons other than ‘beauty’ or sex appeal. It’s not as important as appearance is to Textiles. People are always talking about the sensual feeling of grass, wind and water on a bare body. True, and sensuality is a close friend of sexuality. There’s no reason not to let them mingle on occasion, or to enjoy the company of other nude people, but if sexual thoughts dominate the nudist experience, it may be time to find another place to pursue that and reconsider what it means to be a nudist/naturist. It’s not for everyone. As an aside, have you ever been at a nudist venue, perhaps in the pool, when a pretty young woman shows up? Watch the old men flock to make her feel welcome!
NICK: Yes! Young, beautiful couples tend to be treated differently, which seems to go against the nudist ethos, but I see nothing wrong with that. We are all products of our evolution. But what I have yet to see at a resort is harassment or a woman being treated disrespectfully. No doubt it happens, I just haven’t seen it. Visit any nightclub, and you’ll see a lot worse!
Felicity Jones (not the Rogue One star) co-founded Young Naturists America, an organization dedicated to free-body activism. She does more than just write up naturist articles, however. Felicity helps to organize meet-ups with free-spirited individuals like herself, whom she calls ‘nudies,’ and arranges for special events like Body Painting Day, with artist Andy Golub in NYC. For Felicity, naturism goes hand-in-hand with feminism and a positive body image.
NICK: You’ve been involved in the naturist movement for a long time. When did you realize an interest in naturism? Or were you born into it?
FELICITY: I was born into it. My parents were naturists, and I was raised in a naturist family. We belonged to a nudist club in NJ called Rock Lodge, and so growing up, I spent a lot of time there every summer.
NICK: Do you see a big difference between people introduced to the lifestyle at a young age and people coming into it later in life? How so?
FELICITY: Yes, for sure. People who get into nudism later in life tend to be a lot more enthusiastic, excited and dedicated to it. I guess that’s just the natural result of people growing up with something that’s accepted as normal, vs. choosing it for themselves later as something new and different. Beyond that, of course, kids who grow up as naturists often have a more positive body image and healthier attitudes towards nudity and the human body. I believe the younger you are when you first try it, the more of a positive impact it can have on your psyche. It can work as a bit of an antidote to all of the negative messages we get about our bodies.
NICK: It has been my experience that men and women take to naturism differently. Men seem to want to be fully nude more often, and women seem to take comfort in simple accessories. I saw a lot of sarongs at a clothing-optional resort in Cancun!
FELICITY: Yes, I’ve written at length about the gender imbalance in naturism and how men seem to gravitate towards social nudity. It’s hard to pinpoint any one reason for this, but I’ve discussed a few social / cultural factors that I think are primarily to blame – body image, safety and rape culture, etc. Here’s my article about this – https://youngnaturistsamerica.com/nudist-women-why-naturism-has-lady-women-problem-today/
NICK: I know there’s a big misconception that nudists want to be nude 24/7. That being said, barring cold weather, are there days you simply prefer being dressed? If so, how do you feel your mood/self-image plays into that decision?
FELICITY: Well, it’s a misconception that that’s what it means to be a nudist when really there’s kind of a spectrum. Some say they want to be naked all the time, but I think the majority are fine with wearing clothes sometimes. I wouldn’t really describe myself as a dedicated home nudist. Mostly, I lounge in comfortable clothing when I’m home, and it doesn’t have much to do with my mood or self-image. What I really like is being naked outdoors when it’s warm, and as far as my mood, I’m definitely happier that way [in the buff].
NICK: I believe there are differences in the brain between naturists, textiles, men, and women that could explain differences in our behavior outside of cultural and environmental aspects. Unfortunately, I have no real evidence to support this claim, but I think we need to explore it. For instance, my wife hates to be nude at home. I think most women are like this. Me, I prefer nudity 24/7, and I think that is true for a lot of guys.
FELICITY: I don’t *hate* to go nude at home. I’m just indifferent to it, or a little more comfortable in some kind of pants at least. I do get cold very easily, ha-ha. Unless I’ve just come from outside where it was blistering hot, then I’ll go in and strip down. But anyway, there could be some biological factor that makes men want to be naked. Who knows? There do exist women who want to be naked 24/7 too, so what would account for that difference? I still think the aforementioned cultural / social factors inhibit a lot of women from participating in naturism much more so than any brain / biological difference.
NICK: Lastly, I want to talk about sex. There seems to be a lot of contention about sex in nudism, with most nudists saying the two are entirely unrelated. I’d like to get your view on the subject.
FELICITY: I think nudists have had to work so hard in past decades to convince and assure everyone that nudism is a wholesome family activity, in the hopes that it would be accepted by society. But now things are different and I think it’s disingenuous to say, “Nudism isn’t sexual, at all, ever.” Humans are sexual beings, and that doesn’t change whether clothes are on or off. You don’t stop experiencing sexual feelings or being sexually attracted to someone in a nudist setting. The difference between sexual nudity and non-sexual nudity is in the behavior. Nudists don’t act on their sexual impulses. It’s all about context – there’s a time and place for everything. That’s a lot more explaining involved than saying “nudism is not sexual,” but I think nudists today need to acknowledge these distinctions instead of loudly insisting on that simple phrase.
Being and Nakedness 
A very interesting article. It sort of reflected my opinions on, what I consider, the disingenuousness of many in the nudist community. They HAVE to do this because our sick society is so against the average person actually being around other average people with their clothes off. They have to disingenuously deny that there is anything sexual about it. The problem is with people’s idea of what is ‘sexual’! The sick opinion that because I am excited by, and enjoy the sight of another naked body, that I am some sort of pervert is totally absurd!!! We need to stop vilifying sex, whether it is actual sex or whether it is just desire or interest in the naked body! I suppose that I could just go on and on about my dislike of this ‘anti-nude’ attitude and the way that it corrupts people’s attitudes, but I will stop now.
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