This morning, as I was planking, sweating, and reveling in the freedom of my naked workout, I was listening to Frank and Lisa on the Naked, Nudists, and Naturists podcast. Frank said something that stopped me mid-rep—not because I was exhausted (though I might have been), but because it struck a chord: “We don’t want to normalize nudity. It’s normal to be naked.”
Damn right.
It’s a brilliant distinction, one that upends the way many of us think about nudism. We often hear the phrase “normalizing nudity” as if we’re taking something strange, deviant, or taboo and trying to make it acceptable. But the truth is, nudity isn’t some radical concept that needs rebranding. It’s the human body in its default state.
A World Upside Down
Imagine explaining to an alien that on our planet, babies arrive naked, lovers embrace naked, we shower naked, we sleep naked (many of us, at least), and yet, walking around naked is somehow not normal. Instead, we wrap ourselves in layers of fabric, not just to protect against the elements, but against the mere idea of nudity itself. We don’t just cover up—we criminalize, shame, and suppress.
If that alien had eyebrows, they’d be raising them right now.
The Illusion of “Normal”
The real absurdity isn’t nudity—it’s the notion that clothes are a mandatory part of existence. We weren’t born with pants on. Our ancestors lived comfortably in their skin for millennia before some bright mind decided that fig leaves were all the rage. Yet, we’ve convinced ourselves that covering up is the natural state and being naked is something that must be explained, justified, or cautiously introduced.
Let’s flip the script. If nudity is normal, then the fear of nudity is what’s abnormal. The awkwardness people feel about their own bodies isn’t a natural instinct; it’s a learned response, drilled into us by centuries of moral policing, religious dogma, and commercial interests that profit from our insecurities.
No Permission Needed
So, where does this leave us? If nudity is already normal, then we don’t need permission to be nude—we need to stop apologizing for it. We don’t have to campaign for our right to exist as we are. We are as we are. If anything, the burden should be on society to justify why it insists on clothes as the default, not on us to explain why we reject that notion.
To be clear, this isn’t about forcing people to strip—it’s about removing the stigma so that those who do want to live naturally can do so without fear, shame, or social exile.
Living the Reality
I don’t live naked because I want to “normalize” nudity. I live naked because it’s normal for me. And if someone else finds that odd, well, that’s their conditioning speaking—not nature, not reason, not truth. My job isn’t to change their minds. It’s simply to live my truth and let reality do the convincing.
Frank’s words stuck with me because they remind us that nudists aren’t revolutionaries trying to force a bizarre new ideology onto the world. We are simply people who refuse to pretend that the human body is something that needs fixing.
Nudity doesn’t need normalization. It just needs recognition. And that starts with living it, unapologetically, every day.
Get Nude, Stay Nude, Live Nude and Share the Nude Love!
Quite right. I have always maintained that if God wanted me to be a nudist/naturist I would have been born Naked!
Spot on, Keith!
Right on, Marc! I fully agree, sitting nude at my computer reading your posting.
Thank you for comment, Wadhamite! Written as Im sitting at my desk, nude… What else!
I am reminded of the ‘decency on TV’ campaigner, Mary Whitehouse. It was said, how was she aware of all those shows she complained about if she did not go out of her way to watch them! Indecency is in the eye of the beholder!
Looking at Google Earth and the information provided by Nakedplaces.net it seems that all over the UK every clothing optional beach either requires at least half a mile walk or mountaineering skills! The one exception I have visited is Eastney Beach in Portsmouth, only 350 yards with more unconcerned dog walkers than swimmers, but then, it was February!
When I holiday in France things are much better; walking distances tend to be much shorter and, pure bliss, in a few places you can drive your car onto the beach and set up either right next to it or about 100 meters away. And no-one worries if you leave your clothes in the car and walk that 100 meters undressed ready for the day ahead. In France the dog walkers and the general populace stroll along in the near vicinity oblivious and uncaring about the nudity. Some people worry about the ‘Marmots’ standing on top of the dunes, seemingly surveying the beach below them, but, it seems that they are really just standing up and enjoying the cooling breeze on their bodies. I don’t believe they are voyeurs at all.
In Spain where nudity is legal everywhere it seems that the Police take the view that as long as you are discrete and to quote Oscar Wilde ‘don’t practice it in the street and frighten the horses’ everything is ignored. Personal experience in Lanzarote proved that no-one cared at all. A mix of people pursued their own options, be it nudity, topless or full textile. Strangely, no dog walkers!
This tacit acceptance of nudity as the norm by other unconcerned beach users is refreshing and set me thinking; If the majority of nudists are not as young as they once were, why are we forced to walk miles if it seems that no-one else using the beach objects? It would be much more logical to let those few strange textile people who find it exciting to wear a few scraps of cloth to emphasise their erogenous zones walk a mile from the car park to enjoy their strange ideas in privacy. The last advantage is that if the nearest beach was clothing optional the more sensible textile people might not bother to walk miles and with nudity normal all around them, might ‘throw in the towel’ and join in.
For the normal, well adjusted members of the public why don’t we all adopt a policy of: what we are wearing is normal and natural, if you feel you need to look, then go ahead, we don’t mind, and if you want to join in, why not! For dealing with perverts and voyeurs having the ‘clothing optional’ areas closer to civilisation would be a benefit , they could be brought to the notice of the Police and dealt with much more easily. But on the whole why worry about them? As long as they are doing no harm why worry about them. In time the normality of the situation will end up being boring for them.
I am glad to read mention of Naked, Nudists, and Naturists in your blog. The fact that nudity IS normal should certainly be realized by society. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Personally, I feel that there should be NO laws against public nudity! Our crazy, twisted society is moving in the OPPOSITE direction. I’m afraid that I don’t know the answer.