I was in France, and I do speak fluent French. In Southern France at the Ile du Levant and some places at St Tropez. Then Germany too. Nudity in Europe is more relaxed in appropriate places. I've also been in Finland, and as a guest we were all nude in the Sauna-it's just not a big deal. Near us in the US there are a few resorts.
True. The most memorable feeling is swimming nude. One may think that's not that different from when wearing a bathing suit. But it's not. Where we live there are two nudist resorts not far away. I actually wrote a term paper on one when I took an anthropology class. We had to experience a cultural immersion and I chose the nudist resort. I had already experience from my experiences in Europe, but my interviews revealed some interesting points regarding nudism in general. One person told me that when we are very young we are given a social script to follow regarding social conduct. Nudity is not on the list, and later one is taught that nudity is only for two things: bathing and sex. But the main word I got from my interviews which came up a lot was "freeing". Some women wondered why it took them so long to join a nudist resort. Social conditioning is extremely strong, and throw in organized religion places a big taboo on nudity. I also heard another word, "The Outside World" referring to those who are not nudists. One thing was very clear, that clothes create a barrier, an armor between others based on social standing and occupation. When you are with 50+ nude people everyone is on the same plane-it's a great leveling action in process. I also discovered with some the emphasis in dissociation from sexuality when practicing nudism. I did not hear that in Europe. Sexuality in Europe is an accepted thing within appropriate bound yet, what's the big deal? Finnish women told me that the most glaring thing with Americans is that they are "complexed" in their term and in asking more clarification, they meant "hang up", "being uptight". At a deeper level, "complexed" meant too the Puritan roots in the US coupled with the infamous "Victorian Age" which has branded American society with a "complexed" attitude towards nudity and sex. These Finnish women were not at all prudes. We went to a lake and all the clothes came off immediately. So yes, it's nice that we have nudist resorts in the US but we still have a way to go.
I guess for me nudism is a freeing feeling and I have met really nice nudists who are generous and open. In a nudist setting there is no need to project status everyone is on the same page. Also, it has helped many with body type issues. One day while I was researching my term paper, I wanted to create a bell curve regarding body type and I created groups, like athletic/body builder, gym fit, plump, overweight, obese, morbidly obese. So I counted like over 200 people and I created a bell curve to find the mean. It was just a fun thing to do it was not in my paper. The plumps fell in the mean average. Very few super fit, very few morbidly obese. In interviews body image was brought up and many actually embraced nudism for that reason and found out they were not any different than anyone else! I guess it is a relief that one is just like anyone else, not some out of control amoeba.
