Nudity and families

I have a son who is 16 months old. I want him to feel comfortable with his body and not to be ashamed of it. As a Pagan, I feel our bodies are sacred and beautiful. However, I don't know how to deal with outsiders being weirded out by our family. For example, if my son happens to mention that I was wandering the house naked looking for clothes (say when he's 5 or 6) or if we go to a nudist resort and he tells his grandparents that we went camping and everybody was naked. My family is VERY uncomfortable with nudity and would be totally skeeved out by this.

Anyone else in the same boat?

 

you have to grow him thinking naked is an alternate way of living. My kids were grown from infants thinking that some people like to be naked and others no. I didn't have any problem with them. I explained and asked that they should not discuss this matter with other people. They never had any problems with it.

 

I'm not a nudist/naturist but I imagine that naturist parents instruct their kids never to tell anyone that they were naked & saw naked people on holiday.Otherwise surely it would lead to schoolteachers becoming prejudiced against the parents & schoolfriends making fun & spreading this news around the school.
I think,society in general is uneasy about family nudism.It's okay as long as you're discreet.Either because people fear losing 'respectability' among fellow peers or people who are told are just plain 'jealous'.
Here we are in the 21st century & wider society's attitude to family nudity is not much more different than in the 19th century.

 

minkajane -- I salute you for choosing a healthy way to rear your son. The two respondents above seem to have been successful in teaching their children to keep closemouthed about the matter. Perhaps your son will learn the same. However, it seems likely that your "secret" will slip out someday, and family members or school officials might overreact & accuse you [falsely] of abuse. It might be easier to be proactive and announce to pertinent people that you are nudists. To protect yourself, it might be wise for you to officially join some naturist organization. If school & family don't like it, then it's their problem.


I'm not sure what a type of religion has to do with nudism, but I know that early gnosticists, including pagans, christians, jews, etc., liked to party & get naked & enjoy the special sacredness that is life. Too bad the literalists in christianity and other religions have come to predominate.

 

It might also be a good idea to tell your kid what to say if people do find out hes a nudist and confront him and try to ask him difficult questions.

 

It might be an idea to join a recognized nudist organization. Perhaps one associated with a local nudist resort.

One, if the Man gets involved later on, it shows a history of nudism rather than perversion.
Two, the other members would have first hand experience and advise about your situation.

 

Merry Meet! This is a question I wrestle with myself. I don't know how open you are as a Pagan, but perhaps family naturism needs to be approached with a similar discretion. I managed to get my kids to understand that it's something that's perfectly ok, but that many people disagree with. We've all been to many Starwoods as a family. I want it to be something that the kids grow up to be comfortable with, but also to have a healthy respect for and discretion with. I teach my kids that we show our respect for other people's beliefs by acknowledging they might have different beliefs, and might not understand ours.

I think joining a nudist organization, or a Pagan organization that supports clothing-optional and naturist lifestyles, might be an excellent idea.

 

First Im not a nudist but as a person I feel that people need to mind thier own shit and stay out of others. Yes its odd to me, would I have sent my kid to your house to play with yours, yes but would have called to make sure it was cool and that it was a time you were not nude is all. I mean unless you did something terrible then hey, enjoy your life, I will try not to look over the fence holding a beer in my hand and drool. Seriously too many people seem to have nothing better than to ram thier views onto others. Be naked just please respect my wishes as I would yours. My kids are grown but yeah, sad you have to kind of hide the fact because some ppl are jerks.

 

we are a nudist family, with a 6.5 year old, 3 year old and infant, and it has never been an issue. My kids see naked people all the time, especially when our friends and us go to our creek. Its an awesome way to grow and, and my kids know that others arent like us and stay quiet about things they know others wouldnt understand, from paganism, to nudism to pot smoking (not the kids =P)

 

Minkajane ..you should join AANR (American Assoc Nude Recreation) or TNS (The nautrist society) both you can find in the net. Then mingle with family people there and they will tell you how they have dealt with the issue. As I said before, our kids never disclosed their nudism ..but its true that WE were public to our friends and acquaintances that we were nudists and even had days where non-nudists friends were banned from visiting and we told them. As far as school is concerned ...they will not do anything unless your kid makes the splash with others.
As far as abuse is concerned ... get help from AANR or TNS to avoid this issue ...but no one can acuse the parents of abuse if there NO abuse.

 

dunno, teens maybe, if they asked of course. Dont really think about it that much, not going to promote the use, but if the are curious then i would rather them be here than off under a bridge or driving around the country side like i used to do in highschool.

 

As a non-nudist, I am wondering how nudists handle their kids reaching puberty and begin having sexual desires and thoughts, especially if they are naked around their opposite sex siblings and parents. Like how would you handle it if your opposite-sex child began looking at you in a sexual way and making suggestive remarks that indicated they have a sexual interest in you? Seriously, as a non-nudist, I would think this would be a big problem. Like minkajane, how would you handle it at 12 or 13, you find your son frequently staring at your vagina and wanting to touch it or asking you questions about how to "make a girl feel good down there?"

 

well said.

 

My son is 12 almost 13 and nudity is so common to him its not much different from seeing people dressed. Unfortunantly those who are not so comfy seem to want to equate nudity with sex. Personally I think he is more likely to look at the girl on the TV dressed purposly alluring and sexy than his mom naked

Nudity does not equal sex. They are two different things.

 

Brother I applaude you and your partner. You are helping you children have a healthy self image of themselves and others. It is unfortunate however, that your young ones cannot share their open and free lifestyle. I live in Louisiana, so I am aware of the christian, sexist, hard core conservative mentality you encounter on a daily basis. Keep up the fight bro.

 

A kid who grows up seeing naked people all the time doesn't form the same automatic connection between nudity and sex that people brought up in other ways might. We grow up not seeing bodies, and then, when we get to an age of sexual development, we buy magazines and look at pictures, mostly overtly sexual in nature, that show us those bodies.

A kid who is used to seeing bodies will start to be attracted to the opposite sex, and take a different sort of interest in those bodies, but that doesn't mean that they'll start to think of every naked person as a sex object. I've never heard of a kid getting a crush on their parents that way, and it seems a bizarre idea. Much more likely is that kids like this develop in a more healthy way, not peeping through shower doors to catch a glimpse of the boobs they've already seen plenty of.

 

we have been naturist since our son was seven . he's treats pepole the same clothed or not its no big deal with us
being naked

 

I guess theyd just handle it the same way people who wear clothes would. Just seems to me that itd be easier for nudists cuz their kids are already used to seeing the naked body and they hopefully can differentiate between nudity and sex.

 

Me ,my gf and her daughter all live together. I wore bikini underwear in common areas and went nude in our room. She wore tshirt and panties . Our state 17yr is legal.and neither of us wear anything at the house. There is not a sexual relationship between us and will never be. Sure she has commented on my penis several times and shes a beautiful girl. We love and respect our family and nudity isnt sex and the only thing wrong with nudity are thoughts people have that are wrong...

 

If I know one thing about young children, it's that they can't keep a secret. It will get out eventually. The question is how do you deal with it when it does?