I/we have been naturists for many years and things have changed a lot during that time. Obviously a lot more people shave nowadays, so there is a lot more revealed, but people's behaviour has changed too. As far as women are concerned the fashion of shaving reveals their labia, which is nice, kind-of evens things up, but then they seem to show it off a lot more now, with open leg sunbathing. In the early days you saw almost nothing, as I recall my first nude beach visit, near St.Tropez. In the whole two weeks there, I saw only one pussy and that was by accident. A woman learning to windsurf, trying to pull the sail up, legs apart for balance and bent over and her wet pubic hair parted. I remember it vividly, since all the rest of the beach-goers wore fury bikini bottoms. A year later at the same beach there was one woman lying outside a beach cafe with her legs open, so far one pussy viewing each year. Compare those days to this year again in France, rows of parsoles full of spread-eagled women of all ages shapes and sizes, 80% smoother than a babies bum. My ex-wife also lost her shyness, along with her pubes. Even when we went to stay with friends at their villa in Portugal, I caught her and his wife by the pool legs apart. In the early days she was terrified she would meet someone we knew while on holiday. As for men, they seemed to have remained the same. I don't know about outside Europe, but I guess the story is the same.
At the resorts I visit in the eastern U.S., women seem very free to sit, stand, or lie any way they wish. I cannot imagine visiting a nude resort if you are not comfortable being seen by others.
I'm all for everyone being whoever they are and looking how they want. Nudity for me is all about freedom. Which is why I am not a member of any clubs. Whatever works for you is what matters
I would prefer to be shaved all the time, but it just isn't worth all the work of shaving and the many blood-drawing nicks I get on my scrotum; that area is VERY sensitive to being shaved.
For me what drew me first to nudism was the discovery in my late teens in H&E magazine that there was a tiny minority of women who shaved and we're proud enough to show this. I had been shaving since my pubic hair first spouted and I thought and was made to feel this was a perversion. I can't tell you what a welcome relief it was ato see depilated women and to read about positive aspects of it and I felt normal for the first time. Of course this was still the age when women were expected to sport the thick pubic triangle of hair which I never wanted and thought repulsive. The sense of communal sympathy I felt in seeing the very occasional picture of a woman with a bare vulva was great. As H&E began to discuss depilation in a positive light I felt increasingly drawn to nudism. I write to say on behalf of some women that we have always wanted to shave for a very long time (or did so anyway but hid or were compelled to hide our preference for it) and were only waiting to see others who did and were given courage by this. This is why we appeared to change; but please appreciate that some of us found naturism welcoming because it allowed depilated women to feel normal years before it became fashionable to shave pubes. Shaving led women to be more open about the aesthetics of the vulva which women have always been interested in but this remained a taboo until recently. I for one am glad those taboos have gone and naturism, for me at any rate, played a role in this. Such changes have helped some women to be free of guilt and to be comfortable with their bodies.
An interesting post. My only thought is that has it ceased in recent years to be a matter of choice, especially if women feel pressured or bullied by their 'other half' to be shaven.
I think the time of pressure by fashion peers has come and gone. Several younger women today opt to trim only and then only infrequently and some will shave only seasonally. As to bullying I really can't say. At any rate choice appears to be wide open while those of us who are shaved all the time just have an easier time of it.
I think its a healthy thing that women can now sit/lay relax how they want...I have very visible labia and I love the freedom you get in europe to just lay/sit how ever is comfortable, I know some nudist/naturists get quite upset about visible labia/tatoos/peircings etc but from my perspective nudism is about body aceptance and freedom. Why should I not be free to lay with my legs open if I wish...I don't mind you looking or not
" Being smooth "liberated" a part of her body that had previously been "shamed"; she'd metaphorically "freed her vagina." This says it all..
I couldn't agree more. It wasn't all that many years ago when I would ask my wife to spread her legs for somebody specific. Now it seems that spread legs are pretty much the norm. For us, that just makes the game easier.
