Nudism / Naturism in the US: hopeless cause?

WARNING! Long boring post

Again, I'm taking the historical eye witness route here, in hopes of clarifying a couple of thigs that weren't mentioned but that I remember. True, nudist resorts and beaches were more common from the late '20's until early '60's, and many were family oriented, including kids. Then the nudist movement changed suddenly and fundamentally along with other social upheavals of that time. First, the dirty secret of child exploitation came to light. Sleazeballs with cameras were infiltrating nude venues to photograph children and publish them in phony nudist/porn mags, which were commonly sold almost openly all over the country. There were reports of other forms of abuse, and many nude resorts were shut down, and arrests were made. Then as the hippie culture started dominating the beaches, middle class families abandoned them. That left pricey adults only private resorts, or beaches dominated by older, mostly gay/bi men. Then there was social awakening, Frankly, nudism was racist and elitist. Non-whites were seldom seen, and as more people immigrated from culturally conservative countries, some sensitive Americans realized that the nude culture was offensive to them, and therefore unwelcoming. For all of these reasons, naturism/nudism lost its appeal.
Thank you to those members who pointed out America's Puritan beginnings. Seeing this from a longer perspective, I'd guess that this Puritan streak may have been mostly a side issue. Many objectors to public nude beaches were nearby property owners who feared loss of real estate value, or those with a NIMBY attitude. Happy nude Boxing Day to all who have read this to the end.

 

When I go to the closest C/O Beach and see two thousand nude people, and have four Nudist resorts within a 45 minute drive of my home I have a hard time believing nudism is dead in the USA.

 

Alive and well from where I stand!

 

Nudism is thriving and will continue to thrive despite it's ups and downs.