We had not heard of Only Fans before and looking at it briefly after reading this we are glad we hadn't. Our only concern about mentioning ventures, even in a negative way, may be that it sends customers their way. All publicity as they say...
We have certainly come across various other sites and our 12 year old (who thankfully does communicate with us about such things) has ben introduced to sites that are dangerous, shocking, disturbing, confusing and potentially doing much unmonitored damage to society. Children and adults are being introduced to a world that 30 years ago simply didn't exist, or if it did, it was down seedy alleys, with the fear of being mugged encouraging many to not venture that way.
It isn't just these trendy sharing sites like Tik Tok, but larger established social media too. Twitter, Facebook...are full of people selling themselves in a sexual way, with or without nudity. Facebook, may not allow nudity, but there are plenty of young girls covered in make-up, shoving their cleavage at the camera and penis shots sent via private messaging. Twitter has become so sexually orientated that users who describe themselves as genuine naturists and nudists and label their account "No Porn" are liking, retweeting and positively commenting on accounts that promote open crotch gyrating as a fight for women equality (that would work as an argument if the idea of men doing the same was seen as naturist and positive), drawings of naturists in a state of arousal, and arguments that sex on beaches is OK and those those who are offended need to lighten up. Social media users state "I am a genuine nudist" and then show a close up image of their penis hanging out of their flies, or with their buttock spread wide apart and a shiny object or feather sticking in it. Others just have image after image of different young women.
Me We is just as bad, we have been using it for several months and have seen very little evidence of genuine naturists. Groups and chats all seem to have a sexual overtone, lots of users who seem more interested in sex in the dunes and 9 out of 10 times you visit someone's page only to find that their idea of naturism is vastly different to anything you have ever come across in real life.
What is real worrying apart from the damage to naturism is the damage to our attitude to young girls and boys and the attitude that they are having towards themselves. Too often we have read articles about underage teenagers making money from showing themselves in these short videos and photos. What are they learning? What culture are they helping to produce? How many centuries of damage has been created in the few decades since the internet introduced nudity into the safety of our own homes? These youngsters are even proud of what they do, making money out of sad, dirty old men, but in the long run they are helping to produce a society of sad, dirty young men and women.
The internet as you say has basically become a place of remote prostitution for both buyers and sellers. And not just for those wanting money, but also for those wanting attention. There are those that argue it is progressive and liberating. But do they really believe that shaking their breasts, bottoms or genitalia at a screen is really advancing equality and society. Isn't prostitution known as the oldest profession? Is not this level of sharing just going to encourage the sexualisation of the human body and feed the abuse, misuse, degradation of women and the worrying lust of the young. Things that real liberation and progression should be fighting. We will only ever really be free when we can live in with out fear and have true equality.
We may be fighting a losing battle, we need to re-find a proper balance in life, reconnect to reality. It is something we are investigating in H&E in our current run of articles. The internet may seem remote and unreal, but the behaviour in it, has a direct result on society. Uncontrolled and unproven accusations ruin peoples lives, misinformation can be politically disastrous, people would rather believe the rants of a complete stranger with no qualified (or proof of qualified) right to speak on a subject on Facebook than an expert on television. If someone states it is raining on Twitter, even looking out of the window won't convince some readers overwise. So, if the internet can effect the way we vote then why wouldn't it be effecting the way we view young men and women, the human body, and abuse. And naturism. If we have cyber bullies and vicious online threats then why would they also be real. A young girl posting an image of her breasts on the internet and asking "what would you like to do with me? Treat me as nasty as you like?" May seem like stupid fun, because the answers are in words and the men lives hundreds of miles from her. But who is to say that they don't act that out to a young woman around the corner from them, and that another man is being tempted by someone a hundred miles away but lives just around the corner from the first girl?
Places like Fans Only may seem safe, but are they making the world safe and are they damaging societies already confused balance with nudity, the human body and sexuality. The concerns of child abuse have skyrocketed in recent years, abuse has always been their but the hatred, paranoia and easy access to it has never been so high. And it is paranoia. Not the dislike of it but the way we protect ourselves from it. Don't trust anyone, don't allow your children near anyone, don't allow people to take photographs if children are at the school, club, events...We teach our children to hide their bodies, hate all strangers and mistrust everyone. Then their repressed minds share sexualised images of themselves on the internet and have loads of actually dangerous men lusting after them and sending messages. The after all that we ask them to go out into the real world and work out who to trust and who not to trust and become balanced adults. How do you make real connections with real people when you have been hidden from them all your life and only know how to communicate through the deranged world of the internet.
So how do we do it. Can we encourage the world to find an innocence in nudity? Can we encourage the world to understand real naturism? If we can the best way to do it is to just keep on promoting and promoting. Use sites like ANW, your clubs sites, the federations sites and block anyone on social media that feels the need to make naturism sexual. Push forward, but it isn't going to be easy. To a certain extent the banning of nudity on all generic social media would help. If you cannot link sexual nudes to naturism then many people will stop posting about naturism. Then at least those seeking nudity have two areas to go. Towards sexual sites or towards naturist sites. Then all we have to do is make sure those naturist sites convey the right message. We work on that everyday, day in day out, naturism can only move forward if it is accepted and it will only be accepted if people understand it.
When we first started promoting naturism we had to make a decision about nudity. We decided we have to show nudity. Not for titillation but for the very averageness of it. To hide our breasts or genitals was suggesting that they are naughty and need hiding. Special parts of our bodies that even in naturism we are ashamed or embarrassed of. We decided that our blogs and then ANW had to be about being naked as a matter of fact. We are naturists and so we are naked, but the nudity is not something we should be aware of. To normalise nudity we have to show that we would not behave any differently than if dressed. So people can watch our videos, read our blogs and think, yes they are naked but they don't seem to care, it isn't sexual, naughty or shameful. Just there. That is what naturism is. Getting on with life and accepting that you have a body and that body can be naked when it makes sense.
We always knew that some people wouldn't get it. That people would send rude, offensive or angry messages. And they do, all the time. We have always played to the rules of each site we visit. You-tube allows nudity as long as it is marked suitable for adults. The other social media sites we have stuck to their rules and have not shown images that mislead the users about naturism. We don't use photos of breasts with hands over for example, it is misleading, suggesting naturists would do such things. We don't want to encourage voyeuristic followers so we use images on social media like FB and Twitter that are not enticing or teasing. The purpose is to attract those interested in naturism and to bore those interested sexualising the human body. We think that most people who confuse the two and end up on ANW, look around and realise that the site is exactly as we suggested. They then close their account and head off in search of the "road more travelled."
The trick is that nudity should be allowed on the internet but it has become sexualised and commercialised. How do we ensure that naturism stays clear of that? How do you undress for naturism on the internet without appearing like a stripper? A big part of it is based on intention and behaviour. Naturist are very used to being naked without appearing sexual - even the most stunning of naturist seems to be able to do that, without even considering it. It is all in the attitude.
We have had people suggest on You-tube, that we are exposing ourselves to make money from the videos. We always explain. You cannot make money from videos labelled adult only on you-tube, so you cannot make money from videos showing nudity. We do it to promote naturism and to encourage better understanding. People who run blogs and need funding should never suggest, give me some money and I will show more photos of myself naked. The idea of using nudity as a lure for money just isn't naturist. Members of a naturist club or national body, pay to be part of that, and not because they will get to see naked people - but to get to be socially naked. ANW works similarly. We have subscriptions to fund the site, to allow it to stay safe and to pay for its existence. Members get to share naturism and nudity, but don't pay to see it, they pay like a club to take part in it and to enable the club to exist. Between the two of us we work around 100 hours every week possibly more, our conviction to ANW and to naturism is part of that club mentality. We want the grass mowed, the pool clean, rule breakers removed, the shower block free of leaks, the kitchen block clean of grease, the bins emptied and the sun shining. Hopefully people will come along and want to stay and camp, or set up a seasonal space, help organise some games, do a meal share, sit around the campfire chatting and impart knowledge. That is naturism. Whether it is local beach regulars, a hiking group or a meet-up for a swim. Naturists no how to make nudity feel safe, harmless and right. That is what we all must do on the internet and in the real world. The more that do it the better chance we have of putting right the sexual mess that the internet is in.
We have been paying with the term "Get Back to Naturism" and we will explore that more very soon. But the idea is partly to encourage those who are looking at moving on from Covid to see naturism as a part of their reintroduction to the world, partly based on the idea that naturism in inside us - "get back to nature", "get back to where you once belonged" "Get back to the innocence of your childhood" and partly because a lot of people (on the internet and elsewhere) are being tempted and behaving in a way that is past naturism, past the correct behaviour- so we are suggesting that some people need to turn around and retrace their steps "back to naturism" and others hat have been put off by such behaviour need to "get back" to give it another try. But as we said
more on that later.
And more on all of this which is a topic that needs greater exploring, that we have been looking at how best to explore, that we are touching on in H&E and is we believe very important.
It is the biggest obstacle naturism has ever had to face, but it is also a massive obstacle that human has to find a way over too. Hopefully naturism can help redirect the internet.
This post was edited by
A Naturist Family
at February 19, 2022 2:54 PM GMT
