There are two topics currently being disscussed on the forums of our national body at the moment, one is how do get the young involved, and the other, how do we get women more involved in naturisum. We have been involved with both of these, because as most members will know from our members blog, and the interview article we did recently, it is for us, a big frustration.
What appears obvious to us, does not really appear to be that obvious to our national body, which surely must be, youth and women are the same subject? You cannot have one without the other, for example Rin and our daughter. Both female, and our daughter fits into the youth category. (I will add here to save my skin, Rin is both young and beautiful :) ) She is not in the YBN age group, but as a mum, she fits both women, and family naturism.
The point is, Rin is a mother of a child, lucky she is a keen naturist, so unlike many, she is with me on BN, our daughter however, is too young for YBN, but due to her age, where we go, she goes, our biggest advantage is, she loves to be naked, so when presented with family events, she joins in with us.
As I wrote in the blog, Nudefest for us is out due to the date, NKD on the other hand looks amazing for young families, and there in lies our problem. It clearly states it does not encourage people over fifty, which I am. I started late in life with a family, and maybe I am young at heart and have more energy than others my age. To be honest when I read over fifties will be tolerated if with a family, I will not deny, it put me completely off. I do not wish to be tolerated, I want to be accepted, because I love the naturist life and have supported it with passion and enthusiasm for years.
We looked at Alton Towers, but again it is a friday/Sat/Sun event, and our children are in school, so for starters the Friday is out, as it is impossible to get children a day off school these days without a viable excuss, and a day trip or holiday, no longer are.
We are now part of a monthly swim, a swim that caters to every age, and it is fun and lively. Our daughter interacted with all generations, and everyone got involved with the games, actually a lot of people at the event commented on how much fun it had been. We watched old and young alike laughing and joking and all playing together in the water, so from our point of view, both benefitted the other.
We feel, it appears strange that a national body segregates age groups. Is there really a problem with everyone mixing and enjoying themselves, surely the old can teach the young a great deal, and the young can add that extra joy of interaction?
We feel pur national body and a great deal of naturist venues are shooting themselves in the foot, we can certainly say, that first with two children in tow, we pay more for accomodation space, and kids these days do cost, we spend a lot at events to ensure our children have a great time. Our kids are not spoilied, we scrimp and save to ensure that big events allow us a little time to blow off stream and get the most out of them, so the kids have the very best experience they can, and that means spending. Alton towers alone would have cost us an extra £45 per child in our room, so before we even set off, we would have been spending £90 more than a normal couple. A lot of naturist events and venues are missing out on a good revenue source, by not encouraging more families.
We have seen opposition to some of the swims in the past few years, where some small group of individuals created such a stink, that our national organisation had to deal with the flack, it was a throughly unsavory business which no one enjoyed, and those events no longer exist. The fall out has left a landscape of segregation, where old and young are divided, and it is noticable in our national organisation, who appear. (Our opinion) to be reinforcing the same segregation views, as those who campaighned to stop the events, rather than standing up for families.
British Naturisum, has done wonders working with the Crown Prosecution Service to change the law to aid its members, and we celebrate their achivements with entusiasum. They have raised a lot of awreness for naturism, they are good at it, but like all national bodies, their primary task, is to encourage, and represent naturisum. There is a slightly more modern if not unsavoury alternative phase for that. "Activism." BN can organise with great skill, and members should support that, but we cannot deny, what would have happened if BN asked all its members to send email complaints to the press, and the government, would those pools still be open for family naturisum?
One pre written email shared with every member could have responded to those acusations, and even if only half the membership had got involved, that would have been close to 5000 emails fighting for the rights of young naturists. We would argue that with the right mindset, and the right mobilsation, BN could have drastically swung opinion on the opposition. It makes you think, and then you realise, as naturists we could be far more effective?
There needs to be a mindset change, and too be honest Naturism needs it badly, there are reasons why BLM or Pride do so well, it is because it has learned how to swing opinion, and Naturism need to pay attention and stand up for families. How hard would it be for one single trader to request an email support campaign to aid their cause, rather than give in and throw families under the bus, for Adults only status?
Our national organisations really need to do more to encourgae family naturism, and as naturists we should all support them, because the problem with age, is it ends. Naturism needs to embrace the young mothers with children and encourage them more, because that is how we continue into the future. The way things look at the moment, Naturism could lose its future and die, and let's be honest here, none of us want that.
This post was edited by
Robin and Rin RnR at September 3, 2024 11:34 PM BST