This week the BN have launched a new initiative called EveryBody which is described as "appeals to the younger generation who love to be Naked but don't necessarily need an 'ist' or 'ism' label."

It is great to see a national body actively encouraging younger people to take their first steps into socially naked activity and hopefully become part of the next generation of people being comfortable with non-sexual nude recreation and protecting the future of this as a life choice.

Not promoting the term naturism can also be seen as an understandable approach to take. People can be very wary of having tags and labels, particularly in a world that is becoming increasingly and fearfully woke and politically correct. There is nothing wrong with the premise of being alert to injustice or being careful about using offensive behaviour. Nothing wrong at all. But it has been pushed to the n-th degree where it is virtually impossible to speak without a fear of offending someone. Is it OK for me to refer to my children as sons and boys anymore? We are in danger of seeing so much trouble in everything we say and do that we will lose track of real social issues that do need confronting and handling. So in a world that fears even the simplest of tags many larger tags like naturist are very scary indeed. Is it still alright to be an environmentalist, a feminist, a socialist? Is it OK to talk about vegetarianism, spiritualism,  theism or atheism. Labels don't need to pigeonhole you as a person  but they help to explain you. 

It is much easier to say I am a vegetarian than say I don't eat meat including fish or any by-products derived from the slaughter of animals. It isn't creating a label for me so I am a vegetarian and that is all I am - it is using a word that we know to explain a part of me. Isn't that what words are for? It is easier to say " I am wearing a shirt" than to say "I am wearing several pieces of cotton stitched together with buttons up the front and two sleeves on the side that is used to cover my torso and arms." Words become trendy because they make life easier. 

LOL. We even use emojis to make the conversations we have via the internet easier and quicker. So what in the world is wrong with isms and ists? 

Some are not nice - sexist, racist...as naturists we don't like hedonism, exhibitionism and voyeurism. But these are still helpful tags to understand what we don't like or what we are against. 

What I feel is that we need to ensure that words like naturist and nudist, naturism and nudism are understood. Clearly defined and not feared. Something we are proud to use. In an ideal world we wouldn't need them. Being socially naked would be a rather average thing, totally understood and appreciated - with no need to promote it or explain it.

Use a well defined label "naturism" then we know what we are talking about. This is a naturist venue or event. Means that the event with be appropriate to naturism. At its core - Free of sexual behaviour but not afraid of nudity - and also encourage a respectful attitude towards each other. Remove the label and say "naked event," "nude event," "clothes free event" then it becomes less obvious what we are talking about. Having fun naked or enjoying nude recreation could involve intimacy with a loved one, a soak in the bath or swinging, libertine fun. It could be stripping to thrill, offend, shock or surprise others. So as soon as we remove the label we have to start explaining what we are and what we are not, and worrying about those that don't listen or who have already moved on. 

I cannot help but think that we should be saying to people - "oh you like spending time naked - well then - among your other aspects - you are a naturist" rather than trying to hide from the idea.  "You love your country then you are a patriot - be proud" We should make naturism a term that we are proud to use - because we are already proud to be doing what we are doing - we know it is great for us, positive and healthy. 

We would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. 

     

This is only my opinion but I think the reason BN is trying this initiative is to disconnect nudity and "nudists/naturists".  At least here in the US, the term nudist conjures up images of senior citizens playing volleyball.  I suspect they're trying to reach out to that significant "silent majority" of folks who spend a large amount of time out of clothes but who would never, ever admit to it.  As you yourselves have found, the number of folks opposed to simple nudity is not that great -- but -- their voice is much louder in the marketplace of ideas.  I think BN is trying to communicate that folks who enjoy being naked are not weird; they most likely are people you know.

There is nothing wrong with -isms but it's going to take time to change perceptions.  I view this as a halfway step in doing just that.

I'm happy with the "ism", it makes sense to me.

Language and meanings vary around the world and Naturism as such seems to be common place for most of us.

I'm not one for labels either, but I am worried at how the meaning of words seems to be changing and some lost all together.

I don't want to point the finger, but our celebrity culture and the constant dropping of "t's" amoungst some on TV isn't helping. Yes an "ism" maybe seen as old fashioned but it does mean something.

We need to keep our vocabulary !

I too am happy with the -ism.  The point I was trying to make is that BN (unlike our AANR here in the US) appears to be trying to reach out to all those who are comfortable in their own skin but do not consider themselves to be naturists.  Based on what I see here on ANW I suspect the UK is further along in recognizing that there is nothing wrong with simple nudity than back here in the US.

It appears to us that this is yet more of this new ideology of divison using terminology, and it feels to us like this is nothing short of compelled speech. There is a trend now to remove and change all pronouns to create new idealised personal and individual identities, and it is nothing short of dictated speech and yet another step into the abyss of dismantling everythying that has been a tradition and a part of life for decades.

Rin folds arms and frowns "I am having none of it!!!" :)

We are naturists, and we practice naturism and removing the reference to us, feels like a surgiacal strike to take yet more value out of our lives and move us more towards yet more of this controlled none offensive language, and is yet another knife in the back of Freedom to thought and freedom of speech. The "ism" has always been a part of this lifestyle, and we feel to simply toss it in the bin and say it no longer matters is a big mistake, because the point is, that "ism" is the glue that holds us all together.

Naturism is for everyone, and actually it counters all this new idealised woke whatever they want to call rhetoric, because it is the fact that millions of very different kinds of people can all share a similar joy and use that "ism" to feel a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. Anyone and Everyone can be part of Naturism, old and young alike and that is actually the point of it, we should never so freely disgard it, because if we do, then what are we? We are just naked people, and nothing more.

We applaud BN for reaching out to the younger community, but we do not applaud the removal of "naturism" we were part of the forum debate on BN when it looked at how to encourgae the young, and Rob was one of a few who brought up things like festivals and the nudity encountered there, his comment was that BN should actually be where the young are, and that was not Nudefest or NKD, because most of the young did not know about them. We mentioned Download and Glastonbury, and we think it is good that BN is looking into it, we fully agree with it, but to reduce it to something with less meaning out of fear of some outdated nothion that old people and young people do not get on, it utterly riddiculous and stupid. We watch our 13 year old daughter at the swim meet with much older people in the pool, and what we have seen is that the older people respond to her with joy, and join in, and what happens there is everyone comes together is an appreciation of each other, and has a really wonderful time.

Taking the "Ism" away to try and make something more palatable is dangerous. if you take away "ism" then you are left with Nature, and that is a loaded gun, because that leaves individuals who are naked single entities, and we have all seen some variation of that, we called them swingers, libertines, exhibitionists etc... There is a very good reason for labels, they are the quality control for specific aspects of our lifestyle. We are naturists and we love the "Ism" because it informs everyone of exactly who we are, how we live and what we enjoy. 

What will be next Mechanics will be automated technical assistants? Bakers will become ingredient regulators, working within a temperature controlled organic changing operation? It is becoming more and more insane, and BN should be more aware of what the implication of this action can be, because what BN is now saying with this new removal of the word Naturism is that the Young can now have a seperate section of society to the old, it is yet more division pushed by the woke narrative influencers, and all of us should reject it. We are Naturists, who love Naturism and it is for everyone no matter what it says of your birth certificate.

Whats next, throw away British Naturism and become. "BRITISH EVERYBODY" It is stupidity at its finest?