Naturism is welcoming to all and we all want everyone to enjoy it. 

Somewhere like ANW should be inclusive to all that respect and enjoy naturism regardless of age, gender, race, religion etc. 

But are there times when you actually just want to hang with others that have more in common with you than just naturism. 

Go on a family only camping trip or event. Go to a ladies only swim or coffee morning. Go on a men only hike. 

How about LGBT groups? Events based on religion? Maybe sometimes it is just nice to go on holiday, or spend the day with people that you have a lot in common with. 18-30 holidays  exist as do holidays for those of retirement age? 

Personally I like doing things with a good mix of people. I like to be with my family and hopefully there will be other children around for my sons to hang with. Though we also like them meeting people of different ages and life experiences - we want them to be aware and respectful of the whole of society.   

But maybe you like to spend time just with other adults. 

I think it is certainly good for all of us to spend time with a variety of people - it leads to empathy and understanding and society relies on that - but at other times it may be nice simply to hang with others of the same age, gender, sexual identity, family set up etc. 

Is it any different than wanting to hang with people who are all into photography, wine or surfing? 

I would love to hear your personal thoughts. Do you always like to be in as broad a mix of people as possible, do you usually prefer to hang with those who you feel you identify with, or do you like a bit of both? 

People tend to gravitate towards other people they feel at ease with, that could be a certain kind of sex or a mixed group. To a degree, it depends on the individual, they will pick up on a sense of that person and try to interact with them, be they male or female.

As a species, we all need variety and stimulation within the confines of a social situation, and we tend to move into groups or interact on an individual that feels safe, with safe topics.

Communication is key, and people tend to place themselves in situations where they are either involved aka, speaking from a position of knowledge, or they are observers, aka learning via listening.

In a family context, and as a couple, we tend to enjoy that time around adults whilst sharing our time with our children. We will be the observant parents, with one eye on our children, but also enjoying the stimulation of adult interactions. One of us always has our children in view, even though we are talking, it has over the years become like a ninja skill that has unconsciously developed between us as parents, as we are both aware that we are working together to watch the children, even though we are interacting with others.

Like anything that holds and interest from a past time, all of us will happily contribute to social interactions if we feel the subject matter appeals, again for us, talking books, music, politics or naturism, if we feel we are in similar company, we will happily contribute.

We feel, this works at it’s most effective when there is a wide and varied range of people from all walks of life to interact with, as we can be involved, contribute, and also learn more things. This is possibly best illustrated in our own interactions at the Worsley swim, which is multi generational, couples, singles, and children.

my short answer: no! Being a naturist is already being segregated, as many textiles want us to stay away from them, behind fences. We don't need other segregation inside the naturist community. We need to lift barriers not create new ones. My 2 pennies. ;-)

Personally I agree with Marc and Robin and Rin,while my own social naturism is very limited due to the situation with nudism over here. I have found that mixed groups are the most open and welcoming. 

I think this is a complicated issue. I've found that initially I was much more comfortable with naturist events/locations which cater towards females/families but now as I've explored more and been to more places I feel comfortable being the 'odd one out', that being a 24 year old female. Nevertheless I think separate ladies/family only events could be a good way for those who are nervous or have had bad experiences in the past 'try' naturism, but ultimately the quicker they integrate into more mixed and wide ranging events/locations the better :) 

-L