As part of ANW's want to enhance understanding and appreciation of naturism we are sharing a selection of interviews with ANW members to show that naturism is for everyone, and to explore the all important human element of the naturist and ANW community. ANW believes in safeguarding naturism with a genuine, healthy and respectful approach to social nudity and in doing so has an ever growing membership of friendly and appropriate users.
We also believe that naturism unites us and connects us. Beyond national boundaries, age, gender, religion sexual orientation and culture. These interviews aim to show that ANW members, like naturism itself, come from all over the world with many different backgrounds primarily connected by our mutual respect and understanding of social nudity. Again ANW are delighted to welcome Steve from Lancashire, England for this project.
1 Tell us a little about yourself and your part of the world.
I’m single, 52, live in Lancashire UK and work in a shop and a charity shop. My hobbies are scale model building, which I’ve been doing to 32 years and photography which I’ve been doing for 35 years, since I was 16. I’m also autistic, which may or not be relevant but I find I get a better understanding if people know that.
2 What was the attitude towards nudity and naturism in your home and upbringing as a child and teen?
Mam was very open minded to it and allowed me and my brother to see her nude, with the sensible mindset that we should know what a women looks like. This helped me at least to have a better respect of women as I’ve grown up and not to objectify them. It also helped in Mam’s final years when she had dementia and I was her carer, helping her to get dressed, shower and use the toilet. She knew about my naturism as wasn’t bothered by it. Oddly despite not being phased by her nudity I wasn’t comfortable to be nude round her. My Dad on the other hand was a total prude and would not have liked the idea of naturism or me being involved. He died when I was 17 so never knew about it.
As a kid I’d stay nude after my bath and go down stairs, nobody minded until I hit puberty and was told to put my pants on, to which I replied, looking down, “It’s only hair.”
3 How did you first get involved in naturism and what were your initial thoughts.
Ironically enough it was my prudist father who got me into it by booking holidays in the then Yugoslavia, where I discovered naturist beaches near our apartment. I had always stayed nude as a boy when I could so was amazed to see all these people who liked to have no clothes on.
I would volunteer go to the shops every morning and go via the beach, strip nude and walk along to the then, get dressed and go do the shopping, then back to our apartment. My Mam thought it was really funny when I told her years later saying “Now I know why you were so eager to do the shopping every morning."
4.Do you think that your initial reasons and attitudes towards naturism have changed since then and how?
My attitudes to it are still quite basic in that it’s just a comfy way to be and if it’s warm enough and I can be naked, I’ll be naked. I think it’s the most basic respect of a person and of oneself.
5.Tell us about your naturist adventures so far.
As said above my first, covert, naturism was as a curious 13 year old on a Yugoslav beach, unbeknown to by parents who thought I was shopping, well I was ‘shopping’ just going via the naturist beach.
Naked, obvs. When I was 20 I joined British naturism, or CCBN as it was then. I found there was not much to do as I could not join any clubs as I was single and still am. I then discovered the now disbanded Single Outdoor Club (SOC) which filled the void for
single naturist by letting them visit sites in a group so on and off between 1996 and 2008 I did a lot of visits with them.
I joined the website Naturist Christians in 2005 and became one of their admin until 2015, when I stepped down after a decade and let some new blood have a go. It’s still running.
Whilst there I made new(d) friends and have been to French camp sites with some of them, and up until recently would spend Christmas with a naturist friend, travelling down with a mutual friend.
6. You were a member of your naturist national body but you are no longer - is there any reason for that?
As said above, I was a member of SOC, but that has now disbanded. I was also a member of British naturism from 1991-2014 and left when it got too expensive to attend events and I needed to spend more time looking after my mother who had dementia.
7. How would you best explain naturism to someone new to it and what advice would you offer to them?
Be yourself, take it for what it is, just people, the nudity soon becomes the same as a uniform, just what you wear there.
8. If ANW wasn't about naturism but something else what other life choice/hobby/interest/passion...would have made you consider joining?
The social aspect of it, made more friends via naturism than I have outside to be honest, and some of those friends have been the best I’ve ever had.
9. What do you think naturism has taught you about yourself and do you think it has changed you in any way?
It’s certainly made me the way I am, and it’s part of me as it’s influenced my life since I was a teen. I was bullied bad as a kid, short, glasses, ginger, triple whammy there, so to find people who just took you as you are and not care what you looked like was just something I wanted to be a part of.
10. Do you think that there are certain people better suited to naturism and others that are not suited to it and if so why do you think that?
Not sure really, as in all walks of life I’ve met lots of nice people at naturist places and some pretty obnoxious ones too, including one funny bloke who belittled me for applying sun cream then several hours later actually asked why he was sunburnt and I wasn’t.
It’s certainly NOT for those who think it’s about sex and cannot, or will not, come away from that. Those who think it’s about seeing others nude and ogling and comparing.
On the plus side I’ve heard of people into porn seeing naturism and realising it isn’t all about the sex, so naturism can remove people from porn, so that is good.
11. How does your country consider naturism? How do the laws stand supporting naturism? What are the national and local opportunities like?
In the UK it’s not illegal to be nude, just indecent exposure if you’re seen nude and it’s considered to be done to ‘harm and offend’ people. Given I can be harmed and offended by a lot of things, it’s odd that only nudity is the problem.
As for society there are those who think it is illegal, should be illegal and act like it is, whilst ignoring the humongous mass of sexualised images and pornography out there. And don’t even bring children into the equation, stupid mindsets that if the kids are nude it's child porn and a legal system that says naturist images of kids are category C indecent images, actually criminalises child birth and bath time and subliminally sexualises children.
12. How would you like to see the future of naturism developing over the next 30 years and do you feel these ideas are achievable. Give reasons.
I’d like to see it return to the innocence it was when I went into it when nobody cared less. Now we have people calling the cops on somebody they saw behind their frosted bathroom window taking a shower.
It’s only in the last few years that the legal systems have slowly started to wake up to the fact that the only problem with nudity is the fact some have a problem with it.
13 What are the biggest problems that naturism is currently facing? Do you think these are worldwide concerns? Are these problems any different from when you first became a naturist?
Social media vigilante groups who pretty much want to ban something they wouldn’t do themselves, which makes no sense. Making it all about sex, like it must be there, it has to be, to fuel their own sick rhetoric about what a bare body is, something to lust after and control, not to accept and respect.
The biggest problem is porn and the way naturism is automatically categorised with sex online. I’ve seen You-tube videos on naturism next to videos with sexual activity. The way some web searches just assume it’s porn by default and block you from seeing it.
How do we convince people of the reality of it when the powers that be override it to make it what they want it to be about
14. If the world was accepting of naturism - happy to take on a clothing optional policy in most situations - how do you think it would change the way society works - what positives could you imagine and do you think there would be any negatives?
I think people would be better balanced, physically, emotionally, mentally. It would give people an inner peace and respect of themselves and a respect of us all just being people. This I think would have a knock on effect of society as a whole because with total respect there could be no abuse, sexual harm, self-harm. I think we’d certainly have less sex offenders and child abusers. Given that they only seem to inhabit the textile side of society; why is it that naturists are always painted as the ones in the wrong?
Teaching kids to be ashamed of their bodies is playing right into the hands of the abusers.
15. Are there any aspect of naturism that frustrates you or annoys you or you feel let down by? Are there any answers that you can think of to put these things right?
In the UK, certainly when I joined, the hidden away, members only, no singles allowed clubs. which creates the illusion it’s not open to everybody. I can go to any other country and visit a naturist camp like I could a textile camp, no questions, long as I behave, which is a given in any establishment I frequent. At least now BN has become more accepting of all members across the board and in my latter years with them I attended a few events as a single guy, you shared a room with another single guy, and we all friended each other, organised lifts to the events from train stations and hung around together at the events.
16. Has there ever been a specific day, location, venue, activity that at the end of it has made you think - this is naturism at its best - and why?
I think just chilling with naturist friends when they visit or I visit them.
17. Do you speak to friends and family about your naturism? How has that been?
Do you have any tips? Has it ever had a bad effect on a relationship? As said way at the top, Mam was not bothered, Dad would have not approved and my brother the same. Given most of my friends are naturists it’s not a problem. For those who aren’t it’s not their business to know so I don’t tell them.
Never had any relationships to know if it would have affected them.
18. What five words would you use to describe naturism that people who haven't tried naturism may not have considered and what five words would you say doesn't describe naturism that those same people may wrongly consider to be true.
Natural / relaxing / positive / soothing / innocent/
Sex / illegal / porn / sin / child abuse
19. If you were to close your eyes and consider naturism as an animal, a colour and a food item what three answers would come to mind?
I don’t get that as naturism isn’t any of those things so I can’t describe them as such.
20. Do you have any naturist regrets?
No, certainly not ashamed of it, being ashamed of not being ashamed is a bit odd. I regret the way naturism had been sullied so much that people treat it like the worse thing, and even where it’s legal you get some who chose to ignore the legalities and criminalise those involved just in case. Treating it like some form of child abuse, like nudity is abuse, and assuming it’s there when it isn’t. Rather to be proved right than wrong in the matter.
21. Why do you think people should join ANW? What can existing naturists get from it and how about "newbies"?
It’s a genuine naturist website which is a safe place to be.
22. Independent globetrotting to beautiful beaches and exotic locations is an exciting part of naturism - but there is a long history of local clubs, social meet-ups and national bodies - how important do you consider these aspects of naturism/nudism to be for today's naturist and the future growth of naturism?
I think it’s essential to be local, we are not all in it for the tan, and we can’t all afford to jet off to Lanzarote or where ever.
23. Have you found that attitudes towards naturism have varied much in the countries that you have visited and experiences naturism?
Only been to France / Yugoslavia, where naturism is there and if you don’t like it, move on. Which is pretty much as it should be. Malta can’t even cope with topless beaches let alone naturism. Not been to any other countries naturist wise to comment.
24. If you could go anywhere in the world as a naturist where would it be?
Sunsport gardens in Florida, has such a positive educational programme for the future generation of naturists.
25. Many naturists incorporate naturism into the daily home life - how important do you think that is to naturists?
For me it’s the only thing I incorporate. It’s nice to get everything off at the end of each day and not be hidden behind the trappings of the textile life.
ANW thank Steve from Lancashire, England for sharing his thoughts .
ANW welcomes all who are respectful and interested in naturism and invite all genuine naturist organisations, clubs, events, venues and other opportunities to be part of the ANW community and work with us to encourage the growth and acceptance of naturism around the world. If you have any questions email Anna and Steve at [email protected]
© 2023 Steve from Lancashire and www.anaturistworld.com All Rights Reserved.
