Do You Understand?
The general public seems to misunderstand nudism very much. Why is that? Well, it seem people rarely take time to find out what it is really all about. Instead, they assume. They often assume it to be like what they already know or have experienced, or they assume they know everything they need to know about nudity. In fact, many people have so many hang-ups about nudity, or so many false ideas about it, that they do not even care to find out what nudism is really all about. Hopefully, the following will shed some light on it.
What IS Nudism?
Like most people, before taking the time to study nudism, I associated it with sex, or perversity. When I took the time to learn the truth about it, I discovered some interesting things. While each nudist generally has their own ideas about what nudism means to them, I discovered that each reason basically boils down to health -- that is, having healthly attitudes about others and yourself, and about the human body.
Although dictionaries often over generalize and may not prove to be the definitive, we can use them to help us gain understanding. In this case, as you can see below, the dictionary (Dictionay.com) defines nudism as "without clothes for reasons of health." You should "for reasons of health" because, again, this is the bottom line. The truth is, nudism is all about health and healthy living. In fact, a small group of people established nudism as a health movement, a way to get back to nature and away from the "industrialization" of society.
nud·ism (ndzm, ny-) n.
- The belief in and/or practice of going nude, including when in gender
mixed, age mixed groups, for reasons of health. (nudist adj. and n.)
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- The practice of living without clothes for reasons of health. [syn: naturism]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
Now Naturism Too?
For varying reasons, many people prefer to use the term naturism, instead of nudism. Some people, like myself, use the two terms interchangeably, referring to the same thing. As you see from the definition below, even the dictionary refers to naturism is merely a synonym for nudism. Still other wish to make a distinction, considering them very similar, but not quite the same thing. For instance, in the glossary of terms section of the renowned Naturist LIFE International magazine, we read: "[nudism is] social nudity at private clubs, and parks, [while naturism is] social nudity on public beaches, parks, etc." NLI further considers both "a 'gymnosophy,' or the philosophy that promotes social nakedness as acceptable and a way-of-life where men, women and children do ordinary social activities without clothing, unless practicality such as cold where clothing is required." In summary, to them, both mean "to be nude socially," but the distinction comes from where one practices it -- whether in a "private" location or a "public" one. From my experience, it seems that, for most nudist/naturist, this distinction is irrelevant. Again, I myself use the two terms rather interchangeably.
na·tur·ism (nch-rzm) n.
- nudism.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
- naturism n: the practice of living without clothes for reasons of health
[syn: nudism]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
NOT Naturalism!
It seems some people get confused, and try to refer to naturism as "naturalism." Whatever you believe or think, you can be sure, "NATURALISM" IS NOT THE SAME THING AS "NATURISM" and they are not even closely related, except the two words sound similar. I have included the definitions for naturalism below so that you can compare them with the definitions above. As I know you will see, "naturalism" is totally unrelated to naturism, or nudism (whichever term you prefer).
nat·u·ral·ism (nchr-lzm, nchr-) n.
- Factual or realistic representation, especially:
a. The practice of describing precisely the actual circumstances of human life in literature.
b. The practice of reproducing subjects as precisely as possible in the visual arts.
- a. movement or school advocating such precise representation. b. The principles and methods of such a movement or of its adherents.
- Philosophy. The system of thought holding that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws without attributing moral, spiritual, or supernatural significance to them.
- Theology. The doctrine that all religious truths are derived from nature and natural causes and not from revelation.
- Conduct or thought prompted by natural desires or instincts.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. - A state of nature; conformity to nature.
- (Metaph.) The doctrine of those who deny a supernatural agency in the miracles and revelations recorded in the Bible, and in spiritual influences; also, any system of philosophy which refers the phenomena of nature to a blind force or forces acting necessarily or according to fixed laws, excluding origination or direction by one intelligent will.
- The theory that art or literature should conform to nature; realism; also, the quality, rendering, or expression of art or literature executed according to this theory.
- Specif., the principles and characteristics professed or represented by a
19th-century school of realistic writers, notably by Zola and Maupassant, who
aimed to give a literal transcription of reality, and laid special stress on
the analytic study of character, and on the scientific and experimental nature
of their observation of life.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. - The doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations.
- An artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove
for detailed realistic and factual description [syn: realism]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
In Summary - Health
Naturalism is not related to naturism (nudism) at all, and to me, if we could sum up every reason a person might engage nudism/naturism, their reason boils down to health. Each person practices it "for reasons of health" -- health of the mind, body and spirit. As many nudists attest, the health benefits increase when socializing nude in a non-sexual environment. Maybe the simplest way to define nudism/naturism is the attitude and practice of being "clothing optional." Maybe that is why most nudist have the motto, "Nude when possible, clothed when practical."