i think nudists need to accept and embrace that what we do, as seen by the rest of the world, is really quite weird

being socially naked is unusual for most people—even the most forward-thinking, open-minded people. even without western society's obsession of sex and nudity, simple social nudity is outside of the common perception of "normal"

sure, nudists know that it feels normal and mundane after the first few initial moments of "wow i'm naked." but by focusing too much on the normalization of nonsexual nudity, we're missing a big draw to the lifestyle: the weirdness

in our efforts to normalize nudity, we're sometimes dulling our message and not accepting ourselves as part of an alternative lifestyle and progressive subculture. at worst, we're lacking self-awareness of how we're actually perceived

yes, normalizing naturism as an acceptable, uninteresting lifestyle is important. de-sexualizing nudity and promoting body acceptance is important. but in our efforts to promote and normalize this lifestyle, we should also embrace the weirdness

and by "weird" i mean: culturally unusual, quirky, curious, radical, offbeat, intriguing, provocative—even silly and amusing

like polyamory, spirituality, occultism, bdsm, off-grid/tiny house living, veganism, etc, naturism is a niche subculture separate from the "mainstream." it's a reaction against and freedom from traditional ways of living and seeing the world, yourself and others

we talk about all the social layers that come off with clothing. let's embrace how removing those layers frees us to be more creative, eccentric, silly and fun. let's accept that yeah, getting naked with other naked people is weird, but that's part of what makes it so freeing

nude is our natural state and i believe in a world where being naked can be as normal as wearing clothes. like every other "alternative" lifestyle mentioned above, it's only our close-minded, consumer-centric, capitalist culture that makes social nudity weird

we won't be fully free until all regressive, oppressive systems are dismantled but for now let's embrace the act of getting naked with others as a weird, liberating—even child-like—reaction against mainstream culture