I have often said that nudists are so busy fighting problems that don’t exist (i.e. public misconceptions, child predators, people with bad hygiene) that they often neglect problems that do exist. The following letter from my internet friend, Dario Western, best describes this problem. I share this on my filmmaking blog to show my potential audience a brief glimpse into the actual lifestyle and the conflicts therein. It’s been edited for space.
“Youth is very much into nudism but at their own pace and comfort zone. I operate a male retreat for nudists in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and the young guys who come here ask for an exclusive use for the day which is fine by me. They want to be on their own with people of their own age group which is fair enough.
“At the other end of the scale are the seniors and neither group have anything in common apart from nudism. In the middle you seem to have the 'part time ' nudists - these are the nudists who get naked once in a while. Then we have the fitness guys who take great pride in their bodies and fitness and they are great visitors.
“Unfortunately I have to say that the older community are the most difficult. They expect everything for free – “why do we have to pay - we're also nudists!”.
“When we explain that advertising, upkeep such as chlorine, mower fuel, outdoor furniture costs money, they seem to think that that should be provided by others and not them! Our day visitors are by donation and most older folk wait until I am out of the way and they depart so they do not have to donate!
“One of the worst examples was one grossly overweight guy who simply flopped down into our outdoor chairs - breaking two and then landed on our lounger beds and broke two of those. When the other guys around the pool said to this guy to be more careful he merely told them to “mind their own f—business,” and then flopped into the pool causing a tidal wave that swamped everyone around the pool. He laughed and said, “get over it” and promptly left - with no donation!
“Primarily, it is this attitude of some that nudists can do anything and go anywhere irrespective of the feelings of others that I think [it’s] causing [a] general lack of new nudists coming to venues.”
Ed. note: I do have to agree with him regarding the overweight "gentlemen." Most of my overweight friends are friendly and considerate of others and do not go around breaking furniture or drenching other pool users with an impromptu cannonball dive.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
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