When Naturism gets mislabelled – Chris has a rant

 

Alright, indulge me for a moment, this has been building for a while.

As you probably know, we’ve built a fairly strong presence across multiple social media platforms. Some spaces are far better than others when it comes to talking openly about naturism, but overall, the community we’ve encountered has been incredible. Friendly, open-minded, genuinely inclusive, and always up for conversation (which we absolutely love). Through our own events, visits to clubs, and plenty of online interaction, we’ve met some amazing people, many of whom we now consider real friends.

Just being us

But recently, there’s something that keeps cropping up and it needs calling out.

More and more profiles are appearing under the “naturist” banner, describing themselves as “Naturist/Exhibitionist” 😡

Seriously… what is that about?

If you define yourself as an exhibitionist, that’s your choice but it doesn't belong in naturism. Using naturism as a label to justify exhibitionism only fuels the very misconceptions we’ve spent years trying to challenge. Naturism is already widely misunderstood. It’s hard to explain the mental freedom it gives, because from the outside, people assume it’s just about taking your clothes off. But unless you’ve experienced it, you don’t realise it goes far deeper than that.

So when people see “naturist/exhibitionist,” it reinforces exactly what they already believe: “See, that’s exactly what I thought.” And just like that, it sets everything back.

Of course, there will always be that person, a man let’s be honest, parading up and down a naturist beach making sure everyone has seen them. And yes, everyone does notice… just not in the way they think.

Online, it’s a slightly different issue. There’s a growing trend of people sharing what they call their “naturist lifestyle,” when in reality it’s just attention-seeking, explicit imagery, (a dick pic!) Not in a naturist location or event, nothing natural, just a straight forward, “look at this.” Among genuine naturists, that’s just not right. We take photos to show where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing and sometimes that’s nude. We promote the feeling, the mental escapism and the connection we have together.

And this is where an important point comes in, the obsession with penis size.

It’s been talked about to death, but it keeps resurfacing in exactly these spaces. This could be a blog post all of its own. A lot of this so-called “naturist” content is clearly about showing off, (mines bigger than yours,) with the focus entirely on one part of the body. That completely misses the point.

When I share an image from a naturist event, a photoshoot, or life modelling session, I’m not thinking, “but how does my penis look?” It’s irrelevant. It’s not the focus, and it never should be. There are far too many variables anyway, temperature, environment, mindset, context. None of it defines anything meaningful. This again illustrates the completely different approach to online content on naturist profiles and those “other ones.”

I regularly share images as an active life model. This is one of the most body positive, self affirming activities I do. You stop seeing yourself, or others as a collection of parts. You become a whole person. That’s the shift. The artists only concern is with where does that leg go... how does that arm connect to the body? There’s never any judgement on body shape or size aimed at the model, the only criticism is self criticism from artists aimed at their sketches. With this in mind and in this context I have no problem sharing these images.

For genuine naturists, the body isn’t something to judge or compare, it just is. And that includes accepting that the body changes naturally depending on circumstance. The only time penis size becomes a deliberate focus is when someone is actively trying to make it one, and that’s exactly where it stops being naturism. Erections do not happen in naturist environments… simple as that. Naturism isn’t about display. It isn’t about performance. And it certainly isn’t about seeking validation.

It’s about presence.

It’s about feeling the air on your skin, the ground beneath your feet, the water around you. It’s about stripping away more than just clothes, it’s about letting go of pressure, expectation, and self-consciousness. Yes, it might sound a bit spiritual if you’ve never experienced it… but that’s exactly the point. You don’t fully understand it until you do.

Happy after a fun skinny dip

Chris offering a chilly cuddle post dip

At the end of the day, don’t blur the lines between naturism and exhibitionism, they are not the same, and treating them as such only harms the community. Naturists aren’t there to perform or shock; they’re simply people choosing to exist naturally and comfortably in their own skin. A naturist beach is no different to any other beach,  The same expectations apply: respect yourself, respect others, and behave like a decent human being. It really is that simple.

Naturism is:

• Natural
• Freeing
• Calming
• Grounding
• Honest
• Being completely yourself

 Naturism is not:

• Exhibitionism
• Swinging
• Voyeurism (that’s another blog post on it’s own)
• Performative or attention-seeking

Naturism and Exhibitionism don’t belong in the same sentence.

Rant over... stop and breath, and he res a happy, natural beach picture. Son Bou, Menorca

Playing, acting natural

Chris