I was hanging out on the deck with a female friend this past weekend. It was hot, about 75F, and my friend had shed all her clothes.
“I don’t mind being nude here,” she told me. “Nobody can see us. But I wouldn’t want to be naked at a beach — I don’t have a nice body . . .”
And that in a nutshell is why some people fear social nudism, I suspect. Body image. They are self-conscious about their bodies because they don’t have the ideal model look (read: skinny).
I assured my friend that there is nothing wrong with her body, that she looks just fine, and that nudism is, in part, about liberating ourselves from unrealistic body images and just accepting and celebrating people as they are. I also explained that few people will be looking her body up and down.
I know how it is: we are our worst critics when it comes to our appearance. Yet I also know that when it comes to interactions with people, their appearance is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter whether they are fat, skinny or in-between. It doesn’t matter whether they look like Cinderella or The Phantom of the Opera. And it doesn’t matter whether they are dressed in the most fashionable clothes or clothes from a second-hand shop. What matters to most people is the soul reflection in their eyes and the love in their hearts.
So, perhaps I will have someone to join me in the weeks to come when I visit a couple of social nudism settings. I’m not sure if social nudism is for me, but it will be an interesting experience — and as I get older (i.e. 20-plus), I do find myself becoming more adventurous.
As for the weather, they are predicting this incredible summer weather will be gone by early next week, and we’ll be back to typical Quebec spring temperatures around 55F during the daytime, much colder at night. So, the visit to the nudist beach may not happen until late May or early June . . .
Then again, I’m thinking my naturism debut at the nudist beach might be anti-climactic, as in no big deal at all. After all, I’ve been on a beach in my bikini. I can’t see how removing two tiny pieces of textile will make all that much difference.
Will it?
Smiles . . .
Jillian
Jillian Page 
I’ve noticed a funny thing about beaches in various places. Go to the “textile” section and find lots of “perfect” (or almost “perfect”) bodies in bikinis and shorts. Any suggestion of nudity is met with horror. (“Perfect” in quotes because this is conventional usage, not my own.) Go next door to the nude beach and find all shapes and sizes – just people having a good time with no need to show off their abs, butts, … or bodies. So people like your friend have it ass-backwards (so to speak): on a textile beach in their swim suit, they will be judged; on a nude beach in their birthday suit, no one will care.
Peter
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Very good point. You’re so right: one of the points of naturism/nudism is to accept people as they are. I really like that.
Jillian
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Enjoyed this post. As an older ‘newbie’ in naturism I’m enjoying the freedom and adventure of being naked both inside and outside my home, in public, where allowed. And it’s true – nobody (!) cares what your body looks like. It’s just like any body’s.
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As a much less than averagely endowed man (who only recently worked up the courage to try a nudist beach) I’ve been relieved to find that very few people care what people’s bodies look like when they’re at a nude beach.
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