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THE PURSUIT OF BEING FULLY ALIVE IS IT TRUE THAT NUDISTS THINK THEY’RE INVISIBLE? > If we’re going to elevate naturism to a place beyond dumb jokes > about nudist colonies and worn-out

 clichés about the people who > frequent such places, we’ve got to own up to our biological > desires to see and be seen. > Some people dismiss streakers, naked protesters and even 

nudists and > life models as ‘exhibitionists’ without fully appreciating that > we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, motivated by > exhibitionism. We learn to be that way in 

order to stay alive. A > baby needs to be seen and to be noticed by its mother, and this need > continues to operate in us throughout our lives… Every human being > is motivated by 

this deep desire to be seen, to have attention paid > to them, to be noticed and to be heard. >  > Philip Carr-Gomm, _A BRIEF HISTORY OF NAKEDNESS_, 2012 NATURISM? OR EXHIBITIONISM?

— PART I SOCIAL NUDITY AND THE HUMAN NEED TO SEE AND BE SEEN medium.com This is Part II of a story I posted about 10 days ago. _Reads_ here on MEDIUM have been modest, with a couple of

thoughtful comments. But when I posted the link to my Facebook page and shared it with a few different naturist groups, the reaction was a bit more visceral. One of the more moderate

comments reads… > You are confused about what makes someone an exhibitionist or > voyeur. There must be actual sexual arousal leading to climax. > Fleeting thoughts are human nature

 and are not the same. Whether that’s true or not, that’s certainly not the perspective of author Philip Carr-Gomm as he tries to explain the mysterious relationship humans have with their

own bodies — let alone, those of other humans around them. I keep trying to figure out how the social media thing coincides — _in a meaningful way_ — with the naturist cause. I have made

several attempts to promote naturism on various platforms over the years. Twitter? I was canceled. I have a new account, but very few followers. Tumblr? They had a sweeping ban on nudity a

few years ago. My account is still there, but a mere skeleton of its original self. Instagram? Also canceled. I once had a Facebook “page.” Shuttered. But my personal profile is still live —

at least for today. One day that’ll disappear, too. But I have to say, forging the shark-infested waters of social media can be daunting! I can’t even count the number of _friend requests_

from “beautiful women” who all have the same bio and no profile. Or even more bizarre (to me!) — private messages that routinely follow this script: > THEM: Hi. How r u >  > ME: 

Well, thank you. Trying to get a lot of morning stuff done. >  > THEM: r u a nudist? >  > ME (to myself): Read my profile, dipsh*t! >  > THEM: r u naked? >  > ME: 

Ummm… (In fact, I probably am.) >  > THEM: _Full body shot focused on (male) genitalia appears in > thread._ >  > ME: Wow. Nice work there. Gotta go, Have an 8 o’clock 

meeting! I’m a blogger. And a middle-aged white guy who spends a lot of time at the computer. You’re going to have to go a long country mile to even begin to register on my shock value

meter, but really? Isn’t there a better place to show your wares than finding Facebook friends who call themselves nudists? There has to be a more direct route than that to finding what

you’re looking for. Actually, what _are_ you looking for? Philip Carr-Gomm’s book, _A Brief History of Nakedness_, is a book I would strongly recommend to anyone who finds themselves

fascinated with naturism, nudism, or simply shedding one’s clothes for anything other than bathing or sex. I found the entire volume to be thoughtful and _thought-provoking_, in the best

sort of way, but especially when he got to talking about the exhibitionist thing. My takeaway from his assessment, and quite frankly, a belief that I’ve held for quite a long time is that

humans spend a lot of time, energy, and money trying to shape the way other people see us. You could begin with the fashion industry, and work your way down the ladder to how much you pay

for a haircut, but truth be told — we care about how we are visually perceived by people we meet from one day to the next. I think that Carr-Gomm would make the case that from that

perspective alone, _we are all _exhibitionists. We present ourselves in ways that we’d like people to perceive us, implicit of all sorts of information about our religiosity, our political

or sexual persuasion, our social status… you name it. The bizarre part of this conversation, however, is how people see us when we’re naked?! I made quite a rant in a recent story called

WHEN NAKED IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH, suggesting that nudity is not quite the equalizer that we’d like to think it is. Nudity has a full palette of social cues that are no less complex than those

in the textile world. My personal sense of purpose on this front is clear. In a perfect world, I come home from work, feel constrained by clothing, remove said clothing, then seek the

nearest warm spot that provides the necessary conditions for nakedness, such as the chair in front of the wood-burning stove, immersed in the hot tub in the winter, or simply walking out

into the Mid-Atlantic balmy heat in the summer. I am fortunate. We have the space and the freedom to be naked at home, and to a large extent, _behind_ our home. Our neighbors know about our

proclivity for nudity, but we’ve made the appropriate adjustments to “protect them” from a chance encounter with our unclothed beings. That allows us the luxury of being naked when we want,

where we want, in and around our own domicile. But we also have a deep affinity for naturist travel. Do we enjoy seeing other naked people? Well yes. In the same way, I suppose, that you

enjoy seeing what the celebrities are wearing this year at the Academy Awards, or more aptly, the joys of simply _people-watching_ while sitting in a shopping mall or train station. > 

“Hmm… that’s an attractive person. I bet s/he has an > interesting story to tell.” THE TRAIN STATION GAME MUSINGS ON NATURIST TRAVEL: NOTHING IN MY DUFFEL BAG — INTRODUCTION medium.com

When Carr-Gomm says that humans are inherently voyeurs, he essentially implies that such is necessary simply to perpetuate the human race. That’s a dicey argument in this age of political

correctness, but quite frankly, I think he’s right. Social nudity is validating in knowing that you’re with other people who like to be naked, but it would be a bit disingenuous to suggest

that naked people don’t derive some level of “pleasure” in looking at other naked people, _in the same way _that humans take pleasure in simply looking at other humans — EVEN WHEN FULLY

CLOTHED. For many, _especially_ when fully clothed! I realize this is dangerous rhetoric amidst the super wholesome values and guidelines implicit of nudist club creeds, which seem

particularly out of sync with the “so-called nudist folks” who keep popping up online that are all too eager to show me more than I asked for. But I think this is a critical part of the

dialogue if we’re going to elevate naturism to a place beyond dumb jokes about nudist colonies and worn-out clichés about the people who frequent such places. Truth be told, a person who can

find comfort in a social setting, bedecked only in his or her own skin, has found some sense of peace within themselves. I have to believe that’s really a thing. When I’m naked in a social

setting, am I guilty of gazing upon the other naked humans around me to admire the artistry of the human form? Yes, of course, I am. And am I at least a bit self-unconscious about the parts

of my physicality that I wish were a bit more gaze-worthy? Of course, I am. I am human. We are hard-wired to admire, and we wish to be admired in return. Not sure that’s shameful. It simply

is what it is. So I’ll post this story to those same Facebook threads as I did the last time around. I suppose if people only read the title to affirm their preconceived ideas, then we’re

right back where we started from. But if we’re really interested in normalizing naturism in an era when the human body has been turned into a high-priced commodity, it seems maybe we should

take a step back to take it all in. Just make sure you sit on a towel. And don’t stare! Enjoy this story? PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CLAP! You can clap up to 50 times, and each time you do

that, it helps move _NATURIST STORIES_ up the queue in the MEDIUM algorithm. LET’S HAVE A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR NATURISM! HOW “CLAPPING” OR RESPONDING TO A MEDIUM STORY HELPS PERPETUATE

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