As anyone who already knows me is probably already aware, if there's one thing that really winds me up, it's people and establishments passing themselves off as 'naturists' and 'naturist' when they're really just using naturism as a pretext for getting naked and engaging in sexual activity. To me, naturism is non-sexual social nudity, so I do struggle to reconcile the idea of non-sexual sex.
Then again, it's everywhere you look on the Internet - even here on ITB. These thoughts stem from a recent post advertising a naturist B&B. On Googling the user's e-mail address, I found numerous ads for the same place on various swingers and 'adult fun' sites. Some naturist venue eh?
The ad has been removed, but the place is still listed on ITB, though at least in the proper listing it gives an 'adult rating' of 'guests often enjoy themselves' (presumably when you translate the euphemism, you get 'guests often exchange bodily fluids.') At least in that ad, people are forewarned of what to expect and will probably only attend if that's what they're looking for.
So we have naturist B&B's touting to the adult fun market, we have naturist spas that end up in The News of the World for their 'couples night' antics. We even have naturist resorts such as Cap d'Agde, which by most accounts are every bit as much about swinging as they are about naturism.
My point is that maybe I've spent too much time getting stressed over people abusing the term 'naturism', often because they put profit before principles, and maybe I'll concern myself about it less if I can just accept (though never embrace) that these people are part of naturism, and that naturism itself just happens to have a seedy side. It's no worse than any major city, which may have wonderful sights, a grand history and proud citizens, and yet if you dig a little deeper will also have crime, drugs and prostitution.
I know I'm never going to change the world by getting on my high horse on ITB. What's more, I doubt I can change it by taking this elsewhere, as the connection between sex and naturism is far too well established in some circles. I suppose I should be grateful that at least there are places where I can practice my flavour of naturism with my friends and family.
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