My Thoughts on People who are Nudists

I left this comment on KenSavage.com as a reply to his post on Brattleboro:

Ken, many statistics do say that nudists are, on average, older -- however, I have to question how accurately that portrays the reality of nudists.

That statistic, as I understand it, is derived from people who are registered members of such organizations as the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) and the like (There are more, but I cannot remember them at the moment). A lot of younger nudists are not members of such associations for several reasons: cost of membership, being unaware of their existence, not having much personal value to them, not wanting any sort of commitment, etc. Most nudists, however, practice nudity in independently -- at home, skinny dipping at a pond, sunbathing in their back yard, going to a nude beach, etc. It's difficult to really come to an accurate estimate about the average age of nudists.

However, I do feel that many people do not really become involved in nudism until later in life. Young people feel a lot of pressure to fit in, and nudity may not be common among one's friends. People who have advanced in age tend to begin feeling less afraid of what others think, and begin to act more in line with what they feel to be good and true. This is not universal among all older ones, but it can be common enough to be a factor.

Another reason many nudist may be older is because they joined when they were younger -- when the world was in an age of innocence. I don't think (and this is mere speculation) that sexuality was a big of a concern in the 1940's and 50's -- as it was not prominently seen in public society. Many people today may be more concerned about sex because it is perceived as being, perhaps, more prevalent than it really is -- with it being featured in movies, tv shows, music, in advertising, on talk shows, in the news, on the internet, etc. However, sex is a part of life -- not all encompassing, but merely a part. I don't think that people, on average, is really having sex too much more frequently than they have in the past, but the perception of it has changed. Some people, out of fear of ruining their reputation, avoid things they may consider iffy.

Some people also seem to have the belief that without clothing there would be nothing to control human behavior -- assuming clothing has some magical effect that inhibits otherwise uncontrollable "animal instincts." That line of thinking, however, is utterly ridiculous as nudists are NOT more prone to losing self control -- in fact, I believe the opposite effect occurs (greater ability to cope with the human body.)