Most people don't proudly proclaim themselves nudists or naturists, but plenty of people have had the occasional skinny dip or naked encounter. These mostly clothed folks, (people like me) are called "textiles" by the nudist community.
While it might not be a hobby that everyone openly admits to, nudists, naturists and skinny-dippers are everywhere. Naturist Stuart Whelan has met nudists from all professions and walks of life. He told me the story of how he and his wife Lucia once dined with a crown prosecutor, a solicitor and a corrective services officer. All were naked, gathered around the dinner table.
I found Whelan via the Australian Naturist Federation website and learnt that he also runs The Australian Naturist (TAN) Magazine. He's based in Port Stephens, NSW, but is originally from Sydney.
Whelan's journey with naturism didn't begin until later in life. In 2009 he was on a National Parks' website and he noticed two beaches in Middle Head in Sydney which were "clothing optional".
"I thought 'in my nearly 50 years of life that's something I've never tried. I'd like to give it a go'. I did a little bit more research. I found Obelisk Beach was a little bit more secluded and not as well used," Whelan says. "One Saturday morning I thought to myself 'I'm going down there!' I jumped in the car and 15 minutes later I'm looking at the sign that said Obelisk Beach This Way."
When he arrived he had second thoughts, but he finally went down the track to the pristine little beach with a few nude people at the other end. He found a spot and undressed.
In the late 1800s, a woman's ankle was such a turn on. It's all manufactured. If you don't erotify something there's no erotic. You're not attracted to a woman's cleavage because there is no cleavage.
Stuart Whelan
"It felt transformational, felt like as I was taking off my clothes I was taking off all the cares in the world. I thought 'where has this been all my life?!' I felt the sun on my skin and the breeze. I hadn't brought sunscreen, so I very reluctantly decided to get dressed and make the climb back up to the carpark," he says.
He went home and his wife noticed he was beaming. He told her where he'd been. She wanted to try it as well, so soon after they went to Cobblers Beach in NSW where there were more families and couples.
"Her experience was 'we're all the same, there's not much difference between the sexes'. It was more informative rather than transformational. We went for a swim, enjoyed the sun and the sand. It was a great experience," he says.
From there they became regulars at Cobblers and then pursued things further. They took "Nacations" and went to naturist places up and down the coast. They went to a nudist bed and breakfast at Nelson Bay, Le Chateau Naturiste, in NSW, their first experience with couples and social nudity.
They loved it so much that in 2012 the Whelans bought La Chateau and ran it until 2017.
TheAustralian NaturistMagazine went up for sale during this time, so the Whelans bought it too.
TAN has been running for 30 years.
"It's quarterly. They distribute through news agents and overseas naturist groups. And now it's Australia's only naturist magazine," he says.
He explains to me the three types of people who go naked in public.
"General speaking they are one and the same in Australia. I personally break it down into three types of people who enjoy nude recreation. Naturists have a life philosophy that underpins the nudity, respect for self, respect for others and respect for the environment. Even when you're dressed you can still be a naturist. That's what my wife and I consider ourselves," he says.
"Nudists enjoy the same thing but don't have an underlying philosophy, probably a bit more hedonistic. The third group is what I call skinny dippers. This is a group I became aware of at Cobblers, where people were quite happy to be naked and frolic and swim, but if you invited them to a nudist barbecue they'd say nah."
I'd definitely fall into the third category. If it involves water and nudity, I'm all over it, but I can't say I'd be willing to go to a nude meal or even a nude sauna. I don't mind naked people around me, in some ways it's interesting, but I like them at a distance, coronavirus or not. I'd prefer not to know too much or have too much known about myself.
The one thing Whelan wishes more people understood about naturism and nudism is that it has nothing to do with sexuality.
"It's not that you don't look, it's just that you're not fixated by it. The role of clothing is more to accentuate certain areas of the body, particularly female dress. When you're naked, there's nothing more to see. People don't understand, we're not denying our sexuality, it's just all the societal prompts that we're told are sexy, all that is gone." he says. "In the late 1800s, a woman's ankle was such turn on. It's all manufactured. If you don't erotify something there's no erotic. You're not attracted to a woman's cleavage because there is no cleavage."
He added that younger people are embracing the nudist movement as well thanks to movements like free the nipple and body positivity.
Local nudist, 34-year-old Daniel Craig has similar feelings . His local nude beach is Birdy on the Central Coast. He just enjoys being naked, relaxing and socialising without his clothes on.
"It's a nonsexual experience," he says. "I got into with friend in high school, started with a triple dare experience. We were dared to run around the block in your undies; it progressed from there. I lived in regional Queensland and we would go on weekend (nude) trips."
Before moving to the Central Coast he lived in London where he found an active nudist scene. They'd hire pools for nude swims and went to nude restaurants and bars.
"I think the British are seen as being quite conservative, but London is special in a way that's it open to a lot of things. In London, one of the biggest nudist clubs in the UK it was essentially their version of (Australia's) Wet'N'Wild. The staff and lifeguards were clothed but everyone else was nude," he says.
He's lived on the Central Coast for almost three years and has many nudist friends in the area.
"For some reason the textile community has this thing about being naked, like it's a shameful thing. That's ridiculous," he says.
He encourages friends who struggle with body acceptance to give it a go, as all body types participate and nobody is ever the fattest or thinnest person on the beach.
He admires artists like Spencer Tunick who photographs mass nude gatherings including one in front of the Sydney Opera House.
"Nothing sexual about it; we're all naked under clothes," Craig says.
Both Craig and Whelan's opinions around nudity were interesting, but I wanted a woman's opinion. I chatted with my friend Caitlin O'Reilly. She's a local musician. She wouldn't call herself a nudist, but she does many nude activities, from performances to posing as a model for life drawing students.
"I live in a large share house, and we actually have an agreement that if people want to be nude in our backyard people are allowed to do that. You don't have to ask first. Just like the rule of keeping the kitchen really clean, you can be nude if you want to," she says.
For her, nudity is often associated with swimming. It's not always sexual but it is about empowerment.
"Being a woman, in most fashion, I don't feel comfortable. I feel like most clothes aren't designed for my shape. I love my body shape, but I feel weird with clothes. When I'm in the nude, I feel really good about my body. Most of the time people are supportive around me when I'm nude. It never feels weird," O'Reilly says.
But it also depends on where she is. For example, if she were naked on a busy beach she might feel differently, not because it felt sexual but because people might disapprove.
Nudity is a part of her work as well. She's done burlesque and other creative unclothed performances. She did a nude photoshoot at the Newcastle Baths for her Ocean Hearts band.
"It feels really powerful. There are two sides, me being nude in my general life, but also it feels really empowering to do that in my creative performance. In creative performance, sexuality does come out. I feel like my body is powerful and strong, and it becomes art," O'Reilly says.
Nudism and naturism are intriguing. While writing this article I became more interested in the topic and ended up heading up to Samurai for a quick dip, just to be reminded of how nice it felt. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the water felt perfect on my skin. Hardly anyone was there bar a few four wheel drives. I chuckled when I noticed a man with a shirt and no pants out for a stroll. The morning was a great distraction from everything else going on in the world.
For many, in these times of stress, undressing is an unexpected blessing.
I'd definitely fall into the third category. If it involves water and nudity, I'm all over it, but I can't say I'd be willing to go to a nude meal or even a nude sauna. I don't mind naked people around me, in some ways it's interesting, but I like them at a distance, coronavirus or not. I'd prefer not to know too much or have too much known about myself.
The one thing Whelan wishes more people understood about naturism and nudism is that it has nothing to do with sexuality.
"It's not that you don't look, it's just that you're not fixated by it. The role of clothing is more to accentuate certain areas of the body, particularly female dress. When you're naked, there's nothing more to see," he says.
"People don't understand, we're not denying our sexuality, it's just all the societal prompts that we're told are sexy, all that is gone." he says.
"In the late 1800s, a woman's ankle was such turn on. It's all manufactured. If you don't erotify something there's no erotic. You're not attracted to a woman's cleavage because there is no cleavage."
He added that younger people are embracing the nudist movement as well thanks to movements like free the nipple and body positivity.
-
Thirty-four-year-old Daniel Craig has similar feelings . His local nude beach is Birdie on the Central Coast of NSW. Birdie is located within the Munmorah State Conservation Area. Craig just enjoys being naked, relaxing and socialising without his clothes on.
"It's a non-sexual experience," he says. "I got into with friend in high school, started with a triple dare experience. We were dared to run around the block in your undies; it progressed from there. I lived in regional Queensland and we would go on weekend [nude] trips."
Before moving to the Central Coast he lived in London where he found an active nudist scene. They'd hire pools for nude swims and went to nude restaurants and bars.
"I think the British are seen as being quite conservative, but London is special in a way that it's open to a lot of things. In London, one of the biggest nudist clubs in the UK, it was essentially their version of [Australia's] Wet' N' Wild. The staff and lifeguards were clothed but everyone else was nude," he says.
He's lived on the Central Coast for almost three years and has many nudist friends in the area.
"For some reason the textile community has this thing about being naked, like it's a shameful thing. That's ridiculous," Craig says.
He encourages friends who struggle with body acceptance to give it a go, as all body types participate and nobody is ever the fattest or thinnest person on the beach.
He admires artists like Spencer Tunick who photographs mass nude gatherings including one in front of the Sydney Opera House.
"Nothing sexual about it; we're all naked under clothes," Craig says.
-
BothCraig and Whelan's opinions around nudity were interesting, but I wanted a woman's opinion. I chatted with my friend Caitlin O'Reilly, a Newcastle musician. She wouldn't call herself a nudist, but she does many nude activities, from performances to posing as a model for life drawing students.
"I live in a large share house, and we actually have an agreement that if people want to be nude in our backyard people are allowed to do that," she says.
"You don't have to ask first. Just like the rule of keeping the kitchen really clean, you can be nude if you want to."
For her, nudity is often associated with swimming. It's not always sexual but it is about empowerment.
"Being a woman, in most fashion, I don't feel comfortable. I feel like most clothes aren't designed for my shape. I love my body shape, but I feel weird with clothes.
"When I'm in the nude, I feel really good about my body. Most of the time people are supportive around me when I'm nude. It never feels weird," O'Reilly says.
But it also depends on where she is. For example, if she were naked on a busy beach she might feel differently, not because it felt sexual but because people might disapprove.
Nudity is a part of her work as well. She's done burlesque and other creative unclothed performances. She did a nude photoshoot at the Newcastle Baths for her Ocean Hearts band.
"It feels really powerful. There are two sides, me being nude in my general life, but also it feels really empowering to do that in my creative performance. In creative performance, sexuality does come out. I feel like my body is powerful and strong, and it becomes art," O'Reilly says.
-
Nudism and naturism are intriguing. While writing this article I became more interested in the topic and ended up heading up to Samurai Beach in NSW for a quick dip, just to be reminded of how nice it felt.
It was a beautiful sunny morning and the water felt perfect on my skin. Hardly anyone was there bar a few four-wheel-drives. I chuckled when I noticed a man with a shirt and no pants out for a stroll. The morning was a great distraction from everything else going on in the world.
For many, in these times of stress, undressing is an unexpected blessing.
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