Recently we had a very exciting event happen right here in the backwoods of north Idaho. We had a convention.
Now those of you abiding in cities are doubtless saying, “Big whoop. Conventions are a dime a dozen here.”
Aaah, but this isn’t an ordinary convention. It was a convention with a very specific dress code. In fact, unless you were dressed within extremely exacting guidelines, you were not permitted to attend.
Fortunately wardrobe costs were minimal because this was a convention of nudists. Yes, you read that right. Bet you didn’t think we had this kind of racy, cutting-edge activity out here in the middle of nowhere!
On the other hand, now that I think about it, “in the middle of nowhere” is probably a large consideration when it comes to planning a nudist convention.
The folks who planned this convention didn’t just pick any ol’ random spot to hold their meetings and games and celebrations and activities. No, they chose a place with an infrastructure already in place to handle a clothes-less population.
It’s true. We have a year-round nudist resort just a couple miles away (as the crow flies) from our house. Imagine that.
I’ll pause and let you envision the reality of nudists living in north Idaho, two hours from the Canadian border. Either their homes are really warm in the winter or they’re a hardier breed than I thought. (The key, I later read in a local newspaper article, is “geothermal heating and good insulation.” Ah, got it.)
This nudist club is not just a campground-in-the-buff. Far from it. The resort boasts a 15,000 square foot facility on 75 acres with indoor and outdoor pools, athletic courts, a fitness center, game room, lounge area, and more. Oh, and a “friendly atmosphere” which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a must.
“The first ten minutes is awkward for everyone,” admits the resort’s co-owner. “Eventually you realize nobody’s looking and nobody cares.”
Our local parcel delivery guy, a friendly chatty fellow, makes frequent deliveries to the nudist resort, and boy howdy does he have some stories to tell. And one of those stories is: if your vision of a nudist colony is a collection of gorgeous, toned, six-pack-abs kinda people, think again.
But if this newspaper article is to be believed, that’s the whole point of a nudist resort. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It is – quite literally – the great equalizer. And I guess therein lies the appeal.
I was giving this some thought one day when my girls and I went to the local grocery store. We noticed a group of young people hanging around who were dressed, um, to be noticed.
Their attire was rather forcibly blatant. They’re fashions were cut up to here and hanging down to there. They were pierced. They were tattooed. There was nothing attractive in these fashions. They were taunting and in-your-face and designed to attract stares and defy convention.
Rather like the nudists, now that I think about it.
But unlike nudists (who are rather scarce), this genre of young people is unfortunately all too common. I recently returned from a week-long trip to Portland which confirmed this in spades. These days if you see a group of young people dressed modestly, they’re almost as blatantly conspicuous as the weirdos because modesty is now as scarce as nudity.
Which got me thinking… why is bare skin any more shocking than the stuff we see every day in malls and on campuses and on beaches across the country?
During my week in Portland, I saw people with tattoos covering most of their bodies. I saw people with piercings, with spiked hair, and with clothing that had to be seen to be believed… all designed to make people notice, stare, and marvel. I’m sure it’s some sort of desperate bid for attention. Pathetic, really.
And extreme. In their efforts to stand out, some people are doing more and more wild things to their one and only body. Bizarre tattoos and multiple piercings are so passé. Now in order to stand out, these people have to get bolder tattoos, larger tattoos, tattoos made three-dimensional by under-the-skin inserts. They have to pierce every possible piece of flesh to the point where certain vital organs are rendered functionally useless. I’ve seen photos of people with horns (horns!) and with so much metal inserted into their skin that they look like they’re wearing chain mail. I’ve seen pictures of earlobes stretched so large you can pass a plate through them. I’ve seen pictures of teeth sharpened into fangs.
So I’ll ask again – why is bare skin any more shocking? At least the nudists aren’t hanging around the grocery stores in a bid for attention. Instead, they’re discreetly staying within the confines of their resort. Perhaps they have the right idea after all?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating we all shuck our modesty and our clothes and cavort around in our birthday suits, but maybe the honest bareness of your average nudist is to be preferred over the shocking bodily distortions which are becoming so common. At least nudists do not (presumably) need to resort to piercings and tattoos to get attention.
When it comes down to it, perhaps I’d rather deal with people who are up front and honest about their bodies than deal with the scores of horrible, revealing, immodest fads so popular today.
And I suppose that here in libertarian north Idaho, at least what gets bared on the ranch… stays on the ranch.
Tags: Entertainment, Family, Gals, Health/Health Care, Humor
Thursday, August 19th, 2010 - 9:05 PM
Category: Life/Living/People.
(+3 rating, 3 votes)
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Patrice -
I can’t speak for people with piercings or tattoos, but in my experience nudists aren’t interested in showing off for the general public. We just enjoy not having to wear swim suits (do you enjoy that wet, clammy feeling when you get out of the water?) or for that matter, any clothes when you don’t need them.
Would we like to live in a society where you could wash your car in the driveway and not have to get your clothes wet, or work in the garden and just shower off afterwards? Sure – and at a nudist resort you can do that, but we understand that many of our neighbors in the textile world would be uncomfortable.
It’s an interesting question trying to decide where their comfort level determines what you do. I may post a political sign they don’t like, and paint my house without consulting them on my color choice, but if my wife shows too much bare skin the law might get involved.
It’s sort of amusing hearing people say that old people or folks carrying more weight than is healthy should cover up. We are what we are, and I think it does young people good to see the realities of aging. Children raised in a nudist environment have healthier body acceptance levels than those raised in a society which doesn’t even require showers after gym at school.
We have a regular member who has had a mastectomy. She loves to sit out in the shade and play her saxophone, enjoying life, accepting herself and not worrying about what the world thinks of her body.
Hi. Just chiming in to say…i agree with you. And that’s kind of hard since I dye my hair blue. And I like my hair blue, am not plannig on going back to black in a long while.
the thing is, I am really shy, painfully shy. And I did not know this when I did it, but blue hair very useful for hiding while not hiding… Like I tell my sisters, if I am feeling confident I can hide most of the blue and go as a “normal” person. If I am feeling insecure, I let the blue show at it’s wildest, and I know nobody will look at my face. All they’ll remember is some blue hair.