To feel weird that my parents took me to naturist campsites.

I was often nude on the beach with my parents as a child. No one asked me if I approved, but since it seemed natural and comfortable of course I would have had no reason to say no.
I have only good memories of those times and I still go nude in places where it is accepted.

In Iceland, you shower naked in front of everyone, to go into a pool or hot springs and is considered pool etiquette and is insisted upon.

Not aware of them having the eating disorders that are rife over here

Dh was taken to south France naturist places with his siblings when he was a teenager. He says no sexual element whatsoever they were just bodies. Wouldn’t be for me but didn’t do him any harm.

Loved my shell suit thank god I didn’t stand near a naked flame

Are your parents also naked in the holiday photos?

When we were young it was normal for young children to spend time without clothes and consequently there were photos... I think most people are a lot more aware and careful now about pictures of their children (thank goodness).

However, it would be weird to show people holiday photos of naked adults!

I just can't get over how uncomfortable you would be. Clothes keep you warm, south of France in the summer might be ok but rarely is the UK so warm I'd want to be starkers.
Clothes protect you - no way I could play badminton properly without wearing a bra. Sitting down on almost any surface is going to be more comfortable in clothes. Plus I burn like crazy so cover up even when it is sunny.

So OP I get you feeling weird about it. I think the consent thing is probably an issue. It's interesting you wouldn't want to take your children so clearly you weren't totally comfortable with it when you were younger. Do you have siblings? I know my kids would be horrified if I accidentally walked in on them naked but I think they'd be even more upset if it was a sibling.

Do your parents still go to naturist places now they're older?

The "it's as nature intended" is such a horseshit argument. These "but it's how we lived in caveman times" twats don't go on holiday and use stone tools and sleep in caves do they. They go in cars and use running water and microwaves. They just do it with their bollocks hanging out.

Some family friends of ours used to go to a naturist beach in the South of France every summer and we met up with them on holiday once, when I was 12, and they took us there. For me, it was excruciating. I was incredibly self conscious, but could see that everybody else around me was acting naturally. My brother was 16 at the time and he told me years later that he was getting very aroused, all day, and couldn’t quite believe what was happening. My parents were amused, but acted chilled out, so as not to offend and to fit in. My friend told me it felt completely normal to her as it was a regular occurrence throughout her childhood and her parents, who were both artists, used to go naked at home a lot as well. Nothing untoward ever happened to her, it was just something her parents got heavily into in the 1970s, but they were in all other ways completely respectable. Nudity was much more mainstream 40 years ago I believe.

To be honest, I'd find it odd, because it's so foreign to my own upbringing, but I don't think you should feel weird about it. You were only a child, so if anyone should feel a bit uncomfortable about it, it's your parents, imo. Parents should let children grow up and make those decisions for themselves when they're old enough to know what they want. That said, it was a different time, and it was less 'out there' in the 70s than it would be now.

I think I'd develop a strategy for dealing with the uncomfortable or shocked reactions. I'd probably try to laugh it off with a joke or two, but whatever approach you choose, now you know that people will likely be surprised, so you can be prepared for that.

Yes, it’s weird and personally I’d go as far as to say, in modern times, not by 1970s standards, it’s child abuse.

I have family members who belong to a family naturist club where children are required to be naked unless they are in nappies. Yep, you read that right. Required to be naked. It’s in the terms and conditions for membership.

I know because the man of the couple has a past conviction for CSA. One of those charges was for indecent exposure, which is essentially normalised in these settings. They don’t have any minor children by the way, so no reason they couldn’t go to a normal adults only one. I did a lot of research into this to see if I could report him to the club or to the police for some sort of violation of something because of his past convictions. Unfortunately not, he’s not under any sort of supervision or probation because of the length of time that’s passed, and the club itself has no formal policy banning people with a history of sexual offences. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Naturism did have a little peak of popularity in the 1970s as people rebelled against the rules of the past. Let it all hang out.

It was so mainstream that I remember the Holiday programme looking at it as an option. My main recollection of it (i was probably 9-10 at the time) was how ridiculous people looked walking round the onsite supermarket naked whilst wearing plimsolls.

I have a friend whose family went on naturist trips. His parents are the dullest, most conformist people going, yet they spent summer weekends sitting naked on bar stools, boring one another rigid talking about mortgage rates and how Spurs were doing.

It was a moment in time. What constitutes modesty changes all the time and is different in different places.

My kids' school was built in the 1930s as part of a new housing development. There are lovely photos of it with its big play areas (where schools had previously had yards for drill) and it had permanent paddling pools built outside. And every single child was naked. Because they were under 7 and they were splashing around at school and noone sexualised small children.

Is your argument for grown men and women being naked around kids seriously that it's fine because cavemen did it?

Clothes are not only needed for warmth. There's a reason these people have to hide themselves away in designated locations and can't just go about life naked.

Nothing wrong or unusual about your feelings, having a swim or sauna without clothes is very different from being unclothed all the time.

I don't think this is necessarily an issue. Nudity is not inherently sexual. Obviously in retrospect it's going to seem odd because society views naturists as odd. Did it feel odd or uncomfortable at the time?

I used to have a fairly liberal attitude to things like this until I worked with a nudist. He was quite vocal about being a nudist and was trying to convince me to come to one of their events.

I remember telling him I don’t think I would feel comfortable being nude around strange men and he replied that of course he’s only human and it’s natural for him and his friends to enjoy looking at some of the young women there, he’s glad sometimes that he is in a swimming pool otherwise it would be very awkward, but that everyone is very respectful and it’s as nature intended us to be. Needless to say I wasn’t very reassured.

I think it sounds like a paedophile’s dream and imo is something only consenting adults should partake in.

Absolutely all of this.

Children can not consent and therefore should never be involved in anything like this. This is terrifying, do you think you blocked any of the memories out?

It's a tricky one, and I suspect more nuanced than either side of the argument would imagine.

I think the argument that 'We're just prudes in the UK, in other countries it's fine for everyone to socialise naked' is a bit of a red herring, because yes, while that might be the case, nudity in places like Germany or Scandinavia is generally for very specific situations - saunas and steam rooms, getting changed at the beach etc. People in Germany would be fine with nudity in some situations where it was considered a necessity, but not 24/7 like at a nudist campsite. I had a lot of German and Norwegian friends at university and while they saw no need to cover up for certain things, like a spa or whatever, they would have been utterly appalled at the idea of spending their day naked with a bunch of strangers, playing tennis and eating a meal and popping to a camp site shop to buy groceries.

I'm not suggesting there's anything sinister about the average naturist's motives, but I guess what isn't ever clear to me is why being naked is SO much better than wearing shorts and a t-shirt or a loose summer dress that you would actually make a point of theming your entire holiday around it. The idea of being naked in some situations, like a sauna or in a gym changing room or getting changed on a beach like in Germany, seems reasonable to me. But that's a different thing entirely from making it the sole purpose of your holiday. That is quite some dedication to wanting to be naked and to wanting to be around other naked people. There has to be a motive there - again, not saying it's sexual at all. But it's certainly something more than 'Oh, we're just not prudish about bodies'.

I also think kids should absolutely be given a choice about this sort of thing.

OP, you don't mention how old you are in the family photos. While I know my parents have got loads of photos of me as a baby/toddler where I'm naked in a paddling pool or the bath or whatever, which seems fine, I wouldn't be happy if they had a load of photos of me naked when I was, say, primary school age.

I think the approaches to parenting evolve over time and depends on cultural background. My parents did a lot of weird things from my point of view but it’s my now point of view. They were not weird to them then, it’s sort of acceptable. DH parents did things differently but their cultural background and style of life was different. Some of their approaches sounds strange to me.

I agree with the PP who said it was about consent.

When this topic has come up in the past on MN, there are always posters piling on with their performative liberalism and ideas about how it's good to see 'real bodies', etc. But I personally don't think there's any reasonable excuse for subjecting children to having to see loads of aging, swinging penises and saggy breasts in order for the adults to feel cool and alternative.

A very good friend of mine was brought up with naturist parents and it fucked them up for life. They often talked to me about how uncomfortable it was for them to be forced to be around their naked step dad. The total disregard for, and violation of their personal boundaries was traumatising for them.

There’s one near me and it’s for all ages but I can’t imagine anyone taking their children there. There are a few photos and the people look 60+.

You didn’t feel weird at the time OP because it was normal to you and those surrounding you.

In the UK we are ‘prudes’ as others have said - these things are much more normal in parts of Europe. Remember in caveman times it would have been totally normal. Clothes are only needed for warmth - modesty is a man made concept.

I was used to women sunbathing topless on holidays and thought it was totally normal growing up until I realised friends didn’t think so! Seemed so bizarre for years to not be able to tan my boobs. Clearly not the same as full nudity but for me it didn’t even occur to me to think of it as sexual as it was so regular.

I guess my point is that although this clearly won’t have been the childhood of many I wouldn’t ‘overthink’ it too much.

I can certainly see the point of it for some disgusting people.

Is there any information about the number of convicted sex offenders hanging around 'non naturist' beaches in the summer?