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

[100dalmations]

In almost every holiday photo I’m naked, I have memories of visiting my parents friends houses who were fellow naturists and all would be naked in the garden (not overlooked) I didn’t think it was weird at the time but now I recall spending most of my childhood with my naked family and their friends in campsites mostly abroad but also one they were members of in England I do feel a bit strange about it and when I bring it up to friends they all think it’s weird. Does anyone else feel weird about going to these places? I seem to remember lots of other children would be there so it couldn’t have been that unusual.

Are your parents alive, and are you able to ask them about it?

If you have asked them about it @100dalmations , what did they say?

Just to advise caution to anyone contributing to this thread, as though it may be completely legitimate, it's never wise to give too much of oneself on threads such as these.

I wonder what the appeal of it is. There's a naturist club near where I live and on the website there's a photo of a young woman walking between her parents. I don't see the appeal.

In a lot of my childhood pictures I was wearing a shell suit which is probably more weird.

Bottom line. It’s a predators paradise, isn’t it?

I’m not a prude but children should be safeguarded. I don’t believe it does anyone good being naked and exposed to relative strangers - neighbours and friends of friends, throughout their entire childhood. Nor do I believe it’s in any child’s best interests to have regular view of these non-relative grown adults full mince n’ tatties glowing in the sun.

Call me crazy.

Not really.

We went to naturist resorts in the south of France with family friends for years. Never saw anything odd about it TBH.

I'm extremely grateful that I've been brought up with a much more laid back "these are bodies, they come in all shapes and sizes, everyone has one, no big deal" attitude. I'm very comfortable in my own skin, and it's an excellent practical way to counter the media narrative of the idealised view of what people "should" look like, which is so damaging to many people's mental health, especially teens.

It's really not a predator's paradise - in fact my experience is the opposite - naturism is non sexual nudity, and because it's so normalised, it absolutely doesn't have the sexual charge that nakedness usually does in a mostly clothed society.

The odd "odd" person hiding behind the sand dunes to ogle - well, they got moved on sharply by the majority as soon as they were noticed - it was very healthily self-monitored to minimise any dubious types, and, I would stress, the dubious types were not themselves naturists, but "normals" who specifically came to perve, so I rather feel the problem isn't in the people with the slightly alternative lifestyle, but with the people who have non-consensual interests in the first place.

It’s is unsettling because you couldn’t consent to it.

This is how I would view it. Even if there was nothing untoward, the adults are making the choice to be naked, not the child.

Such decisions would be viewed differently now that we understand much more about consent in many different situations.

We ended up on a nudist beach after a boat trip in Minorca. We didn't know and had our swimwear on, but seeing a naked man walking out of the sea with his junk bobbing on the water, or watching a naked couple playing badminton on the beach put me off for life.

I think there was a big naturist trend that was at its peak in the 70s. We never knew any when I was growing up, but there was a naturist resort near where our family friends lived. I think you need to step back from modern perceptions and the attitudes of your friends. If it felt normal at the time, that is all the evidence you need to know that it wasn’t weird or concerning. Niche, certainly, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

I think these questions are complex and very culturally specific. In the UK people tend to have a more conservative approach to nudity compared to, for example, Germany or Scandinavian countries where it is much more accepted (for all ages) in leisure situations. Whether or not there are more child safeguarding issues in those places because of that is something I have no idea about.
If your parents were in naturist communities then it would seem normal to them (and you) to have you all naked together.

This exactly.

Jesus I had imagined these places were adults only. The fact people make a choice to take their kids to a place where adults parade around naked is disturbing to me.

Agree, there are various layers to this and some of your discomfort is likely to be as you grew up and learned this is not a norm in our culture, rather than the practice of naturism being inherently untoward.

However, there was a famous study on a beach (in the 70s/80s?) where the number of convicted sex offenders present while children were naked on the beach, was concerning and it changed our cultural attitudes towards public nudity for children - I believe. Don’t know all the details.

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

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

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 didn’t think anything of it as a child because I didn’t know any different but as an adult I get a few raised eyebrows when I mention it to anyone and my husband is quite shocked and often brings it up in disbelief but to meet my parents, they are just very normal, kind people who felt very at ease about it but I do cringe when I think about it especially when I look back at photo albums. I wouldn’t dream of this lifestyle with my own children.

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+.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Absolutely all of this.