# I am curious about naturism... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023 "2015-01-27T17:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/41 "2015-02-06T04:45:48Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > There’s [Pirate’s Cove, near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County](http://www.avilabeachpier.com/information/pirates-cove.html), with good parking and only a small hike down to the beach. (From reading up on this just now.) Maybe so, but I understand that Black’s is no longer strictly legal, any part of it. Blacks actually consists of a city beach adjacent to a state beach, and 1979 saw the establishment of the Cahill Policy, which essentially stated that areas could be set aside within the SP system for nude recreation. This was never actually done, but attitudes back then were much more liberal about nudity, at least in designated areas, and there was little or no enforcement. Just a few years ago, however, this policy was overturned by a state appeals court, and in 2009 the California Supreme Court refused to consider it. I’m not sure what the status for nude beaches is in California at all, any more, or what the status of Pirate’s Cove is. But it sounds as though nude beaches are pretty much done in this state. One could go to Black’s for example, and probably get away with it, but from what I have read of recent trends you have to always be ready to jump into your swimsuit if you are lucky enough to be given a chance to comply without being cited. Plain and simple, it’s really not legal any more. In Santa Barbara county, people are being arrested, or were, since I imagine everyone’s been scared off by now. The social conservatism and utter lack of tolerance in this state can be astonishing, given its reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/42 "2015-02-06T07:25:20Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The social conservatism and utter lack of tolerance in this state can be astonishing, given its reputation. It’s funny as I grew up (born late sixties) it was just a given to me that prudishness was on a one way and inevitable decline. It seemed like the further back through the decades you looked, the more prudish it was. When as a little kid I looked at photos of swimming costumes worn by my grandmother they seemed amazingly heavy and cumbersome, compared to what my mother wore to the beach. And then getting older the bikinis got smaller and smaller, and at least in South East Queensland it reached the point in my teen years where a substantial proportion of the women were usually topless, anywhere other than the centre of notably “family” beaches. The clear trend of things that I witnessed as I grew up is probably the reason that - even though this fact has been obvious for a decade or two - it has only really just sunk in with me that the trend has reversed. Neck to knee here we come. Of course it’s part prudishness, part the ubiquity of digital cameras and part skin cancer, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/43 "2015-02-06T21:56:37Z")
The problem at Pirate’s Cove is that it’s no longer secluded. I think it was during the mid-1990’s, a row of monster houses got built on the hill overlooking the beach, where there were none before. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/44 "2015-02-07T02:16:18Z")
You’re 17. You’re Allowed\*. Look, parents may b-tch some, but in the end if you do your own bed sheets and quilts in the wash yourself (and damn regular, btw) its your choice. \*A LOT of people discover that they can no longer sleep comfortably in pajamas at 17. You’re not weird or a freak or anywhere near alone. > [@R3d\_Anonymous](#): > > Thanks for all the information, folks. Good Luck! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/45 "2015-02-07T02:43:44Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > The naturist crowd is an old crowd…I’ll pull a number out of my ass and say that the median age is probably 50… So _that’s_ where you folks keep your numbers. mmm ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/46 "2015-02-08T00:04:59Z")
If your dad comes into your room to open your curtains while you’re sleeping, you have bigger problems than the nekkid thing. If a door lock isn’t an option, just wait until you’re out of the house, then they can’t say jack. Until then, well, in the end it’s their house, their rules, even if it is silly. Is it really worth the fight for the year or so until you’re an adult? Personally, I don’t sleep totally nude, I just find it distracting somehow, but for the last several years, I’ve been almost naked (underpants only) and find it much more comfortable than when I used to wear more and would almost always wake up drenched in sweat. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/47 "2015-02-08T01:36:34Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Sleeping alone naked doesn’t seem related to naturism at all. I usually sleep naked because I like sleeping naked, but I’m not interested in naturism. (not that there’s anything wrong with it) > > Lots of people sleep naked. I don’t understand your parents’ objection if you have your own room. Same here (I’ve been sleeping naked for over 50 years…) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/48 "2015-02-08T07:55:59Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Of course it’s part prudishness, part the ubiquity of digital cameras and part skin cancer, I suppose. I think also the fear of naked men and revulsion at the male form, and the substantial gender differences in expectations or preferences in modesty, are also major factors. It seems like everybody loves the female form, but the male not so much. It’s hard to maintain an active naturist culture when only one gender is ever encouraged to show skin. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/49 "2015-02-08T23:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > originally quoted by **Senegoid** > You will probably find a lot of middle-aged or older people involved in naturist activities. There is a strong cultural attitude among nudists that it is not, repeat not something erotic or sexual. If you feel otherwise, you would probably feel pressured to keep that attitude well-hidden. You would need to NOT feel grossed out by seeing older baggy wrinkled bodies, pot bellies, low-hanging boobs, etc. Bodies is bodies; don’t be judgemental. (I have a bit of background in massage therapy, where the same non-judgemental attitude about peoples’ bodies is considered highly appropriate.) > > > [@](#): > > > > originally quoted by by **Spectre of Pithecanthropis** > > What this really boils down to is the point of naturism is self-directed; it’s about how you physically feel when you’re lying on a beach or strolling a hiking trail in the nude. It’s not about seeing or being seen. When I’m lying on a beach or strolling a hiking trail in the nude, [This is how I feel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgd9hitEAE) To the OP; go for it while you’re young. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/50 "2015-02-09T05:44:06Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > When I’m lying on a beach or strolling a hiking trail in the nude, [This is how I feel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgd9hitEAE) Does it help, while doing this, that you are **SeldomSeen**? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/51 "2015-02-09T05:45:33Z")
I was never able to be really comfortable sleeping in the nude. I’m a restless sleeper and I toss and turn a lot, and it (you know what) is always flopping around. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023/52 "2015-02-09T08:43:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Does it help, while doing this, that you are **SeldomSeen**? 🙂 He’ps a bit, it does 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-curious-about-naturism/711023.md?page=2)