The State of American Nudism

Do you have the right to live nude in America? A lot of nudists would say that it is an inherent right. A libertarian might argue that you should be able to as long as you’re not harming anyone. A conservative textile would claim that being nude in public is immoral and would harm children. In reality, the laws surrounding nudity outside the home vary widely. With the exception of Florida, the southern states are some of the worst places to live in for nudists. They tend to have the strictest bans and penalties surrounding public nudity. In some southern states, you could be charged with a felony and put in a sex offender registry after being charged for public nudity. In most states, the highest charge you can get is a misdemeanor. But there are many places in the US where you can enjoy social nudity without the fear of legal penalties. In fact, public nudity is legal in Vermont except for a few localities. Women can go topless in NYC. There are numerous nude beaches in California. There are nude-friendly events like Burning Man and World Naked Bike Ride. There are also US-based online nudist communities like Just Nudism and True Nudists. There are definitely positives and negatives when it comes to nudism in America.

Today, most of us live busy lives. We’re commuting to full-time jobs, going to colleges classes, spending hours posting and chatting on social media, doing errands, etc. When the majority of Americans go home, they’re still wearing their clothes. Most textiles are wearing pajamas or underwear to bed. They wear a towel to cover up when going to the shower. This is all foreign to nudists. When we get home, we want to enjoy life naturally. Those of us with spouses, kids, and nudist friends are used to everyone in the home being nude. That’s normal. Unfortunately, most of us can’t just walk out the door and grab the mail or mow the lawn nude. Our neighbors would report us to the police and we’d get cited for indecency. Is that really the kind of country we want to live in? No, but change takes time. It would be a big step forward if outdoor nudity was allowed on our own property across the country. Ideally, you could walk to the mailbox, host a pool party, mow the lawn, paint your house, garden, or hold a BBQ with everyone being nude.

How can the nudist community in the US begin to improve things? We can start by contributing guest articles about nudism on mainstream sites, create blogs with great photos and articles, organize petitions to get laws changed, stop posting our nudist photos with emojis and blank spots on our faces, put up lawn signs/door magnets/window stickers with the international naturist symbol to indicate that we have nudist households, open private naturist parks, and create new video programs and podcasts revolving around nudism. That may sound like a lot but you could do just one of those things to start with. The nudist community also needs to address the problem of almost all nudist social media sites being 18+. One of the keys to the future of nudism in this country is involving teens in our online and offline communities. We need to include them in our overall conversation and allow them to participate in the nudist experience. Of course, this means that our online communities will need stricter moderation. Our natural lifestyle is for all ages and backgrounds. If we want to grow nudism in America, we need to be more public with it and engage with those seeking a more natural life.