the fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves pt 4
naked bodies as a commodity
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” Julius Cesar - William Shakespeare
The more time I spend observing expressions of naturism and nudism online the more I believe the quote above applies to much of the online naturist /nudist community as much as it did to the fictional Shakespearean characters. The continued shift away from a naturist ethic to one online that commodifies naked naturist bodies is discouraging. Why? Consider this statement from an article posted by a popular natourist travel influence couple. Their blog was one of the first to be awarded our more than pics award.
Content is never free: The internet has completely changed the way that we find information. We still remember the days when, if we wanted to learn more about a certain topic, we had to buy a book, a magazine, or at least a library subscription. When a 24-volume encyclopedia covered the bookshelves of many living rooms. Today, most of us have a small device in our pockets on which we can consult pretty much all of the world’s knowledge. For free, or so it seems.
But content is never free. https://www.nakedwanderings.com/naturist-content-creators-support/
The quote comes from a recent post on their site that promotes several naturist content creators that "deserve" your support. The basic premise of the post nothing in life is free and neither is naturist content so support and don’t question the concept of naturist content creators. Nothing wrong with that is there? Well that really depends on your perspective on what naturism is.
commodifying the naked body as content
While we support the right of anyone and everyone to do what they want with their personal content, (including their bodies) having naturism be defined by a few popular content creators is concerning. It is similar to concern in the U.S. today that only about 3 or 4 mega corporations are responsible for the majority of the information, news and entertainment available to Americans. These corporations wield immense power to determine what we see, hear and believe. To be fair the content creators quoted above have been valuable ambassadors for nude recreation, naturist travel and natourism. However, recently on twitter they also suggested that confederate flags and other symbols of racism and white supremacy should be seen as acceptable symbols of individual expression. Furthermore they stated they only need be addressed in naturist circles, only if any specific members of naturist communities find it problematic. Is that the definition of naturism we want to adopt? What if other content creators determine that commodifying the naked body is the defining character of naturism.
https://twitter.com/jason_dude76/status/1343635037896519686
If naturism simply another business designed to make money for some and paid for by others? Then this no problem. If naturism another means for people to commodify the naked body? Then ok. But consider this.
"A body is not a commodity to be bought sold or used -inside every human body is a human being"
#mybodyisnotacommodity clothesfreelife dot com
What if a naked body or any body for that matter is not something to be sold , bartered or otherwise commodified?
Don’t get me wrong because I support naturist creatives. This site has consistently done that. A few years ago we went as as far as calling for a naturist creative guild to create a support network and sought to start a bare writers site for existing emerging naturist writers. But this idea of naturist content creators who define what naturism is and who need to be supported is a new thing that has significant downsides. Here I suggest three.
the problem of content creators defined naturism
Naturism as celebrity - If this observed trend continues naturist celebrity becomes the gold standard for what a naturist looks like. If you or I are traveling the world hitting all the cool resorts and posting our naked photos and maybe setting up a Patreon so we can make some money from people who want to view them we might wonder "are we really naturists?" The goal of naturism shifts from enjoying the freedom to be socially nude relating to others and connecting to nature. The goal becomes to get naked and document so the documentation can be monetized. Contrast that with this description of naturism.
“Naturism is not just about” undressing “. It is a true philosophy of life, which passes, among other things, by the practice of nudity … “ — Viviane Tiar, president of the French federation of naturism,
Naturism as the new porn . - Naturism online starts to looks more and like the porn industry with a pay per view nudity model. People are certainly free to what they want with their bodies. Self promotion to make money is certainly one of them. But is that naturism? That is what this new naturist content creators would have us believe. If we accept that at face value then the second question emerges does the strong similarity to the porn industry hurt or help the promotion of naturism? I for one think it is a grave concern. Naturism already has a PR issue in being associated with sex. Like it or not that is the reality. Adult content creators tend to take advantage of the hard won freedoms of naturist to share non sexual nudity (ex. Doris Wiseman, or Google nudism) and they will continue to do so. Wishing it wasn’t so or demeaning the people who have that perception is not the answer. We don’t need to help this process. Naturists need to do a better job of promoting naturism and the non-sexual naturist ethic. The pay per view model doesn’t help.
Naturism as content . Naturism is not content, it is a way of life, a philosophy an idea that goes beyond types of content served up online. Content creators are a invention of the the social media age.
A content creator is someone who is responsible for the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media. They usually target a specific end-user/audience in specific contexts. A content creator can contribute any of the following: blog, news, image, video, audio, email, social updates and other related content. - State of digital publishing
Content creators by definition then just share information. They don’t necessarily create any of that information they just share it. The idea that content is not free equates the information shared by naturist content creators to artistic works like a book or artwork or instructional expertise like a yoga or cooking class. Think of all the so called naturist blogs or social media accounts that only reblog photos of others and never offer anything of there own. While I am not suggesting this is the case with the current crop. Of naturist content creators we cal already seethe foundation is here.
In this scenario, the content creator don’t just share information about naturism. They are the representation of naturism. That is concerning. What follows from that is the notion that unless you support them with your dollars you aren’t really a naturist. Naturism then stops being lifestyle or a philosophy but a cult of personality as one twitter follower suggests. A cult of personality you and I pay to be a part of. Naturists online are already talking about only being able to afford to pay to access a few of these content providers to get their naturism fix and bona fides. The result of all this is naturism becomes something we passively observe and participate in vicariously through the content creators. I have already seen this online as folks request particular content from their favorite content providers and these providers ask what their "patrons" want them to provide. What is the one constant in the content interaction? Naked bodies. Question is does this expand and grow naturism as a way of life?
Now I realize that many are hesitant to define naturism in the current social milieu and experience culture. That perspective that says individual expression is the penultimate experience. However, there are some death dealing consequences to this for naturism. First, no social movement has ever been started, sustained or gained broad acceptance if its values are unclear. Every major influencer in the history of naturism including modern naturism movement advocates like Lee Baxanhall understood this.
As the old maxim says If you don’t stand for anything you will fall for everything. Think the occupy movement in the U.S. Further if the naked body as commodity becomes the defining character of naturism; what happens to those whose bodies are not deemed worthy of being commodified. Should they be resigned to being consumers of naturism from the creators of it?
an ethic instead of a commodity
This is why I feel there is a real need for a renewed naturist ethic. Not a personal definition, or even one determined by a small group. Rather globally crowdsourced ethic that reflects both the historic ideals of naturism and current social changes with a post modern eye to nudist practice, for a new generation and century. An intersectional, inclusive respectful naturist ethic, with shared values that drive our interaction. No return to nudist pageants. An ethic that moves beyond sloganizing bodies, and seeking media attention to communicating a consistent positive message about the benefits and purpose of a naturist way of life. If we cannot find our way to something like that this writer believes the fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves. Content may not be free but ideas are! What do you think? Bare your thoughts in the comments below.
First published December 2020 on clothesfreelife.com