Body Positive Sexual Expression

We nudists like to keep a clean separation between nudism and sex. There is good justification for this, given the amount of public misunderstanding about nudism. For the most part I’m in favour of this distinction, especially when it comes to nudism in public places. However, sometimes we can be a bit overzealous in deeming anything sexual as anathema to nudism. In particular I think we need to take a nuanced view of how sexual expression can promote body positivity, a goal I hope all nudists share.

Many nudists will say that body positivity has nothing to do with sex, but I disagree. The body features that get marginalised are not arbitrary. They are the features that our culture has deemed to be less sexually appealing. Features such as being overweight or underweight, too hairy, scars and other disfigurements, small penis or breasts, skin that is too pale or dark or uneven, or gender non-conforming features, are marginalised specifically because they are deemed to be less sexually attractive. For many people, poor body image is directly tied to being constantly told that their bodies are not sexually desirable.

The internet provides people an opportunity to change the narrative, and find spaces where they can feel desired, and push back against mainstream body ideals. People with marginalised bodies can create content where they are the subject of sexual desire, and those who are attracted to marginalised bodies can find content they enjoy, which they wouldn’t otherwise find in commercial pornography. People who have insecurities about their own sexual desirability can see others producing and consuming content that represents their body types as sexually desirable, which helps to make them feel more positive about their bodies. This pushes directly against the commercial porn industry, which benefits from the hypersexualisation of unrealistic body standards.

Unfortunately, many nudists will lump all online sexual expression in with mainstream porn, claim that it’s exploitative, and that it demonstrates that someone isn’t a genuine nudist, and block those who produce, retweet, or even like it. This is quite unfortunate, because these are often the people who could benefit most from the body positive message of nudism. Yes, we need to recognise that there is a correct time and place for sexual expression, but if someone’s personal twitter account isn’t that, I don’t know what is. The demand for porn is always going to exist, so shouldn’t we be glad to see it satisfied by individuals of all different body types producing it on their own terms, rather than big commercial studios that only care about money and don’t care that they’re perpetuating damaging and unrealistic ideas of sex and the body?

Nudism isn’t porn, but porn isn’t inherently evil. It’s not going anywhere, and it plays a huge role in how people develop their sense of sexual desirability, which in turn plays an important part in a person’s body image. I’m not saying nudists should start promoting porn, and in fact, I think it’s best that we don't, because it sends the wrong message about what nudism is. But perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to hit the block button just because someone has a few sex pics on their timeline. You don’t have to follow them back. You don’t have to see anything that you don’t want to. But how about just letting them hear our message instead of locking them out. They might just benefit from it, and we might just create more nudists by being a little more tolerant.