For my first proper blog post I thought I’d tackle the issue of
nudist clubs having difficulty attracting young people. Getting more young people involved in nudism is something I'm very passionate about, and is the only way nudism survives long term. I think
there’s a few things that nudist clubs do that while not intended
to deter the young, can have that effect unintentionally. These are
some of my ideas on things that can be done to make nudist clubs more
appealing to the young.
1. A
more young person friendly fee structure
Many clubs are operated on the basis of having a high annual membership fee which then gives you unlimited access to the club. This is great value for a retiree who can spend a lot of time at the club. For young people with greater work, social and other commitments, it might only be possible to get to the club a few weekends a year, making membership cost inefficient. Having other pricing options that allow a person to pay in proportion to how much they use the facilities would make it more financially feasible for young people to get involved.
2.
Allow more singles
Young people are much more likely to be single than older people. They’ve had less time to find a partner and settle down. Young people are also more likely to be single by choice. This is perfectly fine. Being in a relationship is a big commitment and many young people want to be able to explore their sexuality and figure out what they want before looking for a relationship. It’s also more common for young people to reject traditional relationship structures. This doesn’t mean they’re incapable of behaving appropriately at a nudist club. People are staying single for longer, and preventing people from joining a nudist club until they find a partner also means preventing people from joining until they are older.
3. Be explicitly inclusive of minorities
Nudist clubs often portray a picture of traditional, heterosexual, usually white families with kids and old retired heterosexual, usually white grandparents. While there is nothing wrong with being part of these groups, this doesn’t reflect the reality of life for so many younger people. In particular, nudism is very popular in the LGBTI+ community, but we rarely see ourselves reflected in marketing materials of nudist clubs. Nudist clubs would be more attractive to younger nudists if they included language on their websites explicitly welcoming minority groups, and pictures showing people of all genders, sexual orientations, races, ages and lifestyles enjoying their facilities.
4. Gender inclusive admission policies
It’s no secret that there is a gender imbalance in nudism, with men outnumbering women. Many nudist clubs take the blunt approach of imposing gender quotas to try to rectify this. While I do agree more needs to be done to encourage women into nudism, I believe barring access to genuine male nudists only serves to disenfranchise young men who are less likely to have a female partner to balance the quota scales in their admission than older men. We don’t fix the age imbalance by putting quotas on older nudists, and we don’t fix the gender imbalance by putting quotas on men. We need to encouraging more participation by underrepresented groups, not discriminate against individuals based on their gender. In addition to all of that, many younger people are trans or non-binary. These are often the people who can benefit the most from the body-positivity of nudism, but admission policies based on binary gender disenfranchise these people.
5. Allow photography
Sharing photos of our lives on social media is now an ingrained part of culture, especially amongst young people. It’s literally a free marketing opportunity for nudist clubs to get more exposure to the younger generation. Young people are going to be more persuaded to visit a nudist club based on seeing their friend’s photos than any officially sanctioned marketing photos that a nudist club might put out themselves. There should obviously still be rules about not taking photos of people without their permission, but banning or heavily restricting photography is a missed opportunity.
6. Modernise your website
So many nudist club websites look like they were designed 20 years ago (and most probably were). While they might function just fine, don’t underestimate the subconscious effect this can have. An outdated website gives off an outdated vibe for an entire organisation. To appeal to young people, nudist clubs should have modern, trendy looking websites that show that they are keeping up with the times. It’s not hard to create a good looking website cheaply with modern website building tools, and young people are savvy with computers. Why not kill two birds with one stone and advertise in young nudist groups for someone to do up a new website, and there’s a free membership in it for them and a friend.
7. Open days for young people
It can be daunting for a young person to go by themselves for the first time to a place where almost everyone is older and a stranger. It’s a lot easier if there are other new people of a similar age there at the same time so you don’t feel like the odd one out. Having a specific open day for young people would allow nudist clubs to focus their advertising efforts, and allow potential young members to feel comfortable going to check out their local nudist club. These open days should be clothing optional so that people who may still be warming up to the idea of being nude in front of others will feel comfortable to get naked at their own pace. Yes, I know an open day will inevitably draw some unsavoury characters, but clubs can prepare for them and have members volunteer to be “the police” for the day to keep an eye on everything and make sure no one’s harassing anyone or behaving inappropriately.
Well, that’s my list. I’d be interested to know if anyone has any comments on my recommendations, or any recommendations of their own. I'm sure there are plenty of other things that could be done to attract more young members.
I think that nudism would still survive without courting young people - because all young people eventually become old people, and then the resort lifestyle begins to become more appealing to them. That said, I do think it's good for nudism to open itself up to a younger audience, because a broader, more diverse nudism is a better nudism. And also because there are already young people who are nudists, and they could benefit from having more options without waiting a few decades to age in to the social community.
ReplyDelete1. Definitely agree. My nudist venue of choice is member-owned, and they expect members to show up and work to keep the place running. I respect that model, and I don't dislike the idea of working to make a nudist venue run. But I've got a life outside of nudism. I can't be there every weekend. And when I do make it out, I want to relax, not feel like I'm showing up to another job - one that I'm not even getting paid for.
2. I'm sympathetic to the arguments people make about enforcing "no singles" rules, but at the end of the day it comes down to principle, and this rule is discrimination pure and simple. If there are undesirable side-effects from allowing singles, then we need to find other solutions that don't involve judging somebody's character based purely on their relationship status.
3. Even something as simple as flying a rainbow flag at the gatehouse goes a long way in making minorities feel accepted. (Of course, the attitude of the park should also reflect that sentiment). I remember camping next to a conservative couple once, and I felt more comfortable around them naked than dressed, because of my non-conforming fashion sense. We're nudists. We shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable because of the way we are.
4. This point dovetails both with the "singles" and the minorities discussion. Again, I sympathise with wanting to balance the genders, but this isn't an excuse for discrimination. You make a good point - I doubt a long-standing nudist couple would be happy with being turned away because their favorite resort already met their "seniors" quota for that weekend. And as a gender minority, I agree, seeing policies that ignore the complexities beyond the binary does make me feel unseen and unwelcome.
5. I've already gotten into this elsewhere, but while this is probably one of your more controversial suggestions, I also think it's one of the more important. And, I think it can work. People just need to adopt a new perspective on it. And I know, people don't like change, and old people especially can be stuck in their ways, but isn't the whole point of this discussion what old people can do to make younger people feel welcome? Well, this is a big one.
6. Agree. This point shouldn't be underestimated. Nothing says "young people not welcome" better than your web presence betraying the fact that you don't even network with enough young people to find someone to design a modern website. I feel this is partly intentional - they're advertising to older audiences who find those vintage websites comforting. It's a matter of desire. Do you want a younger crowd, or not?
7. I will have to defer to [other] young people (I'm young by nudist standards, but getting less so every year) on how attractive this idea would be, as it feels a bit "ladies night" to me. Personally, I think I would take the approach of scheduling more events that appeal to young people, and let them come. But I could be wrong.
Thank you for your in-depth and well reasoned reply Zharth. I think you could be right on the point about open days specifically for young people. I can easily see how that could come across as patronising. More events that are open to non-members that involve activities that appeal to young people could certainly be a better option.
DeleteOn the photography, another thought I've had that might help allay people's concerns is to only grant photography privileges to people who have been a member of the club for a certain period of time. That way people will know it's not random strangers joining and taking sneaky photos, it's only people who have been around for long enough to become familiar with the other members and establish trust.
Yes, I've seen that policy in action, with longstanding members specifically designated as the resort's photographers, even where the written rules explicitly ban all photography. I'm not sure it's the perfect solution, because gatekeeping photography takes it out of the hands of non-members (making it a privilege, and not a right, even to photograph yourself), and still involves discrimination and judgment against people the resort doesn't know.
DeletePunishing good people in order to prevent bad actors from acting badly simply isn't my preferred strategy. We can never be sure that somebody isn't going to enter a nudist resort and harass someone, but resorts are usually (in my experience) good at policing themselves. I think that can apply to photography infractions, too. But this will never happen until the community at large becomes less uptight about photography.
Somebody snaps a photograph of you naked and uses it in a way you don't approve of? I agree that this is a problem, but the stakes, in most cases, aren't high enough to warrant draconian measures of prevention that are overbroad and affect the innocent as well as the guilty.
And in the cases where the stakes *are* high? Well, that's where we need awareness and activism to help lower the stakes, not to cower in fear and let the other side win. Fear of photography encourages unhealthy mindsets (in a lifestyle that's supposed to be healthy for body *and* mind) and is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Photography can't hurt someone who isn't afraid of being photographed.
But I'm not holding my breath on this changing anytime soon. Maybe, when today's youth who grew up taking selfies becomes the aging retirees that make up the largest demographic of nudists (and when everybody, even non-nudists, has naked pictures of themselves circulating online), things will be different. I don't know if I'll live long enough to see that, though.