For this post, I have added a copy of an article I wrote for the 'Australian Sun and Health'(ASH) magazine. ASH is an Australian naturist magazine which I find is best for family naturists which is why I sent the article to them. It was published in their magazine;
Issue 10(Summer 2008) - page 12.
Naturism - Family & Children
Growing up as a child, it was a common to see children up to 8 years old playing at the beach naked. Nobody cared then as it was seen as natural for children to run about the beach minus their cotton wrappings. Even as a teenager in the 1980’s this was still a common sight to see but sadly, not any more.
Social conservatism has taken such a stranglehold on society that nudity has become something to be feared. Even the vision of a dog’s genitalia captured by camera is censored for television. I never realised just how insanely conservative we as a nation have become until I saw a warning of sex scenes before an animal documentary began.
As a parent, I would like to see my children grow up understanding that life around them is natural, including nudity and sex. We allow our four young children to be clothed or naked as they wish so that they learn not only that their body is natural and something to be cherished, but also to develop an ownership of their body. Forcing a child to be undressed is equally dangerous as forcing a child to keep all their gear on. Allowing a child to have this decision making process is the very tool a child needs to acquire in order to see that they, and only they, are in charge of their bodies. Not the churches, not the governments, not the parents, or fashion industries. Only they own their body and hold ownership of the decision making about what they do with their body.
I also believe that by instilling such a private ownership of the body amongst children from a young age, the market forces of fashion, entertainment industry and others have little control over the emotions of children. Both my 11 and 7 year old daughters are a living example of this as they see children in their own age groups being ashamed of their bodies. When my second eldest was in grade 1 last year, they were being a read a story about a man who loses his pants. This made all but a few children cover their eyes at just the thought of nudity.
My eldest is currently in grade 6 here in Queensland. She told me that she is glad that she and her siblings are raised in a nudist household. When I asked her why, she had two reasons. One being sad about those around her at the tender ages of 10 and 11 years old are ashamed of their bodies for they believe that they are ugly and fat. Only those on the tv, magazines and movies are attractive. With these bags of bones being the “standard” of good looking bodies, the natural bodies these children have are felt as ugly, unattractive and unhealthy. Seriously folks, what are we doing to our children when they come home from school, holding fears of dying from eating a piece of cake?
Unfortunately we don’t have any legal nudist beaches in Central Queensland. At the time of writing, Queensland has no legal beaches, which is a shame, as taking children to such a beach would be good for them. I once took my eldest child to a nudist beach near Byron Bay while driving from Sydney to Brisbane. She was 8 years old then and asked me if I could take her to one, so I did. She loved it and wants to go again. My second eldest, who is now 7, has also asked me to take her to a nudist beach or somewhere nudist families gather. There is no such place here in Rockhampton. On talking with other parents who raise their children in a clothing optional household, I found that we nudists have also fallen for the fear of pedophilia. We as a society have decided that instead of correctly punishing child sex offenders, we should cover up our children, denying them the development of self ownership. As a society, and sadly many of us in the naturist communities, we are ignoring the growing violence and sexualised nudity in our media.
It is my belief that we, as Australia’s naturist communities, must take charge of correcting such an evil outlook on life. Yes, I said ‘evil’, for society is twisting the minds of children to grow up in angst, to be scared of life around them, and to feel ashamed of themselves. I place a large share of the blame for this mentality on organised religion for brainwashing people into being fearful of the body, of sex, and of the natural states of life in general, so they could control us. Religions do it. Governments do it. It is our role to first teach our children how to use their own mind, to own their self and take responsibility for their own actions in life.
We must take the lead in teaching that the body is not wrong, just as it is wrong to portray the body solely as the vessel of sex. We must teach by example that the body is good that it is natural, and it is to be loved.
