Charles, I'm happy to be a subscriber. Let's make it happen!
Fewer people are participating in group activities, as you said. One of the reasons is that where once there were many prosperous one-earner families, it's harder to find the time, now, for those activities. Naturism, specifically, benefitted from having one parent maintaining the home economy, and freeing everybody from weekend chores.
Another thing that I think has reduced nude socializing is the pornographication of nude pictures. The 1960s high point for nudism benefitted from the Supreme Court's 1958 decision that obliged the USPS to carry magazines with pictures of genitals. Actually, it was a case involving a gay publication that opened the door, but once it was opened, there ten or twelve years before the publishers and public established a market for sexually explicit magazines. During this time, nudist magazines managed to plant the idea in a lot of heads, mine included. Esthetically, fifty and sixty-year old nudist photography moves me much more than porn.
During and since the various lockdowns in the UK I have noticed a quite significant increase in the numbers of young people at local nude beaches. Sometimes it may be a few friends, a couple and at other times it might be a group of say 10-20 younger adults. Sometimes not everyone is naked, some women and men may be topless only, but there always seems to be some nudity. This could be where friends have persuaded their clothes-wearing associates to visit a nude beach, it could well be for a lot of other reasons. This increase has been more noticible at the wilder locations, a good hike from settlement and roads, its possibly this natural environment that has encouraged the new younger visitors, but is undoubtedly a fact.
Charles, I'm happy to be a subscriber. Let's make it happen!
Fewer people are participating in group activities, as you said. One of the reasons is that where once there were many prosperous one-earner families, it's harder to find the time, now, for those activities. Naturism, specifically, benefitted from having one parent maintaining the home economy, and freeing everybody from weekend chores.
Another thing that I think has reduced nude socializing is the pornographication of nude pictures. The 1960s high point for nudism benefitted from the Supreme Court's 1958 decision that obliged the USPS to carry magazines with pictures of genitals. Actually, it was a case involving a gay publication that opened the door, but once it was opened, there ten or twelve years before the publishers and public established a market for sexually explicit magazines. During this time, nudist magazines managed to plant the idea in a lot of heads, mine included. Esthetically, fifty and sixty-year old nudist photography moves me much more than porn.
Just riffin'. Here's a link to a review of a modern coffee or bedside-table book that recycles some antique nudist pictures. https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/akej88/nudist-films-1950s-1960s-archive
During and since the various lockdowns in the UK I have noticed a quite significant increase in the numbers of young people at local nude beaches. Sometimes it may be a few friends, a couple and at other times it might be a group of say 10-20 younger adults. Sometimes not everyone is naked, some women and men may be topless only, but there always seems to be some nudity. This could be where friends have persuaded their clothes-wearing associates to visit a nude beach, it could well be for a lot of other reasons. This increase has been more noticible at the wilder locations, a good hike from settlement and roads, its possibly this natural environment that has encouraged the new younger visitors, but is undoubtedly a fact.