Normalizing Nudity and TN

Hate to say it, but this web site is not helpful when it comes to normalizing nudity. Anyone visiting here for the first time gets a really bad impression of nudism, especially if you are a woman. Only those real nudist with the patience to work around all the crap and connect with the real true nudist will get the feel for who nudist really are. Thoughts?

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

The culture of any group, online or otherwise, is a challenging thing to control. If you think of it as a river, we are all moving along, but there is fast water, slow water, rough water, calm eddies, and some water leaves or joins as we flow toward the ocean. The river is often identified with whatever dominant characterizations an outside observer first encounters. This is the issue you have identified, and you are spot on.

To really stretch the river analogy, a useful approach may be to create calm eddies where people can be protected from the raging waters. The waters of that eddie can then venture out and mix with first the calmer waters, and eventually even find itself able to manage the rough waters. This group may be one of those eddies.

We can't directly control the entire river, but we can be visible in other areas, and we can invite people to our waters.

It is important to note that it is nobody's role to suggest that others are doing it wrong. The strongest approach is to role model how you do it, invite others to sample the process and benefits, and respect their decision to adopt your suggestions to whatever degree they are comfortable.

nkhiker said:
this web site is not helpful when it comes to normalizing nudity... Thoughts?

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

Whereas I'm the last one to defend this website, I'm not clear what on what you mean by 1) bad impression 2) real/true nudists 3) all the crap. They're all loaded or judgmental words lacking in specificity which could provide a helpful basis for discussion.
My own view is that TN seeks legitimacy by having as many profiles and traffic as possible, with little and inconsistent filtering as a result.
I suggest you find groups of interest which have recent traffic and start posting on them to develop a handful of friends - that is a realistic and rewarding goal to reach.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

I suggest you find groups of interest which have recent traffic and start posting on them to develop a handful of friends - that is a realistic and rewarding goal to reach.

I was not speaking for myself. I have been here for several years and have developed friendships and in person connections. It is through those connections however that I have gotten a feel for what women have to endure on this site. Most nudist women who join this site are gone in a few weeks. Over the time I have been on this site I have watched the site change - not for the better from a nudist perspective. That said, my point was not a judgement on this site, but I question if it is a good representation of the nudist community. Will someone new to nudism visiting this site for the first time have a favorable impression of the nudist community. My hope is that they would see if for what it is, and not a representation nudism on the whole. Finally, it is an observation, not a judgement to note this site now is heavy with sexual content that is not healthy for gaining broad social acceptance of nudism. It is not working in our favor for Normalizing Nudity, the topic of this group.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

I understand your concern and where you are coming from, but where do you start and finish with filtering / censorship? It seems to me that there are clearly people here for other reasons not just to chat about improving the way we do things, funny experiences, things we have done or do nude and where or whatever. So I think you have to accept there is good aspects of the site and not ones you support but focus on what you prefer, write opinions, participate and see if you can help be part of a site you want to be a member of.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

Finally, it is an observation, not a judgement to note this site now is heavy with sexual content that is not heathy for gaining broad social acceptance of nudism. It is not working in our favor for Normalizing Nudity, the topic of this group.

Thank you for your thoughtful clarification. From my perspective, there's a tension between those who equate nudity with sexuality in a disrespectful manner and those who leave out sexuality from nudism a dogmatic way. I agree and regret that TN is not a setting for women in general to feel comfortable. It's also a primarily English-language, US-based website, and as such is mired in the Puritanism which defines our culture in both action and reaction.

My personal belief is that I can better succeed in defining nudism on TN than to the rest of the world. I seek and contribute to engaged dialogue and try to stay clear of what I find distasteful, from trolling to sexual objectification. I also encourage others to do the same. In addition, I seek out and value opportunities to learn and expand my horizons as nudists are more open than the textile world. This has taught me, for one, to better understand those with more fluid sexuality, that the world is not as simple as the cisgender views I took for granted. For this I'm grateful.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

Like the OP, I have been on this site for a number of years. I have been able to navigate it pretty well in ways that are consistent with my idea of healthy nudism . But it took time. We have a variety of groups, SIGs, etc that require some effort to explore. I'm not here to hit on anybody.

I am sorry that I don't see more women to friend on this site, but I wonder how the OP knows that most of the nude-curious women who join leave quickly. I don't think that he's referring to the obvious fraudulent profiles of women soliciting sex. Perhaps nude-curious women could try joining without pics and with profiiles that are sort of gender neutral . That way they could explore without being overwhelmed with unwanted hits from guys looking for sex.

I agree that there are threads that are preoccupied with titillation, sexual innuendo, genitalia. But I thought it was amusing that last month the OP promoted his own new novel right here on TN as an erotic nudist story. Sort of evidence that we can be nudists and sexual beings at the same time, even on this site.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

Seems to me that most of us have a similar approach or at least not dis-similar views. So I suggest we continue to project a positive "normalising nudity" approach and change / influence what we can and ignore what we cannot.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

Something I didn't realize for the longest was that this is a dating/meeting site and not a nude Facebook. This helped me overlook profiles and comments that were suggestive. I sought to learn how people brought nudism into their daily lives as well as interacting with the textile world. The advice about joining interest groups seemed good. Some thoughts.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

I'm a life-time paid member of this site. I've been here for several years.

I don't believe this site does much for promoting the normalization of nudity.

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RE:Normalizing Nudity and TN

I have not found any yet. most are bi curious even though they don't say so

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