The Sweetest Taboo!

A naturist site has a group called People Without Taboos. I eventually learned that the group had been started by a person whose first language was not English. He was apparently quite eccentric with his use of words, although it’s hard to say whether this was deliberate or due to his limited knowledge of English. As he is no longer a member, I have no way of contacting him for further information.

In any case, it turns out he took “taboo” to mean “prejudice.” A person without taboos was therefore one who was accepting of everybody, not someone who had no behavioural boundaries. When I started posting to this group, I didn’t know its history, and judging from some of the posts the followed, many other members didn’t know either.

Of course, my posts were motivated by the term taboo as it is usually understood in English. According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2001 edition, a taboo is, among other things, “a prohibition or restriction by social custom,” as well as something “designated as sacred and prohibited.” This would agree with my understanding of the term.

Of course, taboos may be religious, cultural, sexual, etc. And suddenly, something came to me: Isn’t nudity itself a taboo for a great number of people? For naturists/nudists, nudity is simply the state of undress. Naturism is the ideology by which social nudity is believed to have benefits for those who practice it, as well as being simply, well, fun.

But for people who have had a more traditional upbringing, nudity in the company of others may be the ultimate taboo. Even sexual activity with one other person is at least acceptable under certain circumstances, whereas nudity is definitely not. Therefore, as nudists, we have breached a major societal taboo.

After thinking about it some more, I came to wonder whether sex may be taboo among naturists. Again, not the activity enjoyed privately, but the very discussion of it in a public context. Not everyone is comfortable with nudism and sex being mentioned in a same breath.

I always thought of naturism as doing almost anything one would do when dressed, but without the clothes. I agreed that we have to be able to clearly articulate that in naturism, sex and nudity must not be considered one and the same. I expressed hope that this philosophy may someday catch on in the textile community.

But I also indicated that I was less than happy with catchphrases such as “nude is not lewd,” since they convey the idea that sex itself is lewd. While we must choose the right time and place for sex, we would never want to have people think that we are opposed to sex per se.

In doing so, have I broken a naturist taboo?

Other statements on this subject: http://cayanet.blogspot.com/2009/11/frequently-asked-question.html, and http://academicnaturist.blogspot.com/2009/11/sexuality-and-naturism.html.