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Nude Eye Candy?

Does the American Association for Nude Recreation (www.aanr.com) need some eye candy to spice up its stodgy image?

Let's face it, the long-time trade/lobbying association for nude recreation resorts is coming across as old, pudgy and yes, male.....That's not going to cut it.

You can read all about them in their monthly newspaper, "The Bulletin." Newspaper? The Bulletin? Why not stone tablets?

This month, we were treated by to a President's Podium article entitled "Has AANR Become Outdated?" John Kinman, who is outdated himself, refutes this charge and defends the association's public urination contest with the two nicest nude resorts in Florida, Caliente www.calienteresorts.com and Paradise Lakes www.paradiselakesresorts.com

The issue is the alleged "sexual exploitation of the human body" in the form of inviting swingers by Caliente (guilty as charged) and holding a g-string contest at Paradise (give me a break).

Before you start thinking that Godiva is dumping on old people (e.g. Kinsman and PR coordinator Carolyn Hawkins) or the way overweight (e.g. executive director Erich Schuttauf) that is not the case.....My issue is the slow, dumpy, outdated image of the trade association.

In the case of Caliente, they have enlisted the energy, smarts, talents and yes, great looks of marketing pro Angye Fox http://www.myspace.com/adsizzle. Do you think Angye would send out a monthly newspaper to the world and call it a day? Hint to AANR, newspapers are dying.

And Paradise Lakes has used Shannon Pankow as well as Fox to carry the water....and placed them happily in the water. Isn't nude recreation about pure joy and fun? Shannon has even served as a fitness host for the radio "Fitness Buff" show, broadcast in the nude from Paradise http://www.paradiselakes.com/FitnessBuff.htm

With virtual certainty, Godiva can state that Angye and Shannon among many others understand the world of Twitter, LinkedIn.com, Facebook, MySpace, podcasting, blogging and webcasting. These are new media tools for the 21st Century....By the time the AANR catches up, they will no longer be "new" media tools.

Hill Country Nudists

As the old saying goes, "If you have to live in Texas, you might as well live in Austin."

Not exactly a compliment, but they do have a point. Austin is a happening place with hundreds of techies, state government types, Tex-Mex and barbecue joints, such as Threadgill's where Janis Joplin got her start, and of course, the University of Texas ("Hook em Horns").

And leave it to the UT college newspaper to be the unlikely source of a great plug for nudism. http://www.dailytexanonline.com/nudist-club-gets-down-to-the-essentials-1.1639833

Among the major perception problems for nudism in America is the fact it is seen as too male and too middle aged....and along comes Daily Texan writer, Roxanna Asgarian, who is both young and female.....She decided to take the plunge at a Hill Country Nudists (non-landed Austin club to find out what it was like to socialize....sans clothing) www.hillcountrynudists.com

"I shyly ring the bell and look through the glass front door into the house, and see an awesome view of Lake Travis, which lines the backyard," she wrote. "A naked man appears in my line of vision. I blush as he beckons me in.

“'Here goes,” I think, as I strategically avoid his lower region with my eyes as he directs me to a room to change. On the way, I glance at 10 or so middle-aged people, mostly couples, hanging out by the bar. Most of them are naked, although some have on a shirt or a sash covering select parts of their bodies."

Roxanna did her homework before attending the event overlooking Lake Travis, particularly the impact of nudism on those hailing from the fairer gender.

“Women have an additional barrier to nudism,” one man said. “Many women don’t know whether nudism in a group setting will be safe, when actually it’s incredibly safe. It’s safer than going out to a bar, because you know and trust these people.”

Now it was time for the moment of truth.

"I thought it was funny that, before I went to the Hill Country Nudists’ gathering, all my friends asked, 'What are you going to wear there?' as if my outfit would be even more important since it would only be on for five minutes. I have on yoga pants and a T-shirt, and when John drops me off in the guest room with two other changing women, I peel them off.

"The youngest woman there, besides me, is 24 and also a UT student. Other than that, the crowd is primarily middle-aged and most of them have their partners with them, which helps me loosen up and let my arms hang by my sides, rather than gripping tightly around my body."

Roxanna's fears and preconceptions of a nudist event seem to melt away as reality replaced anxiety.

"I had been worried leading up to the event that I’d arrive to find some massive middle-aged orgy, or that I wouldn’t be able to stop looking at all the penises on display," she wrote. "But no orgies (at least in front of me) and I only sometimes glance at the penises, a little. The ceviche and empanadas are divine, and the atmosphere is relaxed, friendly and respectful."

Sitting nude with two middle-aged men in a hot tub produces a discussion about....Roxanna's career goals once she graduated from UT. Talk about a sexually charged atmosphere!

"I’m serious. They’re asking me about my career goals and I am responding openly," she wrote. "I definitely feel naked, but I don’t feel exposed or sexually objectified.I realize that these people are onto something, and that it takes maturity to be able to hold it down like this when you’re all nude.

"At the end of the evening, after retreating to the guest bedroom to put my clothes back on, I say my goodbyes. I am invited back and told to bring friends. I take their invitation seriously, but am not sure if I want to become a lifetime member just yet. I hug the women and men and promise to come back. And on the way out, I don’t even glance at the penises."

Nude Body Potential?

Shortly after the earth cooled, the Naturist Society http://www.naturistsociety.com/ and its dearly departed founder Lee Baxandall promoted the notion of "body acceptance" by means of nude recreation.

This concept is not the easiest sell, considering most people's almost mortal fear of being seen in public without clothes, and the virtually unattainable image of nude perfection that permeates from the "beautiful people" in the media. Not everyone can be Michaelangelo's "David" or Pam Anderson.

So does mean that you should merely accept yourself as you are, and therefore force others to do the same? Or can you be the perfect Barbie Doll or AH-NOLD when he won Mr. Olympia? Unless you are genetically gifted and really chose your parents well, the answer is most likely "no."

Do we have a quandary here? On one hand we have to be realistic about our bodies and accept what we have or don't have, but on the other we should try to reach the potential of our bodies......Exactly!

David Chizum, a 65-year-old Texan, has started the "Fitness Buff" Special Interest Group for members of the Naturist Society. He is a former fitness instructor and looks damn good for a seasoned citizen.

Many in the textile community revolt against nudism as they state openly that naked bodies are ugly...and then it the next breath they say that they would love to see (insert famous beautiful personality here) completely nude. Believe it or not this contradiction is very logical, and can explain why many in their 20s with nice, young, verile bodies leave nudity to those over 30, over 40, over 50......

"Maybe if we 'seniors' (I'm now 65 myself) paid attention to building our bodies up instead of letting them deteriorate, we could show the younger set a brighter future for their own aging process," Chizum wrote.

Chizum promotes aerobic exercise, strength training, weight management (e.g. Body Mass Index) http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.pdf and sensible nutrition as the keys to looking as good as possible without clothes. In a way this recipe is a continuous cycle....if you work on aerobics, and combine with resistance training....and then "eat less; exercise more"....then you will look better in the nude....and in your clothes.....You will be more confident and feel better about yourself.....You will want to continue your exercise....continue your sensible nutrition....and continue running around without any clothes.

Kind of makes sense doesn't it?

World Record Skinny Dip?

Set your watch for 3 pm, Saturday, July 11.....That is 3 pm in God's time zone, Eastern Daylight Time.

Why's that?

For an industry, movement, trend or whatever you want to call it, American nudism actually has an activity planned that may not translate into a typical PR (public relations) disaster.

In this particular case, the American Association for Nude Recreation http://www.aanr.com/skinny-dip.html is coordinating with Guinness World Records for.....you guessed it.....a world record skinny dip. At the precise time nationwide, nudists will simultaneously jump into swimming pools, lakes, rivers, streams adorned only in their birthday suits. What could be more innocently naughty than a little old fashioned skinny dipping for the record books?

After weeks of nudist bashing as a result of Swiss Cantons banning nude hiking, and Miss California almost losing her crown for posing without her sash, and Caliente Resort in Florida losing its nude organization standing for allegedly reaching out to both nudists and swingers, it's time for nudism to get a little positive PR.

Backyard nudism and skinny dipping seem to be the best way to introduce nudism to a suspecting nation. And if a world record can be set in the process? All the better.

Outdoor Nudity

When comes to being naked, nude, au naturel or clothes free.....let's face it, for most people being without clothes is an indoor activity.

The traditional spots are the bedroom, the bath tub, the shower stall, the doctor's office or the gym locker room.....but even there many of your own gender will cover up sensitive areas heading to and from the shower.

But as the days grow longer (Northern Hemisphere) and the temperatures move upward, brighter colors and cooler clothes come out of the closet (no commentary on sexual choices being made here). And these clothes are worn outdoors because the fresh air season is upon us......Do we have to wear clothes?

Let's face it: The vast majority of people have never been or rarely have been nude outside. Most likely, they have never experienced the warm air or cool breezes against unexposed skin. And does that ever feel good!

Taking yet another look at the stunning nude photos of two-time Olympic Gold Medal ice princess Katarina Witt http://maxdae.multiply.com/journal/item/158 can easily remind one of the wonders of being naked in the great outdoors.

Yes it was slightly more than 10 years ago but the second sold out issue in Playboy's history (December 1998) features Katarina nude in Hawaii. We need to get past the fact that many wanted to know what she looked like without her skating costume, and concentrate on the freedom and beauty the photos project.

"The pictures are beautiful and pure and natural," she wrote in Playboy. "They're nude, but they still have a feeling of innocence. They're set in nature, in Hawaii, so it's appropriate that I'm naked, and I felt very relaxed. Every morning, for the three days we shot them, I would go see the stylist and ask, 'What will I wear today?' And of course, he'd say, 'Nothing.' That was our joke.

On Saturday May 2, the world will celebrate Nude Gardening Day. http://www.wngd.org/

 This is no joke. And a great opportunity to celebrate being outdoors in the nude, and maybe planting a flower or two.

No Nude Down There?

What about a woman's right to choose?

What about the constitutional right to privacy?

Abortion rights? No Brazilian waxing rights!

It appears that usually liberal New Jersey is considering a ban against bare-it-all Brazilians because two women were injured in their quest for a smooth bikini line http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20090319/ODD.Brazilian.Wax.Ban/

So what will it mean to the thousands of Garden State women and a few men if their right to bare genitals is taken away? Will they be the victims of back-alley waxing? Will they cross state lines in the middle of the night to remove these irritating hair follicles. Will they cross the border into Mexico for this procedure?

And what about the stimulative effects of Brazilian waxing, particularly on women? No, we are not talking about stimulating men (that's easy enough to do), but pumping additional dollars into the economy. Who needs Congress when we have women who want hair care down there?

Consider Cherry Hill spa owner Linda Orsulo, who performs an estimated 1,800 bikini waxes per year, most of them bare it all Brazilian style. "It's huge," she said, adding that her customers don't think their bikini lines are anyone's business but their own. "It's just not right."

If anyone pulls out a copy of Playboy published even 10 years ago and compares it to the overwhelming majority of the women who pose au naturel today, the conclusion is obvious: The bush era is over.

Nude Coexistence?

Is it possible for nudists and "textiles" (those that wear annoying bathing suits or costumes) to coexist side-by-side without anyone getting their noses or any other part of their anatomy bent out of shape?

And is it even more extraordinary that the majority of the nudists are members of the fairer gender? Sounds extraordinary, but according to the Spring edition of "N" magazine published by the Naturist Society www.naturistsociety.comthis form of unbelievable nirvana exists on the Spanish Mediterranean Island of Formentera.

Nick Mayhew-Smith suggests this may be the one place in which nudists should happily accept the presence of textiles, and the two groups seem to happily coexist on the beaches throughout the island, which is located next to its more celebrated cousin, Ibiza http://www.formentera.co.uk/naturism.htm

"So if you prefer a beach where nudity is the rule and you're safely buried in an expanse of naked bodies, then this island is not for you," Smith wrote. "But if you fancy going to a place where nudity is simply regarded as a choice of swimwear, just as you might pick red shorts or a polka dot bikini, then come and immerse yourself in Spanish beach culture for a while."

One happy side effect of this laid back culture and lack of fuss about nudity is the apparent female nude majority on the island's beaches. Is this status for real?

"....we ended up counting the bare bodies on one long stretch of Migjorn: it turned out to be about 60 percent women," Smith wrote. "Is it the lack of fuss about beach nudity that makes Formentera so welcoming to women? It certainly seems to help, and by the end of my stay I was also feeling entirely comfortable sharing my space with textiles."

Sorry guys, but Godiva has always contended that women....not hormonal men....is the future of nudism. The more places that make women feel comfortable and secure about nudity, the better for the chances of gaining greater acceptance with the public as a whole.

"Could this be the future for Naturism?" Smith asked. "It certainly seems to be the way parts of Spain are going." Viva Espana!

Nude Yoga Comeback?

About one year, Godiva was really bummed out.

The economy was showing signs of stress, but that was not the reason.

Desert Shadows Resort and Inn was bankrupt and about to close its doors. Fortunately, John and Elizabeth Young came to the rescue and Desert Sun Resort www.desertsunresort.com stepped in and provided nudists with a four-star equivalent resort in Palm Springs with all the amenities and without the clothes.

But there was more to make the normally Pollyannish Godiva despondent: Naked Yoga was no more in San Francisco.

In particular, the One Taste Urban Retreat Center www.onetastesf.com, which received an incredible 2005 publicity bash with Naked Yoga decided it didn't want to be the......Naked Yoga place.

So what's a nudist to do?.....Is yoga even possible in clothes with the inevitable annoying wedgies?

Apparently, Nude Yoga is making a comeback...and once again a woman is coming to the rescue. Her name is Diana Moon or so she says. She is a certified yoga instructor who leads Tantric yoga and nude yoga classes. The 28-year-old teaches regular nude yoga in the People's Republic of Santa Monica www.nakedasanas.blogspot.com and also organizes weekend naked asana retreats in Palm Springs, Laguna Beach, La Jolla, Santa Cruz, Carmel, Big Sur and Sonoma (pass the celery sticks, please).

Her myspace page lists her interests including yoga, meditation, ayurveda, tantra, organic living, sustainable cities, ecology, Burning Man, vegetarian.......red neck, hard rock loving, sociopathic neocons need not apply.

For nudists one paragraph says it all: "So, come take off your clothes, shed your inhibitions, and enjoy the freedom of nude yoga!" Amen.

Nude Revisionist History

The deception began in the very first paragraph.

The autumn edition of the Naturist Society's www.naturistsociety.com N magazine includes what should be a great article "Righting the Ship" about the rebirth of Desert Shadows Inn as the Desert Sun Resort in Palm Springs, CA www.desertsunresort.com.

"Where do you begin, and what do  you say to describe the rise, fall, and rebirth of what had been described as the 'Jewel in the Crown of Naturist Resorts"? Huh?

The moniker was originally awarded by USA Today to Desert Shadows as the "Jewel in the Crown of Nudist Resorts".......not "Naturist Resorts." I then looked and saw the author was Stephen Payne and realized the whitewash was commencing.

To be fair, Stephen Payne and his wife Linda along Ray and Sue Lovato deserve credit for founding Desert Shadows in 1992, building and then overbuilding a four-start nudist resort in the heart of Palm Springs. The Paynes drove out the Lovatos and then proceeded to come up with a plan to literally level the charming part of the resort in hopes of building a restaurant/spa/sports bar combo building....the homeowners rebelled.

Not surprisingly Steve did not get into this subject as it is now the focus of ongoing litigation. The article's sidebar pounced on the Payne's successor owners, Daniel O'Connell and Laura Wright, making them the scapegoats for Desert Shadows' bankruptcy....but there is more to this story.

John and Elizabeth Young are the ultimate white knights as they came in and invested and rescued Desert Shadows and reconstituted the Crown of Nudist Resorts. They deserve the praise and credit of nudists everywhere....Sorry Steve, you are not the Messiah in this story.

Nude Fox

Whether it is intentional or not, Angye Fox of the Tampa area of Florida is fast becoming the cover girl for nudism in America.

Just type her name into any search engines and dozens of listings will appear including recent profiles and coverage by the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg, her PR job at the nude...err clothing optional Caliente Resort www.calienteresort.com, her artwork via her 34F breasts www.foxxydames.com and her upcoming call for detente between swingers and nudists at the upcoming Swingfest www.swingfest.com.

Life has not always been kind to the former Green Bay cheesehead, who has endured two divorces and is raising her son as a single mom. But she always had energy and spunk and she is the master multi-tasker, including running her publicity firm, www.adsizzle.com.

Godiva has never met Angye, but already admires her chutzpuh. At 37 years young, Angye represents the next generation of nudists. The past lies with the aging hippie baby boomers. She has counseled Caliente to soften its image and appeal to those under the 40-year-old Mendoza line.

No longer is Caliente to be regarded as a nudist resort, but now it is clothing optional. "We want to be more inviting," she told the Tampa Tribune. "There are lots of people who are curious, but 'nudist' can be intimidating. This is a little softer approach."

Angye said Caliente revamped its website to reach "millenials" and is using the Internet and text messaging to get the word out to those who learned about the 1960s in text books, old TV footage or by means of a Google search.

The stodgy American Association of Nude Recreation is investigating whether Caliente went too far in its marketing and was actually hosting swinger parties....contrary to the family friendly mission of the association.

Regardless of the outcome, nudism has a new champion. She is smart, talented, outspoken and 100 percent comfortable in the nude. She's a 21st Century Fox.