Nudist Camps

Individuals of all genders have chosen to go naked and have been fascinated by the naked human body for centuries. The history of nudism is neither brief nor linear, but the idea of organized nudity, as in the case of nudist camps, emerged at about the time humanity began to form civilizations. Closely related to nudism, the practice of naturism focuses on the ethical aspects of going without clothing. Although a nudist is more apt to seek out social settings such as a membership-based club, a naturist tends to seek out a more pointedly outdoor setting such as a beach, the mountains, or the woods. Naturists argue that nudity is the most basic and pure form of existence, whereas nudists treat that state as temporary and give it a special place within a largely traditional lifestyle.

Social nudity, along with the inception of the nudist camp, was not accepted in mainstream culture until the twentieth century, when public nudity was becoming a feature of everyday life in Europe. For example, in the 1920s naturism and nude bathing were common in Germany and set the stage for further exploration of nudity in other cultures.

SOCIAL NUDISM AS A RESPONSE TO MODERNITY

In the middle to late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, as a response to the progress-driven, alienating effects of modern life, some individuals defined social nudity as a return to a more "Edenic" life. For example, Henry David Thoreau, the author of Walden, chose to live in the woods to retreat from a civilization that did not embody the optimism it claimed. In her essay on early nudism as a movement that critiques modernity, Ruth Barcan points out that "[a]lienation from nature and from the authentic self, the loss of the sacred, the destruction of traditional ways of life, and the drabness of life in industrial cities are all key modern themes" (Barcan 2004b, p. 64). Early twentieth century discourse struggled with the rejection and embrace of the positive and negative aspects of modernity. In early nudist writing the Christian metaphor of the fall often is expressed as both a critique of modernity and a "nostalgic attempt to imagine a return to Edenic perfection and a utopian projection forward to an imagined era of healthful egalitarianism" (Barcan 2004b, p. 64).

In their utopian critique of the alienating effects of modern civilization, social nudists, many of whom were Christians, argued for a reexamination of the biblical analysis of the origin of bodily shame. Instead of reading the Bible with "naïve literalism," modern Christians attempted to "repudiate dualism" and see the body in its purest state: "an original, sinless form" (Barcan 2004b, p. 66). Nudists pointed out that the body was much more erotically charged when clothed than when completely nude. Further, they viewed clothing as an emblem of materialism and vanity. Most important, perhaps, they argued that the modesty and shame surrounding nudity, experienced primarily by women, were "socially induced rather than inherent, and that the forms and standards of modesty were culturally relative" (Barcan 2004b, p. 66).

In 1933 a well-known proponent of nudism, the Reverend C. E. Norwood, pointed out that nudism cannot be possible without the participation of both males and females. Although most nudist writers were male during that time, they acknowledged and supported women's rights (Norwood 1933, p. 67). Female writers also were beginning to speak out about the health benefits of nudity. For example, the German physician Bess Mensendieck "advocated nudity as a means of enhancing women's body esteem, strength and beauty" (Barcan 2004b, p. 67). As a precursor to nudist camps, the "gymnosophy" movement in Germany played an important role in encouraging women to embrace the healthful effects of nudity, which was thought to bring men and women together because it rendered "visible natural [anatomical] differences, thus ending deception about bodies; destroying the idea that sex—especially women's sex—is mysterious and inexplicable … and encouraging comradeship between the sexes" (Barcan 2004b, p. 68). The gymnosophy movement, which, according to Matthew Jefferies, was "based on the classical Greek ideal of harmony between mind, body, and soul," conflated athleticism with nudism (Jefferies 2006, p. 73).

The modern notion that modesty is a source of women's oppression and is "forced" upon women fueled the quest of the nudist movement for egalitarianism between the sexes. As it evolved into the naturism movement, the nudist movement placed great emphasis on women's bodies as being "essentially" connected to nature. The "naturalness" of the nude body still is considered a central tenet of nudism (and naturism, which is the more popularized form of nudism).

In Germany nudist camps focused primarily on the importance of exercising naked in the outdoors. That created a conflict for supporters of the Third Reich because although they extolled the values of athleticism and bodily perfection, they condemned the profanity of the naked body. As a result many nudists were cautious about presenting themselves as socialist "cranks" who loved vegetarianism and the "primitive" back-to-nature movement. Instead, those nudists, including Norwood, "self-consciously … combined … love of nature with a love of progress" in order to present an image of integrity (Barcan 2004b, p. 69).

HELIOTHERAPY AND "SUN WORSHIP"

Germany was one of the first countries to call wide attention to nudism, following the Greeks. The rich and complicated (and often conflicted) history of nudism embodies the ambivalence that many people still experience in regard to the naked body. The emergence of "body culture" in the early twentieth century brought a deeper awareness to this cultural ambivalence, especially during the Third Reich. Proponents of nudism, including Norwood and Dr. Maurice Parmelee (1929), visited Germany in the 1920s and were struck by the presence of nudist colonies, along with the interest in athleticism and sun-related health. Accompanying nudism was a fairly unrestrictive lifestyle, especially in and around Berlin: "[t]he apparent popularity of naturism and nude bathing in 1920s Germany is usually portrayed as an example of [a] liberated and cosmopolitan climate" (Jefferies 2006, p. 63).

German naturism, which included nudist camps, clubs, and colonies, centered on the forested areas of the country and was "a product of the Empire rather than the Republic, and was already established as part of the wider lifestyle reform movement before 1914" (Jeffries 2006, p. 63). Under the Third Reich, although naturism reflected divisions between "racist-reactionary" and "emanicipatory-progressive strands" of the culture, it did not come to an end. Instead, it generated greater interest in the history of sexuality and the cult of beauty and health (Jeffries 2006, p. 64).

Heliotherapy, or sun cure, overlapped in popularity with naturalism in Germany as well as other parts of Europe, including France and England. The sun cure helped establish the "rational" purposes of nudism in the early twentieth century, particularly in sun-deprived areas, where white skin signified illness. Barcan points out that "[h]eliotherapists advocated nude sun-bathing to counteract diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), rickets, anemia, rheumatism, and pulmonary infections" (Barcan 2004b, p. 71). Those therapists also encouraged people living in urban settings to escape often to sunny, "natural" settings where the air was not choked with coal smoke.

Heliotherapy also was associated with racial health; in particular, the concern over the health and beauty of the white race overlapped with sun worship. Hitler was opposed to naturism and the presence of nudist camps but supported the notion of a healthy and beautiful race of people, further emphasizing the ambivalence of attitudes during that time. Barcan states that "[n]udism was in no simple way aligned with either eugenics or German fascism," but the Third Reich strongly emphasized the neoclassical images of male nudes as emblems of perfection and health (Barcan 2004b, p. 75). In the 1930s the humanitarian aims of nudism often ran up against the presence of nationalism and progress worship as part of the body culture that emerged before and during the Third Reich.

As nudists claimed that clothing creates and marks class and gender distinctions, they also claimed that the absence of clothing could be a way to renounce mass production and materialism in capitalist societies. As Barcan claims, "many nudist leaders were socialists" (Barcan 2004b, p. 77). The nudist and naturist movements have had a consistently utopian bent, arguing for gender, race, and class equality since their inception. During the Third Reich the naturism movement intensified and transformed into subcultures (both heterosexual and homosexual), and there emerged several publications and organizations, including the League for Body Cultivation.

CONTEMPORARY NUDISM

After the end of World War II social nudity became more widely accepted in American culture. In the United States nudism more commonly has been associated with overt sexuality than has been the case in Europe. As was discussed above, nudism more often has been associated with social and political movements such as socialism. After 1970 nudist camps became more common in the United States, whereas Europe had experienced such an increase in the 1920s. According to a qualitative study by H.W. Smith (1980), nudist camp "ideology" consists of the following precepts:

1) nudity and sexuality are unrelated; 2) there is nothing shameful about exposing the human body; 3) the abandonment of clothes leads to a feeling of freedom and natural pleasure; and 4) nude activities lead to feelings of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Furthermore … a system of interpersonal norms [undergirds] this nudist camp ideology: 1) no staring; 2) no sex talk; 3) no body contact; 4) no alcoholic beverages in camps; 5) no photography; 6) no accentuation of the body; and 7) no unnatural attempts to cover the body.

                                (Smith 1980, p. 226)

The emphasis on the noneroticism of the body was and continues to be important to social nudists of all genders. In non-American cultures, where social nudity has been accepted for a longer period of time, nudist camps continue to engender a greater level of body acceptance and a healthier body image among their participants.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ableman, Paul. 1982. The Anatomy of Nakedness. London: Orbis.

Barcan, Ruth. 2004a. Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy. Oxford and New York: Berg Press.

Barcan, Ruth. 2004b. "'Regaining What Mankind Has Lost through Civilization': Early Nudism and Ambivalent Moderns." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Body, Dress, and Culture 8(1): 63-82.

Clapham, Adam, and Robin Constable. 1986. As Nature Intended: A Pictorial History of the Nudists. Los Angeles: Elysium Growth Press.

Freed, H. 1973. "Nudity and Nakedness." Sexual Behavior (January): 3-7.

Jefferies, Matthew. 2006. "'For a Genuine and Noble Nakedness' German Naturism in the Third Reich." German History 24(1): 62-84.

Parmelee, Maurice. 1929. Nudity in Modern Life: The New Gymnosophy. London: Noel Douglas.

Smith, H. W. 1980. "A Modest Test of Cross-Cultural Differences in Sexual Modesty, Embarrassment, and Self-Disclosure." Qualitative Sociology 3(3): 223-241.

                                                  Amy Nolan