There are valid reasons to wear clothes, but convention for conventions sake isn't one of them.  Yes I understand that social norms imply that clothes should be worn but are those social norms valid.  Are the reasons put forward ones that hold water?  Are the concerns people proffer based on fact or indoctrination. 

Eg, the main reason people in the US give for driving their kids to school rather than letting them walk is the threat from pedophiles.  Yet far more kids are injured/killed in auto accidents on the way to school than were ever attacked by pedophiles.  So is the concern real or imagined.  

The fear of the consequences of someone being naked is largely imagined and driven by indoctrination from a very young age that nudity equates to sex, even though it's not true.

I do not agree.

Social conventions (social mores) are an integral part of society. They change over time, of course, but they provide a code by which the makeup of society continues. They often differ between different cultures but that does not make them invalid. 

If society adopts the norm that people are clothed then that norm can  change in time, and will change if change is seen as valid by society as a whole. Until such time we both recognise the social norm and adhere to the same notwithstanding that there are many of us who would wish such norm to be different.

In this way I recognise the normality of being clothed in every situation where it is regarded as conventional to be clothed. 

There are those of us who would wish to alter the social norm, but we must recognise that such change is distressing for those who have no alternative experience. I for one have no wish to cause distress by my conduct (whether intentional or not) to anyone. 

I think we will disagree on this but society in toto does not have to agree for behaviors and standards to evolve. In fact without boundaries being pushed no change or evolution would occur. 

There are substantial differences between cultures, even western ones, what would get you arrested somewhere would be perfectly acceptable elsewhere.  Given our global media I would find it difficult to believe that people have not been exposed to alternative lifestyles.

They may choose to say they take offense. Really a meaningless statement, but I doubt it evolves into distress, despite what people may claim.

I wonder if part of the problem is that the real path lies somewhere delicately based in between. No naturist wants to offend or upset others or force their nudity onto others, but somewhere we have to find a way to allow others to become aware of naturism and find an acceptance of it. And the only way we can really do that is allow it to be found, seen, witnessed and discovered to be safe and harmless, and logical. 

I guess the best way is to do it without stamping on toes, and there are places where people will automatically get more upset about naturism than others. Logic tells me that if we lived in a more accepting world then there would be no difference between dropping my children off at school naked than going to a beach. My nudity is the same, my intentions are the same, but the difference is that nudity on the school run will arouse people's defence mechanism. A similar idea to the UK government stopping the advertising of chocolate cereals on school run routes. They allow chocolate cereal to exist, they allow it to be advertised, they know children will eat 90% of it, yet it is illegal to appear to advertise it to school children. 

I think most people (not all) are pretty OK with naturism if it is something they come across on a beach but they want it controlled and limited.  If people started to walk around naked on the high street the fear becomes what that would mean long term, and people fear change. 

30 years ago I worked part time in the evening at Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street in London. At the time they had strict rules on piercings and tattoos. Basically none could be seen accept a piercing or two on the ears. Now this is the rock and pop industry in London! Around 5 years later almost all of the workers in Virgin were covered in extreme levels of tattoos and piercings to a point that as a 30 year old I found it rather intimidating at times, feeling rather out of place as a shopper, what must the average 70 year old women looking for a bit of Sinatra for her husband have felt? Maybe this explained the reason for the closures soon after? I don't know, but today you can see piercings and tattoos every where. Mothers drop their children off at school with tattoos over their faces, to imagine a shop refusing someone a job now because of a pierced eyebrow or nose or a visible tattoo on the arm (as was the case in Virgin when I worked there) would be ridiculous. 

Things change and they change because acceptance grows and acceptance grows because of familiarity. The more familiar we can make people with naturism, the more we can make them OK with it through example then the more it will become run of the mill and OK in their minds. 

We don't want to push it too hard. I really did find the staff in Virgin just "too much" in my early thirties, they may have been lovely people, but despite a want to not care there was something a little intimidating about walking up to a counter of 10 people that looked at the time like something out of a Mad Max film. Yes, I was unfair in my fear, but that is the point, if we hang around school playgrounds naked, our intentions will be pure (just picking up the kids) but others will look at us with a prejudice. Today I probably wouldn't even notice the level of piercings and tattoos in a record shop but 25 years ago I was less accustomed to it. 

If we can break the fear barrier by encouraging naturism to be more visible then maybe in 25 years no one would be shocked if I turned up to pick my grandchildren up from the school naked, just as no one would be shocked today it I turned up at school with a shaved head covered in tattoos. What is acceptable can be changed. 

We may not always need to change the laws around naturism but we do need to change public attitude. We cannot force the change too hard (due to nudity people  can be a little testy) but we still have to consider our rights and our freedom to enjoy naturism. We need to be proud about our naturism and we need to basically encourage people not to fear us. Just like the tattooed and the pierced we are not monsters, we are just very normal but we chose a slightly different option in parts of who we are and what we like. 

I think the big problem is that some people have existing fears and prejudice. A percentage of people with extreme piercings and tattoos are going to be trouble, and that probably slowed down the acceptance journey. Some people share nudity for shock purposes, sexual purposes, harmful purposes and this slows down the acceptance of naturism. Is that man a flasher, is he getting a kick from being naked in front of me or my children, is he a pest or a sexual sharing dune dweller? This hampers our progress and also encourages our hiding. We may figure it is easier to hide our naturism than to have people worry about us being perverts and try to explain that we are not. 

We are also up against the views of the media and social media, and that is led by the USA, which sadly doesn't always show the most progressive approach to nudity. Sex sells, porn is big business, advertising doesn't want us to feel good about our bodies, confident, happy or naked! Social media is full of sexual pests, and there is a general idea that "nudism" is naughty. This is being passed through media and social media into all the western world encouraging some back paddling in some of the countries that traditionally were OK with nudity and naturism. In some ways we are pushing forward, in other ways we are moving back, naturism is a little like the tide waves on a beach. Just when you think it is advancing well it rolls back taking you with it, and it is hard to tell whether the tide is heading in or heading out. 

We just have to imagine that it is heading in and work to a future in as least threatening a way possible but at the same time with the power of our convictions, the laws, our freedom and our good intentions and innocence fully supporting our right to enjoy the wonders of naturism and the good logic of people to not fear us or naturism. After all our nudity it is a little like a tattoo or a piercing, is is just how we appear on the outside, it is the people we are on the inside and our intentions that really count, and while they are honourable we stand a very good chance of being accepted and seeing our numbers grow through that acceptance.       

In general I concur, people are accepting if it's non-threatening.  I also beleive we cannot change the world by hiding in the closet,  if we wish the world to change we have to be out there and visible. 

I do not hide my naturist lifestyle and I beleived that it was fairly well known locally.  I was talking to my neighbour a few weeks back and they said, it's known far wider than that. They had been visiting people on the other side of town who asked where they lived. When they said oh is that near that strange nudie guy. To their credit they said oh yes, he's next door, he's a real nice helpful guy he just chooses not to wear clothes. While I don't think being naked is strange the story does prove that exposure reduces perceived threat.

I also live next door to the local primary school. They know my lifestyle, however I do tend to be less overt at drop off and pick up times for the school. I was informed on one occasion some father was complaining about my lack of clothing but a group of mothers quite vociferous told him, it was harmless and he should mind his own business. So the school community certainly knows and doesn't complain.  In fact my grandson goes to the school and I get invited to coffee with the mothers. Yes they are quite comfortable when I'm naked.  One mother said to me, we live having conversations with you, your still interesting even when you've taken your trousers off. Too me that was the ultimate compliment that state of dress is irrelevant to the actual person.

Over time i have faced very little in the way of hostility towards my lifestyle. Something people take long than others to become comfortable but I have yet to meet anyone who will interact, who does not become more comfortable over time.