I have been struggling with this issue and once again Ana you have come to my rescue with a forum where I can let it all hang out.

I accidentally discovered naturism on WNGD two months ago. During the winter we live in Nevada and I had come out on my own to open our summer home on Long Island. I had received an invite to participate in WNGD from  a group on Facebook and given my circumstances,  being home alone, decided to give it a go.. and was immediately in love with my naked self. It was 3 weeks of naked bliss. Then it was time to bring my husband back to the home we have shared for 45 years. He has several disabilatating health issues that limit his physical activity and as a result is unable to travel alone. We get home and now I just dont know how to share with him my new found joy in nakedness. I fished around a bit with him and got very negative vibes on how he feels about the subject. I'm sunk. He rarely gets out of his chair in the living room where he spends most of his time so for the time being went around the rest of the house and yard naked. We have several security cameras inside and outside the house since we are away all winter.. which is how I got "caught". I was asked to explain and I could see he was shocked and confused. It was a difficult conversation. I had just joined ANW which saved me. I was able to make a rational explanation of myself and naturism drawing on the resources on the site. We have left it at at a level of tolerance. He just doesn't want to know about it.. or see me naked. I'm sad about it but accepting. It's extremely unlikely he would join me but I'm hoping we can get to a better place in the future. If it wasn't for all of you on ANW I would have probably just gone quietly into the night and given up.

I would appreciate any guidance or advice anyone has for me. I love you all 💕

I would have to say they have to take me as I am as I cant give up my freedom and live miserable.

As a child I had to live buy the house rules and was always getting told off when caught naked 

Now I live life the way that gives me the freedom to be happy and if people can't accept my choice then I'm afraid they can be that way without me because I only live free

My wife, of over 40 years, would much prefer that I drop naturism, but I really don't want to.  So, we've tried to find a mutually acceptable/tolerable compromises, the most effective was when we lived about 1.25 miles from a naturist club I joined. After a club social I could walk home, mostly across a common, that I could do free of the encumbrance of clothes. I ended up leaving the club, primarily because my job meant I was away from home so much that it was hard to justify the cost of membership.

We then had a discussion about the boundaries that my wife could accept, without making her uncomfortable (something I don't want!). What we agreed was that nudity around her was not on, but was okay, this did not make clear what would work when I was going from one room or part of the garden to another. I wrongly assumed it was okay to e.g. walk from in the attached garage to my study naked, but that didn't go well. Last year we moved home, and there was so much to do, that naturist wasn't really a priority for me. But this year I wanted to have some clear "rules", so asked about this the other evening, whilst in our hot tub, and the response was "can we not do this (have the discussion ) now". Which is fine, but I now need to try and find a suitable opportunity.

The above may sound like I have an issue with my wife's attitude, but I think it's more a case of trying to find a mutually acceptable position; but if it came to it, I would choose our marriage over my naturism.

Rich Rowe said:

My wife, of over 40 years, would much prefer that I drop naturism, but I really don't want to.  So, we've tried to find a mutually acceptable/tolerable compromises, the most effective was when we lived about 1.25 miles from a naturist club I joined. After a club social I could walk home, mostly across a common, that I could do free of the encumbrance of clothes. I ended up leaving the club, primarily because my job meant I was away from home so much that it was hard to justify the cost of membership.

We then had a discussion about the boundaries that my wife could accept, without making her uncomfortable (something I don't want!). What we agreed was that nudity around her was not on, but was okay, this did not make clear what would work when I was going from one room or part of the garden to another. I wrongly assumed it was okay to e.g. walk from in the attached garage to my study naked, but that didn't go well. Last year we moved home, and there was so much to do, that naturist wasn't really a priority for me. But this year I wanted to have some clear "rules", so asked about this the other evening, whilst in our hot tub, and the response was "can we not do this (have the discussion ) now". Which is fine, but I now need to try and find a suitable opportunity.

The above may sound like I have an issue with my wife's attitude, but I think it's more a case of trying to find a mutually acceptable position; but if it came to it, I would choose our marriage over my naturism.

40 year's is a long time together we'll done 

Love should be about finding a compromise that can suit both you shouldn't have to give up naturism completely 

It certainly is a tough one wish you the best for the future and hope that someway you find away

There are aspects of this topic that I find fascinating, and it would be so interesting to be able to have a debate - maybe on a Virtual Meet - with naturists of either gender and their non-naturist partners. To chat about what it is about naturism they dislike, why they are not naturists and also to allow them to ask us questions about why we are. It would be a brilliant conversation, and one that never really takes place as a group. 

Over the years Steve and I have read some rather sad stories from some members of ANW as well as other naturists from our A Naturist Family days or via email or social media.

Sometimes a partner may have once been a naturist and just decided that they do not wish to be any longer, sometimes aging bodies is the deciding factor on this. At other times partners can simply be accepting, it isn't for them but they are fine, and at other times they are comfy being naked in a home environment and/or abroad  but not out and about in heir own country - a fear of bumping into someone they know. 

But some stories, as I say, are much sadder.  The man I mentioned above whose wife and family have been complaining for years who has eventually given up and has left ANW (despite liking it) and naturism behind. We have heard from people whose wives have told them they never want to see them naked, and have been rather insulting about why. Telling them their bodies are disgusting and need covering up. Others who have threatened to leave then and offered other ultimatums, and some who insist they are just kept in the dark about it all, while some will actually keep their naturism secret. 

And it isn't just partners. Some people have told us they are leaving naturism due to their job/career. Some have given up naturism because they are fed up of being the only women, and others because they are fed up of being unwanted as single men. One person got in touch explaining they were distancing themselves from naturism due to wishing to get their child into a certain school, and not wishing to have naturism jeopardise that. And others because of court situations over child custody. Some have claimed that their partners don't want them to be naturists because they assume it is about looking/flirting/pestering others and even more than that. Some have also walked away from naturism because of bad experiences at places that are more libertine, or from bad behaviour in dunes. We have heard from couples who became naturists once the children left home, and keep it secret from them, and others like the person who inspired me to create this topic who are secret about their naturism to parents, despite being adults themselves. Some have walked away from naturism due to a fear of being filmed or photographed and exposed on social media, we also had chats with a couple of couples during the protests about families, who walked away from naturism because of the fear (not of the protests themselves) but of the threat from the protestors to share their photographs on social media and expose them as naturists (dressed images but called out as naturists). 

In all we have had dozens and dozens of communications over the last 9 years (we started promoting naturism on line in 2016) about all sorts of hazards that have driven people away from naturism, and it is very sad. As on the whole these reasons are totally unfair and unfounded. Why does naturism carry such a stigma, and what can we do about it? I think as a society naturists are not doing enough.  Hence my concern about Adult Only (https://www.anaturistworld.com/forums/topic/356/the-dangers-of-adult-only) and also my ongoing debate on promoting to women (https://www.anaturistworld.com/forums/topic/162/women-and-naturism) The post I complained about on social media was actually shared by the INF - when the world representatives of naturism are  sharing a posts that demands more inclusion for women and feel the claim is justified then it is very hard to imagine how we are able to move on from the idea that naturism carries issues and stigma, concerns and traumas. Surely the major Obstacle all of us face when considering naturism is believing that is is OK, suitable and safe. When we read about a need to offer women secure spaces it is hardly surprising that many women, partners, couples and families suspect that naturism is a seedy life choice chosen by perverts. After all what partner wants their partner to hang around with a bunch of perverts? 

And this is a big issue. You may trust your partner but if you feel naturism is perverse you will never accept his/her want to be a naturist. 

It would be lovely if these doubting partners would actually visit a naturist venue/club/virtual meet on ANW or simply browse ANW and ask questions and find out that there is nothing to worry about. 

I completely agree with Rich, No one should chose naturism over their marriage. But at the same time no one should be placed in a situation where they have to chose. Naturism should never be a make or break of a relationship. And if it is, it would suggest to me that the partner is assuming the wrong things about naturism. When I first started my relationship with Steve and he told me about naturism, he said if I tried it and hated it he would not carry on. I felt that he should be happy to carry on if I didn't like it, but he felt it would not be sensible. He wanted to spend quality leisure time and holiday time with me, and not without me. Though if I had hated it, I do feel he would still have gone around the house naked, and I feel I would not have cared. His nudity could never upset me, how could it? And this is something I do not understand. OK, my previous relationship were not one's that involved comfortable nudity on either side, and similar with Steve. To be naked around the home requires mutual trust, comfort and respect for each other. In some ways harder than being naked with strangers. I simply didn't like or respect my previous partners enough to be naked around them, particularly as l didn't really feel comfortable in myself at that time either. 

But I find it hard to understand where a long term relationship that involves love, respect and trust falters at nudity.  Surely the nudity with someone you are close too is not something that feels unnatural?  If Steve and I did not go off to beaches etc and enjoy nudity and did not classify ourselves as naturists we would still be naked around each other at home, and around our children. I had never been casually naked in my entire life, but I found myself casually naked around Steve as soon as our relationship began. We would wander around the house, making breakfast, hanging our washing or whatever naked, before Steve mentioned naturism. That was new to both of us but it simply happened with natural ease. and with someone you feel "at home with" it seems unnatural to not feel that way. Similarly with our children. We have never considered covering up around them or suggesting they cover up around us. How can you function with natural ease any other way? How do you decide: this is now the age to hide from them, or tell them they need to cover up. After all nothing really changes does it? We are always their parents, they are always our children. 

And this leads me to another aspect that I feel a lot of people fail to see. Naturism is totally natural. This is why we have written the Natural Choice and we are using it to promote naturism this year. https://www.anaturistworld.com/article/naturism-the-natural-choice because really naturism is or at least should be a natural part of our lives. Really we are all naturists, and really we shouldn't need the term naturist at all. Just like we are not seen as "breathers", "drinkers", "eaters" and other descriptive words that we naturally are. Some how we have lost the ability to be natural naked as part of our lives but we shouldn't have and in many ways it still lingers in our subconscious. I think naturism only exists because we subconsciously realised that our ability to be naturally naked on beaches, at rivers and lakes, around the home etc was disappearing and so needed to invent a solution to reclaim that. The Western world had systematically wiped out casually nudity across much of the globe (missionaries and other influences) but something still remained within us and we started to reclaim it back for ourselves through naturism. Many of those that do not find naturism have actually found it through other less "wholesome ways", but we definitely have a need to reclaim nudity. 

This is one of the things that is sad about the idea that some people face obstacles with naturism, it is the most wholesome alternative to our natural need for nudity in ourselves and others, and is also more wholesome than supressing denying that need. So naturism is really healthy and if our partners and others would take time out to understand that they would see that it is the best alternative to finding other more detrimental ways to find nudity in ourselves and others, as well as internalising our need to be naked in ourselves and others and building up issues about our bodies and other bodies. Naturism is a very socially positive thing and incredibly good for us as individuals, and it is tragic that we have to hide it, worry about it, deal with prejudice about it and even have obstacles to overcome to enjoy it, and sometimes we are denied it and forced to feel guilty about it. It is the people who make us feel the guilt who actually have the hang ups and the guilt. Guilt from wanting to have nudity in their lives and finding it in the wrong way, or guilt for feeling unnatural shame about innocent nudity and not really understanding why- because it is unnatural rules and ideas that tell them it is wrong. Those people who carry this fear are not bad people at all, just refusing to see the natural light that shines as clear as the sun.