Getting Real is a great campaign. 

This is a fascinating topic with a really interesting ability to grow and cover various ideas. 

Going back to Edward's thoughts on the visibility of families (and women) on ANW is a big part of the obstacles we have to face in bringing naturism gto the internet. Most surveys will show that men do out number women in naturism, and certainly our time on beaches and at venues bare that out. So we have this to contend with before even getting started.

Another issue is that the internet is also home to a majority of men. Not just naturism but all the internet. Statistics show that less women use the internet, have profiles on the internet and have access to the internet. Women are also more likely to attract unwanted attention and be pestered, without adding naturism to the mix. Add naturism onto your profile and the vast majority of women will get hounded in one form or another. Men are not free from being pestered but it is less often and tends to be from other men women are almost no where to be seen. The women that are on social media and share naturism almost always fall into two brackets. Those that are not women at all and those that like sexual attention. Genuine, well meant, female naturists are so rare in social media that those that are seem to fall into the trap of appearing exhibitionist, probably because they subconsciously follow the behaviour of the sexualised and fake women, and maybe because they are so rare they must cannot help but appear that way, there is almost a "Hello boys" attitude that comes from women on general social media that cannot be helped by being among 99% men. We should not allow rarity to effect how we come across and how we find and chose naturism but we do. It is tough being the only one or one of just two or three women at a WNBR or on a beach - but it happens and the woman has to chose between feeling overly confident or rather uncomfortable, or just leaving or staying covered.

It isn't all bad news, we are saw more women, single, in groups and in couples on beaches last year than the year before, and that was up on the year before that.    

Clubs attempt to confront this issue with limits of single males and events are created for single females. This leads to a rejection of men and a fake scenario for women. Enticing half a dozen new women to join a one off swim with only other women around is not going to change things. I totally get that clubs with limited space don't want to have nothing but men in them, and that would happen, because there are more men and the bigger the percentage of men becomes the smaller the percentage of women will become as a reaction.

One of the great features of ANW is that we do not make single men feel unwanted, as a result we see a more realistic ratio than a club would have if it had the same principle. But it can make it seem overly masculine, particularly when you consider all the other internet deciding factors referred to above. 

The problems are not just internet based, and are still relevant in a controlled environment with a limit on single males. The  AANR are planning a series of lectures this year around the states to help combat the inappropriate behaviour many men show to women in real life. It doesn't have to be pornographic to be upsetting. Flirtacious, unwanted attention and compliments. Not just an issue in clubs and beaches but also on "naturist websitesites" where men post images of their wives and other men talk about how much they appreciate the images.   

What Anna and I have always been trying to do with ANW is break the mold of both the internet and naturism. Give women a place on the internet where they will not be pestered, at the same time as trust single men. But everything above makes this a hard nut to crack. We are just a little island in naturism and on the internet and habits have been formed and ideas have taken hold. Naturism has a struggle to beome accepted and understood by the world, ANW has that struggle, and also has the struggle of abusing nudity on the internet and women fearing and not using the internet for naturism - if they use it at all. 

When we take it a step further and talk about families we have even more of a problem. Most women on the internet who promote naturism are not doing so as families, many do not have children any way. There is a huge concern about children being misused and vulnerable on the internet - that goes far beyond naturism. If you go to a school event you are either banned from taken photos or asked to not post any photos on social media. Children are preyed upon, the same issues that involve women are magnified towards children and families. Fake profiles etc. But also children misbehave on the internet - and that is a real social problem the consequences this will have on our future society can only be guessed. 

Add to this the fact that naturism is fearful of openly promoting naturism, we are seeing (at least in the UK) a lot less families on beaches than a few years back. Pretending families do not really exist in naturism until you are actually part of naturism, may seem safe. You join a naturist body and then find out that there are families albeit in a minority, but who is joining to find out. Not families because they assume families don't exist, eventually they won't. The knock on effect is that families, like women are not used to being open and honest about their naturism and sharing it online and using social media. 

The result is that ANW is not just dealing with a life style were women are in a minority and families in a smaller minority, but also dealing with an internet and lifestyle that makes women and families fearful of sharing anything, particularly naturism. We are standing against trends. Standing against the internet trends, naturist trends  and the trend of the growth of adult only naturism, but it is a slow process and one we sometimes feel the community of ANW is doing alone. 

The idea of Get Real is to embrace the important principals of naturism - one that welcome everyone and offers naturism as a family friendly lifestyle suitable for all - and that is how it should be on the internet and in the 3D world.    
 

David and Anne make an important point, support within the community is vital.

Last year at Halkyn, we knew not everyone would be able to attend our week long events. To be honest, it is impossible to expect every naturist to attend all of the things we did, from our list of 400 people who had shown interest in what we were doing. What we did was offer day passes to allow people one day at the event.

Some days we found we had as many day visitors as we had booked into the camps, therefore doubling the numbers, it was vital support in what was our first year working to promote naturist events at the Halkyn site.

The day pass was a s important to us as the week long camp bookings, as it provided vital revenue to invest in future events, and also bolstered the numbers adding to the experience of each of the days activities for everyone. That kind of realistic support really does make a huge difference for those behind the scenes doing the work, and it is something all of us should consider when looking at events within naturism.

We also think another very vital aspect of the Get Real campaign, is “Verification” This free service that is offered via ANW is so important, because it adds yet more safety and security to the site, and most importantly states clearly that members are “Genuine.”

The green tick you get when verified for free, protects everyone, not just the site and its members, as it adds that layer of credibility not only to your profile, but also for those who get to meet in real life. During Halkyn last year, when we were contacted by those on ANW who wished to visit, knowing we would be meeting people with a green tick on their profile, allowed us to verify someone long before they arrived at the camp, and as organisers, that made a huge difference when ensuring all of our guests were safe and in an environment of complete trust. It made safeguarding our events so much easier for us, and we really appreciated that.

In reading Steve's last post on the Naturism Honesty topic I now saw a reason to add a post to this topic.  As we all should I just went for my annual total body skin check this past week.  The practice I go to has adopted a computerized system to capture your personal data.  One of the questions involved asking for any special situations that would pertain to dermatology.  I have of course answered that I am a naturist.

I know doctor visits are different in Europe but over here the expectation for a skin check is to disrobe and to either use the disposable gown or leave underwear on.  As the nurse went through her talk I said that I would not use the gown.  Back in the cabinet it went and she said fine, underwear on.  My response was "My choice, underwear comes off".  This is not the first time at the practice that I've been totally nude for the exam, one in which total nudity makes total sense.

I guess this was pretty real . . .

It seems to make sense to me that if you are having a total body skin check then you would need to be naked, it seems a logical part of the description.  Health workers have to be real about human bodies and if they cannot be then maybe they are following the wrong calling. When our nephew started his medical training he was given a cadaver of his own in his first week. That may seem like being put in at the deep end but better to find out if you can deal with dead bodies, flesh and nudity straight away than 6 months down the line.