To "vote with your feet" means expressing your opinions or dissatisfaction not by casting a traditional ballot, but by physically walking away from a situation, organization, or location. 

Yesterday a member of ANW asked this serious question on the activity feed: 

"looking for recommendations for naturist / clothing optional places in or near cap d'agde. I have been looking at the naturist village but thinking it may be a too much for my wife and reading up on the area it seems to be more of a swinging resort."

A perfectly fair question Cap d'Agde was once probably the most famous and preferred naturist destination in the world. The BBC centred a very good documentary about naturism at Cap in the late 1970's and the INF created the definition of naturism there in the mid 1970's: Naturism is a way of life in harmony with nature characterised by the practice of communal nudity with the intention of encouraging self-respect, respect for others and for the environment. 

It has the weather, it has the beaches and it is well known - so it remains a place that naturists consider going to. Yet since the 1990's Cap has become known for swinging and attracted a large libertine population. Despite this the local tourism industry still encourages naturists and the two factions have to attempt to co-exist. I would say this is much easier for the libertines, as they are not going to have to worry about seeing naturist families, but families and genuine naturists do need to worry about what they come across, the areas they visit and the behaviour they witness. Troublesome but it is still understandable that people will consider this historic naturist area as an option for a holiday. 

I replied this: I have had reports that you have to be careful about walking down certain streets, going to various areas and bars and also some of the beaches there. From what I can tell you can use Cap as a naturist if you tread carefully and avoid certain areas and ignore certain behaviour but it may be simpler and safer to just not bother, particularly with the understandable concern about your wife.
I will be interested to read what others think.

And although this feels like a perfectly fair answer, another part of me wonders whether or not naturists should boycott such places to encourage them to see their numbers dropping and hopefully change their approach to allowing swinging and close things like "the sex beach" but also to support those opportunities that stay true to naturism. Give genuine, family friendly, universally suitable for all naturism your money and time. Even if a venue is adult only it can and should still maintain a family friendly approach to naturism and stay true to the definition above.   

Is it not fair to argue that the future of naturism needs such an approach? We see lots of blurring of behaviour and that blurring is often the first steps to a venue becoming fully libertine. If we are always prepared to make a stand and take our support elsewhere then these opportunities will recognise that if they ignore the definition of naturism they will lose visitors, members, and revenue. 

This isn't just good in helping naturist venues stay on target, but also good for the growth of naturism and its general acceptance. Most of the complaints about "naturism" or "nudism" is not aimed at simple nudity, but the sexualisation of it - both real and imagined. If we can stop venues falling into the "sex trap" we help discourage complaints, we help discourage mistrust and we help discourage an idea that naturist are allowed to misbehave in dunes, and when people come across such behaviour it is much easier to distance naturism from it. 

And such voting with our feet can be used in many ways. Stop following or friending people, groups, venues and bodies who blur the lines on social media. Stop liking posts that blur those lines too, including posts of stolen naturist images of strangers. Consider the direction your local venue or club is heading in, or even your national body. If they are making decisions that you feel are having a negative affect on naturism then show your dissapointment. Walk away. Tell them why. It doesn't have to be permenant - when you see change you can return. 

It is understandable that we want to support all things naturist, but we have to consider what it is we are supporting if we ignore a blurring of the naturist definition. It may be that this blurring doesn't really affect you. You may argue "I have no children" or "I can ignore such behaviour" or "It is better to support/visit/be a member of something that partly does the job than not" but the bigger picture is that if we continue to go to support places/events/groups and bodies that blur the rules the blurring will continue and eventually naturism will irreversibly change and become purely libertine. Cap didn't change overnight, it just ignored the blurring, then started to cash in on the blurring, and became famous not for naturism but for full on blurring. 

People will never be able to see naturism clearly if it is allowed to be blurred, and in my view we are seeing too a dangerous amount of blurring taking place - on the internet and in the real world.

It seems to me that part of the blurring is the move towards naturism being more and more "adult only" and more and more concerned about sexual orientation, and segregation.  Some people do wish peaceful adult only holidays, and we should definitely welcome everyone into naturism - sexual orientation and gender should not be used to positively or negatively discriminate. As a general rule we should be aiming naturism at everyone regardless of age, gender, sexuality and any other way to differentiate ourselves - colour, religion, disabilities...

So what do you think? Should we be walking away from those who blur the ideas and understanding of naturism and walking towards those that present naturism with genuine clarity? 

Share your thoughts about Cap D'Agde and the worrying growth of blurred attitudes below.       

Let me get straight to the point: 

- There is such a thing as naturism.

- There are situations where you are naked without actually practising naturism.

- But there is no such thing as a blurring of the lines!

It simply doesn’t exist. It’s inconceivable.

Let’s look at our own example.

We both love being naked, nude, bare, unclothed whenever we can. At home, in public, on vacation...

The walls of our bedroom cannot speak. 

And we are not so indecent as to help the walls tell others in public places what the walls cannot say.

Put simply: as a naturist couple on the beach, we don’t try to be porn stars. 

For us, this behaviour immediately undermines the whole point of naturism. The fact that nudity is a common denominator for all kinds of people, without any human, social or other distinctions. 

We do not want this kind of behaviour to undermine or ruin the naturist lifestyle for us. That is why we reject it. And Cap became the victim of our discrimination. We’re sorry!

If you time travel back to the 1990’s you can clearly see that naturism was thriving and tolerated by the public. Here in the UK, many of the TV channels featured documentaries that focused on Naturism, and we have some of them preserved on our computer in digital formats. In a sense, there was a balance between the dressed public and naturism, the public were aware that naturism existed, and did not really concern themselves about it, and even in the early days of the internet, when many of these documentaries found their way onto internet video sites, there was little concern, as naturism was treated very much the same as it always had been, and was tolerated. The big positive, was the internet provided an outlet that allowed more people exposure to true naturism that far exceeded the TV channels. What was once simply a show in the UK on terrestrial television, which restricted the viewers, suddenly was available to far bigger numbers, and to a degree that allowed for greater sharing, and gave more people the chance to create more content to show the world.

Cap D’Agde became the focal point for naturism on the global stage, and to a degree influenced the public’s view of what a naturist life was all about, and at that point it was a very wholesome view of naturist life. The venue gained a lot of exposure world wide, and it was impossible to make a documentary without it being featured, and in a sense, whilst at first it was seen as a utopian ideal for all naturists, it soon became what we think the greatest contributor towards sowing the seeds of naturism’s downfall. The infiltration of the Libertine movement with its sexual connotations to Cape D’Agde, also became part of the topic when discussing naturism across the whole of the internet.

It is our belief that Cape D’Agde due to its popularity and fame, became the single most influential venue for Naturism spliced with Libertine, and to a very large degree was mostly to blame through the noughties for sowing the concept that naturism was also sexual. Over the last twenties years, the endless footage of the place spliced into more and more film clips, spread across the internet, has thrown yet more fuel on the fire that sexual and exploitative behaviour happens in naturism.

The fact that as the libertine behaviour took over more and more true naturists stopped visiting, is not seen by the public, all they now see on an internet where nothing ever disappears, are all of those clips uploaded by libertines from Cap D’Agde. The blame that the myth that all naturism is sexual, can be placed solely on the doorstep of Cap D’Agde, and it has done immeasurable damage to naturism on a global scale. We think it is safe to say that currently, and mainly due to the internet, it would be virtually impossible to place the genie back in the bottle.

The modern view of Cap D’Agde, has now gone on to influence libertines to move forward and as we seen in the last decade, they have moved to enter many well established naturists venues. They swoop in and take over, especially where naturist venues are struggling under the pressures of a bad reputation set for naturism because of the influence of libertines. Voting with our feet is a good start towards reducing the impact of these seedy camps, but naturism needs to be more aggressive calling them out. Simply ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away by not visiting is not enough, yes it hits them financially, but as naturists we all need to make sure that the word of mouth is also our greatest tool. We need to praise and talk up sites that provide wholesome naturism, and use our voice to speak out against those who misuse naturism as a veil for libertines to hide behind. Too few naturist sites on the internet mention the ills of libertine’s behaviour, they stay silent thinking their voice is irrelevant, which is what is creating the space online for libertines to survive. Libertines know that their voice has grown stronger, because naturists are hiding in fear, and they are exploiting it. Naturism needs to grow up and stop whimpering behind tall hedges, as they have failed to see that their silence is the very thing that has empowered the Libertines. Naturism is currently bowing to the libertines as they bow down to them and walk silently away, and they have forgotten, that it is their silence that is making them complicit.

We need to speak up for naturism, we need sites like ANW so we can take back our voice and speak out openly and in defiance of libertine endeavours. Name and shame these places, warn your friends and encourage those new to naturism to stay away. Talk of the bad things hidden within libertines venues, such as sexually transmitted infections, or the high divorce rates that can happen to those who get involved with it. No one ever points out the risks and the dangers of libertine behaviour, and tells the stories of how a couple who want a little spice in their lives so try it, end up having their worlds torn apart when it all goes wrong. No one ever highlights the dangers to women, and how one young couple who thought it would be fun, ended with the female getting far more than she bargained for when it all got out of hand. Libertine is presenting itself as safe and caring, where the women have all the say in their new free life, but as Rob has seen in some of the work he has done as a counsellor, some Libertine venues are not quite as safe and fun as they make out, and a there are a lot of women who have suffered.

We need to defend naturism on many levels, we need to stay away from anything libertine and never pay, but we also need to speak up and speak out for naturism. Our vocal opposition, either by conversation or the written word is our means of fighting back for true naturism. Naturism has to stop hiding, hoping it will all go away, that kind of thinking is what is causing the rise of adult only venues, and the aiding in the infiltration of libertines.

Silence will never stop a libertine, but it will in time stop naturism.

Thanks for sharing everyone. I look forward to more thoughts. I absolutely agree with the need to vocalise RnR - totally 100%! And we can certainly talk more about that in this topic - so please go ahead future postees. 

My main push for kick starting this topic was to consider the importance of voting with our feet first - particular as speaking out can be tough for some - and I was partly thinking of places that are sdipping into the wrong territory rather than just Cap that is sunk into it. Walk away and tell them why? 

My hope is that once people vote with their feet they will also vocalise with their voices. And not just to the opportunities they walk away from but also on social media, to friends etc. We have to talk about naturism with pride and explain to be what it isn't - some of us can do that more than others - but the more we do it the easier it will become for those who fear the consequences of positively sharing about naturism. I am not talking about images but more about words!  Images can be misinterpretted but also carry a bigger commitment and also have censorship issues. 

As Mark says it is great to encourage a "broader acceptance of nudity" but we  have to not do it at the expense of naturism - and I think this is sensible anyway because a broader acceptance can only really be find by showing that our behaviour is acceptable. Proper naturism can do this, blurred behaviour nudity can only ever limit acceptablity. It may encourage the libertines which may appear to increase numbers, but it will put of a much bigger percentage of people in the long run. 

Naturism was at its peak when there was a healthy innocence about it and families were placed in the centre of this. The move to adult orientated behaviour may appear popular and profitable but in reality it is having a knock on affect on the number of people who are happy to try naturism and the number of families willing to take the baton on for future generations.    

As a customer we cannot demand who a resort chooses to encourage to attend.  My local resort switched from Naturist to Swinger.  I have voted with my feet and done what I can to ensure that ANW and other websites do not list them as naturist despite the resorts vague marketing etc.  My wife and I still vacation at genuine naturist resorts.  Hopefully others will also use those resorts and they will stay in business.