There are some naturist websites that shy away from nudity almost completely or show "Calendar Girls" style nudity with objects and angles being strategically used for obscuring the breasts and genitals. Does this sort of behaviour encourage an idea that either nudity is sort of naughty or that nudity is alright as long as you cannot see the certain parts of the body? 

Does not hiding certain parts of the body single these out as specifically ruder than other parts just as wearing a swimsuit also suggests? Or is it that it suggests a fear by the people making the website of other people seeing these  parts of their bodies? Is it alright to say you are a naturist and produce a website  and then say "I don't mind people knowing I am a naturist, and I am happy to promote naturism as a positive, healthy, non-shameful lifestyle but I am not going to post pictures of myself fully nude." 

I am not talking about individual naturists who maybe come to ANW and talk about naturism but chose for personal reasons to not share images of themselves naked. I am talking about people or businesses who create a website and choose to put themselves in the limelight as it were and yet still remain hidden.

I think to publicise naturism and give a true meaning of it then you have to treat nudity as casual and the breasts and genitals as no less shocking, titillating or in need of a bowl of apples in front of them as the elbow or the shin.

Recently we produced an article on ANW called 10 poorly conceived reasons for not trying naturism. The photo for this is a pair of hands covering a pair of breasts with each finger numbered for each misconceived idea. Remove the ideas and then you have nudity. The point of the image being that the textile mind would cover up the breasts (and genitals) specifically but a naturist mind wouldn't. 

So what do you think? Should all naturist websites show nudity as a normal, casual thing? Does a naturist website that hides certain parts of the body actually confuse the perception of naturism and create the illusion that it is all a bit rude?

Absolutely - we only greedily desire things that are rare (like gold) and while parts of the human body are hidden they remain an object of craving. Who would go to a topless bar if toplessness was a common thing in parks, beaches and swimming pools. It is both the rarity and the perceived tabboo that makes nudity something that people yearn for. This is the same for many other things in life. Teenagers specifically are attracted to various things purely on the needs to rebel, act tough and be cool - some people never grow out of that. 

I think sometimes people think that by normalising nudity we are removing something instinctively important. That we need to find other humans attactive. They fail to realise that there is a big diifference between being attracted to someone as an individual and craving seeing parts of the human anatomy naked. Humans all over the planet fell in love long before a need to cover up for modesty was invented. I think naturism helps in recognising what attraction is really about. It removes that unhealthy lust and replaces it with honest feelings. 

Thanks for that. Totally agree with the "don't just show private parts either." That is one of the reasons we don't allow "penis profiles" on ANW. There are sometimes that for artistic or contextual reasons where individual body parts may be suitable. But as far as profiles and general content is concerned most photos involving people should not be about individual parts. Allowing our genitals or breasts to represent us is just as non- naturist as hiding them. The parts of the body in naturism should all be treated equally.   

This is not only for websites but for
publications of naturist organizations as well - to not show the full human body.

To me, it's sad that even communication among naturists fell to self censorship, on a tenet that we naturists are supposed to defy and contest.

That said, in free flowing world of digital media, the only true boundary of privacy that can be created is to abstain from using it.  As much as we want to be true and noble to our cause, all of us naturists are rendered to consider the consequences of that boundary being breached, or violently ripped into pieces by people who take joy only in make other people miserable. 

Hence, I am waiting for the day that I truly not care about the effects of my open nudity on others, and their effects on me.  It's a "me" thing.  I know I am getting there, but still on that journey.  It may be the same for others and naturist websites and publications as well.  It will take time, but with us reinforcing each other, we are all bringing that tip over point closer and closer.

I understand where you are coming from a.b.y.a. C but you are an individual who is not (I believe) producing a blog or website or publication. It is fair enough that as you are not openly promoting naturism that you can be expected to not go around feeling comfortable to put images of yourself "out there" - but if you were expecting people to "buy into" your ideas and thoughts of naturism or your naturist enterprise then would it be right to be coy about actually being nude? Shouldn't we expect environmentalist politicians to be seen using a bike occasionally? Should we not also expect real nudity from something or someone promoting naturism? 

As a further thought to this topic.

We have always reluctantly shot our sons in such a way that does obscure their genitals or on occasions blurred them. This is not something we feel comfortable about and our sons actually disapprove of it. However we feel that we do not wish to encourage the wrong sort of follower to our posts or to ANW, we do not wish to get flagged up within the general frenzy of paranoia about such things and also we do not feel we have the right to make that decision on behalf of our boys. They really don't care, but should they reach an age that they suddenly say "I wish you hadn't done that" we will not be able to take it back. We have laid ourselves on the line for naturism - as it were -  but feel that we have no right to use our children as guinea pigs for the cause.

What excuse do other adults have about themselves while supposedly encouraging us to see naturism as normal through their own enterprises?