Helen talks to Anna Woodings, co-founder of ‘A Naturist World’
Anna, mid forties has been a naturist for the last 15 years. She is married to Steve with two boys, 12 and 9 that have been brought up as naturists. In 2020 they launched the website A Naturist World. They lived in Spain for 6 years and moved back to Cornwall for the start of 2021. Anna also writes regularly for TAN and H&E magazines.
Q: What got you into naturism/nudism?
A: I think most people get into naturism in one of three ways. Through connections with people who are naturists (this can include parents), through pure luck (stumbling across some naturists on a beach and thinking – why not?) and through research into things you wish to experience or learn from. My husband was very much the latter; looking for ways to confront his fears he realised naturism was part of that answer. Due to the nature of this article I wish that had been me. However, for me it was via my connection with Steve. No matter how positive and empowering naturism has been, it all started because my boyfriend suggested the idea. Steve did give me some really valid reasons to try it, I certainly considered that it may help me with putting some of my own fears to rest and it was really up to me whether it actually did happen on the planned beach trip and whether we continued with naturism, but basically someone I trusted suggested an experience and I sensibly listened and tried it. Maybe there is something to learn here? Previously I had never been topless and the idea of being naked in front of anyone, no matter how well I knew them, was not something I was happy with. By being willing to be open to new ideas and not just writing something off because you don't know about it, maybe don't understand it or may be fearing or have suspicions about it can be very limiting. How many people write off naturism just through blind ignorance?
Q: Do you think there is a difference between the two labels?
A: To me it is very much naturism. That is the term I am happiest with, have been most aware of in my life, and find less negative connections with in the media. It is also the term recognised by most national organisations. To me it also clearly makes a link to nature. I am not so much nude when I am undressed but natural. As nature intended. Labels of any sort can have good and bad connotations. We don't like to limit ourselves with labels but they do help to create shortcuts to understand ourselves. I am a woman, a mother, a wife, a vegetarian, middle aged, English, naturist. Does that tell you everything about me? I could be a cook, a photographer, a writer. I could be happy or sad. A good mother or an unfaithful wife. There is so much more about us but the labels help and we choose different ones depending on the situation. If I am invited to dinner I will tell someone that I am a vegetarian, but won't share my naturism or religious beliefs unless the conversation at dinner leads to it. I am happier with the term naturist but is there a difference? It really depends on individual definitions. As far as I am concerned there shouldn't be, naturism is to nudism as chips are to fries, as trousers are to pants. I would be much happier if “nudism” completely fell out of vogue so instead of confusing the world by having two terms we could work on the world properly appreciating the meaning of one. I know some people see nudism as a little more “seedy” and others see it as being less philosophical. However, in my experience with the many people I have chatted with over the years there seems little difference in most people's attitudes and they just use the word they are most familiar with. It is a pity that with everything else that naturism has to deal with it also has to deal with a confusion over labelling. Particularly ironic when really due to the very instinctive natural nature of naturism it should have no label at all, but instead be just a part of everyday life for all.
Q: How does it impact your life on a day-to-day basis?
A: In the early years the frustration of not spending enough time without clothes led to naturism being something we yearned for. Working and living dressed for most of the time, but at least having a home to be naked in and day dreaming about escapes to the beach for much of the year. Eventually frustrated by that, we bought a small house with a seven acre olive grove near Malaga, and due to the climate and our home we were able to be naked pretty much all year long, dressing for the school run or food shopping. During that time we also started writing blog posts as A Naturist Family and also created 'A Naturist World' [website], which took a couple of years to build and since its launch in May 2020 our naturist life has not been just about trips to the beach and being naked at home but needing to balance this with naturist writing, naturist communication and running ANW. Between the two of us we spend conservatively 100 hours (in reality often much more) every week on naturism, over and above attempting to have some naturist adventures. That is 365 days a year, on and off from dusk till dawn. It isn't a hobby, or even a passion, it is very much part of our lives. Naturism dictates to us. Since our return to England just over a year ago, we haven't really even managed to think that at least it is an excuse for a good holiday. Weather, Covid lockdown and financial constraints limited us to about 10 days of beach trips for the whole year.
Q: How can we encourage more women to try naturism?
A: I think the problem once again returns to labelling. Should we simply be encouraging women or should we be encouraging everyone? If my husband hadn't tried naturism then I would not have tried naturism. If we can create a stronger understanding of what naturism is, get the definition truly understood and get people appreciating it then the numbers will increase. Ironically, like clothing we need a label which people understand. Your tag in your clothes may tell you the age, size, and gender the clothing is aimed at. Handling instructions - washing, drying and ironing. Details - what the item is made from, where and by whom. Naturism needs to be clearly labelled. Aimed at all ages, all genders, all sizes. Instructions – non-sexual, respectful, healthy and fun. Details – for everyone regardless of race or location, naturism is a universal product. Once the label is better understood then we will find more of everyone gets involved. By overly specifying women we may actually be feeding some of the concerns that put women off in the first place. Questions like: 'Why is the lifestyle short of women?' and 'Why are they so desperate to encourage women?' may encourage answers to be found that cause more harm than good. That said, if we are looking at encouraging more women, maybe even more segregating and labelling is needed. Women as part of a couple, as part of a family, women as mothers, women in relationships with other women, trans women, single women, young women, old women, women who don't believe their bodies should be naked, women looking for body confidence, women dealing with abuse. It is very easy to concentrate our efforts in one area or two, but unless we recognise that, for example, many women have children and we don't commit to the importance of families then we are failing to encourage those women. The main obstacle is for women to understand that the lifestyle is not sexual and that they and everyone else should be treated with respect. Not an easy thing to accomplish when we look at social media. We have to desexualise the misunderstanding of naturism. Of course there is also much more that women can do to help. Be open and talk about your naturism to family, friends and work colleagues. Be naked around your home and garden and encourage your children to be comfortable with their own bodies. Offer to accompany interested individuals on their first naturist experience. Consider organising a group of female friends to go on a naturist trip to a beach for example? A fun and amazing way to help introduce naturism to some of the people you know. Within the safety of the group you will have a positive experience and those that are a little bit nervous will take their strength from those that are more confident and the day can hardly fail to be a bonding and learning experience for all.
Q: How can women help in desexualising nudity?
A: One thing Steve and I realised when entering into promoting naturism was that women will be the ones that get the brunt of the negative treatment, and that puts them off promoting themselves as naturists and possibly even being naturists. We decided that I should be the main face of our naturism on social media so we could see just how bad it gets and to say to other women, that isn't enough of a reason to hide. This is the same on other media like TV and newspapers. It can be tougher for women but by ignoring the negatives it helps promote naturism as something women are involved in and for good or bad it gets the publicity a little more noticed. We have noticed that a post on social media with Steve sitting on a rock will get less likes than a post with me sitting on a rock, even if neither image shows any parts of the body normally censored by some social media. A lot of “women accounts” on social media are actually not owned by women at all, but men with stolen photographs. Some accounts are women who are behaving actively sexual and getting attention from men but are doing great harm to the understanding of naturism. The more real women get out there and promote real naturism in a non-sexually aggressive way, the more we can adjust the present imbalance and allow the true nature of naturism to be seen. One of the reasons we called our blog ‘A Naturist Family’ was because although our children do not feature prominently, we wanted to make a clear statement: Naturism is safe for all, appropriate for all and respectful of all. We can all play our part to promote naturism appropriately. Make firm declarations, do not pester and do not accept pestering. Block anyone not promoting naturism that is suitable for all and block everyone who uses stolen images, no matter how many pretty women are in that person's activity. These images don't sell naturism to women, they don't sell naturism at all. They encourage naturism to be seen as soft beach porn and encourage women to worry that if they head to a beach they will end up on someone's activity feed.
Q: How can we encourage body positivity and acceptance?
A: With appropriate behaviour comes body positivity and acceptance. In recent years this has become a very trendy reason for naturism, particularly for women. It is certainly an important and relevant part of naturism. Traditionally, it is women more than men that carry such concerns. Choosing unnecessary cosmetic surgery, suffering from eating disorders, self harming and self loathing are not purely a female issue, but are still very much things that many women face. The natural and respectful qualities of naturism seem ideally suited to combat these issues. Don't hate and hide your body, but learn to love and accept it. The brilliant thing is that naturism doesn't come with negative side effects. Some women looking for body confidence and acceptance may feel that sexual promiscuity or sexualised imagery or behaviour may have the desired results. The knock on effect on how that may make you feel long term, could actually be a worse form of negativity and ultimately panders to the over sexualisation of women which is why most people lack body confidence in the first place. Naturism allows you to accept your body without seemingly feeling like you are selling your body, to gain acceptance. It is unique in that it allows us all to remove the barriers of clothing without any guilt attachment. By also seeing others do the same it allows a true understanding of how very normal we all are in our own way. I believe that by learning to love our bodies we are also much more likely to start respecting them, so some of the reasons we first hid them start to also get dealt with. For example, by accepting that we shouldn't be ashamed of being overweight and hiding our overweight bodies we may well find that the reason we eat too much in the first place can also be confronted. When we are naturists we don't just bare our bodies, but we often bare our souls and the learning curve can be immense.
Q: What advice would you offer to women curious about naturism?
A: Primarily don't overthink it, just get out and do it. My first time at a naturist beach, I didn't want to move when people were near me. I felt that by being still I was like a ‘statue in a park’ and no one would notice me and my wobbly bits. After a few minutes I relaxed and by the next time I went I was no longer aware of being naked. We imagine that it is very alien. We are taught to not expose certain parts of our body and the idea of doing so seems perverse. If you can remember a time in your childhood when you didn't feel this way it may remind you that the idea of hiding your body is nonsense. Most people who have described their first time naturist experiences share a similar sentence “after a few minutes it seemed so normal.” The reason is, it is totally natural and instinctive. No matter how many years we have been attempting to hide ourselves, as soon as we are naked our natural thought processes kick in and we are suddenly aware of our naked instinct. This is how we were born to be, this is our natural state. Like birds migrating or salmon fighting their way upriver, we naturally take to naturism. No matter how shocking, thrilling or exciting it may appear at first, once you have got into it it feels like home. The only other advice I would give is that if you are unlucky enough to have someone pester you don't let it put you off. Choose your location wisely, and consider safety and company as you would anywhere. I have been to many naturist locations and spent many hundreds of hours naked and the statistics of bad behaviour is negligible. But there are unpleasant people everywhere. You wouldn't allow an unpleasant experience to put you off shopping, or walking in parks, or going to a restaurant, so don't allow it to damage your view of naturism.
Q: What drives your passion in promoting naturism?
A: My passion is mainly driven by the fact that I believe a fearful and taboo attitude towards the human body has helped do huge amounts of social damage. It feeds a need for porn, aggravates abuse, encourages body shaming, exaggerates sexual stereotyping, hinders children from sensible and suitable learning, breeds guilt from healthy sexual desires and it discourages an open and honest attitude to our fellow humans. Clothes offer barriers, they become our armour behind which we hide and become subconsciously disconnected. Naturism offers an innocence in nudity for adults that sadly some, myself included, were not allowed as children. Naturism cannot single handedly put the world to rights, but it can be a part of our growth and part of a better world. My passion for naturism and desire to create 'A Naturist World' is partly aimed at the fact that naturism remains misunderstood by many and abused by some. I want to be part of putting that right. Encouraging a growth of support for the lifestyle and discouraging its misuse. To offer a place for real naturists to connect globally away from that damage and to guide them to bodies like British Naturism and the wealth of genuine opportunities out there all over the world. My passion is also based on the love I have for my family. Wanting to offer my sons a better, more secure and supported upbringing than I had. We are a better, closer unit from being naturists. I know my sons are strong and confident and have always been safe. They are open to us about all their concerns and they know we are a team and that their parents are devoted to them as well as each other. Maybe we could be just as good a family if naturism wasn't part of our lives but I wonder what aspects of our personalities we would have hidden if we had also hidden our bodies? What would we have lost along the way? We have taught our children not to hide, and sometimes hiding can be the most dangerous thing of all. Sometimes we can hide so much we almost don't exist. If naturism can offer women around the world one great thing it has to be that it can teach them not to hide.
