Naturism is NOT exhibitionism and it's NOT gay

@PoddanyKorony on Twitter:
twitter.com/PoddanyKorony/status/1107342197974802432

It might be obvious for most people, (you know, those who know the meaning of words), but apparently, judging from the tweet above and the answers to it, (where Polish right-wingers show WNBR as an example of how the LGBTQ community has “deprived” the West), some people still confuse naturism with exhibitionism and they think that it’s gay...

Well, here’s why it’s neither of those things:

According to ICD-10 F65.2 exhibitionism is classified as sexual deviation and is described as:

A disorder characterized by recurrent sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors involving the exposure of one’s genitals to an unsuspecting stranger.

A disorder in which fantasies about or the act of exposing the genitals to an unsuspecting stranger produces sexual excitement with no attempt at further sexual activity with the stranger.

Now here’s what the World Naked Bike Ride, and naturism in general, is all about: precisely not that.

It’s about freedom, it’s about loving your body, it’s about not caring about clothes, it’s about feeling good...

Usually, we’re naked at home or at a nude beach, among other nude people... But not necessarily. For instance in Germany it’s pretty common to see nude people sunbathing in random public parks. It’s perfectly legal, it’s considered normal, and it’s not sexual and it’s not exhibitionistic.

With WNBR there’s an additional message attached to the public nudity: bringing the public’s attention to the problems of car-based transportation in the cities and “delivering a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world”. It’s a political statement, not a sexual act.

Take it from a person who has actually done it once: My first World Naked Bike Ride – and I absolutelly loved it!. I rode totally naked through the city centre of Amsterdam, and yet I’m not a exhibitionist. I don’t get off of that sexually, I don’t fantasise about it, I’m totally capable of achieving sexual pleasure without any stranger seeing me. I simply enjoy being naked, that’s it.

World Naked Bike Ride Amsterdam 2018

(Full disclosure: I did have sex in public places a couple of times, but the whole point was not to get caught by anyone. 🤷♂ I also post some explicit content online sometimes, but it’s specifically targeted to people who want to see it. 🤷♂)

It differs between countries, obviously, but in all of those I’ve been publicly naked in: 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇳🇱 The Netherlands and 🇪🇸 Spain, there’s a distinction in law between just being naked in public (legal, with some exceptions like churches, cemeteries, schools...) and sexually exposing yourself (illegal).

So, what about public nudity allegedly being gay? Some people on Twitter were thinking that those photos from WNBR were taken during Pride, which is simply not true. I happen to take part in both, but in general they are separate events targeted to a different group of people.

Judging from my observations of how few of my gay friends are eager to join me at a nude beach, and how many guys I’ve met during the WNBR Amsterdam who talked about their wives/girlfriends or came together with them – I can see no clear correlation between the LGBTQ community and naturists.

Although they do have a lot in common: freedom and openness.

And that’s all it is about.

A photo of me

About the author

Hi! I'm Andrea (they/them). I tell computers what to do, both for a living and for fun, I'm also into blogging, writing and photography. I'm trying to make the world just a little bit better: more inclusive, more rational and more just.

Related posts:

Wir erstellen zusammen eine Karte der besten FKK-Zonen!

Herzlich Willkommen bei Naked Adventure, deine Portalseite für aktuelle von der Gemeinschaft gelenkte Information rund um FKK!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu

Let’s create a map of the best nudist places!

Welcome to Naked Adventure, your one stop shop for up-to-date, community driven information about naturism, nudism, FKK, whatever you want to call being natural!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu

Stwórzmy mapę najlepszych miejsc naturystycznych!

Witamy w Naked Adventure, tworzonej przez społeczność bazie informacji o nagich plażach, basenach, saunach etc.!

naked-adventure.eu @NakedAdventurEu
World Naked Bike Ride Amsterdam 2018

Yeah, you have some cool photos... But do you have a photo of yourself biking naked in front of the Iamsterdam sign in the centre of Amsterdam? 😄

It was definitelly the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life – and I enjoyed every single second of it!

Continue reading…
(~3 min read)

There’s obviously a big taboo around nudity. And I don’t think it makes much sense. Our norms regarding nakedness seem quite arbitrary...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)

I’ve recently realised that many conservative catchphrases can be answered with a simple challenge: “get naked then!”. How come?

Continue reading…
(~2 min read)
Me at Halensee

Ich liebe, wie die Deutschen nicht prüde sind, wenn es um Nacktheit geht. Sie haben sogar eine Dating-Show, wo man ein Date nur darauf basierend auswählt, wie es nackt aussieht – und es gibt fast keine Kontroverse deswegen. Sie haben die Nacktheit sogar zum eine Art der Kultur gebracht – es nennt sich zwar FKK, Freikörperkultur.

Ich habe es immer genossen, nackt zu sein, sei es mit anderen Leuten oder nicht. Und von dem, was ich gehört habe, für einem FKKler gibt es nur wenige (oder keine) besseren Länder zu leben als Deutschland. Aber trotzdem gibt es einige Dinge, die ich nicht mag...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)
Me at Halensee

I love how the Germans are non-prudish when it comes to nudity. They even have a dating show, where people choose their dates solely based on how they look naked – and it sparks next to no controversy at all. They’ve even created a kind of culture around being naked – that’s actually how they call it in German: FKK, Freikörperkultur, Free Body Culture.

I’ve always enjoyed being naked, be it with other people or not. And from what I’ve heard, for a nudist there are very few (or no) better countries to live than Germany. But still, there are some things that annoy me about it...

Continue reading…
(~4 min read)
Restroom sign: Whatever, just wash your hands

At first I didn’t really think about it. It was yet another thing that my parents taught me and I just accepted. Boys and girls need to have separate toilets and locker rooms, so that the boys wouldn’t do nasty things to the girls. Simple.

But one day a cleaning lady came in to the boys’ locker room. And one day a female teacher come in. How come? Why can they see half-naked boys, while our female classmates cannot? That got me thinking and trying to find any sense in that.

Continue reading…
(~3 min read)

Step 1: Get naked.

Step 2: Enjoy!