Another Queensland nudist club bites the dust

I haven't posted to this page in quite a while, but I thought I'd share this piece of news since it's relevant to naturism in my area.

I got the word a couple of days ago that the Elephant Rock nudist retreat is going up for sale, after being a popular haunt for Australian nudists for quite some time. It's not just them - Greenwich Lodge, Aswelikeit, SunLeisure, Bardots, and several other venues have gone to dust over the last few years which makes me ask the big question: what can be done for the Australian naturist scene to stop it from going down the tube? What factors are stopping it from going where it needs to go? Why are we losing our venues, when in other parts of the world the nudist scene is booming?

Maybe these could be the reasons why:

1) Lack of support and interest from younger people

Let's face it: young people are the future. The naturist scene needs them for contributing fresh ideas and opportunities for the businesses to grow. Young people's interests and tastes in holiday venues have changed enormously over the last 20 years. Most are no longer content to rough it out in the bush in rustic, run down sites that have not been upgraded since the 1940's or thereabouts. Added to that, there is too much focus on middle-aged to elderly people in the nudist media. Show a person in their teens or 20's a copy of a nudist magazine and they'll dump it within 30 seconds saying "there's nobody our own age and nothing to do with our interests in it". Running a nudist business is just the same as running any other business. You need aesthetics and glamour to sell it. You will not attract today's youth if your venue or publication does not have anything in it for them.

2) Dull, uninteresting website for the ANF.

The Australian Nudist Federation is supposed to be like the United Nations for the nudist scene in Australia and represent the best interests of nudists at heart. Unfortunately, whilst it might sound nice in theory, in reality it hasn't been like that at all. They've not been doing a very good job to win the masses over to their lifestyle - even e-mails from myself asking for advice to promote naturism in my town went unanswered. Added to that, their website is woefully out of date and like many nudist venues here has not been updated since it was first constructed. If you want to win and wow people, you need bells and whistles and fancy flashing lights on the site to get people's attention. Added to that, the last few Presidents of the ANF haven't exactly had it easy. A few of years ago, a nudist club rejected the President from its ANF convention because he was a single man. His successor was a married woman with children of her own in their teens. Unfortunately, they didn't continue the nudist lifestyle once they turned 14 or 15 and she didn't seek to encourage them either. This has also seen a downturn in the lack of young people involved in nudism in the recent years. The ANF used to be a family friendly organisation and prided itself on being 'nudism is for everyone of every age'. Not anymore.

3) Nudist clubs discriminating against people on account of marital status and families:

This is the BIG deterrent to more Australian people being involved in nudism. Nudists need to get with the times. I sincerely believe the Australian government needs to put the whip down on nudist clubs who do this. You don't see other special interest groups like sci-fi clubs, vintage car clubs, or music and movie fan clubs refusing a person membership on account of age or marital status. Why should nudism be any different? This is where I see a sense of hypocrisy. Nudists are constantly saying "nudism is not about sex, it's wholesome and healthy, but we don't want single guys and kids in our circles". I'm suspicious of this, and I think that these so-called nudists are actually swingers using nudism as a means of fulfilling their hidden agendas. And these people are almost blind to reason that the movement is in the doldrums because of attitudes like theirs. For nudist women: if a lone guy is enroaching on your space when you don't want him to, tell him to fuck off! If anyone gets too close to comfort with your children, give them a good kick in the nuts (or ovaries, seeing as I'm non-sexist!) and have the management and/or the police escort them out of the place. Don't put up with shit from a few troublesome minorities. Not all single guys are sexual predators, and I also think that children in a nudist environment should also be made to either go nude or go somewhere else if they don't want to comply. Nudity in the nudist context does not mean sexual availability - don't let sex predators spoil your fun!

4) Changes in societal values with money, travelling, political reform.

We are now entering a very weak economy which has been brutally tarnished by the 'greed is good' capitalism of the 80's and the various stock market crashes of the 90's. These days the masses are underpaid and overworked in order to try and put money back into the government's kitty. Added to that, there has also been political reform with social minorities. Since the 1980's, homosexuality and lesbianism has become more accepted by mainstream society with the result that some countries and states have legalised gay marriages and gay parenting. It's no longer a social taboo to 'come out' with the fact that you are gay at whatever stage you are in in your life. Also, previously taboo religions like Wicca, Paganism and Scientology, previously treated as evil cults by the media have suddenly gained new found respect thanks to people like Fiona Horne, J.K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, John Travolta, and a few others. Their belief systems gained acceptance by fighting tooth and nail for it and making it 'cool' with kids and teenagers. So, it's about time that nudists sought to evolve. Why they are content to remain a social minority of cranks to be segregated is beyond me. If we don't become more 'out there', we will lose what little credibility we have left with the rest of society. As it is, nudists here are treated as bizarre, peculiar people who are little better than freakshow types to be made fun of out of ignorance. It's about time that nudists stood up to this and took to the streets demanding equality and equal rights. A few brave souls like Richard A. Collins, Steven Gough, Vincent Bethell, Daniel Lorenzo Johnson and Terri Sue Webb have done exactly that over the last few years and have been both lauded and loathed by the critics for their stances. With Gough and Bethell both having done time in prison, Bethell no longer cares to be involved with naturism any longer.
Environmental issues are also another deterrent for people taking part in naturism. If naturism implies being 'for nature', what is 'nature friendly' about driving fuel-guzzling SUVs to remote beaches which take up more travel time in order to nude up? It doesn't make any sense to me. The Australian government ought to grant nudists more freedoms than they have now. I'd like to see nudity legalised on all parks and beaches as it is in many parts of Europe now. If people don't like it, they can just go and emigrate to the Middle East or colonise another planet. Taking offence to human nudity is the product of a sick mind.

5) Use the Internet more

As has been discussed in EJP's article about Generation Y and nudism, Australian nudist club owners need to be looking for more ways to advertise their business. If you want to be getting more young adults to your function and venues, create a page on networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, MSN Spaces or Yahoo! 360 - they are used a lot. Also, put your venue's URL on Google. If it's not on Google, it doesn't exist to most young adults today. Google has become the digital encyclopaedia to the world. Also, try and make sure that patrons can get mobile telephone coverage. I've been to several nudist clubs and beaches and have been disappointed that I can't make any phone calls because there is no reception.

6) Promote your event on sites for younger naturists like ynai.com and freebodyzone.com - both these sites are primarily directed at younger people and getting them actively involved in nudism. Don't be shy.

7) Be more liberal about appearances:

Don't turn away people because they have tattooes or body jewellry. As long as they don't behave in a loutish or boorish manner towards others, leave them be. If you think that naturism should be about body purity in every shape and form, you're living in the wrong decade. Get with the times!

Anyway, that's my rant for now - I welcome comments about this article from other people, whether they are naturists or not. :-)