"There is a lack of young nudists", is a statement that the different naturism associations confirm, but why is this happening in the midst of the media exposure and posturing? How is it that a healthy and natural life is in fashion but not the Naturism Representatives of different nudist associations and young people who practice it tell La Vanguardia what are the main factors that keep young people away from this movement.
"There is a rather erroneous conception of what nudism is, there are many people who associate it with sexual and exhibitionist behavior and it is a movement that is quite stigmatized by society in general," explains Iván Vera, a nudist, as one of the main causes. 24 years old who is a representative of the youth group of the Club Català de Naturisme (CNN).
"The problem is that there is a lot of stigmatization towards the body, we have it either hypersexualized or completely censored, and social networks and everything that surrounds them contribute a lot to this practice because there is no distinction between sexual content and simply naked content," he says. Ivan.
In this sense, the president of the Spanish Federation of Naturism, Ismael Rodrigo, points out to La Vanguardia that it is especially important to educate young people in naturism, since "it is a way of seeing normal people", without going through filters of networks or 'bikini operation', being together with “old people with wrinkles, with their breasts sagging, hairy or with a belly”, so that young people internalize that reality, which is not the same as the one artificially shown on social networks.
On digital platforms, Rodrigo points out, what they see are "nudes always related to perfect bodies that do not exist, linked to pornography and when it is pornography, associated with situations of violence against women", thus generating "a link of the nudity with a sexuality and also a false sexuality”.
On the Internet there is no shortage of vertiginous necklines, tiny swimsuits or naked men's torsos. However, in the age of media exposure and posturing, it is still embarrassing for young people to go completely naked.
Iván attributes it to the fact that "young people are quite dissatisfied with their own bodies for not reaching certain beauty standards" and assures that "from nudism we want to break with those standards or at least question them", but it is a very difficult task, above all due to "the influence of the media, education and the models that are repeated and perpetuated in society."
And it is that in the networks young people "do not show themselves as they are, they display themselves with filters, in a commercial way", explains Rodrigo, something that Iván corroborates, who assures that "nudism is a much more direct exposure and without a filter, without poses, it is being in nature and being yourself”, while the exhibition that is carried out on the internet is totally controlled by the person who practices it.
The president of the Spanish Naturism Federation acknowledges that "we don't know how to reach young people", but that they do know how to access nudism. Although he thinks that there is a lack of young nudists, he also says that in certain initiatives such as the "Optional Swimsuit Days" that are held in various public swimming pools in Madrid, many of those who come are young, "more boys than girls", he adds, and he thinks that what they lack in part is to be more associationists. There are not many affiliates among the around 3,400 members in Spain, but there are those who practice it on their own.
However, Iván, 24 years old and very involved with naturism, works to bring this practice closer, which is an important part of his life. At the Club Català de Naturisme "we have a group of young people in which we try to promote so that they join more" and who have been promoting more in recent times through the web and social networks. What they seek is "to make it as diverse and dynamic as possible so that any interested person can feel welcomed without distinctions of gender, ethnicity, language or nationality."
One of the problems is that "many young people do not see themselves represented in the movement" because there are many older people, which is why the CCN has created spaces just for this group so that they feel more identified in the first instance.
“We do various types of activities such as going to the beach, workshops, excursions, as well as spas or indoor activities such as board games in winter. And we do that at the youth group level, that is, only young people to generate that space of trust so that those who enter for the first time feel more secure" and of course they can join general activities of the association when they feel ready. and thus "young and not so young can meet and share experiences."
Young people are a minority in the nudist group, but girls are even more so. The aforementioned reasons for sexualization, stigmatization, and shame are accentuated in the case of them, since at a social level they have "greater demands for perfection and care." "Many do not feel comfortable with their own body or in a swimsuit," according to Rodrigo, who believes that nudism is especially positive in the case of women because it gives them a space in which to be more free, be as one wants and feel safe, without fear.
Iván agrees on the added difficulty that women have to practice naturism but adds that "it is not just a problem of nudism but rather a general one, due to the way in which society is configured, due to the way in which the body is consumed feminine and the repression that women have suffered”.
"It is general" in nudism that there are more men than women or trans because they receive much more sexualization from the media and because everything that involves their social environment and their education makes it more difficult to break those taboos. That is why they intend to “create non-mixed spaces, that is, only for women, only for trans people, etc. so that these people can also find themselves even safer”, explains Iván.
With this initiative it is intended that they feel safe and calm, especially when they are starting out in nudism, and then "if they want to take the step of going further and socializing with other people who are not women, they can do it freely, but first I think having that nucleus is very important”, explains the young man.
The president of the CCN, Segimon Rovira, invites everyone to try this practice that "most of the people who try it, no longer leave it", because of the "sensation of peace and freedom" that being naked brings, " Feeling the air and the sun is very pleasant for the body”, but also “for the comfort of not having to be in a wet swimsuit”.
"The best thing is to go to a traditional nudist beach and try it in parts", first take off your swimsuit in the water where no one sees you and enjoy the pleasure of a nude bath, then find a more secluded place to be without many people around and "let them take a run without clothes and they will immediately be hooked, because it is a curious thing that a small rag does so much", advises Rovira.
For his part, Iván recommends "doing it little by little in spaces that one feels safe like in your home or your room", so that one becomes "accustomed to being naked outside in the usual environments, which are basically in the shower or in sex” for people who do not practice nudism.
