Naturism, sometimes called Nudism in some parts of the world, is a lifestyle in harmony with nature, expressed through social nudity, and characterised by self-respect of people with different opinions and of the environment.
The naturist philosophy has several sources; many can be traced back to the health and fitness philosophy in Germany in the early twentieth century, though the concept of returning to nature, and creating equality are also cited. Contact with German clubs took the idea to England, Canada and the US where a network of clubs developed. French naturism was organised in a different way, and large holiday complexes developed which in their turn influenced Quebec then and the US. More recently, free beaches and other types of activity have freed naturism from clubs.
Naturism does not condone erotism and blatant sexuality but is associated with this in the public mind and that of media.
The word naturism was used for the first time in 1778 by a French-speaking Belgian, Jean Baptiste Luc Planchon (1734-1781), and was advocated as a means of improving the ‘l’hygiène de vie’ (natural style of life) and health.
The International Naturist Federation explains: "Each country has its own kind of naturism, and even each club has its own special character, for we too, human beings, have each our own character which is reflected in our surroundings."
The usage and definition of these terms varies geographically and historically. Though in the United States, naturism and nudism have very similar meanings, in Britain there is a clear distinction. Nudism is the act of being naked, while naturism is a lifestyle which at various times embraced nature, environment, respect for others, self-respect, crafts, healthy eating, vegetarianism, teetotalism, non-smoking, yoga, physical exercise and pacifism as well as nudity.
In naturist parlance, the word textilist is used to describe someone who is not a naturist, or the act of not being naturist. e.g.He stayed all week but was textilist all the time. It is also used as an adjective to describe a facility where naturism is not allowed e.g "the textilist beach starts at the flag". Clothing optional and nude optional (US specific) describe a policy or a venue that allows or encourages nudity but tolerates the wearing of clothes. The opposite is clothing compulsory; that is, disallowing nudity, thus requiring the wearing of clothes. Clothes free/clothes-free and clothing free/clothing-free are used as adjectives to describe when naturism is permitted in an otherwise textilist environment.
The social nudity movement includes a large range of variants including "naturism", "nudism", "Freikörperkultur (FKK)", the "free beach movement" as well as generalized "public lands/public nudity" advocacy. There is a large amount of shared history and common themes, issues and philosophy, but differences between these separate movements remain contentious.
Naturism is practised in many ways; Marc Alain Descamps, in his study written in French, classified the types as: individual nudism, nudism within family, nudism in the wild, social nudism. To that we can add the militant naturist, campaigning or extreme naturists.
