The Naked Return: Why Family Nudism Is Making a Comeback
Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
The Outfit You Already Own
Most revivals ask you to buy something—vinyl, vintage denim, another “sustainable” hoodie.
Naturism’s pitch is simpler and far more subversive: you already own the outfit. You were born in it, and it still fits.
For decades, clothing has been treated like emotional duct tape: armor against judgment, a billboard for your status, a filter for your insecurities.
The naturist revival suggests something different. The body doesn’t need a disguise. The body is the disguise.
Is Family nudism becoming a thing?
Nakedness as Equalizer
It’s been argued that clothes divide us. Uniforms sort people into professions, logos into tribes, cuts into classes. Strip them away and you’re left with something universal: skin, scars, and the stubborn truth of being human.
Naturism wagers that hierarchy shrinks when bodies are bare. In a line of unclothed people, executives and interns look suspiciously alike.
That leveling effect is why the movement has always attracted both ridicule and fascination: it reveals how fragile our costumes really are.
What the Research Shows
The benefits are not just romanticized; they’re measurable.
Body Appreciation and Life Satisfaction: Research shows that people who take part in naturist activities report greater life satisfaction, mediated by improved body image and self-esteem (West, 2018).
Reduced Physique Anxiety: A follow-up study found that naturist participation reduces social physique anxiety, which in turn fosters better psychological wellbeing (West, 2020).
The pattern is clear: in structured, consensual, non-sexual environments, nudity can improve how people feel about themselves.
The Anti-Algorithm Rebellion
Social media saturates us with edited, filtered bodies. Family nudism flips the script: no filters, no edits, no delete button.
After years of digital self-performance, the appeal of anti-performance is kinda obvious. Seeing—and being—ordinary bodies becomes an antidote to curated perfectionism.
The Ecology of Nakedness
Fast fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries, producing landfills of waste and oceans of microplastics. Naturism and family nudism intentionally or not, offers a counterpoint. Family nudism subverts fast fashion.
The most sustainable garment may be no garment at all. Shedding clothes becomes both personal liberation and ecological protest.
Where the Growth Is:
France: Nearly 3.7 million adults now identify as naturists, with participation growing fastest among younger adults. Museums in Marseille have even hosted naturist nights, where visitors tour exhibitions unclothed (Le Monde, 2024).
United Kingdom: Lockdowns normalized at-home nudity. Since then, British Naturism has reported increases in membership and participation in naked swims, comedy nights, and online events (Booth, 2021).
United States: Resorts like Avalon in West Virginia keep the tradition alive with strict codes, wellness retreats, and sports. Membership in legacy clubs has declined, but wellness tourism and festivals attract new interest (Hernandez, 2025).
Body Acceptance as Protest
Naturism and family nudism also doubles as quiet protest. By discreetly separating nudity from sexuality, it undermines industries built on shame—fashion, beauty, fitness—where profits depend on making people believe they aren’t enough.
A crowd of naked families doesn’t advertise perfection. It advertises imperfection as the common ground.
Why Now? Here are 5 Working Hypotheses
Anti-Algorithm Rebellion: Perhaps exhaustion with digital performance drives interest in a more unfiltered reality.
The Container Effect: Expansive ideas best occur in curated, rule-bound spaces—such as resorts, clubs, museums.
Eco-Minimalism: Naturism entails rejecting wardrobes. It also overlaps with rejecting fast fashion and excess.
Post-Pandemic Habits: I suspect the COVID lockdowns normalized nudity at home, at least in the USA. Many of us never never fully re-dressed.
Safety Gradient: Safety rules. Participation in naturism rises where safety codes are explicit. In other words, consent and no-camera rules as the real clothing.
FAQs: Naturism in Plain Language
Is naturism the same as nudism?
They overlap. “Naturism” emphasizes harmony with nature and community; “nudism” is the more pragmatic term.
Is naturism sexual?
No. In fact, naturist spaces enforce strict rules separating nudity from sexual activity.
Is naturism legal?
It varies. France, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. allow designated areas. In the U.S., legality depends on state and local zoning.
Do naturists have better body image?
Yes. Studies suggest naturist participation is linked with higher body appreciation and lower anxiety.
What do naturists actually do?
Swim, hike, play sports, socialize—everything clothed people do, minus the clothes. Volleyball is curiously popular.
Naked as Practice in a Small New England Town
If you head into Chesterfield State Forest, somewhere along the Westfield River in Cummington, Massachusetts, only a stone’s throw from where I conduct my weekend couples therapy intensives, you’ll stumble on one of New England’s worst-kept secrets: a nude beach.
Calling it a beach is generous—it’s more of a sandy postage stamp about 50 feet wide—but people come anyway. Pines and maples frame the place like a Hallmark card, and the regulars keep it surprisingly clean, as though housekeeping were a sacred nudist duty.
The ritual is simple: drop your clothes at the main bank, or wander downstream if you’re after a different scene.
The water’s cold, the pool’s deep, and the vibe is equal parts relaxed and resolutely unclothed.
Almost everyone’s naked. That’s the whole point. Next to Vermont’s Ledges, this might be the most beloved inland spot in New England where fabric is optional. The crowd tilts gay, but not exclusively—nudity, after all, is the most democratic dress code.
What you won’t find is harassment. No ranger wagging fingers, no townies clutching pearls.
What you will find is the eternal curse of Massachusetts: parking. Around 1999, the powers that be decided the problem wasn’t nudity—it was congestion. They shut down the trailhead lot, forcing everyone into a hike. Officially, it was about traffic. Unofficially, some grumbled that it felt like a Puritan compromise: if you’re going to be naked, at least suffer for it.
Now, your visit begins with a gamble. Sometimes it’s only an extra 0.4 miles. Sometimes it’s 1.2.
Some optimists bring bikes; the rest trudge in and curse policy. And still, the beach endures.
Because after the walk, the river’s waiting, cool and indifferent, and for a moment you forget the parking hassles, the added mileage, and the faint indifference of a town that has long since made peace with its naked neighbors.
Naturism and family nudism isn’t utopia, and it isn’t for everyone.
But in safe communal settings, it consistently improves body image, reduces anxiety, and makes life more livable.
In a culture drowning in filters, branding, and self-curation, naturism is a reminder that the body is not a performance.
It’s the one fact you’ve carried since birth. Sometimes the most subversive act imaginable is to stop dressing it up.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Booth, R. (2021, August 18). No clothes, no problem: How lockdowns normalised nudity. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/aug/18/no-clothes-no-problem-how-lockdowns-normalised-nudity
Martin Ginis, K. A., & Leary, M. R. (2004). Self-presentational concerns and health-related exercise and diet behavior. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 16(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200490260026
Hernandez, A. (2025, July 20). Grin and ‘bare’ it: At this nudist resort, everyone has skin in the game. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/07/20/nudist-resort-avalon-west-virginia/
Le Monde. (2024, September 1). Dozens of naturist paradises in Marseille. Le Monde. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2024/09/01/dozens-of-naturist-paradises-in-marseille_6724252_117.html
West, K. (2018). Naked and unashamed: Investigating the links between naturism, body image, and life satisfaction. Journal of Social Psychology, 158(4), 408–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2017.1373620
West, K. (2020). Exploring the psychological benefits of communal nudity: Naturism, body image, and wellbeing. PsyArXiv Preprints. https://psyarxiv.com/ty6qu/