So for me, it had been 20 years (phew) since I'd done a non-landed club event. But when an event was announced - literally 10 minutes down the street from our home - it was just too hard to let it pass by. Even my wife, who isn't exactly keen on being naked in a room from of strangers (she's more into the Great Outdoors), decided she was on board.

We arrived "fashionably late"; but still before the Comedy Show started. It was in fact a big room, wall-to-wall jam-packed with all naked people; many of whom clearly already knew each other. About 70% men.
Luckily, my wife is sufficiently accustomed to social nudity in "close quarters" that it didn't give her too much pause. We quickly disrobed and got naked, literally shoulder to shoulder with other people. We then walked around for a bit, got in line to get some food, started some conversations; and chose to sit in the front row.

The Comedy Show was funny, the comedians were all naked (some for the first time "publicly"); and all in all we had a good time. Although we did think that some of the jokes were a bit too raunchy considering the audience. We did leave as soon as the show was over, and had to brush by several naked people in order to get back to our clothes. But we did leave smiling, and joked for the whole 10 mins it took for us to get back home. My wife actually agreed to go to another event: Naked Bowling.

As fun as it was; I would say this type of event is "not for everybody." For women, especially newbies, I imagine it would be daunting to strip naked in front of a primarily male "audience." And the crowdedness can be too much for an introvert. Not to mention the very close proximity and inevitable physical contact while trying to move between people. But it's also a very interesting variation on social nudity. I would recommend, even if only for the experience.

I'm glad you and your wife had a good time. I'm pretty sure my wife would not be comfortable with the gender imbalance being that skewed, and I might be a bit overwhelmed by the crowd. However, nude bowling does sound like fun. I think focusing on an activity could keep one's mind off of the "exposure" so to speak.

Thanks for the trip report, it's always good to hear about interesting experiences like this. If only either of these events were available in my city.

This past weekend, I attended a nonlanded club's event. It was a pool party at a nonmember's home. There was a gender imbalance, but it did not seem to bother anybody.

The hostess appeared from time to time during the party (always clothed) and seemed quite happy to have a bunch of nudies using her pool.

We all dressed and cleared out at the appointed hour.

Hawk

Thanks for your post, Nudony. The board's been quiet for a while, nearly dead, so I hadn't checked in for a while.

Comments like yours remind me I'm SOOOOOOOOOO grateful to have quite a few friends living within easy driving distance who have home pools with sufficient privacy they can swim nude, or enjoy swimming nude in our pool or pools of other friends. Yeah, we agree about the "Great Outdoors" and the lakefront cottage is better since we can wander around freely with no worry about being seen except on the busiest weekends (Memorial Day, Independence Day, etc.). Even then the property is big enough that precautions work like sunbathing nude close to the cottage where trees and fences keep us from being seen from the lake, and covering up with towels when walking down to the water for a swim. Nearly always there's nobody in a boat or personal watercraft close enough to see, so we drop towels when we get close to the dock and jump in nude. Nobody knows we're swimming nude if we're under water, even if a boat gets close. Few nudists who swim in open water use the backstroke, or float face up, unless we want to be seen.



Yep, you nailed it on an important issue.

Long ago, people who were used to resorts, not beaches, commented on one of my posts they'd never seen what for us was normal to undress in a group. Yes, it's common at resorts for people to go into a side room or someplace private to undress, but even at resorts, sometimes people are expected to undress in a locker room outside the showers. At most beaches there's no choice. You have to undress in the open, next to the people you came with, and if it's a crowded beach, many people will see you undress.

We firmly believe it's best for newbies, **ESPECIALLY** women, to undress with friends who can encourage and support them as they go through what can be one of the most difficult things they've ever done. Undressing is very personal and most people only undress with people of the opposite sex who we trust (i.e. doctors) or who we not only trust but deeply love. For married couples, their first visit to a nude place may be the first time they've undressed with someone other than their husband or wife in many years or even decades.

I know some people just can't do it and have to undress in private and walk out fully nude to the pool area. But for most people, especially women, I think it works far better for trusted friends to encourage them as they take off their clothing, item by item, talk with them as they struggle with modesty issues, and reassure them that it is normal, natural, and healthy to enjoy seeing friends nude and to be nude.

Too many people feel guilty about enjoying seeing friends nude. Why? Men and women were created to enjoy seeing each other. When a male friend looks away as I undress, I encourage him to stop averting his eyes. It helps him accept nudity really is good and enjoying it is fine.

I'm thinking of a married couple in their forties whose daughter and fiance are nudists and came to the lakefront cottage recently for their first social nudity experience. The four had already swum nude together in their own pool so the nervousness of family nudity was behind them. Still, it was incredibly fun and enjoyable when a mutual friend who the married couple had known for years reassured the wife as she unhooked her bra that she looked very good and had nothing to be embarrassed about. Of course she was embarrassed and blushed, but that made her look cuter and her daughter commented that she was "blushing like a teenager on a date with her boyfriend." That was the encouragement her mother needed to finish undressing, and after the usual half an hour of nervousness, she started to enjoy being nude with lots of other nude people, and decided it was fun, not scary, to have people notice her nude body. (Her husband had gone to nude beaches years earlier so he knew what to expect though he hadn't been socially nude since college due to his wife's objections.)

Yes, nudism can be very scary for an introvert. Same for physical contact, as happens for us in the group shower at the lakefront cottage. But there are positives too. For a first-time nudist, the physical touch of a shower with her boyfriend can be very reassuring, and showering inches away from male and female friends is a great way to overcome any remaining modesty.

It can help an introvert "break out of her shell." I say "her" because I think male introverts have different problems that center on fear, often quite justified, they will be misunderstood as "creeps" on a nude beach if they try to talk to other people, or seen as the "dreaded single male" if they don't come with a girlfriend. I don't think women fully understand male fears about social nudity.

Accepting the invitation from me and my boyfriend (now husband) to come with us to the nude beach near our campus was one of the best experiences ever for some of my most shy and modest female friends. I'm talking about women who'd never been nude even with their boyfriends. To watch a young couple in love undress together for the first time, and to talk the boyfriend into pulling down his shorts with a group of male and female friends, and to talk the girlfriend into untying her bikini top and pulling down her bottoms, and assuring her it's perfectly fine to enjoy watching not only her boyfriend but also her male and female friends as they undress, and telling her boyfriend it's okay to look at other nude women -- all of that is just wonderful fun.

The best part is to see a woman who is nude for the first time learn to enjoy being nude with other nude men. Seeing "Shy Sally" learn how to talk with a male friend from her dormitory who is completely nude, and to enjoy "Dave" noticing her body rather than being embarrassed, is a great way to help Sally overcome her shyness and become less of an introvert.

Several women told me social nudity significantly changed their personalities. "If I can do this, I can do anything," was a common comment.



Totally true. Part of why we encourage showering together as a group at the lakefront cottage, and why at the nude beach, we encouraged first-timers to swim or go for a walk as soon as possible.

An added benefit of bowling or similar physical activities is the movement of the body. Women's breasts move. Same for men's privates. It can't be helped and can encourage people to help them get over any remaining modesty.

Glad to see you back, BB!

Absolutely.

My wife wasn't "inherently equipped" to be comfortable stripping in a room full of naked strangers - most of them men - and then walking around naked amongst them in such close proximity. It was a gradual process.
She started with choosing to remain nude - instead of wrapping herself in a towel - for the short walks at the resort between the lake and the pool area. These walks gradually increased into full length naked hikes around the resort; and naked paddle-boarding on the lake. The more she "moved" while naked, the more she found it easy to focus on the activity instead of her level of "exposure." With more and more people having seen her getting around completely naked, socializing nude became easier. Which increased her confidence. By the time she was naked in a room full of people at the event, she already was completely acclimated to "moving naked", and being seen nude by so many people that it didn't pose an issue for her. It started with just walking around the resort naked.

We have an acquaintance at the resort who still covers up whenever she moves. She's been going to the resort for at least as long as us; but she hasn't changed at all in that regard. I used to think she might be a bit of a "snob"; until I actually interacted with her and realized she is actually "painfully shy" and very self-conscious (in spite of being "conventionally attractive"). Because she chose to remain "static" in her nudity, she was never able to get comfortable being seen "moving naked." It's a bit of a shame that she doesn't get to experience "full nudity" and the freedom that comes with it.

So I have the same advice. After disrobing - especially the first time - "go do something." Feeling the way your body moves while naked, and focusing on that, goes a long way to shedding your modesty; instead of always sitting in the back of the pool area and covering up every time you move.

Glad to be back too, Nudony, and to see this board hasn't totally died off.

We've had plenty of great experiences this spring, as the weather warmed up, and this summer I would have written about, but didn't see the point since most people seem to have dropped off this board. Plus, our group of Chinese (and some other Asian) international students who moved to the lakefront cottage during COVID when the dorms were shut down have all graduated and most have moved away, and they were some of the big encouragers for me to post here.

Yes. At the beach near our campus where we first experienced social nudity, we tried to get single women and couples to walk down to the beach and take a swim as soon as possible after undressing. But it's not easy. We know women who, after undressing, lay face-down on their beach blanket and refused to get up for half an hour or even an hour or more. On the other end, some first-timers were so excited that they took their boyfriend's hand and went on a long walk up and down the beach for half an hour, on days with lots of other beachgoers, right after undressing, and then swam and played in the water, waist-deep, clearly enjoying the feel of warm breezes and water on their bodies but also enjoying "seeing and being seen."

Movement works in overcoming modesty. Nudists have a reputation for enjoying volleyball because it helps a lot with that.

If I may ask, is your acquaintance coming with a husband or boyfriend? Is she also painfully shy in clothes? If not, since she is "conventionally attractive" (your words) maybe she needs encouragement by the man she loves that he is perfectly fine with other men seeing her nude. Or maybe other people need to assure her that her body is fine. Sometimes the women who are hardest on themselves have the least reason for their dissatisfaction with their appearance.

You may absolutely ask! :)

She's not only there with her husband; but also always with another couple. I'm not 100% sure but I think the two husbands are related. "Shy wife's" husband is definitely THE nudist; as he's mentioned always being nude at home and participating in several WNBRs. "Shy wife" and the "Other wife" are clearly very close as well.

Speaking of the "Other wife"; I remember when we first started seeing her, and she also covered up a lot. That is no longer the case. As a matter of fact, I saw her just a couple of weeks ago; and she stayed nude the entire time, comfortable socializing and being seen nude in and around the pool area.
Clearly that didn't move the needle for "shy wife."
Her shyness was in full "display" last year. A thunderstorm broke out and we all converged to the indoors hot-tub in the clubhouse. About 20 or so naked people elbow-to-elbow in and around the hot-tub. "Shy wife" elected to stay in the clubhouse, in her drenched shirt/blouse; only appearing once in a while to check if her husband was ready to leave. We all noticed her apparent discomfort.
And it's not like she's never naked; she does sunbathe nude and dips in the lake "au naturel." But there does seem to be a hang-up about "proximity and exposure."

I'm usually good at figuring people out (or at least I think I do lol!) but her behavior is a mystery to me. I'm not afraid to say: she is "conventionally attractive." If I was to compare physiques, "1970's Diane Webber" comes to mind. Some people have body-dysmorphia and think they "look bad" no matter what they're told. Whether that is a cause or not...don't know.
But it could be a lot more simple. Perhaps she's not a "fan" of open/social nudity; and she's only there to please her husband, and because of her relationship with the "Other wife." The two are pretty much joined at the hip. She might be a "never-nude" if her husband wasn't an avid nudist.

Personally, I don't know if I'd keep bringing my wife if she demonstrated such shyness/reluctance with nudity - beyond newbie-ism. I'd feel like I was forcing her. Fortunately for me, there was enough evidence that my wife was (successfully) working through her modesty and hang-ups being seen nude for me to not have to worry about it.