You arrive and undress - completely. You greet your campsite neighbors naked, set up your tent naked and set it up naked. All of this was only funny for the first few minutes, my father always said when he talked about his first nudist vacation with my mother and a couple of friends. At the latest when the tent is up, the nudity doesn't matter, it's no longer noticeable. And he was right; in this other place we just didn't wear pants and a t-shirt, but neither did everyone else. Especially as a child you don't mind the nudity, on the contrary. Because when or where else could you paint a cute sun on your older brother's butt with watercolors without your parents scolding you?
Naked, bare, bare. This is nudism. Well, almost. Because the people on naturist campsites may do without clothes, but not without hygiene. Leaving your best piece hanging in the freezer is just as frowned upon as sitting down on a chair while your butt is bleeding. A beach towel around the waist is often mandatory. Also, nudism does not mean being naked at all costs. In the Corsican rain and wind, we were never looked at askance when we put on our pants and sweater. But of course there are also the nudists of the tough kind, who walk through the heaviest rain in yellow rubber boots and transparent capes – I've seen everything before, just as I've seen pretty much everything the human body has to offer, from tiny ones Penises up to melon breasts. You see the bleeding tennis player in tennis shoes and with pulled up white socks, sun visor and sports bra - because freely swinging breasts apparently prevent an ambitious tennis game - or the little boy with his Nutella bread in one hand and his little friend in the other. Such moments may seem bizarre, and we also laughed a lot. But they are neither disreputable nor repulsive or embarrassing.
It may come as a surprise, but the only thing I've never seen in all my naturist vacations is an erect penis. The opinion that naturism is all about looking and being looked at is just a myth that persists. Of course there are also nude beaches where only voyeurism and exhibitionism count, but we've never been there. I even have to say: Today I feel more observed in the swimming pool in a bikini than I did on the nudist beach back then.
However, there was a time during puberty when I would have preferred to spend my holidays on a "normal" beach. The summer in particular, when I got my first pubic hair and had my first menstrual period, was difficult at the beginning. But as I said, contrary to popular belief, naturism is not about being naked at all costs. So I just put on a bathing suit at the time, the problem was solved. I didn't realize for a long time that the way our family spent their holidays was special. I had the aha moment when all the children brought holiday photos to school and I was the only one who could only show landscape pictures. And at some point in primary school, some classmates found out about our naturist holidays. Many children didn't understand exactly what that was, there was a little outcry, but the excitement quickly subsided. I wasn't teased.
If people ask questions today or it's about this topic, then I'm not hiding anything. I can also imagine going on nudist holidays with my children one day, as long as my partner agrees. Nevertheless, I don't need to rub my nudist experiences in people's faces, precisely because people still don't understand it today. Somehow I can understand that. It's just unusual, and one's own nudity still seems to be a taboo - despite bare bottoms in advertising or bare breasts in music videos.
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