Do you seek to be comfortable in your body, or be just a piece of meat?

By Zahra Barnes & Dr Nikki Goldstein. Listen to the podcast at How To Sex.

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Getting naked with a mixed social group might be a tantalizing item
on your bucket list, but the options can be radically different, and
lead to disappointment, even betrayal and abandonment. To the person
who’s never seriously considered getting naked in a large mixed group,
perhaps all the options seem the same. But where some groups, like
swingers clubs; gather with the intent of openly sexual interactions;
Naturist and nudist clubs specifically ban public sexuality. Even an
innocent erection might be frowned upon and the guy might be asked to
step apart from the women while he’s turgid.

Some
naturists clubs have an unspoken bias against any male arousal. They
even tend to blame an erect man for proliferating a ‘rape culture’.

But at the swingers club, the turgid male; especially if heavily
endowed; is almost revered. A man or woman whose physique is rather
‘unremarkable’ may end the event feeling disappointed and inferior. It’s
perhaps that ‘meat-market’ culture which diverts many people to the
non-sexual naturist clubs. A man with a considerably small cock, hidden
in a thick pubic bush, has little to fear at a Naturist club.

You might see more women than men at a naturist club, but you’ll
definitely see way more men at a swinger club. That’s what leads a
modestly-endowed man to give up on the swingers club, unless he’s there
with his devoted female life partner.

But let’s hear from a young woman who has created a naturist society
for younger adults. Zahra Barnes shares her report on the club that
Felicity Jones started.

Naturism Liberated Me

This Is What It's Like To Live Most of Your Life Naked

I firmly believe that if you want to experience euphoria sans drugs,
all you have to do is take off your bra after a long workday. And
post-shower, you can often find me wrestling my freshly-lotioned legs
into a pair of jeans, muttering questions like, "Why can't I just live my life naked?"
The thing is, I can. And some people do. Nudists and naturists
participate in plenty of normal activities like swimming, camping, and
karaoke without clothes. The degrees of nudity vary; some people are
naked pretty much all the time, while others reserve it for social
events every so often. But to hear them tell it, life is much better in
the nude.

While you may have heard of nudists, chances are you're a little less
familiar with naturists. Although the terms are often used
interchangeably, some people believe certain nuances classify them as
two different bodies. "We define nudism as being more about the actual
nudity, while naturism has more of a philosophy behind it," Felicity
Jones, 27, a resident of Long Island City, N.Y. and co-founder of Young Naturists America, YNA,
tells SELF. "It’s about accepting people as they are, and also
promoting the values of respecting other people and the environment." Of
course, most naturists can't be naked all the
time, because laws exist and being naked in jail doesn't sound
particularly comfortable. But when they can, they do, and they enjoy the
hell out of it.

Let's clear one thing up: Naturism's not about sex.

Sometimes it's easiest to define naturism by describing what it's
not. "A lot of people imagine that it’s this amped up sexual
environment, like people are having sex in the open or having orgies,"
says Felicity. "It’s not like that at all. There’s a time and place for
everything," she says, while noting that YNA has "very rarely" had to
kick people out of events because they're acting inappropriately.

Stateside nudism and naturism have their roots in the American Association for Nude Recreation,
which was founded in 1931. With an spotlight on "wholesome nude family
recreation," the organization's mission is "to advocate nudity and nude
recreation in appropriate settings while educating and informing society
of their value and enjoyment," according to their website. Similar
institutions cropped up after, like The Naturist Society, which was founded in 1980.

If you're like, wait, record scratch, people are advocating me getting naked with my family?
You're not alone. But as someone who grew up in a home where bodies
weren't a thing to be hidden; we weren't naturists by any stretch of the
imagination, but I wasn't taught to fear or shame nudity; I can see why
this is worthwhile. So can Felicity, who grew up with a
nudity-embracing family in New Jersey, and laughingly calls herself a
"third-generation naturist." She co-founded YNA in 2010, and to date,
they have around 400 members in the States and internationally. In
addition to raising awareness about naturism, they put on events like
the nude, public Bodypainting Day this coming July 9th, in New York and Amsterdam.

Misconceptions about the naturist lifestyle can have far-reaching
implications. "When I post naked photos of myself online, I have to deal
with sexual harassment, cock pics, and people assuming that because I’m
naked I must be looking for sex," says Felicity. And while running YNA
is her full-time job, her partner and co-founder works in sales. "His
boss and coworkers all know [he's a naturist], but his boss wasn’t
comfortable with him using his real name because people will Google
before doing business with him," she says. Even though naturism's
intentions are innocent, it can be hard for people to see it that way.

So, no, naturism isn't a cover for massive, wild orgies. Felicity and
her co-founder started it in the hopes of filling a void in modern
nudity-focused communities. "We didn’t want it to be just about getting
naked, but creating a body-positive environment and combatting body shame," she says.

Lose the clothes, gain self-esteem?

Naturism fits beautifully into a society that's increasingly open to
the idea that "perfection" doesn't exist. "Being a naturist forces you
to accept who you see in the mirror," Serenity Hart,
26, a naturist and nude model in New York, tells SELF. Growing up as a
black girl, she loathed the color of her skin and the texture of her
hair. "I wished I could change who I was every day, until I found nude
modeling," she says. "It challenged me to look past the things I
couldn't change, but also learn how to embrace them. Nudity has changed
my life." A big fan of naturism's confidence-boosting effects,
Serenity wants to spread the message. Like basically everything else in
the 21st century, she's using the Internet to do it.

Serenity offers Naked Skype Sessions for $30 an hour, or a package
deal of $120 for five sessions. She stumbled upon the idea when she
answered a friend's Skype call while in the nude. "At first she was
uncomfortable and embarrassed for me even apologized and covered her
eyes," says Serenity. Then, they got to talking about where this deeply
ingrained negative reaction to nudity comes from. "I asked her to join
me in being naked, and she did. So, Naked Skype was born," Serenity
explains. "There is nothing more vulnerable than being completely
present with a friend or stranger in the nude. No labels, no facade, no
judgments, just openness and embracing your true self." She currently
has 10 sessions per week with men and women around the world, usually
talking about self-love and how to foster positive body image. "The
sense of empowerment makes it all worth it for me," she says.

That emphasis on healthy self-image is a cornerstone of YNA's
philosophy. That's largely because Felicity realized how beneficial
nudity had been to her growing up when she and her family attended the Rock Lodge Nudist Club in
northern New Jersey. "I saw the human body in so many different forms,"
she says. "I wasn’t so influenced by this culture that says if you
don’t have a certain body type, you shouldn’t be taking off your
clothes."

This is especially important for women. "A lot of the nudity taboo is
about female breasts and genitals. People don’t see those parts on
actual average bodies, so they can have a lot of anxiety," says
Felicity. Growing up as a naturist, she was able to a