Naturist Podcast: What Does Naturism Mean to You?

When I think about why we do what we do with Skinny Dippers Club and the Global Naturist Alliance, it actually has little to do with being a nudist and everything to do with community.

Naturism, for me, is where environmentalism, social nudism, and feminism collide. 

Jeremy and I met in Portland, Oregon. I was raised in the inner city as a church liberal, and he was raised in the ‘burbs as the kid of cops. Law and Order – the whole nine yards. He got shunned for listening to black jams while I was praised for learning the Roger Rabbit on the playground.  

Despite childhoods that couldn’t be farther apart (his classmates shot tin cans on their lunch hour, mine hotboxed in my ’73 bug), we both had a passion for making our community stronger, more diverse, and to feel empowered.

We fought coal trains moving through our city – he as the Mayor me as the local blogger Rachel Maddowing my way around town. I helped pass bond measures with well-placed social media posts, and my PR efforts helped fund LGBTQ candidates on a national level. 

Then we went to China.

We went on a diplomatic mission under the program then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had spearheaded. It is a prestigious, competitive EcoPartnerships program of the U.S. Department of State. 

During the summit, three U.S. cities and their Chinese counterparts formalized EcoPartnerships. EcoPartnerships are cooperative relationships between Chinese and U.S. entities that work jointly to promote economic growth, energy security, and environmental sustainability.

We saw rusty rivers, air pollution dropping from the sky like snow, and I stopped wearing underwear. (Have you ever tried to pee in a hole in the ground while in First Lady attire? It’s a nightmare.) It was here that we really came to understand the urgency of taking care of the earth and its inhabitants.

As a lifelong entrepreneur with ADHD, I get burnt out often. On one of these occasions, Jeremy quickly convinced me to go with him to a boutique nudist hotel in Palm Springs instead of delivering the Alt Summit speech I was supposed to give. With little energy to fight it, I said yes.

I didn’t get the nudist thing. He had already visited our local nudist place on several occasions, and I even left our home from time to time so that he could have naked hangs with friends. (Totally thought this was weird too.) 

What’s weirder is that I’ve always hung out naked at home. Every time I’d clean the house, I would do it without clothes because I just thought dirtying clothing to clean the house made no sense. And when I could work out at home, I just wore a sports bra because again, why would I deliberately do something that would cause me to do more laundry? And obviously, working from home is and was always pants-less. 

But being naked with anyone other than who I was sleeping with? No thanks.

When we walked into the nudist hotel for the first time, I felt assaulted by the front desk dude who was bare-ass naked when we arrived. “Jeremy, isn’t there some transition time? Like, you just walk into PENIS-Ville?” I was not impressed.

As the days of my stay wore on, I was struck by how cool the people were. I kept showing up day after day in my bikini while everyone smiled and tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible while I hid behind my sunglasses and book in the lounge chair. Jeremy, on the other hand, was busy being mister socially naked in the pool with everyone. I was intrigued.

Had this not been my first experience with nudism, I’m not sure I would have jumped in. I honestly think that it being a clothing-optional resort made all the difference. By day three or four, I realized that the only one that cared about my body was me and that taking a naked dip in the pool sounded pretty spectacular. Besides, why did Jeremy get to have all the fun? With enough weed-infused muddy buddies, anything is possible.

I tell you guys that I started Skinny Dippers because of the pandemic, but that’s not entirely true. I started it after meeting so many awesome naturists at all of the places we’ve visited. I wanted to hang out with you guys and not just when I could go on vacation to a nudist place.

Then, when Jeremy and I moved to a nudist park, we started seeing how it really looks. In the off-season.The politics of it all. In colonies. And our mission expanded.

Naturism, for me, is about community. Nudists are some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. And like any community, they can also be some of the worst people I’ve ever met.

This is why we proudly display a rainbow in our logo. This logo is meant to be a bit of a block home. A sign that if you are new to naturism and you see someone with our logo, they are a safe person. They believe everyone is equal, and they will make you feel like you belong. They will protect you if anything goes awry because sometimes it does not matter how careful you are being or how much research you’ve done. Shit happens. 

Because of the discourse we have seen on a global scale revolving around those that lead the naturism movement, we have launched a non-profit aimed at setting the standards for mission, vision, and values for the naturist community worldwide.

I have never felt so comfortable in my skin since taking the plunge into naturism. I’ve never felt so body-positive. And now I want everyone to join me. Thank you for being here.

Mandy Z.