About
Fans of
Urban Nudism
Fans of Urban Nudism is a network of activists working to repeal laws against public nudity and to demolish the irrational taboos that gave rise to these laws in the first place. The high levels of anger and violence that we see in our society and in the world are caused, in part, by the emotional damage done by these laws and taboos.
Public nudity decreases anger by reducing stress and anxiety — two major generators of anger. It accomplishes this not only for those who practice public nudity, but also for onlookers. It accustoms people to the sight of the human body and replaces “body shame” with feelings of “body comfort”.
Body shame is the anxiety and embarrassment many people feel when their bodies are exposed and seen by others. Body comfort is the ability to feel pleasure and exhilaration when exposing one's body publicly.
These feelings — shame or comfort — originate from child-rearing practices. Body shame impairs the ability of both young and old to form close relationships. It causes chronic anger and creates conflicts and disruption in families and in society. Prudish parents teach shame; nudist parents teach comfort.
Public nudity counteracts the psychological damage done by the nudity taboo and by prudish parenting. Meeting and interacting with public nudists enables onlookers to see that these are friendly, sensible people who have fewer hangups than their opponents. The joyful support that public nudists get from many onlookers can cause even the most uptight anti-nudists to realize that prudishness isn’t necessarily healthy, or fun, or popular.
Public nudity brings a new sense of freedom to a society overwhelmed by the stress of change. Many people feel boxed-in, helpless, and afraid. Stress brings an increase in anger, violence, and irrationality and causes our society to look for relief in the wrong places — in ideological extremism, mean-spiritedness, and depression.
Public nudity is a freedom that many people yearn for, but only a few people in our society have been able or willing to experience. It is an antidote for the chronic anger that goes hand-in-hand with prudishness.
Public nudists aim to erode and eliminate the nudity taboo and the laws based on it. When this is accomplished, our society will become healthier, happier, and more prosperous.