This is the first part of a series of conversational dialogues to be posted here. All of the people here as well as the dialogues are completely fictional. These don’t necessarily resemble discussions that people have actually had about naturism and living a naked lifestyle. But I do think they might be realistic, and the purpose is to offer some examples of the kind of discussions you might have with other people – who might be uninformed or skeptical – about this general topic. If you recognize any of the situations to be similar to any you have been in when discussing your interest in naturism, then perhaps you might pick up a useful idea or two on points to make.

The central figures here are a family of four: parents Jan and Dave, and their children Danielle and Sean, who you may assume are pre-teens or young teenagers. Other characters will appear as the story develops. Some will be naturists. The rest will be non-naturists, most of whom may be uninformed or skeptical about naturism, yet still curious and open-minded about it.

There’s a lot that happens pretty quickly in these dialogues. Things in real life would hardly ever happen as rapidly. But then, you wouldn’t want to be reading for months at at time to get the picture.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?’ – Lewis Carroll

Jan: Honey, I just picked up the mail. These things are for you.

Dave: Thanks, Jan.

Jan: What’s that in the white envelope? It just says “N” on the outside.

Dave: Oh, um, that’s the Naturist Society magazine.

Jan: “Naturist”? You mean that nudist stuff you were interested in last summer?

Dave: Well, yeah. “Naturist” and “nudist” are pretty much different names for the same thing. “Naturist” sounds a little better, not as corny as “nudist”.

Jan: OK, but it’s still just about people who like to run around naked, no?

Dave: Yeah, but that’s not really a fair way to describe what naturists do. It’s a lot more than just “running around” without any clothes on.

Jan: Oh? Isn’t that what you were doing a little last summer when you were just doing normal things, except for being naked?

Dave: No, not really. I mean, naturists do a lot more than that. I subscribed to the magazine to learn more about naturism.

Jan: OK, I’ll bite. What else do “naturists” do?

Dave: Well, there’s lots of different things. But everyone has different favorites. Some people go on luxury cruises in the Caribbean. Some visit clothing-optional beaches in California or Florida. Some go camping and hiking in the woods. Some go to naturist clubs around the country. Some go on nice vacations in France, Germany – places like that where naturism is considerably more popular than in the U. S.

Jan: And they’re always naked doing stuff like that?

Dave: Sure, most of the time, anyhow. That’s the whole point – they say it’s much more fun doing such things naked.

Jan: Maybe, but it all sounds pretty weird to me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind doing all those things you mentioned. I just really don’t get what’s better doing all that stark naked. How does being naked make things like that more fun? Is it an erotic thing?

Dave: No, not really. Not at all, in fact. Just because someone’s naked doesn’t automatically mean they’re looking for erotic kicks.

Jan: That’s exactly what I don’t get. How can you be naked along with a lot of other people and not be thinking constantly about sex?

Dave: Naturists swear they don’t.

Jan: And do you really believe that?

Dave: Yeah, I guess I do. At least I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Jan. Oh, come on. You don’t really know, do you?

Dave: No – but I haven’t had any chance to actually try naturist activities so I could find out.

Jan: You mean you weren’t thinking about having sex with me when you were going around the house totally naked last summer?

Dave: I think that’s kind of a trick question. I’ll be damned if I say “yes” and damned if I say “no”.

Jan: So you mean you weren’t thinking about having sex with me then?

Dave: No, really I wasn’t. I mean, see, we have sex when we’re both in the mood for it. If it had seemed like that was the case, I might have wrestled you to the floor and we’d probably have started screwing within seconds. But you were just going about your business, and I was doing the same. Only I didn’t have any clothes on.

Jan: Well, if you say so. I still have to say I thought it was pretty weird how you were waking around naked and didn’t even ask me to give you a BJ. But I was glad that at least you didn’t go naked in front of the kids.

Dave: Oh, get real. How about giving me a little credit? I’m not crazy enough to do something like that. At least, not without discussing it with you first.

Jan: Guess I’ve gotta be thankful about that, I suppose.

Dave: Look, Jan. I suppose we should have talked more about this at the time. But I was just trying it out. I appreciate how you didn’t make a big fuss about my nudity. I assumed you didn’t mind what I was doing all that much. I was hopeful you didn’t think it was actually any big deal.

Jan: Listen, Dave. I see you naked all the time when we have sex. It’s not like nudity is somehow or other shocking to me. I’ve seen enough guys naked, you know. It’s no problem, at the appropriate times. What’s the big deal about seeing a guy’s dick once you’ve slept with him a few times?

Dave: No big deal, of course. And it’s no big deal for naturist women, either, I’m sure. We’re adults. We know what adults of the opposite sex look like without clothes on. So what’s the problem?

Jan: No problem at all, since you’re my husband – as long as the kids aren’t around, of course. So how come you didn’t keep on going around naked? I probably wouldn’t have objected, even though I thought it was weird you were doing that.

Dave: Remember, I was just experimenting. And the kids were around a lot, since school was out for the summer. I see now I should have tried to be naked as much as possible, though. At the very least I should have discussed with you my curiosity about how I felt being naked when doing ordinary, everyday things. But I suppose I didn’t because I was just experimenting and wasn’t really ready to talk about naturism at the time.

Jan: So it seems like we need to do it now, instead.

Dave: I think we have been talking about it for the past few minutes.

Jan: And I think I need to look at some of the stuff you have on this “naturism” you’re interested in. Can I see that magazine you just got?

Dave: Sure. I’ll open it right up.

Jan: Hmmm. The envelope doesn’t give any hints as to what it’s actually about. Must be they think people who get their magazine want to keep it a secret.

Dave: Well, you have to admit the idea of social nudity is likely to be controversial for quite a lot of people – including yourself, I’m afraid.

Jan: (Leafing through the magazine Dave handed her.) Wouldn’t you think it’s not in their best interest to be so secretive about naturism?

Dave: Yeah, I suppose so. It’s pretty sad, actually. 30 years ago any publicity about gay or lesbian people was very controversial. There was the big panic and uproar about AIDS and homosexual threats to society. And now what? Gays and lesbians are getting married to other gays and lesbians, and away from the craziest parts of the country, that’s considered just fine. Nudism and naturism are really far less of a radical thing – but just look at how taboo the idea still is.

Jan: This magazine is pretty nicely done. Doesn’t look cheap at all. But of course, I’ve never seen anything like it on a magazine rack at the grocery store – even though in some ways it seems tamer than various women’s magazines on those racks. They have so many stories about how to have “the best sex ever” with your husband or boyfriend. But this one has naked people right on the cover – men and women, full frontal. I guess that’s why I’ve never seen it on the racks.

Dave: Yes, of course.

Jan: And there doesn’t seem to be much of anything very sexy inside – just a lot of naked people, who don’t look very sexy at all. In fact, most of the people look like senior citizens. Seems like hardly anyone in the pictures is younger than, oh, 45 or 50. Are most naturists just too old to be very interested in sex?

Dave: I rather doubt that. But since I’ve never seen a group of naturists in real life, I don’t know what to tell you about what the typical age is, let alone how interested they are in sex.

Jan: And I haven’t seen any kids at all in any of the picture here. Do naturists discourage families with school-age children from becoming involved with naturism? Are they afraid of the effect on kids of seeing adult nudity?

Dave: Well, apparently you’re concerned about that effect yourself. Yet there’s a lot written about how naturism tries very hard to be “family friendly”, and it’s supposed to be very safe for kids and adults all to be naked together at home or at naturist beaches and other places. But I have to admit, it’s hard to reach that conclusion based on pictures in the magazine.

Jan: Interesting. There’s an article in here about someone’s experiences on a “clothing-optional” luxury cruise in the Caribbean, just as you mentioned a little while ago. I’d like to read that. Would you mind?

Dave: No, not at all. I think it would be good for you to look through the whole magazine. Would you actually consider going on a cruise like that?

Jan: Ha! Don’t you wish! Would I be expected to be naked, at least part of the time?

Dave: Well, it’s described as “clothing-optional”, so I imagine the answer is no, you wouldn’t have to be naked. But I don’t really know whether there’d be any pressure to strip off completely.

Jan: It’s not bloody likely I’d be comfortable on a cruise like that in any case. Not only are most of the people in the cruise pictures naked, they’re mostly as old as our parents. Somehow I just can’t imagine myself, even with a bikini on, mingling casually with nobody but people like that all around, and all their saggy parts jiggling every which way – even though I assume that they’re all actually very nice people, if one can overlook all the nudity. I’m not sure I’d care to see my own mother stark naked like that.

Dave: I’d hope that those pictures aren’t typical of all naturist activities. But now I’m even more curious to participate in actual naturist activities to see for myself what they’re like. Would you object to that? I wouldn’t expect you to come along, if you don’t want to.

Jan: No, I won’t object. You’re obviously curious about this, so you might as well try to satisfy your curiosity – if only so you can get it out of your system if it isn’t what you’d like it to be.

Dave: Thanks. I don’t really have any plans along those line right now. As it’s still cold outside, I imagine there aren’t a lot of opportunities for awhile yet. I have plenty of time for more research to find activities I might like.

Jan: Do you have other issues of this magazine, or is this the first?

Dave: No, I have two more.

Jan: If you tell me where you keep them I wouldn’t mind looking through them myself. But I think it best not to leave them out where the kids can find them.

Dave: They’re in my desk. Lowest left-hand drawer.

Jan: Fine. I’ll take a look. But right now I’ve got several loads of wash that need to be dealt with.

Dave: (Smiling) If I or others in our family went naked, there’d be less wash to do.

Jan. OK, smart alec. It’s fine with me if you go naked as much as you like around here. But it does seem rather cold to be very comfortable for you if you do. Just keep some clothes on when the kids are in the house. Capiche?

Dave: Yes, of course.

To be continued.