The Naked Child Growing Up Without Shame
<< Chapter VII >>
Personal impressions and reactions
(From: Nudist Society, 1971)
William Hartman and Marilyn Fithian

A study of nudism
William Hartman
    Initial Impressions
    My initial impressions and reactions came from the earlier part of the field work when I traveled alone by car to parks in California and flew to Spokane, Seattle, and Portland in the Northwest; New Jersey in the East; and Florida in the South.
    I lived for three days with five families at a nudist convention. This interesting experience began when I flew to Portland, Oregon, a city I had never visited before. I was met at the airport by a professional man who took me to the homes of several of his nudist friends. Unknown to me this couple had agreed to host me for Labor Day weekend in 1964 at Squaw Mountain Ranch, an older nudist park outside Portland. We drove to the camp on Friday evening, and later I was introduced to four other couples who would be sharing the same cabin for the weekend. Three of the couples had their children with them; they had driven quite a distance from southern Oregon. The adults were prepared to be involved in volleyball and other scheduled activities for the weekend. The weather was cold, so relatively little nudity was in sight, either in the cabin or on the grounds. When either disrobing for bed or in participating in the volleyball tournament, nudity was comfortably experienced by all present.
    Because there had been so much pro and con about the effect of nudity on children and the possible trauma from viewing adult genitalia, I took occasion to write out many observations during this weekend concerning the reaction of children to nude experience. For the life of me I could see no difference between the nudist children and any other children I had observed in other situations. They seemed to be reasonably well adjusted happy youngsters who on occasion had their differences, quarrels, and their tears. When one became ill late at night, and other couples had gone to some social gathering, one of the women in the cabin and I took the youngster outside, where he vomited; we cleaned him up and returned him to his bed and visited with him for a while before sleep returned. I saw no difference in this experience than in previous family camping experiences.

“Untitled”, 2000 – Tierney Gearon

    Many questions have been raised as to how nudists differ from non-nudists, and I am forever frustrated trying to reread notes and indicate ways in which they might be. My notes show that certain of the couples slept with pajamas one evening and nude the next evening, and yet I cannot be sure this is basically different from what would be true of other social situations where nudity would not be offensive to other persons present.
    I was impressed by a very dedicated minister at Squaw Mountain Ranch whose story was similar to that of persons I have interviewed in other situations. His emphasis was on the wholesomeness of the nudist philosophy, and yet he realized that if his congregation became informed he was a nudist, it would immediately bring about his removal from his pastorate and force him to seek employment elsewhere.
    I had some apprehension as to whether there would be any sexual arousal as a result of visiting various nudist settings. At no time did I have any feelings of sexual interest, but rather some distinctly different emotions. On several different occasions upon arrival at a nudist park I would note some very beautiful females in the area around the gate. My feeling at that time was that whatever the great artists had failed to capture on canvas, I witnessed here in the flesh. Rather than arousal, I experienced aesthetic pleasure and appreciation. Rather than wishing to advance, caress, or fondle, my feelings were to step back and appreciate a total human being, and to observe and appreciate the beauty to be seen. In contests where royal families were being chosen, some very aesthetically beautiful men, typically the rugged muscular Charles Atlas type, were physically attractive to behold although they aroused no sexual feelings in me.
    Several interesting occurrences took place during my research, such as the time a psychiatrist from the East visited several parks with me. He was in my company when the most photographed female nude in history, Diane Webber, demonstrated belly dancing for us at a West Coast nudist club. She had on some sort of a short shift that came about to her navel. In the process of the demonstration, the shift shifted upward; the psychiatrist and I were very amused and entertained by the situation. It seemed to have no particular sexual significance or connotation when she patted my stomach to demonstrate the various movements involved; my feelings were sensual rather than sexual. My psychiatrist friend seemed to enjoy the proceedings from his vantage point.
    A situation in which there were many feelings aroused concerned the first visit to camp with Mrs. Marilyn Fithian, my research associate. We had arranged for Kurt and Elizabeth Barthel to accompany us, and their presence no doubt made the transition somewhat easier. The questionnaires from the first study were being efficiently coded by Mrs. Fithian, and the question arose as to whether the nudist setting might strain or adversely affect a very positive working relationship. My feelings of apprehension, however, were relieved soon after our arrival. It became apparent that our working relationship in the nude world was no different from our working relationship in the clothed world. In fact, it had the opposite effect. It strengthened the relationship through this shared experience. The feelings of apprehension were nonetheless real and present even though adverse reaction to our relationship did not materialize.
    Kurt and Elizabeth Barthel were companions on a number of occasions, and my feeling was one of how little nudists appreciated their founding father when he would appear in various parks. Many nudists didn’t recognize Kurt, but at conventions he and his wife were given rounds of applause when introduced. The feeling I had was that the nudists are not much more interested in their history than the general population is in American antecedents. When people go out for rest and relaxation, they are not interested in any kind of a history class being given.
    Kurt did relive for us many of the early events of the 1930’s, when he was arrested in both New York and New Jersey in connection with his advocacy and practice of nudism. Seeing the reaction of many people to this phenomenon even today made me somewhat surprised that he was arrested and harassed as little as he was. It was fascinating to hear him tell about the introduction of the phenomenon into America in the early thirties. Considering the number of people who still strongly oppose the existence of nudism today, one can imagine the tremendous opposition that must have faced the beginning of nudism thirty-five years ago. As a young adolescent then, my recollection is of pictures in magazines dealing with nudist conventions where a number of undistinguishable and unidentifiable nude participants were referred to in a news story as some kind of wild, way-out-freaks who engaged in the most socially unacceptable type of behavior possible.
    Other feelings and observations were of appreciation, particularly in swimming pools, to see nudists engaged in various games involving physical contact but not involving any suggestive activities. I had heard so much about the no-touch rule but had been warmly embraced by both males and females during the period of the research and found that such cordiality had nothing to do with sexual arousal. This contact was one of the more pleasurable experiences of the research.
    To witness young boys and girls swimming, coming down the slide, and climbing on the shoulders of their fathers to dive off into the pool, I felt to be a very worthwhile and positive experience. To have this experience denied them because they were nude and supposed to have different reactions than if they were wearing swimming trunks was to me inconceivable. I could sense the danger of too much sex contact between adolescents who might get themselves into situations that could prove embarrassing, and yet I wondered why these situations couldn’t be handled just as well in open nudist settings as they typically are on the dance floor, in walk-in and drive-in theatres, in parked automobiles, and in other places where the youth of our culture have some of their early touch contacts with members of the opposite sex.
    My impressions of nudist parks generally were that they provided very meager facilities, that the fees and membership dues were very modest, and that, as is true with most other services, one gets about what one pays for. To expect country-club conditions for little money is inconsistent; the money has to come from somewhere. No one seems to be making any sizable fortune in the operation of nudist parks. In fact, my impression was that the nicer facilities require the philanthropic backing of some wealthy individual, or some family takes an income-tax deduction for the operation of the nudist facilities to be able to provide adequate settings for nudist activities.
    My feelings about nude swimming are that this is the most natural phenomenon in the world, and I agree with the nudist point that putting on clothing to engage in bathing is certainly one of our puritanical carryovers. Yet this must be continued for some time in clothed society since so many individuals are startled by the sight of the nude person, and they would, at least in their own minds, be unable to function as human beings in nude social situations, even if only for swimming.
    My final feelings during the early phases of the research were a unique mixture of pleasure, of enjoyment from the nudist phenomenon, and hard work — all at the same time. Scheduling for major research projects leaves no time for personal enjoyment, yet there was no occasion during this period that I fell uncomfortable, uneasy, or wished to withdraw from the situation. I was completely free, as were nudist members, to be nude or clothed at any time.
    Following my initial reactions and impressions are my feelings about the distinct personality of individual nudist clubs. Special attention is given those few in the member-owned-and-operated category. Travel clubs by definition have no grounds. Member-owned-and-operated clubs noted here include Fraternity Snoqualmie in Washington and The Sequoians in California.
    The clubs seemed to have distinct personalities. In general they seemed to range from a very liberal orientation in the Southern California clubs, to somewhat more moderate orientations of Northern California and Midwestern and Eastern clubs, to the still more conservative groups in the northwestern part of the United States. It was in the latter area that I noted more of a desire for primitive settings, where there would seem to be more wisdom in having electricity, water, and toilet connections to trailers. Many nudists did not seem to want to have such common comforts of our civilization available. They felt that the absence of the conveniences was in itself desirable for the time they spend in the nudist situations.
    Most nudist parks are privately owned although there are some cooperative nudist parks. No nudist park could be described as public. It was common to contact the owner for permission to visit the club and gather research data. The member-owned clubs that I visited were most refreshing — refreshing from a group-dynamics aspect, primarily to see democracy in action — inconvenient from the researcher’s view, however, because of the number of contacts that would have to be made before arranging to visit the grounds.

    Main Impressions, Reactions, and Feelings
    My main impressions and reactions are based on visiting twenty-five nudist parks throughout the United States, mainly on the West Coast, particularly in Southern California, where repeated visits were made.
    As my research progressed, unanticipated problems arose. I found much strenuous opposition to this project from my family, church, and community. I got a bit gun-shy from facing the opposition in the bailiwicks just noted. Also, I discovered an ulcer is a most convincing feeling about the difficulty of doing research on such a topic as nudism. Did the ulcer result from internal conflict due to any prejudice or biases I might have?
    The ulcer also likely resulted from a serious auto accident and being fired during a lecture tour. The latter incident was by administrators at a large church-related university, upon receiving a complaint about my status as a lecturer resulting from publicity concerning this research. It was a blow, particularly coming from a church to which I voluntarily contributed 10 percent of my income, by which I was judged morally worthy to receive the most sacred blessing the church could give, and for which I supported a son in a foreign land on a mission at the same time.
    I believe others with deep religious commitments should research controversial topics. I look forward to the day I experience as much Christianity in the church as I do in science. This painful experience can best be labeled “Brotherhood without consultation” since no discussions were held involving me prior to the firing. My demand for a hearing was granted. This was basically an exercise in incompetent administrators reinforcing the prejudice since little of a positive nature was accomplished except that the hearing began with a prayer. A distinguished behavioral scientist present at my request expressed the view at the conclusion of the hearing that I be reinstated immediately, but we were informed this was not possible.
    It should be noted that this action was taken not because I am a practicing nudist, which I am not, but only because I was conducting research on this subject. Despite the clarity of this fact, there were several present who were willing to cast the first stone. When the American Association of University Professors was asked to investigate lack of due process involved in the firing, the highest local church official interpreted this as conclusive evidence of disloyalty to the church.
    About one year after the firing I was tried for my church membership because of this research. Following a lengthy hearing before a court of fifteen men, no formal action was taken to revoke fellowship or membership but continued informal sanctions against speaking and participation in church activities were in force. Further informal and official church action was promised if additional visits to nudist parks were made or if further research of nudist phenomena was pursued. I deeply regret the fact that so many were so profoundly offended by my involvement in this research. Still, I cannot agree that religion should have control over science or the scientist, particularly when the scientist complies with all the tenets of his faith.
    I take faith that a scientist may be forgiven in time for pursuing and revealing what he believes to be the truth. The morning paper reports that the dominant Christian group is seriously considering reviewing the heresy conviction of Galileo that has stood for three centuries as a result of his belief that the earth moves around the sun.
    I recall twenty years ago, as a graduate student, learning that one's biases can color one’s research findings. I recall further that Myrdal came from Europe to do the major research on race relations in the United States because of his objectivity.
    There is no reason to believe that my feelings about nudism differ from those of other adult American males, particularly those of similar age, education, and racial and religious backgrounds.
    I am well aware of the nudist desire for a positive report on a phenomenon in which they believe. Counterbalancing this are strong emotional reactions on the part of many individuals who have opposed this research. They have stated that the research should not be done and that I should not have anything to do with it. In addition, letters and phone calls revealed that threatening feelings were aroused by the very knowledge that such a phenomenon as nudism existed. It appeared to be more than they could tolerate to learn that a behavioral scientist was to attempt an objective study of it.
    Sociologically, the fact that nudism is not an overtly sexual experience or phenomenon was important. A well-known sex researcher wrote the following at my request. It resulted from a stimulating conversation on the extent to which nudism is a sexual phenomenon. This is just another illustration of the many prominent scientists directly and/or indirectly involved with this research who insisted on anonymity — so that no possible repercussions would be experienced by them, either personally or professionally.
    «The sexual content of nudist behavior is too often determined by the imputations made by outside observers who characteristically, as with all behaviors that are nominally violations of conventional sexual expectations, tend to oversee sexual content in the behavior. The important perspective involves viewing this from the point of view of the internal social psychological dynamics. From this perspective, my sense of experience is that far from being significantly sexual it tends toward being relatively nonsexual, and in some instances significantly antisexual or at least antierotic. For some people, social nudism may represent a way station in the process of deinhibition and leads to more extensive explorations of unconventional behavior. But, for most persons, particularly those for whom social nudism becomes a sustained commitment, the ideology, rhetoric, and norms of social nudism should mitigate against more extensive sexuality. Exposure of the body appears to have an erotic character only if that exposure is defined as proscribed behavior. In the climate that renders normative exposure of the body, the effect is in all likelihood one of de-eroticizing the body. Much of what one knows of the nudist experience seems clearly to point to this. The organizing metaphor for the conventional nudist experience is not freedom, but health. Even in the context of organized nudity, the frequently observed convention of avoiding the appearance of observing the genitalia would seem to reinforce this sense of a non- or antierotic character to social nudism. Moreover, it is not unlikely that the minority who move through social nudism to extensive involvement in nonconventional sexual practices (e.g., wife-swapping and the orgy scene) are not furthered in this development significantly by the nudist contact. It is more likely that for one reason or other these are persons already alienated from conventional norms and their transitional attachment to nudism may only be an experiment. The real contribution the nudist experience may make is that of locating them in a social environment that increases the chance of coming into contact with others in the same stage of development, providing them with social support and collaborators. Lastly, please bear in mind that these comments are somewhat being based largely on too casual a consideration of the available literature.»
    At no time did I experience or observe any overt sexual excitation; in fact, I heard of a number of individuals who had lost bets on the proposition that males would inevitably become sexually aroused in a social situation involving nudism.

    Observations in Brief
    1.    It seems to me our culture has been regarded as a “no-touch” group. My observations in nudism indicate that the nudists may have unwittingly aggravated this situation. I believe that much more personal growth would take place among individuals where there is some kind of affectionate touch contact, especially with closely related individuals and generally between all persons. It was my observation that the no-touch rule in nudism is on its way out; the personal greetings experienced by me in nudist settings were no different than those experienced outside nudist society. The no-touch rule that had apparently been rigidly enforced in nudist circles through the years may have been detrimental to the growth of the human potential. The opportunity to be one's biological self in social situations would contribute positively to this same growth potential.
    2.    Nudism to me seems to promote openness, honesty, and friendliness. While it is difficult to secure objective data on this point, it was my impression that there appeared to be a shorter getting-acquainted period and a greater interest in interrelating and interacting than I have observed in other groups.
    3.    As a result of the study of nudism over a period of several years, it appears to me that it has a special and unique dimension of honesty that our culture, generally speaking, does not allow. Presumably this has grown from the fallacious argument that nudity and overt sexuality are one and the same phenomenon. Results of this research definitely indicate that these are separate phenomena. Even if there were some relationship between the two, the question might be raised as to whether the extreme forms of modesty enforced in our American culture have not created more problems in terms of individuals having honest and spontaneous feelings, and expressing those feelings with reference to other human beings, than would have been the case had we allowed for a much greater freedom of expression. Our moral laws were authoritatively established thousands of years ago in different cultural situations.
    Another way of looking at this phenomenon would be to observe, which it has not been my privilege to do, the communal bathing customs of the Japanese. A number of observers have reported to me that this is without any sexual overtones or connotations. Donald Johnson reports from personal experience the great similarity between the centuries-old Japanese bathing customs and social nudism in America.
    The question here is whether this might not be a more wholesome environment in the promotion of human growth than that which currently exists in our culture.
    4.    There is considerable evidence that nudism is a therapeutic environment. It is my judgment that its therapeutic influence is a reaction to the overly repressive puritanical influence of our clothed society. Our Data agree on this particular subject.
    5.    I feel that nudists are basically no different from non-nudists. This may be a result of my identification with them because they represent a group of well-educated and intellectually curious individuals as compared with non-nudists in our culture. Therefore it is possible that, as a liberally oriented sociologist, I feel comfortable and at home with them.
    6.    I was impressed not only by the large number of professional people in nudism but by the presence of ordained ministers of various denominations. While their identity had to be kept confidential, lest they lose their particular callings, it was impressive to me to see the number of such religious individuals who felt nudism was a human experience in which they received much satisfaction.
    7.    There needs to be more data gathered concerning nudists and other groups on the subject of prejudice. My impression is derived from studying the nudists, as well as attempting to cope with the prejudices of individuals and groups against me for doing this research. It seems that groups against whom prejudice has been directed, either personally or culturally, are themselves more prejudiced than are the other groups in our culture.
    8.    I was impressed by the wholesomeness and spontaneity of the nudist teen-agers. This impression comes from my acting in the capacity of judge at several large conventions where youngsters were interviewed and honored as outstanding young people in the nudist movement. After two decades of college teaching, I noted that many of the older nudist adolescents who are currently enrolled in colleges would, in my opinion, compare very favorably with non-nudist collegiates.
    It should be noted, in this connection, that there seem to be relatively few teen-agers in the nudist movement; because of the relatively small numbers and lack of meaningful social activities, the social pull, for many young people, is in the other direction. The large number of non-nudist friends they have, and the attractive social activities engaged in by these same friends, encourages this trend. This apparently reflects a choice on the part of some teen-agers not to continue their nudist affiliation during, this age period.
    On several occasions I visited conventions where I knew there would be a large number of teen-agers in attendance from whom we could get completed questionnaires and interviews. There was no evidence in these situations that nudist teen-agers differ in any way from non-nudist teen-agers.
    9.    A non-nudist psychiatrist who accompanied us to several nudist parks judged the behavior of the children and adolescents he observed to be wholesome and normal; he saw no evidence of any type of pathology.
    It has been suggested that some kind of trauma occurs when children observe adult genitalia. My impression is that it is not the nudity per se which is important but the emotional climate in which the nudity takes place.
    10.    I reported to the Western Sunbathing Association on one occasion that it might be more insightful to have a political scientist rather than a sociologist study the nudist phenomenon. While the remark was made somewhat in jest, there is a very interesting political climate that exists in clubs, as well as in regional and national nudist organizations. Sometimes this appears to reflect only the phenomenon of desire for power and control. At other times it seems related to a particular phenomenon at hand, such as photography. This is a difficult topic to deal with, particularly when there is evidence that nudists have been exploited by publishers of magazines. Some nude photos are secured just by asking permission and reflect no more of an investment on the part of the photographer or editor than the cost of film.
    It is not known whether some of the heated political debates are typical or atypical as compared with other social organizations, but it is a phenomenon about which future researchers might well inquire.
    11.    I feel that nudism has a very important indirect effect upon health. Many individuals told us how relaxing the phenomenon was. Some indicated that when one appears nude before others, there is a greater motivation to present an aesthetically attractive physique; faults that otherwise would be concealed are very obvious.
    12.    Another impression is that our culture has done a magnificent job in creating much ado about nothing. This is to say that denying the individual his basic biological identity in social situations is possibly one of the major contributing factors to our mental-health problems of the day. The suggested cause is loss of identity.
    I wonder if identity could more properly be made in terms of basic biology than in terms of clothing. I wonder if clothing as a status symbol has not been a factor encouraging individuals to lose their identity or establish a false one. It should not be inferred from this impression that nudity per se is to be regarded as the panacea for all mental and social ills. Many basic aspects of personal and social disorganization would, in my opinion, still be observed in our culture, irrespective of whether we permit nudity or not. I am impressed, however, with the validity of the nudist claim that partial nudity is much more enticing and sexually arousing than total nudity. From burlesque to bikini we see the emphasis on certain parts of the anatomy as obscene or indecent. If such should be the case, it would have to be attributed to the cultural conditioning process that produce these results through the socialization of the young in our culture.
    13.    My convictions concerning the dignity, worthwhileness, and value of the human personality have been enhanced through this research. My own religious convictions, while always strong, have also been enhanced. Possibly significant research could be done here by studying the behavior of Christians toward one of their brethren engaged in such research. While I have no desire to quarrel with, or even reply to, the criticisms, a major impression of this research is that a topic such as nudity, or sexuality, seems so threatening to many individuals that their emotional reactions override any Christian or other religious convictions that they might have.
    While completely unwilling to allow nudists the opportunity to engage in their legal programs, they insist on religious freedom and the right to engage in their own legal activities. Our American way of life was designed by farsighted individuals who authorized all kinds of group activities to exist and to be engaged in as long as they did not jeopardize or harm the welfare of other individuals, or groups, in our society.
    14.    Alcohol has been forbidden in nudism from the inception but, while still theoretically forbidden, is actually present in some camps. I was invited on occasion to enjoy an alcoholic beverage where individuals had campers, trailers, or cabins on a particular park ground. No evidence was ever seen of consumption of alcohol where any group of individuals were congregated on the grounds outside of the privacy of one of the forementioned places. While not a consumer of alcoholic beverages myself, the rule seemed logical in the beginning of the nudist movement. It probably has outlasted its usefulness at this particular time and will subsequently go the way of all rules and regulations that have outlived their utility.
    15.    In consulting with Ilfeld and Lauer, we noted that during their research no mention of the trimmed pubis was in evidence. This phenomenon apparently began in 1963 and 1964, when women trimmed the public hair so as to reflect a situation comparable to the butch haircut. Those interrogated indicated that this grooming was the same as grooming in other areas of their body — head, underarms, or legs. I observed only one female to be shaved, and she indicated this was part of her occupation as an artist’s model. It is difficult for me to indicate the extent to which trimming of the pubis was noted in nudist settings. Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 percent of the nudist females and 5 to 10 percent of the males trimmed the pubes either for grooming or convenience purposes.
    16.    Some nudists had complained about tattoos of the genital area as being aesthetically undesirable in nudism. I did not observe this phenomenon at any time.

    Final Thoughts
    My final commentary concerns the relative ease with which the actual nudist research was conducted, the high degree of cooperation among nudists, the tremendous pressures resulting from publicity following a news conference about the research, and the great desire on the part of many individuals to repress and suppress this research so that it should not see the light of publication.
    It seems to me appropriate to comment that scientists should study all phenomena. Science could discover truth that should make modern man free from prejudice and misunderstanding that currently exist about various social phenomena.
    The nudists have been herein described as carefully as the tools of modern research can provide. From one’s own vantage point of morality, or religion, judgment may be made about the desirability, or lack of desirability, of the nudist phenomenon. It is the responsibility of the researcher to gather the facts. The attempts made in this research to gather data about nudism, and the attempts to view this phenomenon in a social psychological context, were the only efforts that were made. Hopefully, these facts will be adjudged valid ones upon which interested individuals may draw conclusions.
    It is the role of the moralist in our culture to indicate the desirability of certain phenomena, and it is not the role of the scientist to quarrel with the moralist. Hopefully valid scientific data, such as we are attempting to provide in this report, will make it possible for the moralist of tomorrow to make rules and regulations that will provide for the greatest possible human growth, joy, and happiness of the individual. It is not my point to argue that nudism will or will not contribute positively or negatively to such growth. It may be pertinent to raise the question as to whether nudism, which has been demonstratively beneficial to many individuals, should be suppressed legally or morally or whether the more widespread use of experience of such a phenomenon might be contributory to the growth of the human individual in a particular cultural setting.
    During noon luncheons and other informal faculty gatherings, my colleagues continually joked about the unusual or unique nature of this research project. This is not surprising in a society that places so much emotionalism and secrecy on topics dealing with nudity and sex. After all, college professors are human beings too.
    Following a press conference in May, 1967, news of the research spread widely. As a result, some unsolicited letters of outsiders suggested that this research is not only different but that it should be suppressed and repressed by “every honest, upright moral human being who could exert any influence on it.” The normalcy or abnormalcy of such individuals is not known. It would be interesting to know something of their developmental histories and particularly their attitudes toward themselves, their bodies, and the subject of human sexuality generally. I include three of these letters (two written by males, one by a female) so that the reader may evaluate them for himself.
«
       Dear Sir:
    The Bible forbids nakedness. A careful search of the Scriptures will reveal that, but judging from what you wrote or spoke for the Times you’re an unbeliever.
    M.W.E.
    P.S. No answer expected.
»
    The second letter elaborates the religious theme of the first but in greater detail. It reads:
«
        Dear Sir:
     I am sending you a copy of an article that was in October 1st Parade magazine. I hope it will touch your heart as you think about the millions of precious little children that will go through life in an abnormal manner without the true love of their own mother and father. [Excerpts taken from Parade magazine; “There are now 2.5 million illegitimate children in America awaiting adoption, and only 31 percent of them have been placed. The illegitimacy rate has trebled since 1940. There are around 300,000 children born out of wedlock every year.”] I hope you will realize this condition has taken place because the youth of America have not been taught to love and respect the laws of God, or the home which is the first institution God created. As God said it would be in the last days, the majority of people are without affection, casting aside their own flesh and blood, and wolling in sin.
     You are teaching nudism. I hope you will read the tract I wrote and help in this battle against sin, suffering and shame.
     You are in a position where you can be a great influence for youth. You can help to restore modesty, discretion, and morality. I shall be praying you will take a stand for your creator, and the laws of God.
     I was instantly healed of bone disease and the deteriorated bones were instantly restored to normal size when I vowed to God to fulfill the call He had placed on my heart to work in the Gospel of Christ. I was examined by Dr. John Smith the day before and after I was healed. My testimony was varified by two of my neighbors before a notary public, and my pastor had it printed in the church paper.
     I am enclosing my favorite poem.
     Yours for previous souls,
     V.S.
»
    The letter concludes with a poem entitled “Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone.”
«
        Isn’t it strange that princes and kings
     And clowns that caper in sawdust rings.
     And common folks like you and me
     Are builders of eternity?
        To each is given a bag of tools
     A shapeless mass, and a book of rules;
     And each must make, ere  life is flown,
     A stumbling block, or a stepping stone.
           By R. L. Sharp
»
    It has been my hope that with the use of scientific tools we could paint a realistic picture of one of our minority groups that we have not previously looked at. To the scientist, lack of knowledge is a stumbling block and careful research is a step-ping-stone to better understanding of individuals and groups who legally exist in our culture.
    The final letter is self-explanatory.
«
        Dear Sir:
     Congratulations — according to the enclosed clipping from a Long Beach newspaper, you apparently have reached the pinacle of your career. It is unbelievable to imagine that an educated man would spend any FOUNDATIONS’ money to make a study of NUDISM. Even tho this money was funneled into FOUNDATIONS to escape paying taxes on it. In my opinion, nudists are a group of characters that have homosexual tendencies, people low on confidence, exhibitionists, vulgar, morons, and any other name you can tie on to them. They are sadists that include body violence with their sex practices. . . . They are of low morals. Or I would say that they have no morals at all. I don’t think any person with the least degree of morality would care to exhibit himself in the nude among strangers. Answer me this if you can — if it is a violation of the law to expose oneself indecently in public, what makes it morally right to do the same thing behind a wall? It is unbelievable to know there is an educated man around that spends his time and someone else’s money on such a research.
     And to think that right next door to your college there is a hospital that could use the services such as you have to offer on many people that are really sick. Perhaps you prefer to work with nudists? Could this imply something?
Is it any wonder that our teen-agers are going to pot when they read such things about their teachers that not too long ago were respected for the dignity that was due their profession.
     V.A.M.
»
    During the time the research was going on, several newspaper stories told of the founding of a society to prevent indecent exposure of animals; this involves covering animal genitalia. The idea was supported with donations of much larger sums of money than ever supported the current research.
    Several months after the original plea for help in clothing animals, came the story that the idea was all a joke. I wonder if the perpetrators weren’t surprised at the support they received. I had the feeling that scientists ought to learn to be as ingenious in eliciting support for their research as some jokers are with their projects.
    In concluding my presentation of personal feelings and reactions, I feel it desirable to note briefly that I was gun-shy after pressures, problems, and publicity combined to my seeing and not feeling on occasion. I’m not sure that males and females feel alike about the same phenomenon at the same time. We need some objective research on sexual bias in feeling. My feelings seemed nonexistent on some occasions while doing the research. The significant implication of the foregoing sentence is that, as a researcher, pressures about the unusual nature of the research, publicity about it, plus any unique combination of my own feelings at a given time may well have shorted me out emotionally to all that I was experiencing.
    My feelings were strong and clear, however, that not only are there therapeutic implications in nudism but also there is a dimension to biological honesty and self-revelation that has never been considered by any researchers of my acquaintance.
    Finally, I would say that, in terms of my impressions and reactions, a new dimension was added to my own personality through my necessary participation in social nudism during the period of the research. In my judgment not only would it be undesirable not to experience this phenomenon so that one would have some personal feelings and reactions about it but also it would be impossible to do any respectable research project on social nudism without participation. Many of the most perceptive insights into the phenomenon were received early in the research when I was unknown personally and professionally and was able to sit and participate in many conversations that would not be easily available if my identity and purpose of visit had been known.

Nudist phenomenon
Marilyn A. Fithian
    There I was standing beside a blue VW thinking, “What in heavens name am I doing here?” I was there by myself; everyone had taken off. (Heavens, what a thing to say considering the situation.) Anyway I was standing there alone with all my clothes on in the middle of a nudist park trying to figure out how I ever became involved in this situation. Really it was quite simple. I was interested in learning how to code questionnaires, which really had nothing to do with being in a nudist park, but it is how I became involved.
    My field is sociology, and the scientific method is the thing right now. This frequently means the use of questionnaires and interviewing people in all kinds of situations, and this was one of the situations. But then I am ahead of the events leading up to my immediate position.
    I had done quite a bit of field research and believed I would understand research methods better if I learned how to code questionnaires, utilize the computer, and become familiar with what could and couldn’t be done on it. Dr. Hartman had about three hundred questionnaires that were only one page long, and I volunteered my services, little realizing that it would end up in four years of hard work. Dr. Hartman’s three hundred questionnaires swelled into thirteen hundred and eighty-eight and took a year and a half to code initially, analyze, and all the other tedious, time-consuming work that is involved in research. When I needed a topic for my graduate seminar in research methods, I suggested a study of nudism as a project to my instructor, and he went along with it, suggesting I continue it on for my Masters paper. By then I was quite curious about nudism and nudists, but I still had never been to a nudist camp.

“Pau”, 1996 – Pere Formiguera
    There were many interesting comments on the questionnaire that seemed to me to need further investigation, and I was interested in satisfying my own curiosity that had evolved from working with the data. I had developed some probability statements from the responses to the open-ended questions. Some people wrote pages. One response was so interesting we thought it should be published. We contacted the editor of a professional magazine who indicated considerable interest. We were then able to contact the writer, who had written his name and address on the response (interestingly, enough quite a number of people did this). We found he had already had the article published in a nudist publication, so we dropped it. This indicates to some extent the degree and amount of time nudists spent on replying to our questionnaires and also shows why it took us so long to get the data all coded and analyzed.
    Dr. Hartman, in the meantime, had asked me several times if I would be interested in working further in this area since so many nudists had told him that he would be getting a biased view if the research didn’t include a female investigator. He gave me an invitation to a nudist play called Barely Proper, which was to be held at a now-closed nudist park in San Bernardino called Lazy K. I wasn’t too keen about making the drive out there by myself. In considering whom I might entice into going, I thought of an instructor with whom I was teaching at the time and considered him a likely prospect since his wife had indicated some interest in the nudist project. I talked to his wife, and she was eager to go. I found talking him into it was another matter. He feared sexual arousal in a situation where nude women would be appearing on stage (this seems to be a common male fear). Finally after some persuasion and kidding that this would widen his world view, he was convinced, and the three of us went.
    We drove out on the freeway toward San Bernardino, using the map included with the invitation. We found our turnoff without any trouble and made the proper connections into the low foothills. It was early evening and a moonless night thus far, and very dark. There was no traffic on the road, giving the feeling of being very much alone. The other guests must have been eager to get there since it was still early and we saw no lights winding into the hills. We reached a gate guarded by two men both carrying flashlights. They were fully clothed.
    We were stopped at the outer gate, and I presented our invitation, all the time holding my breath that the couple would also be admitted since the invitation was only made out to me. But the men were very nice and directed us into the camp. When we reached the parking area, we saw that there were hundreds of cars. A friendly, smiling girl greeted us and said she would be our escort. She directed us to a parking place, waited until we got out, and then invited us to follow her. She showed us around the camp and then saw that we found seats for the show.
    To this point everyone we had seen was fully clothed. We walked down to the performance area and were seated. On our way we had passed many groups of friendly people who said, “Hello.” We saw lots of children playing together on the ground, and it gave me the feeling of a campfire meeting similar to the many ones I had attended when active as a Boy Scout leader.
    We didn’t have long to wait. Most of the people were already seated and waiting for the performance to begin. I noticed several of the professors from the college sitting in the first row. Interestingly enough, I found the next day that none of them were aware I had attended. They apparently didn’t see me because of their undivided attention to the stage. I found the response of the audience, and especially those I knew, much more interesting than the play. It wasn’t until I saw the play several years later that I saw it through without missing any of it (I sat in the front row at that time and couldn’t see the audience behind me).
    The audience behavior indicated an intense interest in what was going on. One person even exchanged seats with his wife (I presumed to get a better view). Even now when I kid him about it, he gets a beautiful grin on his face but doesn’t deny it.
    The play opened with a fully clothed couple, but it wasn’t long before a man bounded in with a tennis racquet for apparel. The first nudity over with, I had about adjusted to this when in bounced the cutest bouncy thing you could imagine. I was so interested in the male audience reaction that I really didn’t get the full benefit of her acting. She had on a sheer apron since she was the maid, and one must have some indication of social position even in a nudist play, otherwise how could you distinguish the characters? The males in the audience seemed quite impressed. In fact, the instructor I had brought along was so impressed he immediately decided he was going to become a nudist.
    The play went on, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Once I adjusted to the first nude male and the first nude female, the other characters coming in without clothes were no problem.
    After the performance broke up, one of the nudists took us around and showed us the pool and said we were welcome to go in swimming, but it would have to be sans clothing. The offer of bathing caps was made, and we were told that towels would be no problem at all if we wanted to participate. It had developed into a warm, starry night, and the water looked cool, dark, and inviting. The pool was unlighted, so we would be somewhat protected by the darkness. A few people were having fun on the slide going into the pool, and several were engrossed in a game of keep-away with a huge beach ball. The girls bounced beautifully, and the whole thing was very graceful and appropriate. We decided to look around a little further. The man introduced us to a number of people by their first names, explaining to us that nudists didn’t use last names for the sake of keeping their identity secret, which made me a little suspicious. It reminded me of some kind of nefarious activity where one’s identity must be secreted for fear of reprisal if it were known. I have been told by a few nudists that some form of censure has happened to them, but the research doesn’t seem to support the amount of fear of reprisals that seems to exist. I suppose if it’s your job or reputation that is in jeopardy, you feel differently about it.
    We walked over to the volleyball court, and here most of the people had on shorts and blouses. One man was au naturel and was jumping and bouncing around all over the courts. The male was without a jock strap, but the bouncing of the penis did not seem to be any more of a problem than the bouncing breasts of the young ladies in the pool. The nonuse of any kind of athletic support was an interesting phenomena we noted throughout our project. In all of the strenuous sports activities we never did see a male with a jock strap. This phenomenon was usually commented on by the outsiders we took. The myth in our culture essentially is that a male must wear some kind of athletic support to prevent damage to the genitals.
    We discussed the swim again as we walked by the pool. The couple I was with were eager to get in. I was much more reticent about doing so.
    I saw Dr. Hartman and went over and talked to him a few minutes, introducing the couple with me, and I asked him how they could find out about joining. By now they both were quite eager and enthusiastic about the whole thing. Dr. Hartman introduced us to the key cast members who were dressed by now. The camp owner came over and we were introduced. After indicating interest he took us over to the clubhouse and gave the young couple the information they wanted on nudism, after which the three of us strolled casually back by the pool and stopped again to watch what was going on.
    The man who had talked to us earlier about swimming came up again and reinvited us to take a swim. The couple said Yes, and I decided “what the heck.” I doubted if anyone else I knew would wander over to the pool area, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t recognize me with a cap on in a dark pool.
    As a matter of fact, they did wander over, and they didn’t notice who I was. Dr. Hartman went by the pool several times and didn’t recognize me. He even stopped and looked in, watching for a while. I played it cool and ignored him. But this is ahead of the story.
    The man asked someone if there were some extra caps and towels, which suddenly appeared as if by magic. We went to the restrooms, which were close by, and disrobed. I wrapped the towel around my nothingness and bravely stepped out into the dark. Actually the first time I had to appear nude was to take the shower before getting into the pool. That was probably the shortest shower in history. Not only because of nudity, but the water was darn cold. The water in the pool was cool and enjoyable. The pool was not heated, but the warmth from the sun during the day had apparently warmed the water so that some of the chill was gone. We splashed and swam. We joined the bouncy group in a short game of keep-away. I bravely got out of the pool to slide down the slide a couple of times. It knocked the wind out of me the first time I hit the water, and it took me a moment or two to get my breath back. I decided it probably was due to my age and I should know better than to slide down a slide anyway. The next time I didn’t go down on my stomach.
    By the time we got out, most of the people had left the park, so we dressed and thanked those who were left and went on home. To indicate how dark it was and how inconspicious we were, I never did see the genital area of the nude man or his wife who had gone swimming with me, or for that matter of any of the people who were involved in the game of keep-away in the pool. You couldn’t see anything in the water, and I didn’t notice them getting in, or out. Anyway, it apparently was no problem for any of us, and it was quite an enjoyable experience swimming without a suit.
    It wasn’t until the next Monday when I went into work that I told Dr. Hartman I had been in swimming. I told him I had seen him walk by the pool several times and had observed him stopping and watching. He seemed quite surprised. My subsequent experiences have shown me that even people who know me reasonably well as a non-nudist don’t recognize me in the nudist situation in broad daylight. Frequently they look at me in a puzzled way, but their conception of me doesn’t include “nudist.”
    But this was all many months ago and under quite different circumstances. Here I was today with someone I had previously taken courses from and whom I had worked for as a student and whom I was now working with on a project, and I really didn’t know if I wanted to disrobe or not. The proximity of our ages was probably another inhibiting factor. We had a good businesslike working relationship that I liked, and I didn’t quite know what effect being nude in a research situation with each other might have on that. (I found it didn’t change the situation much).
    On this, my first trip to camp as a researcher, Dr. Hartman took with us a darling couple in their eighties — Kurt Barthel, the founder of nudism in America, and his most charming wife, Elizabeth. Kurt and I had sat in the back seat on the way out to camp; we talked animatedly about his early exciting experiences, which I found most interesting, not only as events but as a social phenomenon with all the things you learn to identify with certain kinds of group development. The crescive movement of the group and the formulation of a structure with rules and regulations over a period of years was fascinating. How social stratification was developed and how social control was exercised on a noncognitive level were also of interest. When we arrived in camp, many were delighted to see the Barthels, and so they had immediately gone off with a group of friends.
    The camp, Desert Gardens Ranch, was out toward Palm Springs, California. The day was warm, clear, and sunny, a perfect day for a visit to a nudist park and one where disrobing would be a must if we were to do the research effectively.
    As we drove onto camp property, a cute young thing weighing about ninety pounds in a bikini bathing suit stood on the board road drag as two large men in pants drove the truck down the road pulling it. It seemed to me she wasn’t heavy enough to do much good, but she certainly was attractive and added color to the setting.
    We drove on up the dirt road, reaching a gate where we stopped the car and paid our fees before entering. Driving on up into the hills, we passed people walking around the grounds without clothing. I felt detached from them, not particularly curious or embarrassed at all. We finally reached the clubhouse halfway up the hill. It is located so that one is able to get a beautiful view of the valley. From where I was standing I could look down into an area with a cool-looking blue pool with people lazily lying around in the sun. I finally decided I was being ridiculous about the whole thing and I should take my clothes off. To back out was silly; it was obvious from my observations of the first few minutes that it was like any other resort with people relaxing around a pool; the only difference was that these people had no clothing on. I thought they really looked much more comfortable and not at all sexy as the partially clad female frequently does.
    Dr. Hartman had gotten out when we arrived and left so I could disrobe, or so I had assumed. So I closed my eyes and bravely took off my clothes. I suppose this was somehow symbolic-closing my eyes that is. I felt that if I couldn’t see them, no one could see me. At that moment I thought of the myth of the ostrich supposedly hiding his head in the sand with the human speculation that he did this to prevent detection. However, that didn’t last long, and I opened my eyes and folded my clothes up neatly and placed them on the back seat of the car.
    As I was standing there thinking, “Well, now what do I do?” along came a man with a hammer in one hand and a board under the other arm. On seeing me he said, “Oh, a cottontail.” I immediately thought, “Ye Gods, my tampax shows; now what do I do?” Little did I realize at that moment that a “cottontail” in nudist parlance is synonymous with a white skinned non-nudist individual, especially if he or she has some tan which leaves suit marks, or “stripes.” I decided, “What the heck, it’s too late now,” so I said, “Hi,” and picked up my towel. (I had been told to be sure and bring one, but no one had told me why. I found one rarely goes anywhere without one in a nudist park. It gives you something to sit on).
    I walked down the steps to the pool edge and looked around. Shortly the other members of our group, who had in the meantime disrobed, came down and introduced me around to the various people. Dr. Hartman asked someone where the best place would be to “set up shop.” He was told wherever he would like would be fine.
    On this first occasion we were attempting to pretest our latest measuring instrument, which at this time was only four pages in length. This had been developed from the shorter one-page survey. From this response we developed the longer six-page questionnaire.
    We decided that the most likely spot for reaching the most respondents was on the steps coming and going to the pool area. We took the material out of our briefcase and started asking people to participate. By then I found I wasn’t the least embarrassed, and I was kept so busy the entire day that the thought never entered my mind again.
    We spent a very busy day getting everyone to fill out questionnaires and take the personality test. There were more people who wished to respond than time for responses to be taken. We had a somewhat select group since it was some kind of board meeting of various club officers plus the people who ordinarily utilized the facilities of Desert Gardens. We were not greatly concerned about not getting all who were willing to respond since Dr. Hartman thought we would be able to pick them up at a later time. This proved correct since these were the people whom we constantly ran into in our research. I don’t remember anyone’s refusing. We did have one male who didn’t finish the personality test, and we kidded him about this whenever we ran into him.
    It was a very pleasant, but extremely tiring, day’s work. We never attempted to get that many responses again. It was too much for both of us, and we were exhausted by the end of the day. After that we tended not to wear ourselves out to that degree but kept steadily busy at an easier pace. My exhaustion may have been partially due to the initial stress of disrobing.
    One nudist travel club came down to the college en masse to complete questionnaires and personality tests. Another club had all of its members meet at a park, on a cold day where no one disrobed. Several of these people drove as far as ninety miles to be able to participate in the project and to visit with other club members before heading for home. They were aware of the poor weather conditions before leaving home, which indicates the kind of cooperation we had for our project.
    I found that frequently it was not necessary to disrobe since, if it was cold or unpleasant, many of the people remained dressed. The fact that I didn’t always disrobe only came up twice when the people had not seen me nude in camp before and therefore considered me an outsider. I assured them that when the weather was nice, I participated. These two times were during chilly weather when the majority of the camp members were not in the “buff.”
    Beauty contests of various kinds are quite prevalent among nudist circles. The largest one I attended was the first Miss Nude Universe Contest, which I understand is now a yearly event and was depicted in Playboy magazine. ["The Miss Nude Universe Contest,” Playboy, pp. 119-23, February, 1968] It is held at Oakdale, one of the California parks, and there were 1,000 people present. It was the only park that ever questioned letting me in. This was an interesting situation, expecially since a request to attend the event had been granted and a ticket sent to me by one of the camp owners. However, after the initial interrogation at the gate by the other owner of the camp, I was hospitably treated. I suppose that for an event of this size the park owners must be careful about who attends.

Future Miss Nude Universe?
    The major item of interest, to me, was the appearance of three clothed men during the contest. Mind you, it was over a hundred in the shade, with mighty little of that. Right in the midst of the beauty contest there arrived three men dressed in black suits with white shirts and black ties. They had sheets of paper in their hands and were looking the situation over. I was interested, so I got up and sort of meandered over to see what was going on. It seems that they were fire inspectors. Fire inspectors in black suits and ties? Oh well. If they had told me they were front-office administration, I would have been more prone to believe them, but fire inspectors, incredible!
    The nudist reaction was interesting. They were quite incensed, and I could hear comments from various nudists about “what are they doing here?” One comment was, “The least they could do is be appropriately dressed.” This did not necessarily mean that nudity should have been the uniform since many service men do come into the nudist park, but usually they are attired in something a little less conspicuous and more suited to the setting.
    Some of the caustic remarks were quite loud with the apparent intent that the men should hear and be aware of the displeasure and feelings of being subject to “voyeurs.” The men had been there about fifteen minutes when one of them walked through the crowd to the vending truck to buy something (the vendor on the truck was clothed in some kind of nondescript uniform and was accepted by the crowd). The black-suited man received numerous hisses, boos, and comments as he wended his way to and from the truck. Even as an outsider I thought their dress was certainly inappropriate for the place and situation. I felt some personal feelings of hostility develop, which I thought were quite interesting considering my own status as an outsider in the group. I was nude, which may have been a factor in the situation, creating a feeling of identity at that time with the nudists.

Results of a typical contest selecting a royal family.
    Another interesting element of the contest was the photography. This was my one and only experience with large numbers of photographers at any nudist event. It seemed as though everyone had a camera, or at least every male. It was interesting to notice how many wives were also interested in seeing that their husbands got the “proper shots”; although I saw no woman with a camera, they certainly were as interested and eager about the photographing as their husbands. Their assistance certainly indicated, to me, that an interest in nude photography is not relegated specifically to the male species but is certainly of considerable interest to a good many females as well.
    Exciting events occur from time to time in nudist parks on various visits. I recall the excitement that a car full of teenagers caused when they drove through the nudist park gate for a thrill and, without stopping, quickly circled the parking lot and headed back toward the gate. The whole thing took not over two or three minutes, but they were a little too slow. The camp manager was at the gate to meet them by the time they got back. He had gone into the gatehouse and quickly strapped on his forty-five. Try to imagine a nude man with nothing on but a holster and holding a forty-five in his hand!
    The camp manager’s wife had called the police while he was getting prepared to meet the car full of kids. It was a group of pretty sheepish-looking boys standing there when the police car rolled in a few minutes later. The police were quite appreciative of the arrest. The camp manager was a deputy and had been able to make the initial arrest. The boy driving the car had been released on probation earlier that morning, and the car the youngsters were joy-riding in had been reported as stolen.
    The event, of course, caused considerable discussion in camp, and one of the cute teen-age nudist girls said in disgust, “And I waved at them as they drove through the parking lot. I thought they were newcomers and I was simply trying to be friendly.” One of the police officers was brave enough to go down into the park grounds proper and have a cold soft drink before he left.
    Park owners and managers have told us that they have excellent co-operation with local police authorities. When we have been in camp and some enthusiastic pilot zooms too low, the camp manager instantly gets on the phone and notifies the proper authorities, who take suitable measures in handling the situation. I understand they give tickets. The nudists themselves don’t seem to be too concerned about the danger of identity from some low-flying aircraft that could contain a camera. Their response is usually to look up and wave. I have only seen an unidentified plane fly over twice, and it doesn’t seem to pose too great a problem. They seem to think this is mainly due to support from air authorities. The camp owners’ and managers’ main concern seems to be that the pilot will be so interested in the scenery that he will not take proper flying precautions.
    I was usually considered a part of the membership by many nudist park directors and owners. Frequently when they introduced me to other nudists, or in conversation, they indicated that I was “one of them.” When I would point out that I really wasn’t, they indicated to me that this was only a technicality since they considered me fair and objective in my observations and not evaluative of them, their conduct, or the nudist movement. Therefore, I was one of them. This ready acceptance facilitated our ability to obtain responses.
    Frequently the people in the park would seek us out especially to answer a questionnaire. This kind of response I like. I enjoy doing research where the people are eager and willing to participate and seem to be interested in expressing how they feel and, as many said, not attempting to present a false picture of “goody, goody” people but people just like the next-door neighbor. It also enabled us to acquire personal information that I don’t think they probably even shared with many nudists.
    On several occasions, after I had been involved in the research for some time, I began attempting to make a new visitor feel comfortable and at ease. I could remember my first visit and my own apprehensions. One time I gave a towel to a young girl who came out on a date with her boyfriend, but she hadn’t planned on disrobing. This was her first date with the man, who was a casual acquaintance of ours, and he had, on reaching camp and seeing us, brought her over to get acquainted. Later in the afternoon I found her in the rest room. She looked miserable and about ready to cry. I thought, “Oh, it's too much for her,” and I started talking to her. It wasn’t the other people’s nudity that bothered her; it was her lack of nudity. She felt embarrassed with her clothes on. I found in talking to newcomers that this was a general feeling one gets in this situation. With clothes on, you are the outsider; with them off, you are a part of the group. Simple as that.
    She asked me what she should do. I suggested that if she disrobed, she could have my big towel, and if she wrapped that around her, she might feel more comfortable. She took my towel and the suggestion, and when I left late in the day she was lying out in the sun enjoying her nudity, chatting animatedly with a young college-age group. She was certainly much less conspicuous.
    Interestingly enough, she had talked to me about school and classes, and I suggested various classes I thought she would enjoy. The next semester I took a class to keep in the swing of things, and she was also a student. Around the middle of the semester someone in class asked me how the project on nudism was coming along; she overheard and asked what camps I had gone to. I mentioned the camp where we had met, and it wasn’t until then that she knew who I was. I didn’t say anything to her at all, but the surprised look on her face gave her away. After all, we had talked all semester, had coffee, and so on, and I had not said a word — but then, one doesn't. If she had mentioned it, then we would have talked about it, but her secret was safe with me. She was not a nudist member and may never be, but I would have reacted the same way to any nudist I met and have on several occasions when I have run into them in non-nudist settings.
    I personally have always felt quite free to talk about going to a park, and when I discussed this with my children before my original debut, I had to overcome their initial negative reactions. “After all, a mother doesn’t do something like that,” so they told me. I wanted to know what it was that they actually objected to. After all, my behavior wasn’t going to be any different than it usually was simply because I took my clothes off. By talking it out with them and discussing the situation, they accepted it. After that they showed considerable interest in what was going on at camp and would make inquiries after I had made a visit.
    I think one of the things I have reacted most favorably to is the young children and their apparent feeling of freedom and naturalness in playing together nude. This isn’t to imply that no sex games go on. Of course they do. On a visit to one park I saw an adult break up a game of doctor that a group of five- or six-year-olds were engaged in. As you know, any good M.D. has to give a physical. I had been observing this superficial physical for some time, and the genital examination was really only a minor part of the total examination. However, an adult nudist seemed to think this was not appropriate behavior for children. I am afraid I was a little more liberal in my view of the situation, and I didn’t identify the incident as a matter of sex curiosity per se.
    I think the children got the point that sex was bad when they were told it was a naughty thing to do. I thought it was too bad. The physical was about over, and they would have probably become interested in something else shortly anyway.
    In all the times I have gone to camp and with the hundreds of adults and children I have seen, there were only two other sexual incidents I can recall. While reviewing a king and queen contest one little three-year-old fondled his genitals from time to time. Anyone who has a small child knows this isn’t unusual anytime when he is nude, while taking a bath or changing his clothes. It wasn’t persistent, or objectionable in any way, just a normal thing any little boy does anywhere if he has the opportunity. The other incident was at the Swallows. I only mention the name here because what I say will identify it to many nudists anyway. On their lawn is a statue. The small children like to walk around it with their hand on the statue as you would a pole or any object of this kind. This seems to be a favorite thing with the children when they find something sort of rounding. I like to do something like this myself over a smooth surface; it has a nice feel on the palm of my hand. What they were doing was a fairly normal activity, the difference being that it was a statue of a nude woman. This one little boy who looked to be about four was really enjoying running around and around the statue when his twelve-year-old sister came looking for him. When she saw what he was doing she really gave him a scolding. She looked around first to see if anyone had seen. I avoided her look and then refocused my attention on the situation after she decided her little brother hadn’t been discovered. It seems that because of his height his hand kept hitting the pubic area of the statue each time he went around and this was very upsetting to the sister. She informed him he was a very bad boy. By the puzzled look on his face, it was evident that he never did know exactly what it was he had done.
    While talking about the Swallows, I might mention another amusing incident while I was there on a visit. The camp is close to San Diego on a main highway and is only cut off from it by a high board fence. There is a house on one side of the park and a huge recreation area with all kinds of rides and buildings on the other, and there are usually many people there who probably are totally unaware of what is on the other side of the fence. There are hills all around the park, behind the park, and across the road on the other side. The hills on the other side are of most interest because a road goes up to the top of that hill. People frequently drive up there with their field glasses to take a look at what is going on in the nudist park. On this particular day there was a group up on the opposite hill, and one of the adult nudists upon seeing this immediately rushed away. I wondered where he was off to. This was soon made clear when he returned with a pair of field glasses. Standing stock still in the middle of the park, feet firmly planted, he pointed the glasses to the top of the hill and observed the clothed people. He was immediately surrounded with nudists who also wanted to have a look at those “kooks” out there. The whole thing was most amusing.
    Something else of interest is the few women you see who have high fashion hairdo’s and high heels walking around in a park, expecially unusual looking if it is a dry, rocky area. It does show off their body and they do look nice, but it seems a little incongruous to the total situation probably because most of the people are pretty nondescript looking.
    We almost always took people with us on our camp visits: one time we took a really beautiful woman, and what occurred was fantiastic. I had known her for some time and had always considered her lovely, but clothing simply didn’t do her justice.
    I have never before, nor since, seen nudists, especially males, stand and gape at a woman. Few of them made any attempt to meet her, but seemed quite content to absorb the sheer beauty of her. Dr. Hartman and I decided she was a little too distracting to the usual normal nudist situations, so we never took her again.
    One of the first unusual things that I noticed after a few visits to camp was that some of the people wore partial clothing. This seemed to be especially true of the younger teen-age girls. I asked some of the older members about this, and they told me it was for “stripe” marks. I must have looked somewhat puzzled; before I had an opportunity to inquire further, they proceeded to explain. Since the girls were in high school, and they wanted to avoid embarrassing questions about an allover tan, they made a practice of wearing either a top or bottom for part of the day so that they would have suit marks on their body when they took their showers in PE. In asking girls why it was so essential that they have these marks, they said they didn’t want it to get around school that they were nudists because they thought it would pose problems in dating. I asked how they knew and was told that they really didn’t; their parents thought it would. Parents thought it would give boys the idea that they could take unwanted liberties. In talking to other young girls who don’t bother with the “stripe” marks, they say it doesn’t make any difference in their dating. They don’t care if the boys know or not, and they don’t have any problems about it.

Typical stripe marks you see on some nudists. Sometimes these are purposely maintained by wearing partial clothing to keep others from knowing of nudist affiliations.
    Shorts are also worn by some women who are menstruating. Most, however, apparently simply use a tampon and don’t bother with any clothing.
    I ran into an interesting situation with one of the first-time visitors. When I talked to him, I found that he married his teenage sweetheart. She was a nudist, and they had been married a week; and this was his first visit to camp. He had not known his wife was a nudist prior to the wedding. It seemed strange to me that a close interpersonal relationship that would result in marriage could develop without knowledge that one of the spouses came from a nudist family. It appears that nudism in some families is a well-kept secret.
    Another visit comes to mind where we had taken a non-nudist with us. He and I had casually walked out of the snack bar when I saw this darling child with long curly brown hair. The child turned his back before my companion came through the door. We stopped outside, and I asked him to tell me the sex of the child. He laughed and said, “A girl, of course.?? I told him that he had better look again. As the child turned around, he said in a surprised voice, “But it’s a boy.” I said, “Yes, but I doubt if he is going to have too much trouble in sex identification when he gets older because he knows anatomically the difference.” This is a much different situation than a child in a clothed culture with long hair, female name, and so forth who suddenly finds he isn’t a girl.
    Something I thought was beautiful was a mother nursing her baby. Very normal, very nice, without any need for concealment or shame.
    The bathroom facilities are interesting. One park I visited had two separate rest rooms. The women’s rest rooms had two toilets in it, and the door locks from the inside. I have never gone to use it when someone has not been in there with the door locked so no one else can use the other stool or the basin. I never lock the door, but I find someone opens the door, they are extremely embarrassed and will say, “Excuse me,” I always invite them to come in, but they tend to be a little uneasy about this.
    Another camp has two open toilets and a closed toilet all in one big room. Frequently I have gone in when there is a line in front of the closed toilet while two open ones are empty. I am no nudist; I use the open one. I understand there is a park in the Midwest that has a combined men’s and women’s bathroom, and some nudists have told me they wouldn’t think of going there because of this. Others have told me they thought it was a great idea because then they wouldn’t have to worry about who was going to take the toothpaste into the bathroom first. One of the clubs has names on the rest room doors so you can take your pick. Names such as “Mae West” are used. It is quite interesting, and a lot of joking goes on, and an identity is frequently made with the star when using the facility with her name.
    Another incident of interest occurred at a meeting held in a nudist home where I had been asked as an unbiased authority on nudist publications. It was a meeting of nudist old-timers and officials who were meeting with the vice squad over nudist publications. The general consensus prior to the arrival of the police was that the magazines that had been left for the nudists to look over weren’t, for the most part, nudist publications, but if people wanted to buy that kind of material, they should have the right to do so. It was interesting, to me, to observe how the vice officers subverted the general attitude by indirect threat so that the nudists concurred with the vice officers that something should be done about such publications.
    The generalization of the vice officers from a few photographs to the total nudist population was unbelievable to a social scientist. There are probably more prostitutes belonging and going to church than the one whose picture they found in the whole big box of nudist books.
    Any group is going to have individuals from fringe areas of socially deviant behavior; my observations is that nudism per se is really the only area of behavior in which nudists generally seem to markedly differ from the larger population. As I pointed out to the vice officer, I probably deviated in areas that many nudists wouldn’t consider deviating. I gave for an example the fact that I as a non-nudist go nude to bed. This shocked the young lady sitting next to me, who had appeared in many nudist publications. She said, “But I wouldn’t think of going to bed without pajamas on.” That shut the vice officer up for a while, and his look of shocked surprise was interesting to behold. I didn’t know if my response or that of the nudist shocked him, probably the latter. I had figured the possibility of such a response from at least one of the nudists since our responses on our questionnaires indicated some nudists do sleep clothed.
    Some of the outsider’s reactions were interesting to me — for instance, the couple I took to the play. Although they didn’t go with us to camp, they did go on their own shortly after the play. I thought their initial reaction was quite interesting. The camp that had been suggested to them had a park manager who had unusually large genitalia. I asked about their park visit and their impressions and reactions to their visit. The male immediately stated, “My God, that man had a penis the size of that lamp base.” The woman agreed, and outside of this they didn’t have much else to say. I have been to that particular camp several times and I hadn’t really noticed the man’s genitalia; I simply regarded it as part of the over-all contextual image of the individual. Penises are like breasts; they come in various sizes, shapes, and descriptions, and I just didn’t pay too much attention to them. Several of our outside males have told us that they made a point of viewing other males to compare themselves, and we feel we missed a bet by not asking nudists, both males and females, how important it was to look at the same sex. I was finally able to convince a friend that she should go with us; she was certain she was abnormal. She felt she simply had no bosom. She seemed to have feelings of general insecurity, at least partially due to her breast size. When we got there and disrobed and walked into the group, she turned to me and said, “My God, I have more breasts than most of them.” And she did, but how does one know this in a clothed society with falsies, padded bras, and so forth. Now she feels more like a real woman, and nobody could ever tell her she has small breasts. She knows better.
    Another visit where we took in outsiders included three total strangers to me. They were to meet at my house, and only two of them were acquainted. The four of us started out, and they were somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing. The general tenor of the conversation was casual, but tense. I concluded that it was my job to put them at ease before we got there, or they might have problems in terms of their visit. So a general light conversation developed and the driver turned on his windshield wipers because he was sure there were a few raindrops (it was bright, sunny, beautiful day; but rain would preclude disrobing); the other two agreed and we went along in that vein for a while. The conversation was kept on a fairly light level, constantly flowing, so no long, uncomfortable silences developed. When we arrived at the park, I immediately hopped out and explained who we were to the manager so there would be no hang-up at the gate, and when I jumped back in, we drove into the park. As soon as the car stopped I jumped out again and talked them through undressing. That is, I talked and carried on a conversation as I quickly disrobed, and they also removed their clothing before they had time to develop any apprehension. Before they knew what had happened, they were in their nothingness, but the tension was broken and they immediately felt at ease. I found this worked beautifully in any situation where I took in non-nudists whether I knew them or not. Initial apprehension is gone as soon as they disrobe, but tends to build the longer it takes to remove their clothing. I therefore tried to get them out of their clothes as fast as possible. Several told me that it really helped in getting them over what they thought would be a difficult hurdle.
    This reminds me of a time when I was undressing beside the car while an apparently new family was disrobing for the first time. The mother, father, and the older children had all removed their clothing; only this little two-year-old was adamant, and she was determined she was not going to take off her underpanties. Her mother patiently explained that they had all taken off their clothes and it was all right. She didn’t care; she wasn’t taking her panties off, and that was that. She didn’t either. I was glad her mother hadn’t forced her. I saw her blithely playing several times during the day, always with her underpanties on, which shows cultural conditioning begins pretty early in our society in terms of taboos. Yes, it was taboo to her; she mentioned it was wrong when she told her mother she wouldn’t do it. Her parents and family might do something “wrong,” but she was determined she wasn’t going to be involved.
    Am I a nudist? No. Will I ever become one? Probably not. I have been asked why not, so I will tell you why I probably wouldn’t. Nudism is primarily a family activity. If I went, I would have to go without my family since they are grown and have their own families. I enjoy them and my association with them, even if it is only occasional. Going to camp would cut down further available time to see them. Many people join for social reasons, but I have other social commitments, and there are other kinds of social activities I would rather get involved in if I had the time. I think nudism is beneficial and healthy, and I have no negative impressions about it. I understand I have been given honorary membership in one club. I honestly hope that I can exercise the use of this occasionally, not only to see what is going on in the movement but to experience the enjoyment and rest that people seem to get out of going to camp. Mine has been a working relationship with nudism, and I have not spent the long carefree hours that nudists generally have sunning myself. As a matter of fact, I usually had to keep an eye out for a shady spot since I sunburn easily. But, I figured a sunburn or two was a part of the research and also a part of the hazards that nudists themselves must face. I found the project interesting and enjoyable. It has answered a lot of questions for me and has raised many more, but other things, deeper areas of interest have activated as a result of this project. I am anxious to get into these other areas, so further nudist research will probably have to be left to someone else. It was indeed an interesting experience and one I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

>>