Category: Naktivism

Als je bloot bent, ben je eerlijk over je lichaam

Meer en meer ben ik overtuigd dat nudisten en naturisten op een bepaalde manier de eerlijkste mensen zijn. Ze zijn eerlijk over hun lichaam.

Een nudist heeft niet de behoefte om te verbergen hoe mager of dik hij/zij is met de hulp van lagen kleding die hun vorm flatteert. Ze zijn gewoon zoals ze zijn.

En dat geldt ook voor mensen die op zich wat anderen een ‘goed lichaam’ vinden maar die littekens of andere vervormingen hebben. Ongelukken, operaties, kinderen baren (voor vrouwen) laten hun tekenen achter op een mens. Dat is niets om je voor te schamen, zelfs als de huidige maatschappij zijn best doet om je dat aan te praten.

We zijn tenslotte verplicht om eeuwig jong en mooi te zijn op de onmogelijke manier van al die supermodellen.

Het verbaast me keer op keer dat zoveel mensen zich daardoor laten opjagen en proberen die onbereikbare doelen te bereiken. Supermodellen zijn de ‘paar gelukkigen’, en eerlijk gezegd ben ik niet eens zeker of ze wel zo gelukkig zijn, want ze staan tenslotte steeds in de kijker van de hele wereld.

En dat terwijl er niets mis is met je als je eruit ziet als de dame rechts.

Wat is er mis met haar? Ze is gezond, ze lacht en ze is op haar gemak met hoe ze is. En dat zonder dieet of een manier van leven waardoor het leven eigenlijk geen leven meer is.

Wees eerlijk. Probeer niet het supermodel te zijn dat je niet bent. Wees gewoon gelukkig. Ik ben zeker dat veel supermodellen dat niet zijn, en in dat licht winnen wij.

When you’re naked you’re honest about your body

More and more I think that nudists and naturists are – in a way – the most honest people. They are honest about their body.

A nudist doesn’t feel the need to hide being skinny or large beneath layers of clothing that have patterns to ‘flatter’ their shape. They are the way they are.

The same goes for people who have what many others consider a ‘good body’ but who have scars and other deformations. Accidents, surgery, giving birth (for women) and so forth, these things leave marks on a human. These are nothing to be ashamed about, even when modern society makes people feel that way.

After all, we all have to be eternally young and beautiful, in the impossible way that many supermodels look.

It amazes me every time that so many people allow themselves to chase such unattainable goals and looks. These people are the “lucky few”, and to be honest I am not so certain if they are really the lucky ones. They have to keep up this look, adjust their diet and what not all the time because the scrutiny of the world’s eye is on them.

And all that when there’s nothing wrong when you look like this lady on the right.

What’s not to like? She’s healthy, she is laughing and she is more than comfortable with her appearance. And all that with difficult diets and a regime for living that makes life not worth living.

Be honest. Don’t try to be the supermodel you’re not. Be happy. I’m convinced many of them aren’t, and in that light you win.

Schilderijen kijken in je blootje

Nude art-watchers

Ja, je hebt deze foto eerder gezien. Ik heb ‘m hier gebruikt, voor de avond in de Beurs van Berlage met de tentoonstelling overVincent van Gogh. De avond kwam en ging, en werd door heel wat mensen genoten.

Het idee was fantastisch vind ik. Het is het jaar van Vincent van Gogh dus zijn er veel exposities en tentoonstellingen over zijn werk. De Beurs van Berlage had een verzameling van 200 uitstekende reproducties tentoongesteld, en de NFN, de Nederlandse Federatie voor Naturisme, had een speciale avondopenstelling kunnen regelen voor hun leden en introducées. Ik weet niet hoeveel mensen er zijn geweest maar ik heb er de nodige gezien. Om in je favoriete kleding (geen) door een museum te wandelen is een aparte beleving. Het was voor mij in elk geval de eerste keer. De ruimtes waren prima, de vloer was voorbereid op blote voeten (al droegen nogal wat mensen slippers of zelfs schoenen). Het licht was goed, en de schilderijen en de informatie daarbij waren prima verzorgd. Ook leuk waren de 3D-kamers waarin je kon zien hoe sommige schilderijen evolueerden. Niet iedereen was daar enthousiast over maar zo is iedereen weer anders.

Het was een geweldige ervaring en ik hoop dat de NFN in de nabije toekomst vaker dit soort dingen kan organiseren. Ik ben er in elk geval klaar voor!

nfnDank jullie, NFN en Beurs van Berlage!

Looking at paintings in the nude

Nude art-watchers

Yes, you’ve seen this image before. I posted this earlier, before the evening of going to see paintings of Vincent van Gogh. That evening has come and gone, and was enjoyed not only by me but by lots of people.

The idea was fabulous, I think. This year is Vincent van Gogh year in the Netherlands so there are many galleries and exhibitions with his work. One museum in Amsterdam had a set of 200 excellent reproductions on display and the NFN, the Dutch Naturist Federation, had arranged a special opening on Saturday evening for their members and invitees. I don’t know how many people came but I saw plenty of them. And the art was amazing. It was a very special feeling to walk through a museum and look at art when not being dressed, simply because I had never done this before. The space was nice, good for bare feet (even when many people wore slippers or even shoes). The light was great. The paintings and the information with them were amazing in detail, and the several booths with 3D imagery of how certain paintings were made were very entertaining. Not everyone was so thrilled with them, but then people are people. All different.

It was a fantastic experience and I hope that the NFN will be able to organise something like this again. I’m good to go!

Kunst in je blootje

Ja. Ik ga naar kunst kijken. In mijn blootje. De Nederlandse Federatie van Naturisten (NFN) heeft iets speciaals georganiseerd. In de Beurs van Berlage hangt een expositie van 200 reproducties van werken van Vincent van Gogh, en op 6 september ‘s avonds is er een speciale openstelling voor NFN-leden. Ik vind het werk van Van Gogh prachtig dus is dit een speciale gebeurtenis om van te genieten in mijn meest natuurlijke staat.

Ik zal er meer over vertellen als ik weer terug ben!

Looking at art in the nude
De aankondiging in het Uit! magazine van de NFN

(Afbeelding linkt naar de nederlandse NFN website waar het evenement meer belicht wordt.)

A nude photo in a gallery window

I found the below article on artnet. Isn’t it bizarre how much difference there is between perceiving a female or a male body? This has to change!!

Nude Photo in Gallery Window Gets a Rise Out of Neighbors

The photograph in question by Bek Andersen, in the window of Rivington Design House. Photo via Bowery Boogie

Lower East Side gallery Rivington Design House is in hot water with its neighbors over a photograph of a nude man displayed in its front window. Despite the fact that the image is not sexual or vulgar in any way, neighbors accused the gallerists of being unaware of or indifferent to the fact that many children pass by the Kenmare Street storefront every day.

The nude photo is the work of artist Bek Andersen, and is part of a show entitled “Clothed Female/Naked Male,” which seeks to shift the paradigm of nudity in art. “There is nothing pornographic or offensive happening in that photo,” Andersen told Gothamist. “It’s a portrait of a man. He is naked, but doing nothing indecent. We see naked women all the time in photos where they are highly sexualized and people don’t notice because they are desensitized.”

The backlash from community members only confirms Andersen’s point—that we are so accustomed to artistic nudity being limited to portrayals of women that we find it offensive when the male body is put on similar display.

Despite the wave of complaints, there are no reports that the work in question has been removed from the storefront. You can see the photographs, as well as the offended passersby, until August 15.

Every body is beautiful

Found via the Dutch site famme.nl:

A video that will change the way you feel about yourself. And this is specifically geared towards the ladies, although I am convinced that gentlemen can benefit from watching this as well.

Australian Taryn Brumfitt is a chick on a mission! The mother of three children wants to change your (negative) view of your body through her documentary ‘Embrace’. It all started when she put her all but traditional before-and-after-photo on the Internet. That went over the world at high speed and brought her a wave of positive and negative criticism. This motivated her to make a documentary.

“People didn’t understand it. How can a woman still like to see her body (after)? When my courage was cheered upon by many, others blamed me that I was promoting being overweight and being a bad role model for kids. The only thing I could think of was to understand that the world is brainwashed,” says Taryn on her Kickstarter page.

Verdict in the case of Delftse Hout nudism

nude beach signPerhaps you remember the upheaval about the sudden closure of the decades old nude beach in Delft, the Netherlands. Yesterday there was a verdict on the case, and it was in favour of the nudists on trial.

Here is the official, Dutch verdict on the Dutch justice site. I’ll translate it for those who can’t read Dutch:

Acquittal of forbidden nudity in Delft

The Hague , 11th of July 2014

On the 11th of July 2014 the Court of The Hague has acquitted eight suspects of sixteen cases of forbidden nude recreation.

The city of Delft has closed the nude beach in the nature and recreational area of Delftse Hout on the 18th of April 2013. The eight suspects have spent time on the beach undressed after that date, and for that they received fines.

The law states that unclothed recreation is not permitted in public places that aren’t suitable for that. The suspects have said that it’s not clear what the law-maker means with that. The Court of The Hague states that the law should be interpreted in a way that nude recreation is not permitted in public places that are evidently not suited for that. In the cases of the eight suspects there is insufficient evidence, and therefore they have been acquitted.
The Public Prosecutor had asked the court to provide maintainable rules concerning nude recreation. The court said to that: “It is not for a judge to make clear laws or to clarify laws. That is explicitly a task of the law-maker.”