The American nudist movement

The American nudist movement: from cooperative to capital, the song remains the same.
Journal of Popular Culture
| September 22, 2002 | Woodall, Ellen E

Introduction

In 1927, an American named Maurice Parmelee published The New Gymnosophy in London (it was later published as Nudism in Modern Life in the United States). Parmelee advocated nudism (or gymnosophy) as a means for beautifying the population, saying,

... Through sexual selection gymnosophy will eventually produce a much more beautiful mankind. Gymnosophists have every incentive to avoid deformations of the body, and to strive by means of a healthy and natural life for a well developed form, because deformities and malformations are all too apparent in a state of nudity. [Parmelee 174]

In 2001, the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR), the world's largest nudist organization, published this statement regarding nudism:

Nudists respect each other's individuality. Our own self esteem is enhanced by our ability to accept ourselves as we really are. We find it easy to accept others regardless of physical size, shape, or body condition. [AANR 2001]

In the span of 74 years, nudism has evolved from an activity advocating social pressure as an incentive to keep oneself as attractive as possible, to a movement advocating acceptance of any body, healthy and attractive or not.

Parmelee saw the establishment of a nudist society as part of "the future course of social evolution," envisioning nudists in small groups, working together to create a society which would free them from industrialization and lessen the desire for "useless and harmful objects," and which would "restore to the hands and muscles the training and skill of which they have been deprived by the present machine age" (248). In short, Parmelee anticipated the growth of nudism as a cure for social ills.

As he hoped, nudism has grown in popularity. In 2001, membership in AANR has grown to over 50,000 individual members and more than 230 affiliated clubs, resorts and campgrounds. However, rather than altering existing society or creating a new type of society, nudism has become part of that very society which Parmelee believed has led to "the acute maladjustment" between man and his surroundings (258). Today, nude recreation is a multi-million dollar industry. AANR is affiliated with several different supporting industries, creating revenues for local and national governments, and encouraging the growth of those industries. Nudism has been integrated into capitalism, promoting and profiting from the very structure which its founder hoped to change.

This paper will explore how and why the nudist movement has changed since its inception in America, and will offer an analysis of the current state of nudism. The appeal and success of nudism in America is due to economic factors which, while seeming to contradict the stated ideals of the nudist movement as "free" and "natural," actually ensure its success. Nudism, while purporting to free its members from the ills of the capitalist, industrialized system, is a part of that system and, in fact, could not function without it.

Studies of popular culture, including forms of recreation and/or leisure, tend to focus on sociological functions or psychological effects of leisure on social groups. However, a more anthropological approach is to examine the social, political, and cultural conditions under which new leisure activities become popular and ultimately commodified and exchanged under capitalist social relations of production (Clarke 29-34). The growth and structure of the nudist movement is analyzed from a political economy perspective, emphasizing the ways in which nudism has been incorporated into the structure of capitalism in order to become a profitable enterprise, as well as one that is compatible with capitalist ideology. Today, the nudist movement continues to expound values that are at odds with capitalist ideology, but without actually practicing those values.

The American Association for Nude Recreation

AANR is the focus of this study because it is the oldest and largest nudist society in America, though there are other American nudist societies (most notably The Naturist Society), which function in similar ways. AANR's role in establishing guidelines for nude recreation, and lobbying in Washington DC for legislation affecting nude recreation make it of special interest for this analysis. Though the literature published by AANR advocates an egalitarian and "natural" lifestyle, actual practices contradict this rhetoric. AANR is fully integrated into local and national government and industry, and can therefore be seen as an instrument of coercion and control. The following analysis of the political economy of the nudist movement explores these issues more thoroughly, demonstrating that AANR is invested in maintaining the status quo rather than disrupting it.

Structure of the Paper

First, a description of the current structure and activities of the AANR is offered. Second is an examination of the rhetoric of the modern nudist movement as exemplified by the promotional literature of AANR, and a delineation of contradictions between its stated mission and actual practice, in order to demonstrate that the goals of nudism are not those which are articulated by the literature of the movement. The third section examines who profits economically from the marketing and success of organized nudism. Fourth, an explanation is offered as to why, given the contradictions between rhetoric and practice, individuals participate in nudism. These last two sections attempt to reconcile issues of structure versus agency, demonstrating first how the nudist movement works within existing political and economic structures as a capitalist enterprise, and next proposing individual motivations for taking part in the movement, despite the larger structural issues.

Structure of AANR

The American Association for Nude Recreation traces its roots to the 1929 founding of the American League for Physical Culture. In 1931 the name of the organization was changed to the American Sunbathing Association (ASA), then changed to the American Association for Nude Recreation in 1995. AANR (among other things) publishes material promoting nudism, assists affiliated clubs with advertising and recruitment of new members, and sends lobbyists to Washington to aid legal battles related to nude recreation. By all accounts, participation in nudism and the growth of supporting industries is on the increase. According to AANR, their membership has increased by 76 percent in the last ten years and now totals more than 50,000 individual members (AANR 1999).

Membership

According to a 1997 survey conducted by AANR, 92 percent of their members are 35 years of age or older and 47 percent earn a family income of at least $50,000 per year (AANR 1999), compared to the 1997 median income level of households in U.S., $37,005 (Weinberg). Also, according to the AANR survey, 83 …
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