Nude Doesn't Equal Rude

Bob Reed is a proud nudist who’s been ‘out of the closet’ since 1976. He is active in the nudist community and is president of the Free Beach Association (FBA), a group which promotes awareness about nudism and lobbies for better beach rights for nudists. Not surprisingly, he has a lot to say about nudity.

BOB REED, PRESIDENT OF FBA

First of all, the word nudist is out and naturist is in. Bob prefers to be known as a naturist because he feels that there are negative connotations associated with the word nudist. ‘The word nude rhymes with crude, lewd. Whereas naturist has a nicer sound to it. I think over the years a lot of different cultural groups have changed their name because society changes.’

Society may change, but naturism has been around for thousands of years in Australia. Bob is quick to point out that till the Europeans arrived, the indigenous people wore little or no clothing at all. And Lady Bay, on Sydney’s South Head, apparently got its name because women used to go there to swim naked in the early colonial days.

From the early 20s naturism took off throughout the world, starting with clubs in Germany and throughout Europe. In the 1950s two clubs started in Sydney. ‘Husbands and wives weren’t allowed to hold hands, there was no alcohol consumed…It was more moral than most church groups!’ Bob says.

The big changes happened along with everything else in the mid-60s. It started with the bikini, Bob recalls. ‘On Bondi Beach there was a beach inspector. When women started wearing bikinis, he had a tape measure and if the bottom half of your bikini was less than 2 inches, he would march you off the beach!’

‘On certain beaches, like Reef Beach and Lady Bay the g-strings got to the stage where there was virtually nothing, the next thing they were down around people’s kneecaps and then eventually off,’ Bob says. Hundreds of people started crowding the small unofficial nudist beaches.

Bob recalls his first time: ‘I was 14 when I went nude bathing for the first time. Only because I came from a very poor family. We’d gone on a picnic outside Newcastle, didn’t own a swimming costume, so I went round to the next little beach and I threw my clothing off, jumped in the water and I thought ‘wow! This is cool!’’

A common misconception about nudists is that they are perverted and immoral. But being naked in public isn’t a sexual experience. ‘It’s just freedom. When you take your clothing off, everyone becomes equal. It’s a psychological thing that we tend to hide behind our clothes. And when you’ve got nothing on, all you’ve got is your personality.’

MEMBERS OF THE FBA,STRIPPING FOR CHARITY

Bob says, ‘look, it doesn’t matter how tall, short, thin, fat, whatever you are – on a nude beach everyone’s equal. And you wouldn’t know if the person alongside you could be a brain surgeon or your shopkeeper. I know nudists who literally come from all walks of life. But when they’re naked, they’re just ordinary people, which is great.’

There are five legally sanctioned nude beaches in NSW, three of them in Sydney: Cobblers Beach, Obelisk Beach and Lady Bay. Reef Beach, the most well-known and popular nudist beach in Sydney was closed to nudists in 1993 (Timeline of Reef Beach).

But even though nude swimming is legal in NSW, it isn’t widely accepted, or catered for. The problem with the Sydney nude beaches is that they are all on Sydney Harbour – none of them are surf beaches. And, they’re all in National Parks with no convenient parking, access or facilities. ‘Nudists don’t want to hide away at the end of some track on some deserted beach,’ Bob says.

It’s a safety issue as much as anything else. ‘It puts people in a very vulnerable situation. If you’re the last person off the beach of a night time, male or female, why should you be put in a position like that?’

A good question, and one which no one seems to have the answer for. A no comment from Manly Council and no reply from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service suggests that providing safe and accessible beaches to the naturist community doesn’t seem to be a priority.

With a fantastic climate and kilometres of unspoilt beaches, Australia – Queensland in particular – is in a perfect position to capitalise on the naturism movement. But, in the Sunshine State, public nudity and nude bathing are still totally illegal.

‘In Europe, the whole attitude to nudity and naturism is so different from the average Australian,’ Bob says. ‘They take nudity as just another way of life.’ And with this acceptance comes economic benefits. Every August, there are at least 40 000 nude tourists on the beach at the famous French nudist resort of Cap D’agde. Tourists who bring money into the local economy.

Bob thinks the Australian government is missing out on a huge tourism market by turning their backs on naturism. ‘Nudists may not have wallets, or pockets, but they’ve got money!’

Bob’s ideal is to have a nude section on the main beaches in Sydney, so that naturists can enjoy the same facilities as clothed people. ‘Why can’t we have a section of Curl Curl beach, of Dee Why Beach, with a sign saying beyond this point you are legally entitled to go nude?’

For now though, the naturist community seems content to enjoy the beaches they do have and wait for more natural days ahead.

To find out what the average non nudist thinks, click here.