Vintage Nudism: The Single Male Issue

While the world evolves constantly, nudism stands still, or so it seems. Since we’re naked and human physical evolution takes a long time, there really isn’t a whole lot that CAN change! Attitudes toward nudism may have changed slightly, but we still cannot claim that our chosen way of life has become mainstream. A big share of North Americans still think that  we’re a “bunch of freaks” or even perverts, for one. However, internally, the nudist “movement” seems immutable. Nudist Day recently visited the American Nudist Research Library, located inside Cypress Cove Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, and dug up some old naturist magazine articles that even if they written 50 or 60 years ago, could well have been penned today.

“Problem: Single Men”, is the title of one of those articles, appearing in the June, 1949, issue of Modern Sunbathing and Hygiene (nudism passed itself off as a health related activity in those days), an American magazine that has long ceased publishing. I take the liberty to reprint it here in its entirety…

Ask any (club) secretary to name his biggest problem and, in nine cases out of ten, he will say at once: “Single men!” The problem has been with us from the earliest days of nudism in this country, and we are still groping and scratching in our efforts to find a solution. The “couples only” rule is general, even if it is not applied very rigidly by some of the clubs and, while we argue and explain, hundreds — perhaps thousands — of single men whose help would be invaluable, are debarred from joining.

Many of these men resent, with considerable bitterness, their exclusion from the clubs. Some of them make suggestions, and are only half satisfied when they are told that something similar has been tried, many times. Some of them will accept no explanation and accuse the clubs of everything from snobbery to “having something to hide.”

It is a problem which has to be faced, for the sake of the Naturist movement and in fairness to the men themselves. What can we do about it?

First of all, why should single men be barred? Why is it necessary to balance the sexes? Is it not true that the general public may put an entirely wrong construction on a rule which insists that there shall be a woman ‘partner’ for every male member of a club? The reason for the rule is quite simple. Naturism implies a belief in “social nudism” — that is, nudism in which both sexes take part. It has been found, over many years that far more men than women try to join the clubs, and that any “over-weighting” by men tends to drive women members away. (This is often denied, but is, nevertheless, true. It may be that in some clubs there are women who do not object to forming a tiny minority among a crowd of men; there may be husbands and fiances who do not mind if their wives or girl-friends are the only women in the club full of males; it may even be true that some women rather enjoy, for a time, such a state of affairs. But, in general, a heavy over-balance of men does drive women members away.)

The fear that the general public will interpret the rule (if they know of it at all) as proof that there is “pairing-off” in the clubs may be justified. But does it matter? Non-nudists may think even worse of a club where men outnumber women ten to one than they do of a balanced one! — they think Naturism is “immoral” anyway.

Why is it that more men than women wish to become nudists? If we can answer that question we may have an important clue to the solution of our problem. I believe there are answers, the first and most important being that the idea of Naturism does not reach women women as easily as it reaches men. For example, how many women pick up a copy of Modern Sunbathing & Hygiene, read it, and are attracted by the idea? That is the way in which nine men out of ten hear of Naturism for the first time. Second, although women are more ready than men to wear scanty clothing, few of them seem to have any desire (until they have tried it) to “go naked.” Third, there is the important essential difference between male and female. A man may be suspicious about Naturism, but he has little to lose and will “try anything once.” The girl, trained to be suspicious of the motives of men, may be chary of giving Naturism a trial — and certainly cannot afford to take risks. (There are other reasons: fear of comparison, a dislike of “roughing it”, and personal problems about which a woman is likely to have doubts.) The solution is, clearly, some way of “putting Naturism over” to the ladies.

That will take time and meanwhile we still have our thousands of keen men, of all ages, who have no chance of getting into the clubs. Can we do anything — at once?

Some clubs apply their rules with considerable sympathy — several accept one single man for every couple; at least one has meetings for men only; attempts have been made to form clubs for men.  One or two clubs have refused to adopt the “Couples only” rule, only to be criticized for having more men members than women — and the critics are, more often than not — single men! That fact may help us in finding one solution: the fact that those men who have criticized clubs for their lack of women members expected someone else to provide their “partners” for them.

They do expect that, and I have never been able to understand why. It should be obvious that we in the clubs have no “pool” of unattached ladies from which we can draw when we wish to “balance” male applicants, otherwise there would be no need for the ban on single men.

The clubs, and the movement, can help by doing their utmost to introduce Naturism to women, but I believe that the main part of the solution to our problem lies in the hands of the men themselves.

Let us look at it this way, agreeing that it is a very difficult matter indeed for a man to approach a woman and suggest to her that she should join a nudist club with him. Most men do not expect to remain single forever: no matter what they say to-day, somewhere in the future lies marriage. Almost certainly they know, or will know, girls, and from among those girls will choose a wife. If marriage is to mean anything at all it means mutual trust and confidence — a near-perfect understanding, and agreement on the important things of life. Naturism is one of those important things. The man who becomes a nudist without telling his fiancee is storing up trouble later on, and he is misleading himself if he thinks he can wait until after he is married and then “convert” his wife. I know several men, whose marriages have been wrecked by attempts to convert “unwilling partners” and by the knowledge that before marriage one or the other had been a naturist — in secret.

I know that when I advise most single men to find their own partners I am asking for trouble. I assure them that I know difficult it is, but it can be and has been done! And, as far as I know, there is no other satisfactory solution to the problem.

The clubs are anxious to help them. Many naturist families are doing their utmost to persuade women friends to join. And excellent work is being done by some of the young women members of clubs in some districts by introducing Naturism to their friends and workmates. This magazine is also doing its best, by providing a service which helps and advises any reader who is in doubt about naturist problems.

But, in the end, the main part of the solution rests with the Single Men themselves — it is up to them!

And there you have it! Except for some antiquated concepts about marriage, the problems and the solutions proposed by the author (it did not say who!) of that article over 62 years ago  could apply to our times.

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Tags: modern sunbathing, old nudist magazines, single men